HOLY DIVER is an all-time heavy metal classic. It was the debut of Dio's self-moniker band, featuring Jimmy Bain on bass, Vinny Appice on drums, and a talented young guitarist named Vivian Campbell. This was also Dio's comeback release. After a stint with Elf in the early '70s, he joined Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow later in the decade. Soon he left, and became the new lead singer of Black Sabbath, replacing Ozzy. After a fallout with Tony Iommi during the making of Sabbath's first live album (LIVE EVIL), Dio had a lot to prove. Thus, he embarked on his solo career and made a searing impression with HOLY DIVER.

With his own band, Dio basically combined the epic, medevial imagery of Rainbow with the blistering heaviness of Sabbath to forge his own sound. Needless to say, this combo works extremely well. Every song on here is a winner. "Stand Up and Shout" is a fiery opener with great energy and speedy riffs. The mini-epic title track is a masterpiece, starting out slowly with an extended, lush keyboard intro and never letting up once the heaviness kicks in. Great drumming from Vinny on this song. "Don't Talk to Strangers" starts out as a power ballad-type track with some nice acoustic work, but it segues into becoming another hard rocker. Dio's vocals and lyrics are especially great in this track.

Both "Gypsy" and "Straight Through the Heart" are crunchy, melodic rockers with more great riffs and catchy choruses. My absolute favorite song on the album is the powerful "Invisible." This song has a spacey, atmospheric guitar intro from Vivian (very similar to Iron Maiden's "Strange World"), but stops suddenly and turns into an explosive metal feast. And let's not forget "Rainbow in the Dark," one of the best metal singles ever released in the '80s, with an awesome guitar solo from Campbell. Vivian is such a good player. What happened to him? Have you heard his stuff with Def Leppard? He sounds horrendous with them. Oh, well. That's what he gets for leaving Dio.

I have nothing else to say. HOLY DIVER is an unforgettable metal masterpiece, and it won't be leaving my CD player (or yours for that matter) anytime soon.

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:


Long live Dio  Jun 30, 1999
Dio left Rainbow and left Sabbath, but brought the best of three worlds with him. His first solo album, Holy Diver, is a magnificent encomium to metal pioneers like Ritchie Blackmore and the Sabs. But Dio does not imitate--he creates and his creation of great driving loud songs combined with strange mystifying lyrics have propelled him into stardom, as well as the album, which remains one of Warner Brothers top selling albums of all time. Dio had worked with the leaders of the established metal tradition and, not only followed it, but added a greater amount of focus and intelligence. A metal classic and one that will be played until the very end.

16 of 17 found the following review helpful:


Rest In Peace to a heavy metal icon, Ronnie James Dio  May 17, 2010 By Peace Daddy "Eclectic ReflectionZ"
How can you not call this album a classic? Personally, Rainbow in the Dark is my favorite song on here, but every single track is great in it's own right. One of the top 10 metal albums of all-time, from one of the greatest singers to ever rock the mic. Rest In Peace Ronnie James Dio, you will be missed. \m/

19 of 22 found the following review helpful:


Holy Dio, Batman! (sorry, I couldn't resist)  Oct 15, 2001 By The Wickerman
Released in the same year as Iron Maiden's "Piece of Mind" and Metallica's "Kill em All", "Holy Diver" had the great honor of being placed at the forefront of the juggernaut that was (and still is) the 80's metal scene. When I say "metal", I ain't talkin about no Korn or Limp Bizkit, this is REAL metal! Back in the days where "metal" had a good connotation (if you don't look at the big hair stuff, anyways). It's not hard to see why this album is considered a classic. It's full of heavy riffs, good musicianship, and plentiful melody. And, of course, there's Ronnie's killer vocals. This is considerably slower than his stuff with Sabbath, and the musicians aren't quite as good, but it's still great music. Songs like "Rainbow in the Dark" and the title track are metal classics, but it doesn't stop there. Check out "Don't Talk to Strangers", and the excellent "Invisible" (what a riff!). But, the whole album is good. If you like metal (and I mean REAL metal!), you need to buy this. Also buy "Rising", by Rainbow and "Heaven & Hell", by Black Sabbath. HAIL METAL!!!!!

12 of 13 found the following review helpful:


Classic Album!  Nov 03, 2004 By Christopher Fryer
I can remember hearing the song Holy Diver on the Friday night radio show Metal Shop back in 83. I didn't take to it right away but after I got the album I played it over and over. Ronnie is of course one of the greatest singers period. His vocals on this album are superb as always. The lyrics to Holy Diver and Don't Talk To Strangers are classic Dio. But the main feature was this new guy on guitar named Vivian Campbell. His guitar tone was crisp and cut like a knife. The solos to Holy Diver, Rainbow In The Dark, and Invisible are some of the best ever! The riffs to Caught In The Middle and Stand Up And Shout crush. I still think this is the best Dio album ever with Last In Line a close second. I may even have to put it over other classic albums featuring Dio like Sabbath's Heaven & Hell (blasphemy!) and Rainbow Rising (gasp!). The latest DVD is great. Ronnie sounds as good as ever and Doug's playing is on fire. Keep rocking Ronnie!

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