Dio - Holy Diver

Released in 1983, this album got played and played and played by me. Ronnie James Dio was my hero all through the '80's. I remember going into Birmingham to HMV to buy the single Holy Diver on the day of its release. Things were so different back then, Steve Vaughn, Pete Sarson and myself would get the bus into town pretty much every Saturday to hang out and check out the record shops. HMV, Reddingtons Rare Records, Virgin Megastore etc. You could go into HMV and they would have a list of forthcoming new releases. No Spotify, No websites. Everything was much more exciting, there is no anticipation or surprises anymore. We either found things out via magazines like Kerrang or listened to the Friday Rock Show on radio 1 with Tommy Vance. 'B' sides were another thing that you don't get anymore. The #'B' Side of Holy Diver was a track called Evil Eyes, which at the time was previously unreleased. So it was a real bonus. The second album 'Last in Line' had a different version on it, and it was several years later before the 'B' side version was  by available anywhere else. As I said a real bonus. Anyway the album is superb from start to finish. When I heard about Ronnie James Dio passing away in 2010, I was genuinely gutted, as his music had played such a big part in my life.

Submitted by Steve White

Buy the album: Dio - Holy Diver
Website: https://www.ronniejamesdio.com/