Mordy's Metal Listening Club - New Albums Every Monday

Agreed, stupendous stuff.

"stargazer" is so, so good.

and no worries pfunk, nobody rational could possibly object to dio week.

...but I was going to pick mob rules and the last in line. ;-)

That was what Jeff wanted! lol

special dio tribute week bonus albums:

bonus pick #1
black sabbath - mob rules
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B001EOOQF6.jpg

bonus pick #2
dio - the last in line
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000002L61.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

gonna listen to so much dio this week.

Might as well throw in this, too:

bonus pick #3
Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/0f/de/6109810ae7a0dcd3b6a2b110.L.jpg

cool, I've never listened to that one before. (prob bc of the cover.)

Never listened to Rainbow before but I quite enjoyed Rising. Cool proggy organ break on "A Light in the Black".

It's been a Dio monday, and definitely a lot of sad thoughts mixed with the joy of hearing these great records.

I like the first Rainbow record more than Rising, though "Stargazer" is by far the best thing Dio did with Blackmore. I think the first is a bit more organic sounding - Elf had been together for a fairly long time, and that rapport just isn't there on Rising, even if the tunes are stronger overall. The keyboard solo on "A Light In The Black" is just -- I don't have the words, because horrible and cheesy and hackle-raising just don't cut it.

Heaven and Hell is pretty great all the way through, though the obvious highlights of "Neon Knights" and the title track are way past pretty great and live in the realm of the majestic. Adrien posted a Rollins rant about Dio on twitter this morning where Rollins goes off on the evil woman trope that is on every Dio record; of course, we get "Evil Lady" and "Walk Away" on this one. But we also get one of my favorite Dio lines "It's a long way to nowhere, and I'm leaving very soon. On the way we pass so close to the back side of the moon." Not the dark side or the far side, but the back side of the moon. Ever since I was little this has made me titter.

Holy Diver. I'll probably be the only one, but this is my favorite of the three. "Stand Up and Shout" was what I wanted from metal when I first heard it back in '84, and it stil smokes. The title track is a justifiable classic, and his vocal phrasing is great - "jump, jump -- jump on the tiger". What is with the baaing sheep sound dubbed over the word hell in "Don't Talk To Strangers"? Anyone? It's not just the Satan=goat thing, right? The vocal phrasing in the slow intro of "Invisible" reminds me of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" - you can't quite sing one to the other, but it's close. "Rainbow in the Dark" may have the cheesiest keyboard this side of the aforementioned "A Light in the Black", but here works. Love the video with him on the rooftops making faces at a camera on a crane.

I've read a lot about metal and Dio, but I can't recall seeing an interview where the writer got him to go into detail about what the appeal of the rainbow was. That image pops up in practically everything he's done since 1975, at least every major work.

never got into Dio, but now's a good time to start. just finished listening to rising and it's damn good! i always hate it when i start appreciating someone's music just as they've passed.

xpost - Of course I'll be happy to go next week EZ Snappin. No worries.

I played 3 hours of Dio (Rainbow through Heaven + Hell) at my Dj gig last night. The guy has so many great songs!

1) Rising - "Stargazer" has to be the ultimate Dio track. So epic and glorious. I first heard it while on tour in Denver, staying in a squat on a snowy night. Dio had always been there, but I was an avowed Ozzy fan for a long, long time before I finally succumbed. This song and album helped me break the chains.

2) Heaven & Hell - The best non-Ozzy Sabbath record, period. "Children of the Sea" is one of my favorite songs by any band. Plus the title track (which Solitude Aeturnus nails pretty well too) is so heavy. It's Bill Ward's last stand, even if they somehow "drug" him back for Born Again.

3) Holy Diver - This was the only Dio record I owned as a younger man, and now it's the most critical omission from my collection. No idea what happened to it, but I recall purposefully asking the clerk to make me a $6.66 price tag to put on the cover. I'm afraid I once thought "Rainbow in the Dark" was by far the best song on this album. And I do stand by that song (as I'm a big lover of synthesizer, so no problems there). But clearly the title track is a monster and the playing and the production and that signature bass sound; all top notch.

I do wish that The Devil You Know was being discussed here. That really was my favorite album of 2009 (check my Pazz N Jop poll if you think I'm being revisionist). It's just the most amazing set of workhorse doom metal songs with the fully matured Dio voice, weathered, world-weary, but still incredibly vital. Seeing the band live last year was a big deal for me. D.I.O.R.I.P.

I agree; I really love The Devil You Know, as my AMG review makes clear.

I wish I had heard that rainbow album years ago.

Phil - Those 4 stars are well-deserved.

Herman - It's never too late! Took me a long time too.

BTW Phil, AMG seems to not have an entry for Rising. Might be worth a quick remedy this week, eh? :)

They did have a review, I remember seeing it becasue it was given an inexplicably low four stars. Maybe they're remedying that.

I read the review the other day when he died, they also used it on Spotify. Now spotify is using the wikipedia entry, i noticed that last night.

listening to heaven & hell right now. "die young" is the shit.

so yeah, don't have much to add to this one that hasn't already been said. tons of classic tunes ("neon knights," "children of the sea," "heaven and hell," and "die young" are my faves), dio plays off the band perfectly and really shines on the epics ("LOOK OUT!!"), and the band sounds rejuvenated. great record.

also listened to rising twice yesterday. the whole album is solid but "stargazer" is so incredible that the rest of the album pales a bit in comparison.

but man, "stargazer" is such a great track. just builds and builds and builds....

"now look, look, look, look, look at this tower of stoooooone!"

one of the best tracks ever

Search youtube for "Ronnie James Dio - Brutally Honest Tour Bus Interview 1994" (all 4 parts) where he goes through nearly all his records starting from Elf. Really surprised how he dismissed "Rising", especially side 2. He also thought Mob Rules was underrated. I can at least agree with him there.

listening to holy diver right now...damn this album is rock solid, not a dud

yeah i gave it a spin this morning for the first time in ages. not really my thing but it seems like they nailed exactly what they were going for and every song has at least something to recommend it beyond just "enjoy dio's vocals"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8687002.stm

heaven and hell didn't really rock my world but you were right about "children of the sea" in the other thread, pfunk--that's a cool song.

rainbow is tacky fun. i am jamming "stargazer" right now and loving the strings.

Most prefer Neon Knights but Children Of The Sea is my fave on that album.

Stargazer is awesome isnt it? I've been caning it all week since I first heard it. I shoulda heard that album years ago.

Children of the Sea FTW!

Search youtube for "Ronnie James Dio - Brutally Honest Tour Bus Interview 1994" (all 4 parts) where he goes through nearly all his records starting from Elf.

Thanks for that, it's an amazing interview. A favourite part is where he accidentally says Ozzy's name and says exasperatedly, "I keep mentioning that jerk-off."

Did ozzy slag dio off a lot when dio joined sabbath?

I'm still up for picking 3 somewhere when I get back home (and have listened to the 9 I missed). 7/6 slot for me?

24/5 EZ Snappin
31/5 Nate Carson?
7/6 Siegbran
Im sure Mordy will be fine with that.

oh wait

24/5 Alan N
31/5 EZ Snappin
7/6 Nate Carson
14/6 Siegbran

Unless you all swap.

Nate & I are swapping.

24/5 Alan N
31/5 Nate Carson
7/6 EZ Snappin
14/6 Siegbran

I bagsy another shot sometime once everyones had a turn that wants one.

j0hn d likes discussion so Im a bit disappointed he's not taking part when he has the time.

plus I'd like to see his album picks!

prob should go on the metal thread and ask john, begrand, some of those other guys to do a week for us

i'd like a week sometime in july when my life settles down a bit. i can remind u closer to the date pfunk.

its mordy to ask! I'm just helping him out so it runs smoothly when peoplw know its their turn. and reposting the "rota" every now and again to keep in on the page.
but i'll ask on the metal thread if anyone wants a go, good idea!

done. (will probably either be ignored or it will be posts that listening clubs are pointless but oh well)

I gotta be honest with you and I know some of you will find this precious or bigheaded ok but metal thread people are my people so I'm gonna shoot straight. part of the reason I haven't joined in is that lately whenever I say something on ilx that strikes somebody as quotable, people have been tweeting & retweeting it under my name-name. that skeeves me out. I'm here to hang out with buds, not Speak, O Very-Mildly-Known Dude, For The Record. So if I pick albums, lurker-nerds will be all "Here Are The Three Albums Underrated Aerosmith Recommends!" and I will be bummed. this is partly why I keep asking people, with partial success, to call me aerosmith. I don't wanna have a whole argument about whether I should be skeeved or not about ppl tweeting my posts but I'm just saying, that is why I'm holding back on the listening club metal thread.

people can be arseholes. aerosmithy (im gonna call you aerosmithy or smithy until you join in) you should join in and lurkers stop doing shit to join him, he's here to chat with friends, dont tweet him or anyone else!

I don't know what trick people are using to identify who's posting under what pseudonym this week, but it took me a while to even figure out who "aerosmith" was - finally something in your prose style clicked, though.

i guessed only because he was on the boxing thread