10. Dio - Holy Diver (1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkysjcs5vFU As one of frontmen for Black Sabbath, Rainbow and his self-titled project, Ronnie James Dio has definitely earned his Top 10 position on this list. A far more refined vocalist than Black Sabbath probably needed, it was when he was running the show for himself that Dio excelled. So when he headed off into solo territory after a couple of years spent playing yes-man to Tony Iommi, he flourished. A charismatic leader and talented writer, he surrounded himself with a solid team to record Holy Diver in 1983, the album widely regarded as Dio's best work across all of his projects. There will be parallels drawn between this and Ozzy's debut, purely because both artists where out to prove that they could make it without the Black Sabbath name backing them up. Dodgy album cover art aside (to be fair, this was eighties metal€ dodgy cover art was par for the course), Holy Diver turned out to be the more accomplished album in the classic metal sense without veering off into eighties synth melodrama as we saw with Blizzard of Ozz. It was also the musical peak of Dio's solo career - a chunk of vintage metal which lives on after the legend's sad passing.
Henry Dowling
Contributor
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
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