Dio Songs Ranked
Dio was an American heavy metal band formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Dio left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member Vinny Appice, the band’s drummer. The name Dio was chosen because it made sense from a commercial standpoint, as the name was already well known at that time. The band released ten studio albums and had numerous line-up changes over the years with Dio himself being the only constant member. Guitarists included Vivian Campbell, Craig Goldy, Doug Aldrich, Warren DeMartini, Tracy G, Jake E. Lee, and Rowan Robertson. The band dissolved in 2010 when Ronnie James Dio died of stomach cancer at the age of 67. Dio has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide. Here are all of Dio’s songs ranked.
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20. Just Another Day (Sacred Heart, 1985)
“Not among Dios best known songs, but this track off of the latter half of Sacred Heart has a killer opening riff and never fails to please the ears”
19. Fever Dreams (Magica, 2000)
“This song has a dooming riff, awesome lyrics, and vocals, and is simple THE song to show someone when they say that Dio’s solo career sucked, maybe except the first two albums.”
18. Dream On (This Is ’80s Hair Metal, 2003)
“Arguably the best cover ever made. It also has elite shredder Yngwie Malmsteen doing his work beautifully. They do this Aerosmith song in such a brilliant way that it tops the original”
17. Kill the King (On Stage, 1977)
“This song is the best Ronnie James Dio song and at Rainbow because of the melody, the speed, the way Dio songs, because of everything, its perfect.”
16. Caught in the Middle (Holy Diver, 1983)
“This is a massively underrated song. It has a great Guitar line great lyrics and a great solo. Most memorable melody and far too underrated.”
15. Mystery (The Last in Line, 1984)
“This song is so special and mysterious, but it pretends to shed light to the mysteries, opening the minds and advising that “It’s always a mystery, not what it seems to be” recommending us not to be confident in this strange live where we live. And it does it perfectly with excellent lyrics and excellent keyboard parts such as they do in Rainbow In The Dark.”
13. This Is Your Life (Ronnie James Dio – This Is Your Life, 2014)
“This one of most favorite Dio song, this song is so beautiful! Ronnie did a amazing job with this song, it has also made a point, like this is your life you are not going to be here forever, do what you desire and be happy”
12. Vooodoo (Mob Rules, 1981)
“This is from the Black Sabbath album The Dio Years. This is a great song. It’s somewhat dark like Black Sabbath and it’s got the killer voice of Ronnie James Dio. But overall, it’s just a great song.”
11. Strange Highways (Strange Highways, 1993)
“Come on, this has such a doomed-to-death feel to it, such a powerful song, the tempo, vocals, everything. Astounding song. It has a dirty slow pace which just works so well for it”
10. Dream Evil (Dream Evil, 1987)
“This song’s lyrics include rainbows and dreams and it has a keyboards and a robotic/distorted voice effect — that’s pure 80’s DIO. I lost a bet that this song was on one of the A Nightmare on Elm Street soundtracks.”
9. All the Fools Sailed Away (Dream Evil, 1987)
“A seven minute masterpiece that has yet to be outdone by any artist. The mood changed, the weird keys in the middle.. All amazing”
8. Egypt (The Chains are On) (The Last in Line, 1984)
“I always think of aliens because the people called them the strange ones because they have never seen anything like them before. Plus the magic they mentioned could be advanced technology the primitive people of earth had no knowledge of at the time. The aliens could have easily have enslaved Egypt. Using the people tirelessly explains why they prayed just to end each day so they wouldn’t die of being worked to death. It mentions the sand whispering, so due to their being worked to death they probably started to hallucinate coming to sail on my golden sea probably means to die and be free from their alien slavers.”
7. We Rock (The Last in Line, 1984)
“Amazing Riff, hard and fast drums, and an unbelievable voice. Do u need more? Awesome tempo, nice and thrashy and proves Dio makes some of the best ever metal”
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6. Stand Up and Shout (Holy Diver, 1983)
“It’s a great song about self confidence, you should never be discourage, you got the power and desire, so you can do it. A great song for me to cheers up when I’m a little discourage.”
5. Lock Up the Wolves (Lock Up the Wolves, 1990)
“Classic DIO.. If your a fan of DIO this is a good one.. I believe the guitarist is really young like 18 or so when this album came out.. I remember having it on cassette. Yeah, the guitarist was his first album with DIO. I’d have to look it up to see what his name was and he’s talented.. fits right in with the rest of DIO’s body of work. “
4. Don’t Talk to Strangers (Holy Diver, 1983)
“Its about overprotective parents, and how stupid that is. “Don`t talk to strangers cause their only there to do you harm” well how are you gonna get to know other people? “Don’t dance in darkness You may stumble and you’re sure to fall” that’s typical parent stuff. its meant to make parents see that their kids should be put in the real world, and not be afraid of everything.”
3. The Last in Line (The Last in Line, 1984)
“Holy divers got the better riff. But this is the better song. Probably the greatest heavy metal song of all time. Awesome vocals, great story telling, tempo changes, its got it all.”
2. Rainbow in the Dark (Holy Diver, 1983)
“Excellent Guitar and sound effects. It will always be my favorite Dio song of all time. Thanks Ronnie James and the entire Dio band. Definitely the most amazing song by Ronnie James Dio. A great song anyone would enjoy hearing again and again.”
1. Holy Diver (Holy Diver, 1983)
“This Dio classic is on its right position. This song is an epic heavy metal song and it features a ‘Dioan’ style of singing and the guitar riffs and solo are very excellent. Don’t forget the drum beats heard around the song. Dio is at his best in this song. Rock On.”
