Various Artists

Ronnie James Dio: This is Your Life

Rhino Records

When I first heard about this album, I immediately thought about the myriad of “tribute” albums that Deadline Records did in the early 00’s. Very few of them were even close to mediocre despite the fact that they were loaded with A and B list musical heroes.

 Fortunately, we are treated hear to mostly full band versions of DIO and DIO era Black Sabbath tunes. Artists as varied as Tenacious D. Anthrax, Scorpions, Doro, KSE, and Metallica all appear here as do a few collaborations that feature artists like Corey Taylor and Glenn Hughes alongside many of the previous DIO band members. Basically, only Vivian Campbell is absent here, but that was to be expected right?

Most of these songs are solid and that surprised me quite a bit. Some we have heard before like Adrenaline Mob’s amazing cover of “The Mob Rules” and KSE’s “Holy Diver,” which turned the heads of quite a few younger metalheads towards DIO. Both are highlights here for sure, which is why they stood out originally as well. The Corey Taylor/Ray Mayorga/Satchel/Christian Martucci/Jason Christopher take on my favorite DIO song, “Rainbow in the Dark” is a blood pumper as well. Why can’t Taylor sing like that in Slipknot?!

Meanwhile, collaborations on “I,” “Catch the Rainbow,” and “Man On the Silver Mountain” don’t fare quite as well. Many former DIO members are featured on them but it just lacks the spark of the originals. The same goes for the Metallica’s “Ronnie Rising Medley” unfortunately, although what it lacks in spark and builds back with sheer energy. For me, the best moment comes from Ronnie James Dio’s longtime friend Doro. Her heartfelt version of “Egypt (The Chains Are On)” is beautiful, epic, and haunting, just the way RJD would have liked it I’m sure.

The album ends with a stunning moment by DIO, which doubles as the title track for the album. It’s a perfect ending but I’m not going to go into why here as it’s something every fan should experience for themselves. While this is a solid tribute album, it’s still a tribute album that will leave fans wanting to dig out their old DIO albums.