Holy Diver Songs Ranked
Holy Diver is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Dio, released in 1983. Vocalist Ronnie James Dio had just finished his first tenure in Black Sabbath, whose drummer, Vinny Appice, he took with him to put together his own band. The roster was completed by his former bandmate from Rainbow, Jimmy Bain, on bass and by the young guitarist Vivian Campbell, coming from the new wave of British heavy metal band Sweet Savage. The album was acclaimed by the music press and is the band’s most successful effort. The album art is illustrated by Randy Berrett. It features the band’s mascot Murray, a demonic creature, pulling or whipping a snapped metal chain and a man wearing a Catholic priest’s attire flailing and splashing around in a body of water, wrapped up and locked in the other end of the broken chain. Dio was quick to argue that appearances are misleading, that it could just as easily be a priest killing a devil, wanting people not to “judge a book by its cover”. Here are all of Holy Diver songs ranked.
Don’t miss out on the hard rock music of Dio! Click and check out their cool cover art!
9. Shame on the Night
“Interesting placement of the track, for the last song of the album. Maybe it was to leave you thinking, I still havnt figure out. Sort of slower paced guitar in this song, intended to create a scarier sound. I like the wolf howls at the start of the song, they really set the mood. Pretty decent song.”
8. Invisible
“Really slow paced song. Guess you could call it the ballad on the album. Haunting vocals. The guitar is somewhat distorted here, creating a very unique sound. Probably my least favorite on the album, but still worth hearing, you may like it.”
7. Gypsy
“Not my favorite off of this album, but still a pretty good song. Strong vocals here. Even though its not my favorite, its still a decent song. If you love metal music and want to learn more about the classics, you can barely do better than this album.”
See more: Dio Albums Ranked
6. Straight Through the Heart
“Killer drum beat at the very start of the song, really good riff. For a time, this was my favorite Dio song. Not as strong of vocals as in Gypsy, but stronger than Holy Diver. Really good tune to headbang too.”
5. Caught in the Middle
“I must say that it is my personal favorite of the album: don’t ask me why, I honestly don’t know; it is a departure, for sure, since its melodies are somewhat more “cheerful” than the rest, but I absolutely love it, as it also showcases a different side of Vivian’s playing, proving that there’s more to him than just shredding for the sake of shredding (as was the custom back in the 80’s).”
4. Stand Up and Shout
“Good opening song. Pretty fast faced, hard hitting song. Its mainly about self expression and letting yourself be heard, you just have to try. A good motivational song, and the sound gets your blood flowing. Really powerful sound, pretty good song.”
See more: Dio Songs Ranked
3. Don’t Talk to Strangers
“Starts off very soft, smooth, and beautiful sound. It makes you think its going to be a ballad, but quickly kicks into high gear. It slows down again later in the song. Even though at parts its fast paced, this is a fairly slow song, and a really great track.”
2. Rainbow in the Dark
“The song that made me a fan of Dio. Probably his most famous song too, killer vocals, awesome keyboard intro, beast guitar, loud drums… this song could be an anthem of how metal should sound. You havnt heard metal till you’ve heard this song.”
1. Holy Diver
“The title track. One of the greatest song’s I have ever heard. Hands down, this is a metal masterpiece. A haunting intro, a great riff, and killer vocals, this song does what many metal songs have tried and failed to do. You can listen to this song 1000000000000 times and still feel the same as you did when you first heard it- in awe.”
In the awesome scheme of things you secure a B- for effort and hard work. Where you actually misplaced me was first in all the particulars. As they say, details make or break the argument.. And it couldn’t be more correct right here. Having said that, allow me inform you exactly what did give good results. Your writing is pretty persuasive and this is most likely the reason why I am making the effort in order to comment. I do not make it a regular habit of doing that. Second, while I can certainly see a leaps in logic you come up with, I am not necessarily convinced of how you seem to connect the points which produce the conclusion. For the moment I shall subscribe to your position but hope in the near future you connect your dots much better.