a Rainbow in the Dark

When there's lightning - you know it always brings me down
Cause it's free and I see that it's me - Who's lost and never found
I cry out for magic - I feel it dancing in the light
It was cold - I lost my hold
To the shadows of the night

No sign of the morning coming
You've been left on your own
Like a Rainbow in the Dark
a Rainbow in the Dark

Do your demons - do they ever let you go
When you've tried - do they hide - deep inside
Is it someone that you know

You're just a picture - You're an image caught in time
We're a lie - you and I
We're words without a rhyme

There's no sign of the morning coming
You've been left on your own
Like a Rainbow in the Dark
Just a Rainbow in the Dark

When I see lightning - you know it always brings me down
Cause it's free and I see that it's me - Who's lost and never found
Feel the magic - I feel it floating in the air
But it's fear - and you'll hear - It calling you beware
Look out

There's no sign of the morning coming
There's no sight of the day
You've been left on your own
Like a Rainbow
Like a Rainbow in the Dark
Yeah
You're a Rainbow in the Dark
Just a Rainbow in the Dark

rest in peace ... the voice

Diamonds

Diamonds, the best of Dio. not a bad one, really. I actually bought it because i could not dig into Dio's firs opus: Holy diver, except for 3 indispensable songs: holy diver, don't talk to strangers and rainbow in the dark, of course.
A nice track addition: hide in the rainbow.
But all of them, obviously were here, so i decided for not a bad price to get it.
I would have preferred a double record with a nice booklet...

9/10 great to have

Final Vinyl

This one is a compilation. 2LP. And I purchased it because I adored (and I still do) Rainbow.

Disc: 1
1. Spotlight Kid
2. I Surrender
3. Miss Mistreated
4. Street of Dreams
5. Jealous Lover
6. Can't Happen Here
7. Tearin' Out My Heart
8. Since You Been Gone
9. Bad Girl

Disc: 2
1. Difficult to Cure
2. Power
3. Man on the Silver Mountain
4. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll
5. Weiss Heim

Bad girl is the only significative b-side version which I didn't have and, performed by Graham Bonnet at vocals and jealous lover performed by Joe Lynn Turner. Some others are live.
absolutely no indispensable.

Strangely enough there is no song from Rising!.

8/10 just nice to have

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

For me it is the weakest from Rainbow, however i cant give it less than 9 in a 10 scale.

The temple of the king, man on the silver mountain, catch the rainbow, greensleeves...

But lifes not a wheel
With chains made of steel
So bless me come the dawn
Come the dawn

Well, maybe it is a mellower record, and it was basically Elf band without their original guitar player plus Ritchie. The band got 'professional' with their next opus Rising.


9/10 nice to have

Long Live RNR

This is a mythical record, as well as Rising.
from Dio era, there are 2 songs which can define it. One was Stargazer and the other one is in this record: Gates of Babylon. this song absolutely blows you away with its oriental styled melody ...

Move closer to me
I can make you anyone
I think youre ready to see
The gates to babylon

This record is rythmical but very melodic, and you can appreciate Dio's lyrics at maximum.
The intense Kill the king, long live rnr, la connection and the beautiful ballad (yes!, dio performing a ballad) Rainbow eyes.

It is well known Ritchie wanted to become a little bit commercial, or maybe he got tired from epic- fantasy theme... question is Dio went out to join Black Sabbath and the epic Rainbow period finished beginning the more commercial approach with Down to earth

For me, i love all classic Rainbow periods, that is 76-84

10/10 classic status

Rainbow rising

If you'd select the most significant record from Rainbow, probably you'd take rising. The cover is terrific, brilliant and powerful. And the music follows it.
The song above them all, Stargazer. One of the best epic songs ever done. All the song shines uniquely with Dio's voice and Blackmore's guitar out of this world.
Tarot woman, do you close your eyes, a light in black, run with the wolf and starstruck.
Only 6 songs in the records making history and influencing a whole generation... in 1977!

A very nice rendition of stargazer (Astronomo) is done by Barilari (Rata Blanca) -with lyrics changed to sing in spanish-

10/10 classic status

Heaven and Hell

I did never like Black Sabbath. Until i knew that Ronnie James Dio played too. Then I bought this record, because a friend of mine told me: "you're gonna like it". "Sure?" I answered, "Not a doubt" he replied.
It only has 8 songs and there was no f**ckin' booklet, just the words:

The world is full of kings and queens
Who blind your eyes and steal your dreams
It's heaven and hell

Which later I recognized in the title track. The album is a monstruous achievement. 4 awesome outstanding songs:
heaven and hell, neon knights, children of the sea and die young, maybe my favourite, but it is hard to tell.
The other ones are good ones, but these four are known to every metal head proud to be.

The riffs came from Tony Iommi, but they seem to be out from hell, Ronnie James Dio's voice was majestic and powerful, and composition and lyrics just fit in.

10/10 brilliant.Timeless.

Dream Evil

Dream Evil was the confirmation ronnie would make great songs instead of great records. do not get me wrong, i love Ronnie James Dio, even went to see him on tour (the last in live) and I really love his records, but the most complete he did was the last in line. Then he is able to make 2 or 3 outstanding songs per record, but that is not enough from all of us who love him since his Rainbow and Black Sabbath history...
The best songs here are dream evil, night people, and the epic ballad All the fools sailed away, which by the way is not enough well-known song. This 7-minute epic ballad is outstanding, and it should get more recognition than it had.

7/10 nice to have

Sacred Heart

After getting The Last in Line, Sacred Heart become a bit deception. However, Sacred Heart contains one of the greatest rock songs that ronnie ever penned: RNR children. Also there are 2 great songs: sacred heart and hungry for heaven... but sincerely, for the rest of the song i could not dig into them.
King of rnr, even dedicated to Ozzy was not my cup of tea, so the rest. Finding the last in line so melodic from the beginning till the end, this one was just deception.
Anyway it will get high punctuation since it has really outstanding classic songs.

8/10 nice to have

holy dio

actually this is the best way of giving the fans what they want. a real tribute record, double one. paying tribute to 'the voice' metal talkin', in elf, rainbow, black sabbath and dio 'the band'
performers are people who love his legacy, and it is the way it should be...
blind guardian, doro, catch the rainbow, gamma ray, hammerfall, stratovarius, axel rudi pell, enola gay, primal fear and yngwie malmsteen are amongst the performers, so quality of the songs is amazing.
booklet is nice with words from all the bands are cds are nice too.
amongst the favourites, heaven and hell, kil the king, egypt, rainbow eyes and don't talk to strangers.
few more words are really needed...

9/10 for attitude and quality obtained. nice to have.

The last in Line

Another old one ... i remember i still was studying, and it was a present for Christmas. :-)

It is my favourite from Ronnie James

9 songs, not a weak one. In my opinion, it is stronger than their debut Holy diver, though this one seems to be more appreciated. Ok, I love don't talk to strangers and a rainbow in the dark, but this one is much more melodic & epic...
We rock, a strong rocker initiates the record and then we go to the title track,

we'll know for the first time
if we're evil or divine
we're the last in line

Breathless and I speed at night and strong rockers too, and then we go to the precious middle time one night in the city, a long time favourite of mine (time ago my sister helped me to figure out the lyrics, by the way, why the hell the records do not bring the lyrics!!) a nice story, a nice song ...
Evil eyes and eat your heart out are not so awesome to me, but mistery is better, and finally we arrive to the best way to close the record, with a song in the vein of the timeless gates of Babylon: Egypt, the chains are on, in which the hebrew slaves theme is brought here brilliantly, what a song, incredible. It seems that the cover art is based on, isn't it? Doro made a version in the dio tribute quite good.

10/10 brilliant

Humanary Stew

A tribute to Alice Cooper.
Well, that's is what i call a kiLler tribute record. Great rock stars paying homage to one of the greatest rock stars on earth. The dirty diamonds tour concert on which I was there :-) was incredible. Alice did not stop at all during the whole concert, and the theater part was incredible...

So, this is under my wheels by Def Leppard, school's out by Megadeth (please understand me, if i say marty friedman and dave mustaine, i mean megadeth's main part), Ronnie James Dio in welcome to my nightmare (impossible to choose a better song), black widow (Iron Maiden, in which bruce gives the intro the atmospherical way), and also we can mention Paul Gilbert, Glenn Hughes, Dokken, LA guns, Dee Snider, Zakk Wilde, Slash, Duff ... and in the rhythm guitar Bob Kulick -one of the mastermind behind this project- ... So if this is not a killer record filled up with stars, what is it?

10/10 shining