I had to post something about RJD being diagnosed with cancer, as he has been a part of the soundtrack of my life.  The best metal singer EVER.  Yes, Halford and Geoff Tate were awesome at one time, but Dio has always been the King of Metal.  Starting with Rainbow then helping to reinvent Sabbath and on to his solo work.  How many essential metal tunes has this guy been on?  It seems like almost all of them. 

So, to the King of Metal I say, "Hurry up and get well...to a fast recovery!" - from one of your biggest fans of the past 25 years.  In honor of His Majesty following is a list I've put together of my favorite Dio fronted albums.






All three Dio era Rainbow albums are good, but I have to put Rising at the top of my list.  The line up was really solidified with the additions of Cozy Powell and Jimmy Bain.  One of my all time favorite songs is featured on here, the incredible "Stargazer".  This song is amazing and one of Dio's best performances.







The Dio era Sabbath never put out a bad record.  The 1992 "reunion" album Dehumanizer is vastly underrated largely due to paper thin production, but it all started with this one,1980's Heaven and Hell.  This album is epic and sweeping in its vision.  It has atmosphere that sucks you in and envelopes you.   Every track is killer and when played live the material soars to even greater heights. 







After leaving Sabbath RJD puts together the band Dio.  Made up of former Rainbow bassist, Jimmy Bain,  former Sabbath drummer, Vinny Appice, and ex-Sweet Savage guitarist, Vivian Campbell, the band released Holy Diver in 1983.  This album is legendary and everything about it is perfect.







I wanted to make special note of  the latest release from  the Dio era Sabbath, known as Heaven and Hell.  The Devil You Know was released in April of this year and is great.  This IS a Black Sabbath album.  It stacks up with everything else this line up did before and seemed to go under the radar a bit for whatever reason.  The tune "Bible Black" is awesome and stacks up there as one of the best songs these guys have done.  I saw them live on this tour and they did not disappoint.  Live they are awesome and Dio is far and away the better singer/frontman for Sabbath.  I have seen them with Ozzy as well and there is a night and day difference.


GET WELL SOON!!!!