Vivian Campbell resurrecting the Dio band?

Eyesore wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

S.D. wrote:

It's not revisionist history if you've always felt that way. I'm my opinion, Leppard is a hard rock band, I felt that way in 1982, I still feel that way 30 years later. No revisionism in sight.

Of course you can say they were hard rock, the revisionism I was referring to was that of the band itself who claims they weren't heavy metal. That is pure nonsense as they were definitely part of the NWOBHM and they presented themselves, at the time, as heavy metal. Obviously they changed their sound over time but the band runs away from their heavy metal past.

That's business sense, if you ask me.

Indeed.

Witchfinder wrote:

S.D. wrote:

It's not revisionist history if you've always felt that way. I'm my opinion, Leppard is a hard rock band, I felt that way in 1982, I still feel that way 30 years later. No revisionism in sight.

Of course you can say they were hard rock, the revisionism I was referring to was that of the band itself who claims they weren't heavy metal. That is pure nonsense as they were definitely part of the NWOBHM and they presented themselves, at the time, as heavy metal. Obviously they changed their sound over time but the band runs away from their heavy metal past.

I completely disagree. No, they did not turn down press. But the media is who included them in the NWOBHM scene, not the band...it was more timing than sound. Def Leppard sound nothing like Saxon and Iron Maiden. If in the minds of the band themselves Def Leppard was never "Heavy Metal", then it's not revision...it's contradicting the press.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

S.D. wrote:

It's not revisionist history if you've always felt that way. I'm my opinion, Leppard is a hard rock band, I felt that way in 1982, I still feel that way 30 years later. No revisionism in sight.

Of course you can say they were hard rock, the revisionism I was referring to was that of the band itself who claims they weren't heavy metal. That is pure nonsense as they were definitely part of the NWOBHM and they presented themselves, at the time, as heavy metal. Obviously they changed their sound over time but the band runs away from their heavy metal past.

I completely disagree. No, they did not turn down press. But the media is who included them in the NWOBHM scene, not the band...it was more timing than sound. Def Leppard sound nothing like Saxon and Iron Maiden. If in the minds of the band themselves Def Leppard was never "Heavy Metal", then it's not revision...it's contradicting the press.

Def Leppard sound like several NWOBHM bands. For instance Hellanbach which was more on the Hard Rock end of the spectrum. The NWOBHM had a variety of sounds and Leppard was definitely part of that movement that aren't represented by the sounds of just Saxon and Iron Maiden. The band can call themselves what they will but ultimately they sounded like many of their peers that were (are) heavy metal. This is like Lemmy saying that Motorhead is a Rock and Roll band and not heavy metal - that is pure nonsense as well.

This is getting off the subject, but in the 80's themselves, Def Leppard referred themselves as a metal band as the book the band co wrote with David Fricke is evidence of this.

In many interviews they referred themselves as a metal band etc, while its true that musically they had little in common with Saxon and Iron Maiden, let alone Venom and Raven, the band influenced tons of bands in the wake of their phenomenal success, and I suspect when the band saw all these hair/pop metal bands on MTV, they wanted to distance themselves from this types of bands.

Also Joe Elliot's roots are not in metal, his roots were in bands such as The Sweet, T. Rex, and Mott the Hopple, it was Steve Clark and Pete Willis who were the metal fans who loved Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest.

Personally I could care less if they consider themselves metal or pop polka, what matters to me is the music and I like their music.

manny wrote:

Personally I could care less if they consider themselves metal or pop polka, what matters to me is the music and I like their music.

This. It seems like we have the "are they metal or not" discussion about Def Leppard at least once a month. WHO CARES. It's getting old. Listen to them or don't.

Damn...

Quote :

Former DIO and current DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell revealed last week that he is planning to join forces with three other original DIO members to play "some gigs" that will see the musicians performing material from the early DIO records that Campbell appeared on. Campbell, Vinny Appice (drums), Jimmy Bain (bass) and Claude Schnell (keyboards) will be accompanied by singer Andy Freeman, who has previously fronted HURRICANE and LYNCH MOB.

Campbell and Ronnie James Dio worked together on the first three DIO albums 1983's "Holy Diver", 1984's "The Last in Line" and 1985's "Sacred Heart" — before Irishman Campbell left to join WHITESNAKE in 1987. Their subsequent relationship was strained, to say the least.

"In my opinion, Vivian no longer had the commitment to the band he had in the early days," Ronnie said a short time before his death in May 2010. "He was — and remains — an excellent guitarist. I never lost sight of how good he was as a musician, but as a person… Well, he was no longer on the same page as the rest of us. That annoyed me hugely. When you've got four people really stretching and straining to do their very best, and one person who's clearly holding back, it makes for an unhappy camp. A lot of negative things have been said since by both Vivian and me… Now, I regret some of those things. I'm sure he does, too."

Speaking to U.K.'s Metal Hammer for the magazine's May 2012 issue which features a six-page spotlight on DIO, Bain said about Campbell's exit from the group, "Viv did nothing that warranted his removal from the band in what is still considered to be a cowardly way. For me, firing Viv was the biggest mistake of Ronnie's career. The problem could've easily been resolved if there had a been a will to do so from Ronnie and Wendy [Dio, the band's manager and Ronnie's wife]."

Vinny also regretted Vivian's departure although he was a little more diplomatic in his comments on the situation.

"Viv wasn't happy with the business part of the band, and musically wanted to pursue something else," Vinny said. "If he had been happy with the business end of it, he probably would've stayed and made a few more records with us. We had a successful, great band with Viv, and it was unfortunate to change ingredients."

Bain also felt that DIO was in decline by the time the band released "Sacred Heart".

"DIO should have gotten better with each album, but what happened was the opposite," Jimmy told Metal Hammer. "The production was watered down with all the keyboards, [and] the songs were not as good because it became harder to satisfy Ronnie's need to complicate arrangement and structure."

Bain, Campbell, Appice, Schnell and Freeman "had a couple of rehearsals" last week "and it sounds great," the bassist said.

He added, "Listening to Vivian playing those songs again has been amazing. He's just so into it doing this, and his enthusiasm has rubbed off on the rest of us.

"Andy isn't Ronnie. How could he be? But what he does bring is his own twist on the vocals."

"Our aim is to do some shows around November, concentrating on the first two DIO albums. It's gonna be great getting back onstage with these guys for the first time in so long.”

In a May 2011 interview with Brazil's Roadie Crew magazine, Wendy Dio stated about the controversy surrounding Ronnie's relationship with Campbell (in a 2003 interview Vivian called Ronnie "an awful businessman and, way more importantly, one of the vilest people in the industry."), "[Vivian] always said that he hated all the albums that he played on with Ronnie, and that was very hurtful to Ronnie. Very hurtful. Would you like someone who said something like that about your albums? He said a lot of things in the press that I don't wanna get into, because it really wasn't Ronnie's feud at all. Ronnie didn't fire him. I fired [Vivian]. He wanted as much money as Ronnie wanted. He thought he was as important as Ronnie was, and that was just wrong. But I don't wanna get into that. It's water under the bridge. It doesn't matter."

Nothing like talking trash after someone is dead. Prior to his death, the only person I ever heard say anything even remotely negative about Dio was Vivian.

Well, it is always about money, and always the biggest mess when someone's wife is a manager... (sharon*cough*osbourne*cough anyone

I hope Vivo-Dio will play Rock 'n' Roll Children. This is my favorite Dio tune ever.

I know they'll never come anyplace near me and having the time to migrate for a show is almost just as much of a fantasy. IMHO Dio had a good cast of players in his band before his passing, but to me DIO is/was the line-up on the first 3 lps.

manny wrote:

This is getting off the subject, but in the 80's themselves, Def Leppard referred themselves as a metal band as the book the band co wrote with David Fricke is evidence of this.

In many interviews they referred themselves as a metal band etc, while its true that musically they had little in common with Saxon and Iron Maiden, let alone Venom and Raven, the band influenced tons of bands in the wake of their phenomenal success, and I suspect when the band saw all these hair/pop metal bands on MTV, they wanted to distance themselves from this types of bands.

Also Joe Elliot's roots are not in metal, his roots were in bands such as The Sweet, T. Rex, and Mott the Hopple, it was Steve Clark and Pete Willis who were the metal fans who loved Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest.

Personally I could care less if they consider themselves metal or pop polka, what matters to me is the music and I like their music.

Good points - last thing to add, if you watched Metal Evolution, Phil Collen in his interview states that Def Leppard had left NWOBHM when Pyromania was released.

Eyesore wrote:

Nothing like talking trash after someone is dead. Prior to his death, the only person I ever heard say anything even remotely negative about Dio was Vivian.

Yeah, I don't like that at all. I always thought Bain & Dio were close, surprised to hear him talk that way. I'm not upset he feels that way but I think HE is the one being cowardly by only saying it now (that I'm aware of) after Dio has died.

So now we're going to have two all-star Dio tribute acts floating around, huh?

Eyesore wrote:

Damn...

Quote :

Former DIO and current DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell revealed last week that he is planning to join forces with three other original DIO members to play "some gigs" that will see the musicians performing material from the early DIO records that Campbell appeared on. Campbell, Vinny Appice (drums), Jimmy Bain (bass) and Claude Schnell (keyboards) will be accompanied by singer Andy Freeman, who has previously fronted HURRICANE and LYNCH MOB.

Campbell and Ronnie James Dio worked together on the first three DIO albums 1983's "Holy Diver", 1984's "The Last in Line" and 1985's "Sacred Heart" — before Irishman Campbell left to join WHITESNAKE in 1987. Their subsequent relationship was strained, to say the least.

"In my opinion, Vivian no longer had the commitment to the band he had in the early days," Ronnie said a short time before his death in May 2010. "He was — and remains — an excellent guitarist. I never lost sight of how good he was as a musician, but as a person… Well, he was no longer on the same page as the rest of us. That annoyed me hugely. When you've got four people really stretching and straining to do their very best, and one person who's clearly holding back, it makes for an unhappy camp. A lot of negative things have been said since by both Vivian and me… Now, I regret some of those things. I'm sure he does, too."

Speaking to U.K.'s Metal Hammer for the magazine's May 2012 issue which features a six-page spotlight on DIO, Bain said about Campbell's exit from the group, "Viv did nothing that warranted his removal from the band in what is still considered to be a cowardly way. For me, firing Viv was the biggest mistake of Ronnie's career. The problem could've easily been resolved if there had a been a will to do so from Ronnie and Wendy [Dio, the band's manager and Ronnie's wife]."

Vinny also regretted Vivian's departure although he was a little more diplomatic in his comments on the situation.

"Viv wasn't happy with the business part of the band, and musically wanted to pursue something else," Vinny said. "If he had been happy with the business end of it, he probably would've stayed and made a few more records with us. We had a successful, great band with Viv, and it was unfortunate to change ingredients."

Bain also felt that DIO was in decline by the time the band released "Sacred Heart".

"DIO should have gotten better with each album, but what happened was the opposite," Jimmy told Metal Hammer. "The production was watered down with all the keyboards, [and] the songs were not as good because it became harder to satisfy Ronnie's need to complicate arrangement and structure."

Bain, Campbell, Appice, Schnell and Freeman "had a couple of rehearsals" last week "and it sounds great," the bassist said.

He added, "Listening to Vivian playing those songs again has been amazing. He's just so into it doing this, and his enthusiasm has rubbed off on the rest of us.

"Andy isn't Ronnie. How could he be? But what he does bring is his own twist on the vocals."

"Our aim is to do some shows around November, concentrating on the first two DIO albums. It's gonna be great getting back onstage with these guys for the first time in so long.”

In a May 2011 interview with Brazil's Roadie Crew magazine, Wendy Dio stated about the controversy surrounding Ronnie's relationship with Campbell (in a 2003 interview Vivian called Ronnie "an awful businessman and, way more importantly, one of the vilest people in the industry."), "[Vivian] always said that he hated all the albums that he played on with Ronnie, and that was very hurtful to Ronnie. Very hurtful. Would you like someone who said something like that about your albums? He said a lot of things in the press that I don't wanna get into, because it really wasn't Ronnie's feud at all. Ronnie didn't fire him. I fired [Vivian]. He wanted as much money as Ronnie wanted. He thought he was as important as Ronnie was, and that was just wrong. But I don't wanna get into that. It's water under the bridge. It doesn't matter."

Nothing like talking trash after someone is dead. Prior to his death, the only person I ever heard say anything even remotely negative about Dio was Vivian.

Wow. That Jimmy Bain is a real class act.

Hey Metal Misfit who is that stunning red head in your avator thingy?

Storm Large

Oh ok thanks

Dio without Dio?

That's like expecting eggs - when you don't keep chickens.

Saying you think someone made a mistake isn't "talking trash". He was part of the band and he's entitled to his opinion.

And most of the fans would agree with him anyway.

On a side note, "Sacred Heart" is one of the most boring metal albums I've ever heard so keeping a bored Viv in the band didn't seem like a recipe for success either. But Goldy lacks fire, personality, and songwriting/memorability.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Saying you think someone made a mistake isn't "talking trash". He was part of the band and he's entitled to his opinion.

And most of the fans would agree with him anyway.

I agree.

I also don't see a big deal with Campbell, Bain, Schnell and Appice doing a few shows playing music they created. I don't think it's disrespectful at all and it keeps the songs alive. It's not like they're going to call it "Dio"...probably end up calling it Holy Diver or something.

This might fire up his work with Def Leppard, with Campbell revisiting his past with Dio and playing with his childhood heroes Thin Lizzy, maybe Def Leppard will create an album as close as they will ever get, at least at this point in their career and lives, to more riff oriented material of their early years.

Grimmo wrote:

Dio without Dio?

That's like expecting eggs - when you don't keep chickens.

Worst analogy ever!

I have a problem with this...for someone who wasn't crazy about Dio & had this awkward relationship with the man, I think it's rather rude to be cashing in on him now that he's dead...I'd like to know where Wendy is in all of this - has she said anything at all? I'd be interested in her opinion most of all!!!

How in the hell is he "cashing in" by playing a handful of shows. He doesn't need money.

Are musicians not allowed to get old, mellow out and have a change of heart? Or do they always have to live strictly by stupid things they may have said in the past?

He is cashing in because the man who he despised, but happened to make the music is no longer in the way. It's quite simple, yet I think he should call the band Campbell & not pretend to have anything to do with Dio - that's a bunch of baloney. it's not a tribute - it's a way to make money off the music.

Vivian Campbell has always been mellow - never liked the music - said so himself in interviews - just needed a job...now apparaently he needs another job...sure he does need the money....it's not out of love to the music or the man who created it.

I do not know about Campbell not liking the music, he helped create it and was Ronnie James Dio's co writer on most of those tracks.

As time went on, it turned out he liked pop metal or popier, less heavier material such as Riverdogs, Shadow King and his stint with Whitesnake all provided.

It seems whatever happened between Ronnie James Dio and Vivian Campbell was more personal then musical. Both men were unsatisfied with 'Scared Heart' for whatever reason.

Both men talked alot of trash about one another, but never once did Dio say Campbell was untalented, he just thought he was a bit of a wanker.

NYCAnt wrote:

He is cashing in because the man who he despised, but happened to make the music is no longer in the way. It's quite simple, yet I think he should call the band Campbell & not pretend to have anything to do with Dio - that's a bunch of baloney. it's not a tribute - it's a way to make money off the music.

Vivian Campbell has always been mellow - never liked the music - said so himself in interviews - just needed a job...now apparaently he needs another job...sure he does need the money....it's not out of love to the music or the man who created it.

Taking it a little personally, aren't you? It's just music. You don't know Vivian Campbell personally I would wager, so I doubt you know his motivations.

Like I said, I got no problem w/ Viv and the original guys playing the music they helped to create. People get old and change...it happens to everyone, even musicians.

Personally? Not at all..just speaking out for Dio...if someone wants to come along & support this then that's up to them..I think it stinks & is quite phony...it's a cash grab & I don't like it..

Like I said already, the only opinion that matters is what Wendy thinks..if she's fine with than super....