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The 80s have been an interesting and important decade on the fields of metal.
Surely, wanna-be metal bands have already been there back these times, and surely the variety of metal was far away from the status quo of nowadays. But in general I believe that back the days metal has been more authentic, more fun and more serious, bearing much more the breath of a life style, some kind of rebellious attitude. The 80´s have been the decade when for example Metallica released their best albums like Master of puppets and Ride the lightning. And it was the decade, when ex-Black Sabbath and ex-Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio started his solo career. He did it with a killer album called Holy diver, that is even until today a great album, showing many young modern “metal/hardrock” bands where Thor´s hammer hangs. Perhaps I am not objective, because this review brings back memories of my best times in life, but I am convinced that Holy diver is the best solo album Dio did.
Holy diver is presenting timeless music in the vein of 80´s top metal. The song Gypsy never grew on me, but I must say, that really all other songs are killer tracks, even when the songs Caught in the middle and Rainbow in the dark are a little bit less aggressive and have some few touches of being commercialised.
The remarkable voice of Dio fit perfectly to the guitar driven, neck breaking songs.
The sound is very clear, with sharp-edged walls of guitar lines, great, hunting riffs and an overall aggressive atmosphere. Ronnie James Dio´s vocal interpetations are varied, from perfect screaming to the softer parts like on the great track “Don’t talk to strangers” and he manages also all the highly melodic parts perfectly.
Mystic lyrics, unforgettable melodies, scaring moments (like the beginning of the title track) and agressiveness push you in a mood where you can´t do anything else than headbanging.
Old by years, but this album is a real unforgettable treasure. The cover art is really cool, showing a giant incarnation of evil whipping a in chains bounded and drowning priest (Holy diver…hehe).
Holy diver has been re-released in 2005 by Universal Music.
Buy it! Now!
| Tracklist |
| 1. Stand Up And Shout |
| 2. Holy Diver |
| 3. Gypsy |
| 4. Caught In The Middle |
| 5. Don't Talk To Strangers |
| 6. Straight Through The Heart |
| 7. Invisible |
| 8. Rainbow In The Dark |
| 9. Shame On The Night |
: 41.42
| Buy other Dio albums |
