![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/gillan5.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey.jpg)
A song about castles and crossbows
Meanwhile, Classic Rock reviews another family box set — Rainbow’s The Temple Of The King 1975-76:
The tour rehearsal material, for all its historical value, is ruined by too much bass and distortion. But across six live discs – with just a little overlap with the band’s 1977 album On Stage – there is much for Rainbow connoisseurs to savour, including stunning performances of Stargazer and Do You Close Your Eyes.
As Dio himself said, with some satisfaction: “Ritchie and I wrote some really wonderful things”.
Read more in Louder Sound.
Get Ready to Rock has a much more in-depth review of the offering, including some quotes from Cozy Powell:
After the breakup of Strange Brew in 1975, Cozy Powell had quit the music industry and was tempted back by the Rainbow audition. And Cozy once told me: “Yes, I was number 80, or 77 or something like that. I’ve heard some funny stories about Ritchie being difficult with drummers.
Apparently this one guy came along, set the drum kit up, looked the part, got his suitcase out and changed next to the kit with this all black kind of outfit and black gloves. Eventually gets up and says he’s ready and Ritchie says ‘Get rid of him’. This poor guy doesn’t even play a note. I remember that audition. I got a phonecall on the Wednesday night from my tour manager and got the plane to L.A. in the morning.
Off the plane, check into the hotel and straight down to the audition, no time no nothing and a kit I’ve never even seen before. There were about 100 people in this sound stage looking at me like a golden boy they’ve just flown over from England at great expense. The first thing he said to me was ‘Can you play a shuffle?’ How about this and BANG! started playing this shuffle and 20 minutes later ‘You’ve got the job”.
Read more in Get Ready to Rock.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Alas, we can always count on Classic Rock Magazine / Louder to abide by the Bare Minimum Effort Act and provide only the most cursory treatment of Rainbow (and larger Deep Purple extended family-related) product. After having witnessed close to three decades of same, CRM has once again demonstrated optimal energy conservation – saving appreciable quantities of its best ink with a view to preserving its legacy as the ultimate Zep fan-boy magazine (with reserve tanks filled with adulation for close second placers AC/DC). What say ye Valhalla?
Kudos to Get Ready To Rock for actually making an effort to giving a proper overview of the Rainbow package, providing some colour and even digging up some interview material. Now that’s the way these things should be done.
March 10th, 2026 at 02:59Nice to read that the remastering here seems to be an improvement too. Universal’s past remasters of Rainbow material were nothing to write home about. Lackluster.
March 10th, 2026 at 03:21My brother has picked this set up for my birthday… naturally, as many have said elsewhere, nothing new but it’s a lovely looking box and has reduced the number of jewel cases in my collection slightly… I’m keen to hear the new ‘masters’ but don’t hold out much hope I’ll be blown away… I utterly adore the Dio era of Rainbow 🌈 and will buy the next box hopefully covering On Stage and LLRnR! 🎸 speaking of which I stumbled across this yesterday… from 7:20 is rather sublime… doubt we’ll get a ‘clean’ version of the isolated strings ever released, but this is well done and beautiful with it:-
https://youtu.be/1bgyI56gUmY?si=PsooZgdLVZGJffTq
Dio in isolation – wow, breathtaking.
That channel is pretty cool, lots of isolated Purple tracks… if you’re into that kind of thing, which clearly I am.
March 10th, 2026 at 08:27Thanks for posting Kosh, all the components sound strong on their own. Some people considered Rainbow Eyes twee at the time, not me, it’s a lovely piece of music.
I thought it particularly nasty of ole Ritchie to – after a vocal performance such as this one – mock Ronnie’s “little girlie voice” (Ritchie’s words, not mine) as a reason why Rainbow had to make the change to singers with a huskier passaggio and falsetto voice than what RJD could offer. It is true that Ronnie sounded more folk than rock when he sang really high, but on Rainbow Eyes his high voice fitted beautifully.
I always felt that Ronnie’s gentle high voice had real charm on a track like this one here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMZP8XcCfLo
He should have used it more often.
March 10th, 2026 at 17:06Gormless review by classic rock. The live gigs never available before. Utter nonsense.
March 10th, 2026 at 17:32I hear you DeeperPurps and that article sits at present next to another AC-DC story, a review of their ‘If You Want Blood, You’ve Got It’ album (the only album of theirs I ever owned) and as we know AC-DC supported Rainbow around that time and Uwe was there wasn’t he, how ironic. I wonder which band Uwe was there for, the mind boggles. Also on the humorous side in regard to the Rainbow review, have they headlined that in respect to our ‘erstwhile’ Mr Uwe Hornung? Castles and crossbows indeed. Although if they had mentioned dragons and spells etc, that would have really pushed the nail in a little bit further, so to speak. Cheers.
March 10th, 2026 at 21:41When AC/DC opened for Rainbow in Germany in 1976, none of their Australia-only albums had even yet been released in Deutschland (that only happened in the weeks thereafter) – they were a completely unknown quantity and not announced by name on either the gig posters or the tickets, both just stated “+ Vorprogramm” (= opening act).
I remember AC/DC as harsh-sounding, there was little warmth to their music and their riffage – unlike Status Quo’s at the time, the band they were compared to most often back then – didn’t really flow to my ears, it also lacked Quo’s jaunty pop element (and Francis Rossi’s trademark penchant for folksy solos in major keys where most other guitarists would play a minor blues scale). People were bewildered by Angus’ schoolboy uniform – we don’t have school uniforms in Germany – and the audience reaction to them was polite, but largely indifferent. AC/DC’s set already contained High Voltage Rock’n’Roll, It’s A Long Way To The Top, The Jack and TNT (I distinctly remember all those songs being played, it was my first rock gig ever, my dad waited outside the hall with his Opel Commodore for me and my friend Markus).
Years later I saw AC/DC as a now headliner – on that last fateful tour with Bon before he died a few weeks later. But I only went for the opening act: Judas Priest (that tour with the Aussies gave JP quite some exposure in Germany and they would never be an opening act here again except recently when they were special guests for the Scorpions’ 50th year anniversary celebratory gig in their home city of Hannover).
Fast forward a few decades and the last time I saw AC/DC was on the Black Ice Tour, filling by now the largest halls available in Germany. I just went for the heck of it and to explore the phenomenon once more. Nothing much had changed except that Johnson doesn’t have Scott’s leering street urchin charm. Again, I found myself getting impatient after about three songs into the set. There is too little happening musically for me in AC/DC to hold my attention for longer and their music in larger doses still sounds to me like rock music must sound to you if you don’t really like rock music, I can’t help it.
But I accept that I am in a minority on this!
March 11th, 2026 at 10:03@4 – my pleasure, looks like it’s a new channel and like I said, well done in spite of the occasional muddy moment… I’ve always dreamt of hearing the Stargazer strings, prior to (as Ritchie said) all the embellishments and flourishes were removed/wiped… sigh… Alas the masters are seemingly no more and that’s that I suppose.
I agree re Dio and the ‘girly’ voice comments… his technique on ‘Eyes is sublime, plain and simple and the harmony parts, where Ronnie harmonises with himself… it’s a beautiful moment, haunting even heard on it’s own… my wife can’t believe how brilliant Ronnie was and she’s no heavy rocker… but loves the ballads… if only Ritchie had realised what he had on his hands… hey ho, it wasn’t to be and we all came back to earth with a thump, ahem.
March 11th, 2026 at 11:58Ritchie wanted someone who could do rousing power ballads, the kind of radio fodder/housewives rock (this is gonna get me into trouble again … 😇) with anthemic chorus parts. This Dio could not (and probably also did not want to) do. Neither Temple of the King nor Catch the Rainbow nor Rainbow Eyes – the only “soft” songs Diobow ever did – fall into the power ballad bracket.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jhocSCSZzk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3Pr1_v7hsw
You need a certain type of voice to do this stuff credibly. I’m not belittling Foreigner, they were masters at their craft and Lou Gramm’s range was made for FM radio.
March 11th, 2026 at 17:51Agree regarding Dio’s vocal and he as I have stated before was much more than a ‘heavy metal’ singer. In fact I will go further, heavy metal, hard rock and rock ‘n roll actually got in his way in that aspect. Sure that was his career as such eventually, but seriously Ronnie was and could have been a more diverse vocalist in other genres no problems at all. The same with Coverdale too and no doubt many other vocalists. That damn rock music and the allegiance with the dark side eh? Look how Coverdale ruined his voice and his personality too carrying on the way he did. Faust again eh? ‘I will give you your fame etc, but at a cost, you do understand that don’t you?’ They sold their soul for rock ‘n roll. Even we as followers of the dreaded rock ‘n roll music have done that in certain aspects. Look at myself and Uwe Hornung, brought up as strict Catholics, then plunging into an abyss of, well we know where we have ventured in our craving for the fix of rock music, he he he. Even Karin has surrendered her soul to rock ‘n roll. Oh hang on, never the twain shall meet. Cheers.
March 11th, 2026 at 21:32But Ronnie WAS diverse with Elf! But even here at the HS I get the feeling that no one seems to appreciate that band which played a nicely balanced mix of various styles, yet had an immediately identifiable sound. No one ever here says something positive about Elf.
He shrunk his style down first with Rainbow – that is when the fantasy storyteller came in with a suitable dramatic voice, a recipe used for each and every song – and then again with Black Sabbath and finally even more with Dio. Everything had to have the same amount of larger-than-life grandeur, his voice lost all lightheartedness which I so much dug with Elf.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJX4zb_ZHSE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYx8349nzbE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsZbBaduJOU
To my ears, his vocal style became samey for no good reason other than to conform slavishly to the image of a Tolkienesque figure/raconteur. I would have preferred him as a Bob Seger singing about US everyday life, a gas station in Cortland, NY, Steinbeckesque stuff like that, he had the voice for it.
Speaking of Elf, Mickey Lee Soule was a real asset to that band. I know, he didn’t consider himself a Hammond or synth player which brought his stints with Rainbow and IGB to early halts, but I thought his Ragtime/Boogie Woogie piano playing great and very infectuous. This will get me killed, but I think he was a stronger and more natural rock (not classical!) pianist than Jon (to his defense: Jon was always humble about his rock piano playing). Maybe those American genes … Mickey could have done well with Lynyrd Skynyrd.
March 11th, 2026 at 23:08@10
MacGregor, you write:
“Look how Coverdale ruined his voice and his personality too carrying on the way he did.” – ohh how did he ruin his personality?☺️
I know sadly about his pretty voice (because it was pretty when he was younger, I mean, listen to this:
https://youtu.be/PisYnh1oAV4?is=KHMiB7DWPJwqvNee
It is pure pearls in my head 🤩)
– but his personality?
And then you say: “Even Karin has surrendered her soul to rock ‘n roll.”
– “even” me? 😂😂. Well, I was NOT brought up as a catholic, but yes since you mention it: rather an honest sinner than a religious hypocrite 😃
In my humble opinion rock can do as much and in the same way as a lot of the posh classical music can!
And don’t get me wrong, I love most classical music, however this is not the forum to be gushing about it 😊
But if I may, I would like to link this little gem to you:
https://youtu.be/4Tr0otuiQuU?is=NDeFwER6LWRaCOHI
Uhhhh 😍 chills down my spine 😊
And this:
https://youtu.be/o_Go1ah3Vds?is=EcEdigyAoX3wWTE-
But to me there is some sadness here, so I guess that is why rock is a lot easier to digest.
And to be honest, not much can beat these fine gentlemen here:
https://youtu.be/lHyh9KivrEQ?is=WJHT82TGeZ_J-keO
(Love both songs so much 🤩)
So my poor soul is ok, I guess…. How about yours 🙏🏼
March 11th, 2026 at 23:52This is even worse, since when did Ritchie look like Johnny Marr of The Smiths?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/etZsNlQs9Wk
I do like Ronnie’s fabricated 1976 Rainbow look especially! Oops, two decades too early … 🤣
March 12th, 2026 at 01:49@7 Hear hear ! finally a kindred spirit in the corner of the bar that does not and never will get the AC/DC thing… I file them under Def Leppard, who I had the misfortune to see a few years back on a bill alongside (if memory serves) Thin Lizzy (the remnants of) and Whitesnake prior to DC totally losing his chops… Anyway, after two songs I was meh, after four I was firmly in the “make this stop, I’m already dead camp…” Now, the lads in Leppard are nice blokes, Joe Elliot a spot on Sheffield lad who has retained his wonderful Yorkshire accent, take note DC and Glenn ahem… but, when he starts the “Do you wanna get rocked?” stuff – I’m headed for the bar never to return…
AC/DC – now, I’ve never seen them, I like some of the Scott era tunes in isolation… Some of the Johnson stuff too, but I can’t find any (and I mean any) emotional depth to the music… And boy do I need emotional depth, see Mistreated, Rainbow Eyes… even Lady Double Dealer… Fools… Blind Man… the varied (and there’s the rub) list goes on ! ! Some of my old school uni mates circa 2001 loved blasting out DC stuff at 2am… I was too busy trying to unravel the mysteries of the intro to the Shed (subtle) and that live version of Mistreated recorded shortly before the Cal Jam on the US tour… still my favourite intro from Blackers… Ritchie bought a depth to proceedings, his presence, his art… DC felt like a two bit puppet show down Margate seafront by comparison.
lol 😉
March 12th, 2026 at 10:00I like Ronnie’s voice and his vocal performances and I do agree that his softer singing was awesome and he should have used it more frequently. While I find ‘Rainbow Eyes’ a bit overstretched and thus boring, I love the bridge in the ‘Country Girl’ from ‘Mob Rules’ and the first part of ‘The Last in Line’.
March 12th, 2026 at 14:31@9 Never thought about that before, but it’s true, RJD didn’t do many power ballads. However, I’d consider All the Fools Sailed Away and As Long as It’s Not About Love as wonderful powerballads. I Could Have Been a Dreamer, Naked in the Rain, Give Her the Gun and The Man Who Would Be King might also fall in that category. Sure, not your typical Foreigner-kind lyrics, but still powerballads in my book.
March 12th, 2026 at 16:20Uwe…to tje rescue: I have always liked the ELF albums a lot. Even got the Mickey Lee Soule EP. Great stuff! And I agree – see Dio on Butterfly Ball – he could do different styles.
March 12th, 2026 at 17:45@ 15- yes indeed that bridge in Country Girl is wonderful, a shame the song overall is rather boring to my ears, but that sublime little piece is grand. There a few others from Ronnie similar to that on the Sabbath albums. The opening to Falling Off The Edge Of The World is another. The song Over and Over is also Ronnie at his emotional best. Cheers.
March 12th, 2026 at 22:37Tilly, there is a rule book and it goes like this: In a real power ballad, the (preferably in a major key) chorus (when the wall of guitars or the great crashing piano chords come in) needs of course to be sung higher than the verse and the bridge! Schmettergesang …
https://youtu.be/l_uh8XjgLTE
https://youtu.be/z92bmlcmyq0
https://youtu.be/aysFE02h77k
https://youtu.be/HshQidqYxjg
https://youtu.be/9BMwcO6_hyA
https://youtu.be/MCOrtJMQmVs
https://youtu.be/1Cw1ng75KP0 (Wimmin can do it too!)
Ronnie neither wrote nor sang like that, he was essentially a low tenor (albeit a very effective one) bordering on a high baritone. Ritchie once observed – when he was still a fan of Ronnie’s voice – that Ronnie approached vocal melodies wholly different from conventional hard rock singers: “Where they go up, Ronnie goes down, he’s weird, no one else does that.”
Of course, Ronnie – in that sense a bit like Paul Rodgers – was a master at crafting his vocal lines in a way they would not backfire on him live. He never overstretched himself live – unlike Graham Bonnet. But his voice just wasn’t an 80s power ballad one, his “girlie voice” when he went up couldn’t carry an anthemic, lighters-on-in-the-stadium chorus, it was too tender and gentle. Ritchie heard REO Speedwagon night for night on the 1978 US tour that did Diobow in and so did Ronnie, but they drew different conclusions from it …
https://youtu.be/wJzNZ1c5C9c
Turnerbow’s final US hits – Stone Cold, Street of Dreams and Can’t Let You Go – all followed the power ballad formula. Ritchie had learned his lesson and Joe was there to sing what he heard in his head.
March 13th, 2026 at 00:17Lookee here … now Father Phil shares words of comfort and encouragement with us re his advance copy of the new 🌈 Bembel of the King
https://bembel-aus-frankfurt.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/20er-bembel-5Liter-Produktbild.jpg
(in my home Hessian idiom, sorry) set too:
https://youtu.be/fu6V47yFA98
Prost!
March 13th, 2026 at 00:36The Elf albums just don’t ignite anything in many people, pretty straight forward really. Why or how are these people going to change their minds, or why should they. If you don’t enjoy something, you simply don’t enjoy it. Then move on and if going back to try again someday, well good luck, that may change ones perception or it may not. Elf the rock band to my ears did not have good songs. Their compositions at that time just didn’t click with so many people. Ronnie James Dio was craving that next step up the ladder, or should that be a few steps up the ladder. That in itself says a lot to me. Cheers.
March 13th, 2026 at 02:37@19 Thanx, that makes sense and I can agree to that; it’s not what Dio did, howerer you may call it. Btw: I’m a fan of almost everything that little man did and been playing the Elf albums quite a lot recently
March 13th, 2026 at 07:56That’s because your dad raised you well, son!
I thought Dio’s (the band’s) sound was often too heavy and solemn a straightjacket for Dio’s voice. Change the music, and his vocal lines sound all of the sudden much more flexible and lively:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhlGa9AH8ws
Great version that is, I like it better than the plodding original.
March 13th, 2026 at 15:31#23: Dio the band a straightjacket for Ronnie? Some of the most iconic rock singing of the 80s can be found on Holy Diver and Last in Line?
March 14th, 2026 at 05:46True Daniel – but then all other albums by Dio decreased in quality! Ronnie never again sounded as variable (yet recognizable) as he did with Elf or on the Butterfly Ball.
Everything about the band Dio, the image, the lyrics, the music was very compartmentalized for a strictly Metal Hammer audience. If you look at how Metallica’s sound and songwriting changed and progressed over time, the artistic risks they have taken with Lulu and St. Anger, how they widened their appeal into the mainstream from humble and pimply speed metal beginnings, there is simply no comparison. Artistically, Ronnie painted himself into a corner in an almost tragic way. I saw no necessity for this given how his indisputable talents would have offered him so much more variety in his output.
March 14th, 2026 at 17:58@ 25 – “Artistically, Ronnie painted himself into a corner in an almost tragic way. I saw no necessity for this given how his indisputable talents would have offered him so much more variety in his output.” I get what you are saying Uwe, but please remember Ronnie had already been there and done that to a degree in the 1960’s into the 70’s. If we take that into account, he was most probably over the trying out of other genres etc. We discussed this a little while ago and the fact that other musicians do a similar thing as do some actors too and also writers etc etc. It is the way of things for certain individuals. It isn’t as if Ronnie started out in hard rock and that was all he did. Cheers
March 15th, 2026 at 21:39No, I think he believed to have found his niche and clung desperately to it, let’s not forget that he was already 33 years old when he hit it semi-big with Rainbow. According to his accounts he did not earn a king’s ransom there and when Sabbath hired him (under better conditions than he had enjoyed with Ritchie), he was already 37 – I accept that there was some pressure there. And if Ritchie fires you because he thinks you can’t do AOR and rule American airwaves, then perhaps you concentrate on what puts food on the table and shun experiments.
March 16th, 2026 at 04:02For all the alleged “variation” Elf didn’t crack the US market, so he jumped at the chance of joining Rainbow. He did go from theaters to arenas on his own with Dio. How is it painting oneself into a corner if it reaches a big audience? It’s not as if his music didn’t change (like AC/DC).
Like many other 70s artists he lost his way in the late 80s (Lock Up the Wolves) but came back strong only a couple of years later with Sabbath’s masterpiece, Dehumanizer. The kind of heavy production/mix you don’t hear anymore.
He followed this up with Strange Highways, which was definitely a departure from Dream Evil. I personally like the “angry” side to Ronnie’s singing just as much as Catch the Rainbow. Dehumanizer and Strange Highways delivered plenty of this, but it doesn’t sound like those albums are your cup of tea.
March 16th, 2026 at 06:17@25 I get your point, but I hear big differences between, say Last in Line / Sacred Heart era with many poppy, almost glam-metal approaches, and Angry Machines, which sounds completely rougher (and yes, I’m referring to the vocals). Or just compare songs like Between Two Hearts (in the intro he almost sounds like he did on Rainbow Eyes), Evilution (pretty rough) and This is Your Life (more of an operatic vocal approach)… and those are all from the same decade.
March 16th, 2026 at 09:23Also, like MacGregor said: Dio already did all those other things, he had a pretty colorful career. He was over 40 years old already when Holy Diver was released…
Daniel and Tilly, I accept that there was some variation in Dio’s solo works and that he went through eras, but it was very limited. I think the guest vocals on Kerry Livgren’s solo album were the last non-fantasy heavy metal studio work Ronnie did.
https://youtu.be/8kgZiy-iu8M
And from then on he ploughed a very narrow path, narrower in my view than, say, Ozzy, who was a much more limited singer and less consummate musician than RJD, but a lot more fearless in exploring other avenues. Ronnie was always concerned about being taken serious and preserving his image even to the point where he disowned Elf (because it didn’t fit his image anymore), saying at one point that “all the Elf albums were good for” was to be “turned into pizza boxes”.
I’m not saying Dio can’t sing (he could, though people tend to overlook that a lot of his style was determined by his limitations, not that there is anything bad in that), did not carve a niche for himself in heavy metal (certainly did and was/is admired by many heavy metal singers) garnering some success in the process or wasn’t devoted to his craft. I just think he had the talent to branch out more into the mainstream, rather than cocooning himself in one genre. When I took a befriended couple to a Frankfurt staging of the Concerto who were totally rock music-oblivious and -averse, their reaction to hearing him sing was : “WHO IS this little guy, he sings great!” (Sorry, Karin, no such comments were made by them about IG! 🤗)
March 16th, 2026 at 21:14What kind of material did you have in mind for him? Love is All was a one hit wonder. I don’t think he was interested in becoming a Phantom of the Opera style singer. How was Ozzy more experimental than Dio? They both used the same formula. Tight band with a star guitar player to elevate them above the masses.
If anything, Dio became more experimental than Ozzy in the mid 90s. “Fantasy heavy metal” is a very broad label that says nothing. And it pays no attention to the fact that Dio’s success was built on great songs and vocals and a new sound produced by a band (Appice/Bain/Campbell) that was hotter than the competition, with the possible exception of Daisley/Aldridge/Rhoads.
March 17th, 2026 at 05:26@30
Uwe, this is not meant as an insult to Dio, and because I have actually been listening to the man over the last couple of days, I honestly think that he would have been wonderful in Phantom of the Opera, and other musicals like that, Gerard Butler did btw a great job there, however Dio would have been better.
I know that Elizabeth (Charismatic voice and nose wrinkler) thinks the world of him, and I’m sure she is much better equipped to talk about voices and their capabilities than I am, but really, he sounds like (or sounded like…) he was straining his voice, and all he could do then was screaming.
So sorry, really don’t wanna insult anybody’s taste in here, this is just my very own and unqualified opinion.
I cannot find in him what so many of you can. And believe me, I’ve tried.
However Ian had and still has so much in him!
Let me explain: when Dio is singing it feels to me like he is giving all he has and that he almost have gone beyond what he has – and for some that is a worth a 🥇, and I’m at peace with that.
When Ian is singing, it has always felt like he gave 75 %, that he had so much more to give… but 75% was more than enough.
I have never heard Pavarotti honour Dio as he did Ian.
Like the diff between Gary and Nuno! Nuno sings nice, however Gary can scream (in a very nice way) the roof off if he wanted to!
Take a listen:
https://youtu.be/FS_rgTWkf94?is=8-gmU0t2xRTnIfZ9
Nuno starts very nice indeed, and the comes along Gary, very casually in the beginning and then he puts the turbo on ☺️
March 17th, 2026 at 06:51That’s how I see the diff between Ian and Dio.
@30 I get what you’re saying to some extent. But what does fantasy heavy metal mean? I guess you’re referring to the lyrics. There we’ve been before. I think the last album Dio did where a majority of the lyrics are fantasy themed is Heaven and Hell (arguably Mob Rules or Holy Diver, all three maybe have 50% fantasy lyrics). One exception is Magica, where he tried to do a full blown fantasy-novel-concept-album. The rest of it maybe has songs here and there in a fantasy vein, but mainly deals with other topics.
March 17th, 2026 at 09:14I think the maybe more variable sound in Ozzys solo career is due to the fact that he used so many different (outside-) songwriters over the years. And Sharon of course knew what to do and who to cooperate with to keep her husband relevant. But in general they both had a heavy rock foundation, flirted with glammetal in the 80s (Last in Line, Sacred Heart / The Ultimate Sin, No Rest for the Wicked), returned to a slower, blues-oriented sound when glam was over (Lock Up the Wolves / No More Tears), did more introspective and depressed lyrics when it was en vouge in the 90s (Dehumanizer, Strange Highways, Angry Machines / Ozzmosis) and flirted with industrial metal sounds (Strange Highways, Angry Machines / Down to Earth), before settling on a back-to-the-roots heavy rock sound in their last years (Magica, Killing the Dragon, Master of the Moon / Black Rain, Scream, Ordinary Man, Patient Number 9).
Ozzy though had more ballads on each album and had hits with them; that much is true.
Karin, in the defense of Dio, I don’t know what you mean with “scream”, to my ears Ronnie never “screamed” ever, not like Robert Halford, Graham Bonnet, Geddy Lee, Lou Gramm, Noddy Holder, Robert Plant or Brian Johnson did and do. Or Ian Gillan even. Ronnie’s vocal style was pretty much anathema to any screaming. I’m really puzzled by this. Actually I think that his inability to scream eventually cost him his job in Rainbow. I cannot think of a single song where he ever screamed.
For starters, Dio’s often baritonish voice is not even high enough for “screaming”, if anything he bellows and roars, he makes his singing voice larger than his speaking voice is, very much a man of nuanced control. There is something theatrical to his voice and it carries great authority.
Now back to you, Daniel! For the life of me, I cannot find what was ‘new’ about the Dio (the band) sound, to me it sounded very much (disappointingly so, I was hoping for a more Rainbow-like sound) like Dio era Sabbath, just more angular and grating at the edges. But then I’m neither a huge fan of Vinnie Appice’s drumming nor of Jimmy Bain’s bass playing, both very heavy-handed.
I’m not sure that I really agree with you about Ronnie being a great songwriter, songs like Heaven & Hell, Holy Diver, The Last In Line and Egypt were all in one mold, “Ronaldo the Italian Chef” cooked with recipes.
What music should he have explored? I agree with you that Love Is All (a cute song – btw with no screaming, Karin! ☝️😎) was a novelty item. But I would have liked more Blues, Soul, Gospe, Folk and more modern day urban themes (musical and lyrical) in his music, a lighter touch in places, not always this solemn and theatrical voice weighing each and every song down. I have mentioned Bob Seger before, a man who also told stories, but about his native Detroit,
https://youtu.be/Xl4fxNHUpvU
not faraway magical
condomskingdoms I meant to say!I actually thought Elf already a pretty darn good mix of various US music influences, an American songbook or musical quilt if you like. I hear more variation in one song such as Prentice Wood:
https://youtu.be/CfBaIkIxqso
than on many a Dio (the band) full album.
Most of all, I missed in his later music the life affirmation Mickey Lee Soule‘s great piano playing and co-songwriting brought.
https://youtu.be/6eFY5xBgwxA
https://youtu.be/XS2NHV6VI2w (You tell me on which post-Elf album Ronnie sang as rhythmically ever again!)
In Dio‘s (the band‘s) realm of overbearing heaviness not even a joyful piano was allowed anymore – everything bowed to musical image in an almost desperate way. The recipe.
March 17th, 2026 at 15:28A coincidental find documenting that a Dio song can be so much more if it’s heavy metal armor is shed …
https://youtu.be/5kQY4NufGTU
March 17th, 2026 at 15:45Well Karin as much as I prefer IG to the late great RJD… I would say it’s the other way round. I have heard IG at the top of his voice, getting out of breath, hoarse, even screeching, reaching for notes that were not always at his command anymore – but I have never heard RJD like that. He seemed to sing with lots of power almost effortless. I adore the way Ian wasn’t afraid to go where it hurts…but yes he had troubles sometimes, especially in the 80s, he had to fight where Dio seemed to.be in perfect command of his voice.
Uwe…I stand with my boy – and Ronald – in this case. Dio did not paint himself into a corner any more than lots of other artists this side of Bowie. Prove: while I really count the first 4 albums of Dio the band among my faves I couldn’t bring myself to listen to all of Angry Machines to this day. And without wanting to get too emotional (lawyers listening) Holy Diver and Last in Line did save my ass when I had to join the army. Those albums are unsurpassed IMHO.
March 17th, 2026 at 22:15Tilly, it‘s not just the lyrics I meant with fantasy, but also how the music always dialed in maximum dramatic impact and tended to be schwerfällig, no lightness there, plus the chain mail/Kettenhemd image. People laugh about Manowar, but Ronnie wasn’t far off except for the assless leather chaps perhaps. I even have trouble telling the covers of the Dio albums apart, it‘s just like with Iron Maiden! 😂
But I’m not denying his natural talent. I just wish he had stretched out with it more.
March 17th, 2026 at 22:41In regards to Karin’s appallingly out of touch comment in regard to Ronnie allegedly ‘screaming’, we must remember these lyrics. “Mother please forgive her, for she knows not what she do”. However as Ozzy did sing that wonderful song on the debut Blizzard of Oz album, we all know where he would be without all the songwriters etc. Still back in 1979 lost and lonely. Not a good comparison that one Uwe. As Tillythemax @ 33 correctly says. I will go further, without all the people holding the strings, Ozzy would have crumpled to the floor and never have gone anywhere. Back to Dio and I didn’t mind that Magica album of Ronnie’s at the time. As I was never into his ‘solo’ output at all, but that one had me interested in a small way at the time. Probably because it was 100% ‘magical’. Uwe will no doubt be rolling his eyes and some. Cheers.
March 17th, 2026 at 23:29It just doesn’t make much sense to me to wish for Dio to have been Bruce Springsteen.
“But I would have liked more Blues, Soul, Gospe, Folk and more modern day urban themes (musical and lyrical) in his music, a lighter touch in places, not always this solemn and theatrical voice weighing each and every song down. ”
I would think that most Dio fans would feel the opposite. That his voice lifted the songs. More than most singers have the ability to do. The key to the success of songs like “I Could Have Been A Dreamer”, “Heaven and Hell”, “Don’t Talk to Strangers”, “Rainbow in the Dark”. The list is endless really. Not a great songwriter?
March 18th, 2026 at 03:38Actually Karin may be a Ronnie James Dio geek after all. Here at the start of the live version of the song Mob Rules there is a scream of sorts. Me thinks it is fake, I remember watching him to see if he would really do that (knowing that he wasn’t into that at all) in 2007, he was standing right in front of me at the time. Staged vocal effects big time is my call on that and we know other lead vocalists get plenty of help with that at times in concerts. So is Karin a Dio aficionado after all? It appears so. That is the BIG Question here folks. Next thing it will be Geddy Lee and so on and so one. Line up all the lead vocalists folks, anyone to replace you know who will suffice. Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTxSNosJrDo&t=37s
March 18th, 2026 at 05:11@34, 35, 36, 38 & 40
Gentlemen! Let me explain 😃 😙
Yes MacGregor, it was actually that song you link to in @40 I was thinking about.
But ok, let’s agree to disagree for a start!
I accept and respect you fine men for liking him!
Is it then ok I cannot stand him?
To return to the colour situation in my poor head: awful colours all around 😱
And if I have to put words into the colour situation:
He sounds, to me at least, like a fallen tenor who needs to work to pay for his hairdresser, no sorry, that was mean… but he sounds not like a rock singer to me, he really really does not. His voice is harsh, unkind, brutal and edgy. And some singers can have that kind of voices and still sound good, he does not 😞
And yes, I have googled him to see what is said about him, and I know I’m in the minority.
Had I just the bare minimum of music understanding I could use much more flashy words to impress you, but sadly I cannot..
All I can say is that if some terrorists one day capture me, and want me to tell all about how the Danish government works, all they have to do is playing Dio’s songs, and I will spill my guts immediately!
He gets on my nerves so much that even the nicest cup of coffee can’t calm me down!
This:
https://youtu.be/2lvs2FzF64o?is=2eL0IFDSjnJfR6Tk
His voice is so sinister, there is absolutely no charms at all in it for me.
And please believe me, it’s not that I haven’t tried to listen to Dio to get to like him, I really have, but my teeth are grinding and my head is hurting 😵💫
I wonder if liking him is a guy thing?
Beate, if you’re reading this: do you like Dio?
Nino, if you’re here still, do you like him?
I have asked around my dear girl friends, and no, not one of them likes him.
However everybody loves Ian!
And no, most of them do not know how the two singers look, so it has nothing to do with appearances!
I don’t know what to say here!
To be accepted and liked a bit I would so much like to say I like his voice, but I don’t 😞
This singer, however, is the fulfilment of all my needs in a voice (well almost…)
https://youtu.be/oGqCCnFxQLU?is=lNVlKoP9GlIaKkKJ
And this:
https://youtu.be/3IrGLvkqUDM?is=45G-ObVEBZCpc5tm
Ohh, and this:
https://youtu.be/hHaJesV-PyY?is=49qJcAVTOEFaMsXN
And I know we really don’t agree on this one, but for me it’s perfection:
https://youtu.be/bLfUu5Bd0uM?is=ahxi6yCyahtO0LaG
Ohh mamma 😃
That voice makes me smile from ear to ear!
My lifespan is not that long anymore, compared to when I was young, and I really don’t wanna spend the last years I have on bad voices 😊
And Max, of course you’re right re Ian, at the Hell or High Water tour Ian really shouldn’t have sung CiT. It was horrible! 😝
But still, I prefer Ian in the 90s singing CiT compared to any song from Dio.
In Denmark when I was a kid, we had this singer:
https://youtu.be/aO05rug-UW0?is=AyYJPbBY4HRjX91I
Her name is Grethe Klitgaard, and I guess you dear HS readers really don’t get my point, but her voice is exactly as horrible to me as the voice of Dio.
If nobody of you ever want to regard me as a faithful member in here, I will be sad, but otoh: I am honest, even if it costs me to be kicked out of here or just ignored big time 🥺
March 18th, 2026 at 10:17That scream is untypical for Ronnie, true.
Daniel, you have a point with your Springsteen argument. It’s something Ronnie did obviously not want and/or deemed unsuitable for himself once he had reached his mid 30s (hell, he didn’t even want to change when Ritchie wanted him to and thereby save his job in 1978). And I agree that his dedicated fan base wanted it even less – give the people what they want.
And maybe my core issue is that I simply never liked fantasy themes even as a kid and have since then grown even more out of them. This curious obsession with archaic class societies, carefully delineated along ancestry, race, vocational/occupational and gender lines, has always puzzled me. It’s the same reason why Blackmore’s Night’s more romantic lyrical themes don’t do anything for me either, steeped in a societal system of inequality as they are. Kill the king, yeah right, more songs about the French Revolution please. 😈
(I have no such issues with sci-fi or horror/occult subjects.)
March 18th, 2026 at 13:49#42: With Dio, it’s almost all about the voice and band for me. Together with Campbell, Bain and Appice were so ferocious on Holy Diver and We Rock, there’s little time to focus on the lyrics. I am sorry you’re not able to enjoy Appice’s drum fills 🙂
March 19th, 2026 at 05:40We have discussed this before… I feel.Dio’s metaphores can do something for you …especially when yoz’re adolecent. They leave room to make you believe they describe how you feel. That is what art is about.
March 19th, 2026 at 08:13Missions kill art.
So witty lyrics like the ones, say, Randy Newman wrote – and IG often does – are highly enjoyable on an intellectual level. But they don’t wanna raise yer fist and yell. Don’t make you feel heard and comforted. Sometimes we may need just that! And Dio’s lyrics matched the music just fine.
And Vinnie’s drumming? What’s not to like? And I am team Paice much more than team Powell.
I’m a Bill Ward guy, I can’t help it. I always thought his drumming excellent. Vinnie doesn’t swing.
March 19th, 2026 at 15:31Well said, Max. ”One Night in the City” is a good example of this. Vinny swings like a sledgehammer, Uwe. That’s a good thing. By comparison, I feel Bill Ward is wish washy as a drummer.
March 19th, 2026 at 17:16@44
Thank you Max!
You put the bullet in the revolver and fired just one shot to explain it all 🤗
Now I get it!
“I feel.Dio’s metaphores can do something for you …especially when yoz’re adolecent”
– see for a young man Dio might be something special! I get it 😃
But alas I’m neither a boy nor an adolescent 😃 on the contrary, I’m a mature lady so of course Dio goes over my sorry head!
March 19th, 2026 at 17:41😁
So nice to be put in one’s place once and for all 😄
So now I will immediately cancel the order of all the albums of Dio!
(Noooo I didn’t order anything of the sort…. I buy ELO instead ☺️😉)
Feelin’ wheels and runnin’ suns, huh? Whatever floats your adolescent Babylonian bark. 🤗
I was more the angsty teenager, I remember relating strongly to David Bowie’s dark and desperate lyrics of his cocaine phase:
https://youtu.be/gydkwk5NFeA
Or Cockney Rebel/Steve Harley:
https://youtu.be/syQj1U3B4gw
If Goth 😞 would have already existed in the mid 70s, I think that would have been my thing! 🤣
https://youtu.be/q8CqrGDaIdc
March 20th, 2026 at 01:25@ 47 – I thought you were a Ritchie ‘acolyte’ Karin. But what about classic Dio era Rainbow then? You eventually let ole Coverdale into the ‘circle’, surely over time Ronnie stands some chance, just a little perhaps. Poor Ronnie, cast out into the abyss with no thought nor care. Still, Coverdale was there at one stage, so we continue to live in hope folks of Ronnie’s resurrection from the abyss. Cheers.
March 20th, 2026 at 03:26“on the contrary, I’m a mature lady so of course Dio goes over my sorry head!”
Alas!, Karin is painting vivd images again!
https://media1.tenor.com/m/GhbtPFXTXbkAAAAd/grandma-dinosaur.gif
And you’re being real hard on poor Ronnie, he doesn’t deserve that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElShCIsAphY (Btw and though Help is a Lennon number: Paul McCartney was Ronnie’s alltime favorite singer.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZVKOIHQPAc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9MKHXgt5pg
And sure the little guy could sing – and not just for adolescents:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szD6uhzyjQ4
It’s a shame that all his 50s and 60s work has not been comprehensively compiled yet.
March 20th, 2026 at 09:22It’s just that Karin simply doesn’t like short men, so Ronnie loses out!
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/f0ea0aba1bae65966c1c3e5ee9967b5107ea2c1c/235_711_2135_1708/master/2135.jpg?width=480&dpr=2&s=none&crop=none
Those two are actually a very cute couple.
March 21st, 2026 at 01:31😄 @48… Even at 14 I thought MOTSM was a bit ridicolous in the lyric department, Uwe. But Temple of the King or Gates of Babylon seemed somewhat ‘deep’ and left some room for interpretation. And stuff like Stand up and Shout could help you make it through darker times. Bowie was much too androgyn for my liking. Never could identify with that. And to this day I cam’t feel him though he was an interesting artist of course.
March 21st, 2026 at 06:32@49
Well it sounds like Dio has a lot – A LOT – of followers! Does he really need little old me to worship him too, being dead and all that 😁
Yes Sir, I eventually surrendered to David Coverdale, and no matter how beautiful I find his voice, I have regretted it big time, since all I can read now is:
“Now you like DC, you definitely also have to adore Dio” 🤣
Well, dear MacGregor, let’s agree to disagree 😃
I am sure there are a lot of music I adore, that you never would listen to!
And I’m ok with that 😊
What a sad world it would be if we all liked the same bands, singers and whatnot!
A little difference among us is the flavour 😇
May you have a beautiful weekend! And may good tea (I presume you prefer tea?) fill your cup (or mug) and let a happy smile shine from you, since the Queen of Denmark just have visited your beautiful island 😃
March 21st, 2026 at 08:05@51
🤣🤣
Uwe! You’re right about that one!
Being a tall girlie myself, I find it annoying to bend down every time I would look him in the eyes!
March 21st, 2026 at 08:07I have to agree with Daniel @ 46 – Bill Ward to my ears was a ‘sloppy’ sort of drummer live in concert. A bit like Mitch Mitchell was for Hendrix live on stage, especially on the heavier music for both of those
March 21st, 2026 at 09:27‘jazzier’ rock drummers. A bit too loose if you know what I mean. Uwe saying Bill’s drumming was ‘excellent’ surprises me actually. Each to their own and I get what he means with Ward being a ‘swing’ drummer, but too sloppy and wishy washy for me at times. While I am not an overall fan of Vinnie Appice’s drumming, I do like some of the things he did and he did help tighten Black Sabbath up for the better, in that sense. I am talking live in concert. Geezer seemed to enjoy Vinnie’s playing much more too. Sabbath were a different beast in more ways than one with Dio and Appice. As heavy as f..k live in concert. Brutal even, The Sign of The Southern Cross, say no more. I remember Ian Paice saying he did not like Black Sabbath when asked and I was NOT surprised at all. Too loose and too messy (my words, not Ian’s) and trashy sounding could have been another reason. I could be wrong on that. Again I am talking live in concert. Sabbath in the mid to later 1970’s left a lot to be desired in concert. They were a bit ‘tighter’ in the late 90’s reunion period from what I heard of live material. I am a little suss on how much of that material may have been edited or touched up later on though. Cheers.
@ 53 – not at all Karin, I am actually glad you don’t like Dio and others. However if you put someone down, as you well know that can attract a response from certain people, jokingly or not. So the inevitable ‘comparison’ to your turn around with Coverdale is a joke, although that was good to see. It exposes the old ‘reaction’ scenario, that first up response to something that can very often change over time. Oh by the way the ‘being dead and all that’ comment is below the belt don’t you think. What does that have to do the music. Cheers.
March 21st, 2026 at 17:33Before any aficionados here get the wrong picture with my Bill Ward comments. I was very disappointed he wasn’t on the drum throne in November 1980 when we all turned up for the Black Sabbath concert. He pulled out of that tour only two months before our concerts here in Australia. News didn’t travel quickly back then to our shores from the ‘outside’ world, particularly in rock music circles. Moving on in time and Bill was never going to be part of that world tour of 2013 for obvious reasons, so again we were very disappointed and had to endure a replacement drummer. Not to worry, these things happen in life at times. Bill was integral to the Sabbath sound and feel back in the glory days and to miss out on that original lineup and swing was a bummer, to say the least. I like his drumming. It is just the inevitable comparison thing, many other bands had a much tighter clinical approach at times to their music and arrangements and Bill sometimes, like a few other drummers and bands was much more primal, a garage band sort of approach, for want of a better description. It was his way and I don’t have any problem living with that. His early 70’s drumming was more to my liking in live concert situations. Do we become more ‘clinical’ in our taste as time passes? Yes, for me I guess that was a ‘problem’ of sorts, occasionally. Cheers.
March 21st, 2026 at 17:56@56
Dear MacGregor
“Oh by the way the ‘being dead and all that’ comment is below the belt don’t you think.”
Have I wronged you in any way? 😊 because that was certainly not my intention.
I have a horrible – do some people think, others are thrilled about it – sarcastic thread in my heart and mind, and well, I really don’t thought of that comment as below any belt.
March 21st, 2026 at 19:09But I apologise ❤️
@56
Ohh and I forgot 😊
I really don’t think I’m putting Dio down, just because I do not like his voice 😊
I find it fair that certain musicians and singers appeal to different people.
Just like my very own voice make some people’s skin crawl ☺️😉
I am not saying Dio can’t sing, all I say is I don’t like his voice.
Re DC: it was because I heard him as an older gentleman, and his voice was not well. And that was haunting me.
But when I heard him as a younger man, his voice was breathtaking!
Not Ian Gillan- phenomenal, but really good in his own right. 😊
May I end this post with a little song:
https://youtu.be/uIaXva9akfs?is=vbUNXZpliXFLSK6O
This is my all time favourite, my desert island favourite 😍
March 21st, 2026 at 19:48@ 58 – it is true Karin that a person passing away can become more popular, this has been mentioned here before. But in Ronnie’s case that never occurred thankfully. I am not offended by that comment, some people may be though. However it has nothing to do with the music or a persons voice etc, that is what I meant. Cheers.
March 21st, 2026 at 22:05Vinnie might have been tighter and technically more proficient, but Ward was to me unorthodox, creative and more of a contrast to Iommi’s and Butler’s heavy unisono playing – I always found it attractive that the drums in Sabbath were not really heavy, but indeed more like Mitch Mitchell or John Densmore. Or even Keith Moon. A standard heavy drummer would have been too much – the albums that do not feature Bill Ward’s drumming all lack something.
I’m a bit surprised that you guys all root for Vinnie, I had pretty much taken it for granted that in Sabbath circles Bill is preferred over Vinnie … we need an expert to decide this: Where the hell is Tilly when you need him?
Max, get your son over here!
All those percussive nuances that Bill brought and you guys prefer this meatballs and pasta drummer …
March 22nd, 2026 at 01:07Well, in hindsight, Karin‘s emotional insulation against RJD confirms Ritchie‘s hunch that the little guy – although a Yank himself – wasn‘t the right guy to conquer American airwaves with. Radio listeners are more often female than not. And it is true that Dio-Rainbow had overwhelmingly a male audience.
That is actually something JoLT prided himself with in an early 80s Rainbow interview: getting female bums on seats at Rainbow concerts. Maybe he wasn‘t so wrong about it, let’s do a lab test … Karin Dearest, do you like this song?
https://youtu.be/rZmvgY8ECZg
The Highway Star is after all committed to scientific proof.
March 22nd, 2026 at 01:17@60
MacGregor 😊
And I meant: it does not matter if I adore Dio or not!
He isn’t here, and even if he was, I’m pretty sure he would be completely indifferent to a woman from Denmark and her opinions, that are important only for her!
Re those who could be offended by my comments: come on!
How much fire haven’t I got in here?! Plenty 😄
There is sensitive and there is too sensitive! (A quote from Friends, re when Rachel and Ross got the male nanny 😁)
If I may borrow the brilliant comment from Max:
“My boundaries reading about boundaries have really been pushed way beyond all boundaries. As a friend of mine once put it: when noone’s laughing anymore all will be good.” (A very personal piece @52)
Cheers right back at ya 😊
March 22nd, 2026 at 07:15@61 Well, it’s not that easy. I enjoy every Sabbath album for what it is and I do like most of the drummers they had. You’re right about Bill Ward having the swing which really is a big part of the great 70s Sabbath sound, it indeed worked great with Iommi/Butler. Vinny sure is more heavy handed, but the swing of a sledgehammer describes him well. I’m a big fan of his unconventional, unexpected but heavy fills and I’m highly enterteined by his playing. I always thought of him as the perfect drummer for Dio and think all the Dio (band) albums without him lack something.
Cozy Powell imo did a very good job on his three albums with the band, and I think Rondinellis drumming on Cross Purposes is a hidden gem.
The only unfitting choice for the drum stool in Sabbath maybe was Eric Singer. I think Seventh Star and Eternal Idol could have been better albums if the rhythm section would have been more remarkable; somethings missing there.
Oh, and the 13 album: Of course a shame that Bill isn’t on it. No excuse. Brad Wilk did an okay job trying to sound like Bill. Tommy Clufetos on the tour was another step backwards.
March 22nd, 2026 at 12:29In Ozzys new book he states that Clufetos should have done the album as well… Glad that didn’t happen. Rick Rubin wanted to use Ginger Baker, that could have been interesting.
@62
Well Uwe, JL sings very nicely…..
(Psst: is this a trick question? In reality it is Dio singing but JL is miming 😃)
Bobby Rondinelli behind the drums, have never seen him before.
Ohhh but RB is adorable, or his playing is 😊
Do I like the song? Well, isn’t it more a pop song?
No it is not any song I would ever hear a second time, but I am perfectly fine with anybody loving this. Is it ok I’m not particularly fond of it?
This song however, is wonderful 😍:
https://youtu.be/1P17ct4e5OE?is=5OpQRkBvPckKU0fg
Always reminds me of Top Gear where Jeremy Clarkson and James May had left The Hamster all alone in snowy mountains, and all Richard Hammond had was a watch he could activate so the signal would tell his chums where to find him. And they surely took their good time! 😄 and when they finally started to search for him, this lovely song was played ☺️
“And it is true that Dio-Rainbow had overwhelmingly a male audience.”
– Uwe! That was what I thought !
As Max said in @44:
“I feel.Dio’s metaphores can do something for you …especially when yoz’re adolecent. They leave room to make you believe they describe how you feel. That is what art is about.”
– see! Your fellow German Gentleman knows what it’s all about out:
Dio is for the male audience and not for the more female audiences 😊
So I guess it has nothing to do with height (even though…. No I better not 😄) it’s simply a guy thing!
And then you state:
“The Highway Star is after all committed to scientific proof.”
– absolutely! No annoying things like feelings have ever been involved here ☺️😊
So did I pass the test? If there ever was a such?
March 22nd, 2026 at 12:32“Being a tall girlie myself, I find it annoying to bend down every time I would look him in the eyes!”
I’m sure 😇 you meant to indicate a position different to the one that crept into my depraved mind, Karin!
You make bewildering and distracting statements, I must say …
As for the JLT test, you did fine and we have now established why poor Ronnie felt compelled to sing at one point “Don’t dream of wimmin, ‘cause they only bring you DOOOWN!”
https://youtu.be/CRIbFMMFiXw
March 22nd, 2026 at 22:27@ 61 – it isn’t necessarily that people prefer Vinnie over Bill, why does it have to be so? Different eras of music, well at least Bill was on the H&H and Born Again albums, early 80’s at least. Problem being apart from the initial commencing of the H&H tour, Bill didn’t play live with those lineups, so Vinnie or someone else, Bev Bevan for the BA tour had to slog away on the kit. At least Vinnie got to record one studio album of songs with Sabbath at that stage, Mob Rules. So he was playing some of his own material at least. It is always difficult coming in and replacing someone else, no matter what instrument. Bill was different in being old school too, that upbringing he had, more jazz influenced and a lot more ‘primal’, something he mentions often, that craving for the wildness of everything. A bit too primal at times perhaps, as are those other 60’s drummers that you mentioned Uwe, excepting John Desmore, he wasn’t as wild in his approach to drumming. It all has its flavours though as we know, some prefer it, some don’t. @ 64 -good points there Tilly and any drummer replacing an original known drummer will always have a different take on things. Especially as Bill is on so many albums and songs. The difference becomes even more noticeable. Eric Singer was an odd choice, but he was hired for the Iommi solo album initially, then all that became a circus as such, so Iommi in trying to forge ahead took Singer with him back to England. He is not my favourite drummer, he did a difficult job though at the time. The production doesn’t do him any favours either, that sound, the dreaded 80’s sound again, gated snare etc. Cozy was fine for the albums he was on. I have never listened to him or Singer playing 70’s Sabbath and don’t really want to. I heard some of Rondinelli’s take on 70’s Sabbath on that VHS concert from the Cross Purposes tour. I do usually avoid 70’s Sabbath though with other drummers. Of course live in concert we don’t have a choice as such. Bobby Rondinelli, yes I agree with his take on things on Cross Purposes, something I still like in many ways. He was much more interesting there than with Rainbow to my ears. Different band and era and more experiences under his belt. Brad Wilk, at least he was a better choice for the ’13’ album than Clufetos would have been, to my ears. Ozzy really pushed for Clufetos, Rick Rubin and the others wanted Wilk, from what I read about it all. Such a shame Bill wasn’t up for it at the time. I remember Rubin mentioning Ginger Baker, not sure if he would have come on board though as he ‘hates’ heavy metal. Iommi approached Carl Palmer from what I have read and heard, now that would have been a good thing to hear. But I would say that wouldn’t I Uwe. Cheers.
March 22nd, 2026 at 23:35For a start, I can’t think of a single drum part by Bill Ward that is memorable and has made a lasting impact? Symptom of the Universe? I would say the guitar riff in that song is what’s truly memorable.
Compare with IP and VA who have several. IP: Burn, Fireball, You Fool No One. VA: All of Mob Rules, Holy Diver, Last in Line and Dehumanizer. Vinny’s style was integral to the sound of those albums. If you look up “rhythm section” in any dictionary, it will say “Jimmy Bain and Vinny Appice: I Speed At Night (1984)”.
March 23rd, 2026 at 05:30@66
Uwe 😁
“You make bewildering and distracting statements, I must say …”
– Not on purpose, because you very well know that für die Reinen ist alles rein!
Poor Dio, now I feel almost sorry for him!
“As for the JLT test, you did fine”
– thank you!
At this album I guess it is JLT singing this:
https://youtu.be/pfAqqjIV5k4?is=1PLq9CMB7UVsUTjS
Last year I asked at Ian’s fb page if that was Ian singing, and I certainly got a very straight answer: NO!
March 23rd, 2026 at 08:34But I was confused you see, because the cover has a pic of Mark 2.2
But then the very nice lady who has control over his page said: well that’s the record company all for ya (or something similar…)
@ Daniel, I personally think Dehumanizer is awesome, a great record. But iconic in the sense of lasting impact? I feel that Bill Ward gets mentioned as an influencial/iconic drummer more often than Vinny. And without saying that makes him necessarily the better drummer, of course he has pretty iconic drum parts; the swinging parts and heavy breaks in War Pigs, Behind the Wall of Sleep, Fairies Wear Boots or the thundering tom-gallop on Children of the Grave
March 23rd, 2026 at 09:30Carl Palmer would have been just as stiff with Sabbath as Cozy was (Rondinelli had more groove), but I can hear in my mind how Ginger Baker might have made sense. I can also understand what Rick Rubin was aiming for, he wanted to go back to those very early Sabbath albums which were in essence Cream, albeit slowed and dumbed down. So why not ask the former Cream drummer?
I never judged Bill Ward on his drum breaks (drum breaks are great, but they are only an embellishment to the music, not its foundation or heartbeat), but on the ethereal quality of his rhythm work. He hovered around those bludgeoning Tony & Geezer riffs like morning mist. THAT made him stand out. I think he once described himself in an interview when questioned about his successors on the drum kit: “I see myself as a musician, not a drummer, Tony wanted the latter.”
BTW: I thought Bill Ward’s drumming on Born Again (the album) great and don’t see how Vinnie Appice or Cozy Powell would have been as good for that particular album.
March 23rd, 2026 at 11:20@64
Tillythemax, I would like to ask a little question:
You say:
“ I enjoy every Sabbath album for what it is and I do like most of the drummers they had.”
– I know you are a BS connoisseur, so do you also like the album where Ian screamed his way through?
I don’t mean that in a bad way, because I love the album, and find it the best BS album, but I know from FaceBook that a lot of BS fans really have mixed feelings about Ian as the vocalist 😊
And another thing: is Bev Bevan a drummer you like?
March 24th, 2026 at 19:00Because in my universe he was way too scrubbed clean to play the drums for BS! 😄
@ Karin
First of all: That CD-cover you linked in your @69 post isn’t a Mk 2.2 but a Mk 2.3 picture… Sorry for that, but this site is the only place where I can happily be smart-ass about such things 😀
Jokes aside, thanx for the question. I love the Born Again album, it is amongst my most played Sabbath records. And I think its appreciation in the Sabbath fanbase has risen over the years. It still has a lot of the original Sabbath sound which got lost more and more during the 80s. Gillans screaming on it is magnificent, there are some pretty nasty riffs and there is not a weak song on Born Again in my opinion. Also: Ian said he was the worst singer BS ever had (meaning he didn’t fit) but I think he’s wrong there. He did great singing both Ozzy and Dio era songs (If he would have remembered the lyrics too, it would have almost been perfect). Dio didn’t do to great of a job for the Ozzy material, but Gillan’s version of Black Sabbath (the song) is hauntingly good, so are his takes on Neon Knights or Heaven and Hell. His screaming fitted Iommis sinister guitar-sound wonderfully.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcyfnw_vjJE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFCvZSa6yqs
I can’t say too much about Bev Bevan, besides his short stint in Sabbath I never really cared for him. I quite like “Flowers in the Rain” by The Move,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHVlFcAXTSc
but that’s about it. And I have to dissapoint you: I’m not going to come out of the closet as an ELO fan. I don’t really get their music and I’m a little angry at Jeff Lynne for ruining the sound of this beautiful Beatles song in 1995.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cDHvw8fn2c
Also the Traveling Wilburys might have been better of without him and Velvet Revolver’s “Libertad” would have been a better album without them covering ‘Cant Get It out of My Head’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwi9cT2w6sE
Back to the question:
March 26th, 2026 at 12:14Bev Bevan is a professional of course and thus did alright as a last minute replacement in Black Sabbath, at least what I can tell from the bootlegs I heard. Nothing too spectacular, but nothing wrong either.
@73
Aww, be all the smartass you want to 😄 I am not that snifty, actually I’m proud whenever I remember to call my favourite band by its right name: Deep Purple 🤩
And to me every single time Gillan, Glover, Blackmore, Paice and Lord were together, for me that is Mark ll!
And when you say this:
“Gillans screaming on it is magnificent” – I tear all up, in a happy way 🥹
Maybe you haven’t read it in here yet, so let me by all means reveal this for you:
I love Ian’s voice! I do have a thing with voices, and Ian’s in top 2…
At FaceBook some say he is horrible, and if they were following me, I would have un-friended them immediately! 😁
“Dio didn’t do to great of a job for the Ozzy material”
– well, I have an idea why, but I have a feeling Du bist genetisch von deinem Vater belastet, (guess you like Dio too), so my lips are sealed ☺️😉
“but Gillan’s version of Black Sabbath (the song) is hauntingly good,”
– ohhh you’re right! And Iommi is amazing! (Psst: might even be a tat better than you-know-who, well, RB!)
Only thing I have to say here: Ian should have saved his voice a bit, because when he returned to Purple, his beautiful voice was a bit ruined 😭 ok a lot ruined. He was never able to scream his way through Child in Time again 🥺😣
“And I have to dissapoint you: I’m not going to come out of the closet as an ELO fan.l
– Well Tilly, neither am I! And I’m also quite disappointed in Jeff Lynne, because when he started out in the Move, with Roy Wood, he promised so good.. and simsalabim he overproduced everything 😝
His voice was adorable when he was younger, but man he ruined all by producing, producing and then just over-producing again 🫣
The early ELO were very nice I think, listen to this:
https://youtu.be/tfpkG73ckm4?is=1OQJQWSEya_jrz-6
Here you can hear the persons behind the tune, and not just a lot of adjustments at a workstation.
This could have been so good…:
https://youtu.be/UkekqVPIc2M?is=xnoTfT0axk0PlSv9
Well, never mind! At least Purple excist 😃
Oh yeah, have heard “Can’t get it…” with VR
Have you heard this:
https://youtu.be/jTrp02hpI2E?is=xbilFW-KT_BCLjiz
Not nice actually, but with a bit more nerve than the original….
However this with Neil Nathan is, well peculiar ☺️
https://youtu.be/QWG9m6yjfak?is=gbatNa4AvPO1DWsL
Matthew Sweet does it better than ELO
https://youtu.be/c1Caquh1loM?is=8GpCSEEH8vfdeZJs
Sorry I go all Uwe on you 😄
Bev Bevan! In my humble and honest opinion, he was NOT a drummer for BS!
He looked completely out of place there.
Like a cute little schoolboy who was lured into the band by some much older boys he admired secretly, and then all of a sudden he was banging away on the drums, way too neat, clean – well – socks and a lunchbox from his mum – every single day!
Wonder what happened to Bill Ward? And was Bevan a friend of Iommi, I mean both being from Birmingham?
Funny it is that I admired Bevan a lot in the Move.
Traveling Wilburys?
Well I liked Roy Orbison a lot!
And Tom Petty…. And George, and of course Bob!
Put together? Well, they are not removing any of my molars 😆
But to end this essay (ok novel) allow me to link to my all time favourite BS tune, and I really think the riff sounds so much like SotW:
March 26th, 2026 at 15:37https://youtu.be/HhmGk-s49ro?is=sK-h7w28u2z2OgL1
Bev Bevan rates his stint with Sabbath as a highlight of his career, he really enjoyed playing the Sabbath music and that he had all the freedom on the drums he wanted while with ELO Jeff Lynne demanded him to play as simple as possible.
March 26th, 2026 at 19:29Bev Bevan became a touring member of Sabbath solely BECAUSE Tony Iommi knew him. The Birmingham/Midlands Music Mafia is tightly knit which explains why fellow Brummie Glenn Hughes was invited to nascent ELO or why he later on made music with Tony (as did Dave Holland, the Trapeze- and Judas Priest-drummer, likewise from the Birmingham region). Or why Rob Halford (also from there) has sung with Sabbath when Dio or Ozzy wouldn’t or couldn’t.
When did you all of the sudden turn so ELO-critical, Karin? When you first arrived on these shores (as Vikings do), Jeff Lynne could do no wrong, now he suddenly overproduces everything. But “overproduction” is the essence of his work, he’s always been a studio wizard and ELO’s music is not really made for live renditions, it’s a sonic (gulity) pleasure painstakingly crafter in the studio. Oh how fickle the hearts of wimmin can be!
That Neil Nathan version of Do Ya is brilliant, almost as good as what the Pixies did to Que Sera Sera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDd-180FQ8U
I love radical rearrangements like that.
And yes, Hot Line is a corker of a song! Judas Priest must have thought so too when they took its riff for one of their songs, listen here at 01:09, 02:05 and 03:29, they play something very similar as the chorus riff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8HD7WNExhY
March 27th, 2026 at 00:31The incessant Ian Gillan fawning continues. Regarding the Born Again fiasco, it is just that, the greatest mismatch in rock history, plain and simple. It’s origins stand in inebriated slosh, teenagers at the helm.The songwriting is, well, best leave it where it is eh? The poorest Black Sabbath album since Technical Ecstasy and not until they did Forbidden in the mid 90’s is there a weaker album than Born Again. Average songwriting at best and anyone who thinks that the live performances are ”great or really good’ or whatever, well they simply need to have their ears cleaned out. Ian Gillan was NOT suited at all to Iommi’s riffs and songwriting. The band members comments over the years say a lot, don’t you think? Bill Ward returning to the bottle at those sessions says it all. The Stonehenge props and the dwarf treatment immaturity says more than enough. Cocaine and booze, you just cannot beat it can you? However as those poor old horses keep trundling around the same old course, we will live and let live. There you go. A honest review as such. All hail Saint Ian. Not. However Iommi and Butler need to be held accountable too. Has the bubble burst yet? Cheers.
!.
March 27th, 2026 at 05:24@76
Well Uwe, in the beginning I tried to be polite and without criticism 😄
But not so long after I had my entry here, I learned that this behaviour takes too much time 😁
I have always liked Jeff’s voice… but I have also always felt his over producing ruined so much of his otherwise brilliant tunes.
Thanks for the links, I will listen to them when I’m home again. At the moment at my dear hairdresser and I know we do not share the same taste in music 😃
March 27th, 2026 at 08:13@77
Uhh MacGregor,
“Regarding the Born Again fiasco, it is just that, the greatest mismatch in rock history” – according to you, I hope you mean, because I love that album 😃
“The band members comments over the years say a lot, don’t you think? “
– can honestly say I haven’t heard a single chirp! But then again, I concentrate on listening to the music.
“All hail Saint Ian. Not.”
– 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Well, again, I agree to disagree, all by myself 😄
Guess it’s news to you, but I really adore Isn’s voice, and ‘Born Again’ was, in my tiny ears, a masterpiece 😍😍
I remember reading in his autobiography that he couldn’t for some reason remember the lyrics so Bron helped him make papers with the lyrics, he could put on the floor, but because of the dry ice he couldn’t see anything 😂
March 27th, 2026 at 09:11Well, I would have loved to see him fight to sing the right words ☺️
Karin, do not listen to this man, he has about as much of an idea about Born Again as some US Presidents have about world geography – zero the non-hero!
Not understanding the astounding communion/collision Born Again constituted for both Sabbath and IG is like watching a volcano blow and not be impressed by it. Those who are blind cannot see.
So you, as our High Priestess of the Temple of Gillania, could do a lot worse than worship this mesmerizing album, which was inter alia pivotal for the development of Grunge, everyday. Together with the IGB albums of course. 😈
March 27th, 2026 at 09:37But Mr. MacGregor! A lot of folks hold Born Again close to their heart, including yours truely. The only letdown is the sound, muddy it is, but that has been discussed enough in these halls. Can’t wait to get the remix.
March 27th, 2026 at 23:05And holding an album – how good or bad it may be – responsible for a drinker to get back to the bottle might be stretching things a bit far.
And as far as I remember IG said more than once those songs were pretty good if it wasn’t for the production. And may I add he rerecorded Trashed ….
@MacGregor, I disagree about Born Again (maybe also Technical Ecstasy that I consider as a fine album). I find the music in it much more interesting than “Never say die” or even “Mob rules” (a very un-interesting album in my humble opinion, opposite to its predecessor). As @Tillythemax there is no actual weak song in there and there are several great moments. The production is indeed a bit of a turn-down (I do not mention the cover, that has gained a cult status by now, let it be). I think it was an issue many heavy bands were phasing in the rise of digital 80ies and in this case there has been some bad decisions. Yet, if they do have the original tapes as it is rumored and they do re-do them in a proper way, maybe it gets actually “Born Again”. I doubt, but who knows…
March 28th, 2026 at 07:50> it was an issue many heavy bands were phasing
I wanted to write “facing” I suppose, but funny how it could also be a pan about some of the effects used there…
March 28th, 2026 at 09:37@80
Well Uwe, I forgive and forget whatever is said in here 😃
Of course MacGregor is entitled to his opinion, even though Tilly, yourself, Max, Manic Miner and I believe it is 😊
“So you, as our High Priestess of the Temple of Gillania”
– thank you very much my loyal servant!
“which was inter alia pivotal for the development of Grunge,”
– it was?! Did Kurt actually pick bits and pieces and think: ‘ohh I’m gonna make me some teen spirit out of this’?
Well, I don’t know! All I know is that Ian’s voice is wonderful and woah Iommi’s guitarism is pretty awesome!
March 28th, 2026 at 09:37The low-fi, monochrome and brutishly primal production of Born Again in an era when even heavy metal albums began to sound clean and glossy preceded the deconstructivist approach of what happened in Seattle some years later. I don‘t think Born Again was a conscious move, but it picked up something that was in the air. It was an astonishingly brave and idiosyncratic album, unafraid to be divisive. In contrast Seventh Star was a return to the most mundane, safe and conservative heavy rock imaginable.
March 28th, 2026 at 12:42@ 85- when will Uwe Hornung get the truth, it is out there and has been since 1985. Seventh Star is NOT a BLACK SABBATH record, it never was and NEVER will be. IT is a SOLO album, even ‘your’ Glenn keeps saying that and he WAS there. Get it? Cheers.
March 29th, 2026 at 09:34@85
Uwe, you’re completely right here:
“It was an astonishingly brave and idiosyncratic album, unafraid to be divisive.”
The reason I like it so much is it has this raw feeling, indeed NOT overproduced 😃
March 29th, 2026 at 09:39Hello.
Wow, now here´s a conversation going on. As it always is, and that´s very good!
I remember when Born Again came out very well. The first impression was of course the cover. What the (censored) is this?! And the disappointment was even bigger not only because there was some nice promotional pictures of the lineup beforehand in our music mags, too. The mighty fellows posing.
https://www.reddit.com/r/blacksabbath/comments/1cevxjn/born_again_era_lineup_dog/
Bill Ward looks just fine and maybe quite healthy too and Gillan reminds us of The Mob Rules cover, if you like. Geezer´s beard is something else, indeed. Suits you well Sir! And Mr Iommi is the ultimate cool as he always is. The Irish Wolfhound (me being first of all a cat person) is kind of a reminder of all kinds of the real beasts of the nature.
So they went on tour too. The Helsinki Icehall was the venue once again. The setting on stage! Stonehenge! Wow. (And this WAS way before all that Spinal Tap hullabaloo).
I enjoyed the gig. Geezer was so energetic (had the chance to talk with him about this too, a bit while their H&H gig years later, the same venue.) and played like a maniac. Gillan was barefooted and did read the lyrics from sheets behind the monitors and Mr Bevan did the job, nothing fancy. The strobe lights during his maybe very too simple solo were really awkward, but those were the days! Kind of pussycat among tigers, if you know wjhat I mean. Iommi played way too loud! My ears were gone for two days after the gig and I did learn the lesson. I have used earplugs ever since, and luckily my hearing is fine today.
My favourite song on Born Again is Zero the Hero. And as you already know very well and have really professionally discussed already, the production was very peculiar. But there´s something very interesting on that record. Maybe you could give it a chance too, Mac? Some years ago I purchased the CD version with the live stuff. And yes, there was I with little goosebumps. Some grunge before they first invented it?
I think I was going to say something else here, too, but now that I don´t remember it, maybe more of this later.
Kippis mates!
March 29th, 2026 at 11:56Hiza @ 88- with respect, I have been listening to Born Again since it was released, 1983. We waited for it impatiently, being young rockers and all and it was exciting to hear back then. It just hasn’t stayed the distance, a bit like some of those old horses trundling around that same old course. I still listen to a few songs occasionally, Disturbing the Priest and my neighbours listen to that too, he he he. The title track is a good song too, and Trashed and Digital Bitch are good rockers when in the mood but that is it for me. Too much filler on that album, a bit lethargic and the old ‘she’ll be alright, that will do’ attitude going on at the time. It isn’t a terrible album, song wise I am talking about not the sound of it. A ‘so so’ album I would call it, interesting with the lineup as a one off project that didn’t really work at all. I have a cd I purchased in the 90’s, so I have kept the ‘faith’ so to speak. However being a follower of Tony Iommi right through into the turn of the century, I find many better songs on other albums with different singers, so Born Again is at the bottom of the pile in the songwriting department. Not something certain Ian Gillan aficionados here would like to hear but tough luck as the saying goes. They will get over it I am sure. We move forward as ever. Will a remix save the album, not it will not. It might even sound worse depending on the quality of the master tapes and the original recording. Wouldn’t that be comical and that would fit the picture as it was a comical sort of adventure in so many ways. Could anyone take that seriously we could easily think? Lucky for you that you experienced them live in concert, a blast no doubt and to see that Stonehenge setup would have been, well, before Spinal Tap wasn’t it, as you stated. I have experienced Iommi’s ‘wall of sound’ too, right in front of it in 2007, I did have hearing protection in though, unlike back in the early days when we didn’t use that at all. Cheers.
March 29th, 2026 at 20:36Uwe and his unrelenting worshipping of something that is, well, just another rock band album from a few well known musicians.
March 29th, 2026 at 21:26“It was an astonishingly brave and idiosyncratic album, unafraid to be divisive.” No it wasn’t Uwe. They were pissed out of their minds, says something doesn’t it? Come on, what is astonishingly brave about that? Talk about over the top sensational hype. Iommi and Butler were disillusioned just like Ian Gillan was after the collapse of their previous bands and the fractious nature of all that. So they were drowning their ‘sorrows’ so to speak. Out comes the rebellious nature of ‘who gives a f..k’ let’s do something. Oh and the financial reward for big Ian was behind it too, we know all this, what is brave about all that? Gillan couldn’t get out of both of those situations quick enough and get back to the mothership of safety and financial reward, Deep Purple. Butler resigned from Sabbath and from what I have read relinquished his rights to his share of the band name. Iommi moved to LA of all places and ended in up in a debauched situation of hedonism etc, we know that too from what we have heard over the years. Brave?????????? Hardly. Cheers.
Maybe Born Again was work of accident – but my what a brilliant accident! I heard it first playing in a record shop when it came out in 1983, not knowing what it was. I had read a short note about IG joining the Sabs in a magazine and first thought it a joke. Anyway as I’m shuffling through the new vinyl releases in my then favorite record shop, I hear this strange doomy music playing (it was Disturbing the Priest) and a somehow familiar voice recites the verse. I didn’t realize that this might be Ian Gillan until that majestic chorus came … I went to the counter and asked: “<Is this the new Sabbath with GILlAN?”
I immediately fell in love with the whole album. Together with Clear Air Turbulence it is Ian’s most daring work outside Purple.
And I loved the garish cover – it looked vicious and like a hallucination out of an LSD dream. Really, really cool.
March 30th, 2026 at 00:55@89 & 90
Thank you MacGregor for explaining why you think the record is below par
March 30th, 2026 at 13:45😊
I had to wait all weekend to pick up the new Sabbath record from the record store in 1983. A lady who worked there told me on Saturday afternoon, ‘a new record has arrived and is waiting for you’. So after work on Monday I raced into town and grabbed it after seeing the woeful cover and thinking’ ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ then preceded to race home. I had a Kawasaki 750 cc so the term ‘race’ was fitting for the occasion. I then cranked the shit out of the album on my stereo. It was grand, full on and over the top etc etc. I played it a lot back in the day. A few friends older than me who liked 70’s Sabbath and early Deep Purple were shocked and appalled when I played some of it to them. Anyway they came to Sydney with me the following year to the DP concerts and afterwards one of the appalled listeners, my friend Steve said to me, ‘that is where Ian Gillan should be singing’. Ha ha ha ha, not to worry. He remembered the Born Again ‘experience’. All good fun indeed. Cheers.
March 31st, 2026 at 09:32You had a Kawasaki 750 cc, René had also a Kawasaki Z650, actually when we started dating, and all I remember was how much fun it was racing, well yes thank you, but ohh man I was freezing all the time! 🥶
And even though I was properly dressed in a leather suit, I was so cold. Never really got the warmth after that time 😝😄
“A few friends older than me who liked 70’s Sabbath and early Deep Purple were shocked and appalled when I played some of it to them.”
– ohh I’m sorry 😞
I wonder why, to be honest, because for me it is so full of life and enthusiasm and energy. I guess we really look at that album from different perspectives 😊
“my friend Steve said to me, ‘that is where Ian Gillan should be singing’”
– well Steve was completely right! Ian ruined his beautiful voice screaming through the roof that year….
What kind of stereo did you possess at that time?
I had a Phillips, with a turntable and gold sticks and everything! I LOVED it..
I remember playing this song very very loudly, and I was living in an apartment at the time, but my neighbours didn’t mind because they played their music even louder 😁
March 31st, 2026 at 17:25I wonder if you like this nice man:
https://youtu.be/9HKNAhAxMAk?is=qdKLDKuadPrrRuSN
Him I liked so much since I was 5 yo. A bit later on Ian and co took over big time 😃😄
I have just arrived home with the IGB box set. God help me!
April 1st, 2026 at 08:10@ 94 – Karin, many people only know their younger days music, they don’t continue to follow artists in their later life. Black Sabbath to many people is the early to mid 1970’s. Born Again like a few other post 70’s Sabbath records is markedly different and a lot more full on, aggressive and louder. The same people didn’t necessarily follow Deep Purple after the 1972 era, and the same applies with other bands and musicians from their younger days. I remember the Z650 ‘Kwaka’ motorcycle too, I had one on loan for a little time while mine was in for repairs. The weather down here as you could understand is not as cold as up your way. But we did ride around through cold frosty weather at times. Thinking back I don’t know how I did that. The things we did when we were younger eh? My stereo system at that early 80’s period was a Pioneer three way system, all in one if you know what I mean. Turntable, cassette and radio. It sounded pretty good too, well at least back then I remember enjoying it for a few years. Until we upgrade to a larger and more sinister one. More speakers and bigger too, louder etc. I remember the Phillips brand, quite a good reputation they had at the time. Now about this IGB box set, time will tell, it is early days at present. I feel the spectre of Uwe Hornung gazing over me, watching, waiting, anticipating my thoughts etc. It will be a ‘difficult’ review I feel, so I will be taking it carefully as I don’t want to incur Uwe’s wrath at all, he he he. Cheers
April 1st, 2026 at 23:46@ 94 – sorry Karin I forgot about the Paul Simon song. I am a follower of his earlier solo material, up to Graceland. However after that album he sort of sounded the same as Graceland for a period, so I didn’t follow him anymore. Hearts and Bones (early 80’s) is a favourite of mine from the post 70’s material that he was so good at. So many superb songs, a high quality songwriter. I have a few cd’s of Simon and rate him very highly as a singer songwriter. I went to a Simon & Garfunkel concert in 2009/10 and it was nostalgia plus. A very good concert and a cracking large band they had behind them, wonderful musicians all round. I really like Art Garfunkel’s singing, a superb vocalist he was back in the day. Cheers.
April 2nd, 2026 at 00:01@95
Good for you MacGregor!
Sadly I haven’t received mine yet.
Looking so much forward to get my ears and mind twisted 😃
April 2nd, 2026 at 13:43“I have just arrived home with the IGB box set. God help me!”
The hell he will, but my righteous and divine wrath will be upon you if you don’t file your first listen report pronto, islander!
Meanwhile, in the more civilized parts of the world, the Rainbow box set has arrived and I spent this evening comparing the new remasters of the debut and Rising to what we had before:
– The remaster of the debut is indeed a nice improvement, the dullness under which previous CD versions have suffered is gone and Ronnie’s voice benefits the most from it. I never realized until now how goddamn loud his voice is in the mix (louder than Big Ian ever was with DP), he really dominates the recording. Working the faders again, are we Ronnie, you little live (d)evil? 😂
The Driscoll/Gruber rhythm section work is a joy to hear (they excel on Snake Charmer), really detailed and nuanced and dare I say quite a bit more imaginative in the bass drum department than Cozy’s later Sturm & Drang. And Craig Gruber’s bass style is within the DP family probably closest to John Gustafson, Paul Martinez and Neil Murray, very tasteful and rhythmically varied.
– I had a hunch they would mess up on the Rising remaster and of course they did! 😑In their (lack of) wisdom they have remastered (only) the original New York mix which had all the bass cut from it at the instigation of the record company, not the later Los Angeles mix which reinstated at least some of the bass. This is all the more annoying because the last remaster round from 2011 featured BOTH the NY and the LA mix on one CD (so there was room for it), in the new box set the LA mix is missing completely and not even mentioned in the somewhat perfunctory liner notes (with very little input from Ritchie). All they have achieved is that the new remaster of the NY mix doesn’t sound quite as glaring and sharp as the 2011 remaster of that same mix which was frankly unbearable (I always listened to the darker LA mix). No idea why they left the LA mix off completely, looks like someone didn’t do his homework. An opportunity missed, but if you like the metallic NY mix than here is a chance for you to hear it in a more organic, less earache-inducing presentation. [If anybody is uncertain whether (s)he has the NY mix or the LA mix on her/his CD at home, the difference is easy to tell: The NY mix has the synth intro of Tarot Woman segue into Ritchie’s staccato rhythm guitar at 01:14 whereas the LA mix lets Carey’s intro end in a deep drone and short pause before Ritchie starts with the guitar at 01:30.]
I’m beginning to doubt that we will hear a proper remaster/mix of Rising in our lifetime. 😑
Haven’t listened to any of the live stuff yet.
April 2nd, 2026 at 22:52@96
“The things we did when we were younger eh?”
– yes MacGregor 😄 today I wouldn’t go anywhere on a bike no matter how fun it was.
Some neighbours have those big bikes, two bachelors without any attachment, and when they drive off I can feel a little longing, but only until I remember me turning into this: ❄️☃️
One time I had to drive my cat, Pip, out to my mum’s, and I had him in his box, very secure and comfortable. I was holding the box on my lap with one hand and holding on to René with the other. And every single time we stopped for red lights, the little cat told everyone around us how miserable he felt 😆
Some people in their cars could hear this loud moaning from a cat, and it was impossible to look like I had no idea who was making such a noise, me holding on to the box 😃😄
“I feel the spectre of Uwe Hornung gazing over me, watching, waiting, anticipating my thoughts etc.”
– well, don’t we all?
“It will be a ‘difficult’ review I feel, so I will be taking it carefully as I don’t want to incur Uwe’s wrath at all, he he he.”
– and I have the coveted Ian P-drumstick at stake too.
But that will never make me say, think or write anything I don’t mean 😁
However, I do look forward to receive the boxset, because I don’t have any album with that band. Have only listened to some tunes at YouTube.
“Pioneer three way system”
April 3rd, 2026 at 05:33– oh I remember! When I got my first cd player, it was a Pioneer.
Today the set is NAD, with seriously looking speakers, they can play for my whole little village 😁 but I never do that…
Actually when I need to dive deep into the songs, I use my over ear headset, mostly because of Anton, but also because the details are magical in those.
And I’m not disturbed by birdsong 😄 just kidding! Love the chirpy birds even more than the Voice, if you get my drift 🤩
@97
“So many superb songs, a high quality songwriter”
– yeah, he really is.
He’s giving a concert in Denmark, in Tivoli, this summer, but woah the prices for the tickets are insane! Not insane if it was, let’s say Ian Gillan 🥰 but too rich for my blood when it isn’t Ian performing ☺️
Paul and Art could be amazing together.
His ‘7 psalms’ I don’t get…
Heard an interview with him where he claimed the songs were ‘given’ to him in some way…
Well never mind, I love the concert where this song was played:
https://youtu.be/WrcwRt6J32o?is=1XOaLuG3IJfJE61H
Very calming 😍
But of course, in my mind this is the best:
April 3rd, 2026 at 06:03https://youtu.be/4C-QuE1Pbb8?is=rr1tNChG0KoKTrRE
😃
@ 99 – thanks ever so much Uwe for that review of the box set of Rainbow and of Rising in particular. That is incredibly disappointing about not having the LA mix in there. I was hoping it would and now I most probably will not get this box set because of that unfathomable error. I should try for the 2011 release. I just want to hear a better band mix. A more level playing field if possible, is that too hard for someone to do on this latest release. I noticed the 2011 debut album cd in our local music store a few weeks ago. I was going to look for it the other day while picking up the IGB set but there were too many people in there. It is a rather small store and not a lot of room to move. This latest Rainbow set is also expensive when compared to the Gillan related sets. I suppose living in Long Island has it’s price for Ritchie eh? Where as big Ian probably lives in a tent somewhere in Portugal. Cheers.
April 4th, 2026 at 10:14@ 101- you are not wrong Karin. Paul Simon charges way too much for concerts as do many others. In the 2009 era the S&G concert was totally over the top. $350 for a ‘platinum’ seat, $300 for gold, $250 silver (I bought two of these) and $180 for Bronze, (way up the back where you cannot see anything but the screen). I cannot stand all this ripping off etc these days. Back in the day it was the same price no matter where you were in the venue. Greed in all it’s filthy glory. I have never paid anything near what I did pay for those two tickets and did so simply because they had never been here before and were never going to again, so I lashed out. It was grand etc as I said, but we have to draw a line somewhere at some stage. Cheers.
April 4th, 2026 at 10:26I’m baffled at the exclusion of the Los Angeles mix too. Why not have it in this box set when it was already featured in the 2011 release and everyone is in agreement that it at least alleviates some of the NY mix’ greatest mixing flaws? Outright strange omission.
April 4th, 2026 at 22:15It’s also weird that EDSEL are responsible for both the new Rainbow and the new IGB boxed set, yet only the IGB one is treated with the – relatively obscure – alternative Rockfield Mix for CAT which is at best a curate’s egg as general popularity even among Purple fans goes whereas the much more popular and pivotal Rising has its better – and easily available – alternative mix omitted.
Not that even the LA mix of Rising can really compete with either the standard or the Rockfield mix of CAT which both do the album justice by either putting an emphasis on a more streamlined sound or by elevating individual horn section, synth and percussion tracks. Compared to how much more complex and layered IGB’s music compared to Rainbow’s was, it is a wonder both mixes are so good and rich in detail whereas on Rising they couldn’t even get the bass to be audible in a four instruments line-up.
By the way, none of this is Martin Birch’s fault. Jimmy Bain himself has said that when the original, untampered Rising mix left the Musicland Studios, the recording was actually bass-heavy (Martin Birch always had a reputation favoring the bass, just listen to the early Whitesnake albums with Neil Murray high up in the mix), but then the US record company messed with it. Given its extremely short running time, Rising could have even been more bass-heavy than a usual album in sound. Confounding!
April 5th, 2026 at 12:27I’m now listening to the 1976 German live recordings from the new “Temple of the King”-set in sequence. It’s been a while since I last heard them.
What strikes me upon renewed hearing is that Tony Carey is
– an extremely gifted soloist on a synth, he’s really nimble and fluid and has that attack and ferocity of a lead guitarist down pat. Certainly on that terrain the best keyboard player Rainbow ever had and – we’re strictly talking synths here – with even more panache than Jon Lord;
– an extremely lame and uninspiring player on the Hammond as a rhythm player, it sounds like he doesn’t really know (or care) quite what to do with the instrument in that role except playing the most pedestrian stuff. This of course greatly affects the Rainbow sound when Ritchie solos or does his usual minimum of rhythm guitar work. Tony cannot fill like Jon or – to name someone else for once – Ken Hensley did with Uriah Heep.
It’s a strange mix/combination: When Tony solos, he is in his element and really exciting to listen to, yet when he is simply backing with his keyboards he sounds mundane and really doesn’t utilize the possibilites of a Hammond to their full extent. And since Jimmy Bain plays very little that ever stands out either (though he is a lot more audible than on Rising), Cozy is the player that puts the greatest stamp on the backing to Ritchie’s solos. And he is certainly mixed that way too 🤣 and the result of VERY dominant drums coupled with a bass and a a rhythm organ that both don’t stand out too much is likely what both Ritchie and Cozy wanted at that time. The interlocking instrumental might of the DP organ-bass-drums triumvirate – even with all the frantic hammering Cozy does and his penchant for dramatic breaks (which tend to repeat a lot upon closer listening) – is however never achieved.
April 7th, 2026 at 19:55Evident that Blackmore only wanted a filler keyboard player most of the time in Rainbow and why not? No need to replicate the heavy Hammond ‘Gorgan’ again. As we heard, poor ole Jens was ‘instructed’ to be a support player in 2016 in that sense. Ken Hensley indeed and in his case I suppose the fact that he was Heep’s main songwriter, probably lead to his ‘Gorgan’ being to the fore a little more than Mick Box’s guitars. Not forgetting Hensley also wrote for guitar based songs too as he was a prolific guitarist too. I always think of Dream Theatre (incorrect spelling?) and their keyboard players. I always felt sorry for them, imagine trying to ‘compete’ with John Petrucci and all the noise and shred? Not to worry, as Keef often says, ‘it’s all music’, well sort of. Cheers.
April 8th, 2026 at 22:26But Carey actually “filled” less than David Stone, Don Airey or David Rosenthal did! He had the best synth lines, -solos and -embellishments, but his rhythm keyboard work doesn’t “cook”. During Ritchie’s Stargazer solo he plays these minimalist harmonic lines, but he doesn’t let rip where Bain and Powell could use some support riding on pretty much one note and no harmonic changes. I mean the guy had two hands (and arms!) when I last saw him, couldn’t he have been more flexible in adding some organ support too? As it is, it sounds more “naked” and emptier than it should. Compare this to how busy and full Jon sounds – without ever getting in the way – in the verses of SOTW.
It was Ritchie who once said “Most people tend to forget that the Hammond is first and foremost a rhythm instrument.”, yet when he chose Tony/acquiesced in Jimmy dragging him out of a rehearsal space at Pirate Sound to audition with formative Rainbow Mk II he didn’t seem to have given it much of a thought, in effect bringing in a second lead player and not a rhythm player. Maybe Herr Blackmore had at this point not realized Jon’s greatness as the Keith Richards of DP yet. By the time the reunion occurred he knew, however, as he said to Jon: “How do you get that sound? I’ve been looking for a keyboarder like that for years!”
April 9th, 2026 at 10:48Some notes on the keyboard players mentioned
I agree with Uwe about Tony Carey. To be honest, I think only Don Airey was quite good in filling the sound within the Rainbow years. And indeed, Tony was the worse.
I think Jon Lord is in a league of his own (also) on this aspect. He always found great ways to compliment the guitar player’s improvisations. One thing was the sound, but I mostly attribute it to his great ears and quick thinking. For me he is the main ingredient that made Deep Purple the greatest of live bands. Everyone was on fire, but Jon was also the best to keep the whole output together on the improvisation side. You can hear this difference when you compare e.g. MKII against the Rising line-up of Rainbow.
Ken Hensley is also a favorite of mine. But mostly as a composer. Filling for the guitarist… Well, Mick Box is a great guy, he has all my truest, deepest love, but I do believe he was an average player who happened to be in the side of Ken’s marvelous song-writing (and also some beautiful slide guitar playing by Ken…). And Uriah Heep were never a brilliant live band in my opinion. If they had been, maybe they would have greater status in rock history.
Regarding Dream Theater, I think their greater musical force has been by far Kevin Moore. Maybe he was a bit at odds with the band’s ultra-virtuosic direction, but he is one of the very few people that passed from Heavey Metal and I consider as a creative genius. The 2 Chroma Keys albums are ones I revisit very often. Plus, I think his whereabouts are somehow lost today, it is said that he works as a psychiatrist. In a perfect universe, he could find our Rod Evans somewhere and form a band with him. Amen.
Anyway, some random thoughts that popped-up, it’s of course a matter of taste. Cheers!
April 9th, 2026 at 14:52Mick Box is essentially a rhythm guitarist within Heep – but it had a positive effect, it not only let Hensley (or the great Phil Lanzon for that matter) flourish, but also made Gary Thain’s, John Wetton’s and Trevor Bolder’s excellent “lead bass” playing possible. There wouldn’t have been room for that in Blackmore’s Rainbow (Blackmore was always looking for people with that ability, but wanted them to then stick to mostly root note playing backing him). And even within Purple, Roger and Glenn could not make their presence as much felt as Gary Thain and Trevor Bolder, they were both absolute fearless bassists.
I agree that Don was the keyboarder within Rainbow who delivered the thickest layer. It predestined him for one day taking Jon’s place.
I don’t remember which keyboarder it was who said what impressed him the most about Jon Lord were not so much the solo melodies – he said he wasn’t too crazy about them – but Jon’s intricate rhythm work when he was NOT soloing. At the time, I didn’t quite understand what he meant, these days I do and tend to agree. Jon’s rhythm playing was the engine room and heart of Deep Purple.
April 9th, 2026 at 21:28“How do you get that sound? I’ve been looking for a keyboarder like that for years!” A classic pun if ever there was one. Blackmore at his most sarcastic and of course he was joking. If Carey didn’t feel like being a Hammond monster, so be it. Was he more into the synthesisers etc and playing ‘lead’ or whatever. Some do get into that and especially at that time with technology moving so fast and Wakeman and Emerson leading the way, not to mention a few others in the ‘jazz and fusion’ genres. It comes down to band dynamics though, how does someone feel inside that ensemble at the time. I had better have a listen to some of this live material as I am totally out of touch with it. I will have a listen online. I get what you are saying Uwe, but maybe that is not what Blackmore wanted to do in his ‘own’ band, all over again. Electric guitar in rock music was still the number one beast, at that time. Cheers.
April 9th, 2026 at 21:30The 1970’s Uriah Heep was in essence Ken Hensley’s band. Songwriting and direction wise I am talking about and with that you are not going to get an essentially guitar driven band a lot of the time, cue Ken’s wonderful acoustic and slide guitar as an exception to that rule along with Mick Box’s riffs, cue Gypsy. Much more emphasis on the overall songs and arrangements from a keyboard and ‘symphonic’ dramatic perspective with Ken. There are other bands that ventured down that path where the loud heavy riffing electric guitar wasn’t the dominating factor. That in itself gives the bass guitarists much more room to move (hooray) and that is a good thing to my ears e.g Chris Squire to name only one as Uwe mentioned a few others and there are many more. The guitar riff driven bands tended to move in a guitar way, in many aspects. Led Zeppelin probably not so much at certain times either, another hooray. Cheers.
April 10th, 2026 at 00:33Speaking of Heep’s riff behemoth Gypsy, the debt
1620th Century Greenslethieves owes to that song is so heavy it raises questions whether (cross-)pollination when Purple and Heep shared adjacent rehearsal spaces really only went one way as Roger, Jon & Co always accused! 🤣 Even the lyrical themes – patriarchal behavior in its worst forms via the subjugation of wimmin – are uncannily similar. Locked in towers and whips across backs, what adolescent BDSM fantasies freely frolicked there? 😱Trust Ritchie, that notorious Dark Earl of Magpie, to never let someone else’s good idea go to waste when it could be repurposed … 😈
April 10th, 2026 at 12:09The Rough Mixes contained on the Rarities CD are a revelation and sound even better than on their first release in 2011, they brushed them up quite a bit. This is before the final 1976 mastering process cut the bass at the behest of the US record company which perhaps wanted Rainbow to sound better on US FM radio (though nothing on Rising was really radio AOR fodder, so why even bother?). Jimmy Bain won’t win any prizes for inventive or nuanced bass playing (Rising was his first professional recording, Bob Daisley was in comparison an old recording hand due to his work with Chicken Shack, Mungo Jerry and Widowmaker with which he had recorded all prior to succeeding Jimmy in Rainbow), but one thing he was: forceful – and you hear that on the Rough Mixes. No comparison to the meek bass on the final Rising masters.
April 10th, 2026 at 16:43@ 114- thanks for all the info on the recent Rainbow releases Uwe. I am listening to the live in Germany 1976 concert online at present, not from the latest releases though by the look of it. Getting any of these new re-released live clips online is difficult at the moment. I can hear Jimmy Bain’s bass guitar quite well on the Germany 1976 concert. Carey’s keyboard is much more audible on the quieter pieces although we can hear the organ sound rocking on Greensleeves, (at the moment I am only 3 songs in, excluding Mistreated). Will have to keep an eye out for these newer remastered live clips on line as they appear. I have listened a little over the years to the 1976 live material, mainly to see what I missed as a youngster in Sydney, grrrrrrr. I can hear the keyboard in the background on Man On the Silver Mountain, the problem of course is the guitar is up front in the mix, too loud. Plus the lead vocal. Lead guitarists and lead vocalists again eh? Cheers.
April 10th, 2026 at 22:05Ain’t it ironic that Uwe the Rainbow heretic of all people seems to be the only person here who has seemingly bought this Rainbow boxed set and feels the urge to communicate about it? It’s always the same here, a new release of old stuff is anounced, people either say “it will be crap/unnecessary” or “it will be great”, then it does in fact come out and everyone falls silent and somehow shuffles on. Some fans you are!
I’ve now worked my way through the complete set and my findings are:
– the debut remaster is one of its strong points, you will not have heard “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow” like this before, I promise;
– Rising is forever a flawed mix the way they messed it up post-Munich recording, here the inferior NY mix has only been remastered to a slightly less abrasive result, but the better LA Mix (last released in 2011 together with the NY one) is not featured or remastered at all (nor mentioned in the liner notes) – a dramatic disappointment;
– the 1976 Cologne, Düsseldorf and Nürnberg gigs sound better than on their original 2007 release – it’s not a vast improvement, but there’s more oomph, more Ritchie and more Cozy, more onslaught you Dio Era Rainbownettes so much cherish;
– the Rarities CD is worth having for the Rising rough mixes which have been brushed up since their initial 2011 slightly low-fi release – here you can hear Jimmy Bain’s (not exactly breathtakingly original or inspired) bass playing well – my ears also tell me by the volume of the bass that some of the also featured various single mixes of Rising songs must stem from the – otherwise ignored, see above – LA mix;
– the rehearsal tapes are for painless devotees/gluttons for aural punishment only – Ritchie’s guitar painfully overloads the recording input throughout (except on parts of Catch The Rainbow where he plays more gently, some of the most sensitive Cozy Powell drumming I’ve heard on that btw), Dio is hardly heard. You’ll probably listen to this once and never again – if your tolerant spouse let’s you that is! 😂
So that’s the set in full, not that anyone (the Tasmanian Cozy Powell fanboy excepted) seems to give a damn.
April 13th, 2026 at 16:30I am not surprised by fans general lack of attention Uwe, this set leaves a lot to be desired in the certain aspects that we have discussed. A bit of the same old, same old thing over and over again and for the price of it, it is a little underwhelming. And as we have said, leaving out the LA mix of Rising is, well paramount to heresy in that aspect. Appreciate all your reviews though and I was a little surprised in our local music store last week. The young chap owning that store said someone here in Tasmania ordered and picked up this new Rainbow set. It wasn’t me of course, so at least there is one other Rainbow aficionado out here in no man’s land. More so than even little ole me. Cheers.
April 15th, 2026 at 22:13