Could this be Dio’s finest hour?…Yep! I know he made great albums with Rainbow, and the two Sabbath albums are great, but his name was on the cover here and had to be amazing as a big FU to his previous employers. I’m not a fan of all the dragons and demons nonsense, and it wears a bit thin after a while, unless you are a hobbit from Hobbiton, but there is no denying this album is a bonafide classic.
The opening track alone is just immense. A killer riff and guitar from Vivian, a brilliant heavy groove from Jimmy Bain and Vinny Appice, and Ronnie sings his ass off. Now that ladies and germs is how you do an opening track! Even the slower tracks like Rainbow In The Dark are amazing. He was out to prove a point and boy didn’t he just. For a diminutive little fellow he sure could belt out a tune, what a set of pipes he had. I don’t have to say too much about this album other than everyone should own at least one Dio album and my money is on this one.
10/10 from The Grooveman.
