Dio has a couple of bangers in his solo career, but I agree with the general sentiment that his works with Black Sabbath and Rainbow is better than his works as a solo artist. But I don't think that's because his solo work is bad or something like that, but because Tony Iommi and Ritchie Blackmore are two of the greatest musicians of all time in rock/metal and the music they wrote together is so iconic that is hard to top that in any musical direction.

Honestly, Holy Diver isn't even my favorite Dio album from the 80's, let alone my favorite Dio album, and I consider Last in Line to be a bit of a front-loaded sophomore slump. I can see why people say Holy Diver is the only good album Dio made (outside of Sabbath or Rainbow), but I don't know why they group in Last in Line. It just seems undeniable that they were running on fumes and would only exacerbate on Sacred Heart before getting a well-needed shot in the arm when making Dream Evil.

Dio's solo work may not be as classic as his stuff with Rainbow or Sabbath, but he has his idiosyncrasies which can help set him apart. I don't think he'd be able to make a song like "Losing My Insanity" with Iommi or Blackmore. In fact, I think that song is an example of showing the influences he's obtained from working with both of them as it has the folksy jaunt from Blackmore's stylings and the fullness of the guitar chords from Iommi. I think moreso than any other musician who went solo after establishing themself in a band, Dio was able to carve out his own personality separate from the band(s) he came from.

At the very least, I think we can all agree that Dio's solo work is much better than Bruce Dickinson's (Oops! Said too much! Now MetalNZ is gonna throw another fit at me!)

I think this might be a relatively common opinion, regardless of the fact that people rarely say it.

Personnally, I was never the biggest fan of Dio, altogether. Don't get me wrong, I spin Rainbow's debut from time to time, I revisit Dio's Holy Diver and Sabbath's Heaven and Hell on occasions as well. It's all great music, but not music I gravitate to very often. I significantly prefer the doomier side of Black Sabbath with Ozzy. Still, there is undeniable quality in the albums I listed that involved Dio. And beyond that, the man's legacy is beyond just the music. His legacy also lies in his stage presence/persona, his high energy perfomances, and the aura of kindness and positivity that he radiated. The man also gave us "the evil eye", what we often refer to as the metal "horns" these days, and he will basically live on forever for as long as metalheads keep throwing that sign at concerts

I guess that's kind of why people don't tend to criticize his work too negatively? Like, yeah, there's a lot of his stuff I don't care much about, but I'm also clearly not the target audience for that music and I respect his body of work as a whole, regardless of the lower points in his disography.

At the very least, I think we can all agree that Dio's solo work is much better than Bruce Dickinson's (Oops! Said too much! Now MetalNZ is gonna throw another fit at me!)

I don't know how unpopular this is but... I'm kind of tired of seeing everyone act like Heaven and Hell is the be all, end all of Dio-Sabbath,

considering it's the worst album of that line up.?

Then I heard Dehumanizer and I just couldn't believe they topped themselves again. And then The Devil You Know (which is absolutely a Black Sabbath album), holy shit, what a criminally underrated album, probably the best work Iommi and Dio did together ever, the perfect swansong.

I don't know how unpopular this is but... I'm kind of tired of seeing everyone act like Heaven and Hell is the be all, end all of Dio-Sabbath...

I'm definitely with you all the way here.




But The Devil You Know being the best of the four? Come on now. It's easily the worst of the four by a country mile. Not a bad album but not a masterclass like the previous three.

Then at some point I got Dickinson's album on vinyl and it was one the worst LP I had, with lines like "tattooed billionaires" with him, one of the most important industry in UK....

I'd probably put it around the same level as 13.

I don't know how unpopular this is but... I'm kind of tired of seeing everyone act like Heaven and Hell is the be all, end all of Dio-Sabbath, considering it's the worst album of that line up. Oh, it's an absolute masterpiece, but have you listened to the 3 albums afterwards?

When I heard Mob Rules I was like "yup, this right here is up there with Master of Reality". Then I heard Dehumanizer and I just couldn't believe they topped themselves again. And then The Devil You Know (which is absolutely a Black Sabbath album), holy shit, what a criminally underrated album, probably the best work Iommi and Dio did together ever, the perfect swansong.

For the record, "Time Machine" is maybe my least favorite song on Dehumanizer, while songs like "Letters from Earth," "Too Late," and "I" are absolute classics in my book. The plodding, angry stuff just shows another side to Dio that you don't get from the first two records with him. "Time Machine" is closer to a Mob Rules B-side stylistically (though not bad by any means).

I sometimes feel that the board/forum doesn't represent what the general audience thinks of metal

this shit got half a million views in a couple of hours, and we never mentioned this wack-ass band not even once since I started to read the forum, and Iam glad it's that way.

For the record, "Time Machine" is maybe my least favorite song on Dehumanizer, while songs like "Letters from Earth," "Too Late," and "I" are absolute classics in my book. The plodding, angry stuff just shows another side to Dio that you don't get from the first two records with him. "Time Machine" is closer to a Mob Rules B-side stylistically (though not bad by any means).

Also, the angry side of Dio shown on Dehuamizer.... THAT is what is missing from The Devil You Know. Ronnie used his more (commonly used) melodic voice when his angry Dehumanizer voice would've fit the dark music so much better.

That's exactly the opposite for me - TDYK works better because of Dio's big, mournful vocal lines... plenty of those, I do think are angry sounding enough at the same time, but I like the more expressive quality really overall.

Dehumanizer is just not all that good. I genuinely think Time Machine is the best song there, and if that's your best song, well...

What are the other contenders for best song? Computer God? Too Late? It's just not that strong of an album, it's so strange and disjointed. It doesn't sound like they enjoyed making any of the songs, I'm not sure how else to describe it. Either way it's the worst Dio Sabbath album.

Also, the angry side of Dio shown on Dehuamizer.... THAT is what is missing from The Devil You Know. Ronnie used his more (commonly used) melodic voice when his angry Dehumanizer voice would've fit the dark music so much better.

If I suffered watching this atrocity, then you guys have to suffer with me. I don't know if this counts as an unpopular opinion, but this is the worst piece of shit that I have listened to in a long time and is a perfect argument for the decay of metal as a whole.



I sometimes feel that the board/forum doesn't represent what the general audience thinks of metal, this shit got half a million views in a couple of hours, and we never mentioned this wack-ass band not even once since I started to read the forum, and Iam glad it's that way.

Disagree, sorry. Dehumanizer is in Sabbath's top 5, their heaviest and best work since Sabotage. Definitely the best Dio era album (not much in it mind you) and Iommi sounds more inspired on there than at practically any time since the early 80s. Computer God is a great song and the lyrics are downright prophetic.

If I suffered watching this atrocity, then you guys have to suffer with me. I don't know if this counts as an unpopular opinion, but this is the worst piece of shit that I have listened to in a long time and is a perfect argument for the decay of metal as a whole.



I sometimes feel that the board/forum doesn't represent what the general audience thinks of metal, this shit got half a million views in a couple of hours, and we never mentioned this wack-ass band not even once since I started to read the forum, and Iam glad it's that way.

This is awful.

But it's not an argument for the "decay" of metal.

Well I guess that explains why you're not too fond of Dehumanizer, lol.