Let's rank Ronnie James Dio, #16

1. Heaven and Hell (1980)
2. Holy Diver (1983)
3. Rainbow Rising (1976)
4. Mob Rules (1981)
5. The Last in Line (1984)
6. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978)
7. Dream Evil (1987)
8. Sacred Heart (1985)
9. Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975)
10. Dehumanizer (1992)
11. Killing the Dragon (2002)
12. Lock Up the Wolves (1990)
13. Magica (2000)
14. Strange Highways (1994)
15. The Devil You Know (2009)



The Black Sabbath reunion album "The Devil You Know" gets 15th place. I felt this was a really strong album. Massive riffs, a little too modern (read: generic) sounding but still a terrific piece of history having the gang back together one more time. Dio can still sing, Iommi & Butler can still write killer riffs and they deliver 10 new songs. Bible Black is a classic, and the rest of the tunes are also just fine.

The series of polls is almost concluded. Thank you to everyone who voted. This has inspired me to listen through a ton of deep cuts from "lesser" Dio albums.

But we've still got one more poll to do. Which one here is better of the final two? Angry Machines or Master of the Moon?

Master of the Moon for me. Just listened to it the other day and it's a really good album. After looking at his discography here, it really is amazing the amount of great music he's been a part of. Such a legend!

Master Of The Moon for me again. I don't think Angry Machines is that bad of an album, but it is Dio's weakest output.

Master Of The Moon. Love this amazing track:

Master Of The Moon

Wrecked Neck wrote:

it really is amazing the amount of great music he's been a part of. Such a legend!

I have "The Butterfly Ball And The Grasshopper Feast" (Roger Glover), "Seeds Of Change" (Kerry Livgren), and "S/T", "Carolina County Ball", and "Trying To Burn The Son". (Elf) ...all great (IMHDO)

Gonna have to go Master of the Moon here, even tho I don't care much for it, cuz I didn't like Angry Machines at all.

James B. wrote:

Wrecked Neck wrote:

it really is amazing the amount of great music he's been a part of. Such a legend!

I have "The Butterfly Ball And The Grasshopper Feast" (Roger Glover), "Seeds Of Change" (Kerry Livgren), and "S/T", "Carolina County Ball", and "Trying To Burn The Son". (Elf) ...all great (IMHDO)

Damn, that's sweet dude. I don't own any of those!

Angry Machines is going to finish last here. It's probably where it should be, but I've grown a new appreciation for it in the last year since I picked up the Deluxe Edition. It was a product of the times. Tracy G is a good guitar player, he just plays in a style not perfectly suited to Dio's previous style.

People often pick up stuff like "Hunter of the Heart" or, I dunno, "This Is Your Life" as highlights from Angry Machines, but to me the best track is "Stay out of My Mind". It's a proggy piece, and it's heavy. Terribly slow, but that's Dio from "Wolves" to "Machines" era.

Angry Machines is actually among my first exposures to Ronnie James Dio. I was born in 1980, so I missed out his previous glory as it was happening, but I did get on board in the 90's and after the obvious Holy Diver, my first Dio CD, and maybe Dream Evil, I ended up borrowing the Angry Machines CD from the local public library, as it was brand new at the time. I HATED it. I thought it was rubbish. Absolute trash. This was probably the summer of '97 when Stratovarius' Visions came out. I was comparing it to what local new bands were doing, and it was no comparison. Amorphis, Nightwish, Children of Bodom were the shit, and old farts like Dio belonged in the past.

Magica came out in 2000 and I bought it new, not expecting much, but I LOVED it. It was real nice, classic Dio sounding material. As for Angry Machines, I didn't give it much credit even after I ended up buying the entire catalogue of Dio, and loving it all. It took me awhile to accept it. And understanding that American music scene was not the same as in Finland, where metal was basically mainstream. American acts had to conform to what was selling. My childhood heroes all faded. Anthrax started to sound like Alice in Chains, Slayer turned into metalcore or something, hot rockin' glam bands turned into "blues" and so on.

Angry Machines is a different face of Dio, and I've since grown to appreciate having this piece of art in my collection. How much more boring would his catalogue be without Angry Machines?

I simply voted for Angry Machines because it’s Dio’s ugly duckling. It’s unique in a awkward way. Basically it sounds like Dio singing for Tracy G’s former band WWIII.

I had Master of the Moon years ago from Walmart, but it bored the hell out of me! At least he had Iommi’s riffs on The Devil You Know.