#giaffa

dio era and black sabbath era are my favorites, it would be hard for me to pick between them. if i was forced to, i’d probably say sabbath era. but my favorite song from him is dio era, so i’ll just start there. i can get all the waxing poetic about everything i love about him out the way right off the bat with this one:

Rainbow in the Dark - Holy Diver

this is my definitive number one. it’s one of my favorite songs of all time. it’s absolutely gay bar music, i’d love to sing this at a drag show one day or something. or SEE somebody do it. maybe this has been done and i just been missing out i'll have to check

so of course, dio’s a straight guy as far as we know, and this song isn’t… MEANT to be about queerness… even though that is super hard to believe for me, but like, i’m not gonna queer-vestigate a guy who would have come out on his own terms if he had wanted to. it’s not my place. but this song is about queerness to me, personally. the intersection between queer culture, queer performance art, and heavy metal music, it is very very important to me! i think those things go hand in hand.

even if we're talking about the more traditionally “masculine” “hardcore” shit, like death / black metal. it’s over the top, all these guys are exaggerating for performance or playing a character for... fun, obviously, but also for the sake of being intentionally transgressive to what’s considered “societally acceptable.” there’s an element of drag in that! am i crazy?? and dio is just so unabashedly like, "i’m gonna dress like a knight and a wizard and sing like a girl, have the time of my life." always sings about being yourself and being a dreamer, etc. which is COOL. this song is so fuckin camp, with that synth, his over the top singing, the lyrics, it encompasses just about everything i enjoy about him as an artist.

oh, and, can't help myself, i gotta yell about the holy diver album cover too. i'm an artist who takes lots of inspiration from metal music artwork for my own graphic design + general stylistic habits, and this is one of all time favorite paintings. i love this quote from him about illustrated album art, it’s soo bitchy:

"I've always preferred illustrations," he says. "After Elf, most of the albums I've done have used illustrations. That's because I think you should give people value for money, and I don't think value for money is a picture of guys with puffed-up hair on an album cover. But I guess it depends on your ego."

cool article by the way!

the illustrator is randy berrett. unfortunately, it is just super difficult to find anymore artwork from him, but from what i have seen, he is a MASTER of color and composition. he likes to use the same kind of palettes i do, totally stole from him via color picking in some stuff i’ve fucked around on recently. here’s another one from him that i like ‘cause fuck it you’re here:

^^ look close and you'll find his signature carved in the rock btw. if i had more resources from him i’d love to do a full on study. one of these days i’m gonna do a proper gallery hunt. lol anyway, tangent aside, that’s the most deranged rant you’ll get out of me, the rest of my opinions are a bit more simple.

just knocking out the rest of my favorites from the dio era:

Straight Through the Heart - Holy Diver The Last in Line - The Last in Line Wild One - Lock Up the Wolves Stand Up and Shout - Holy Diver

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

and for the black sabbath stuff! got some strong opinions about that for sure.

i understand that ozzy is an iconic frontman, a great artist, etc etc, and being a good frontman isn’t all about how skilled you are as a singer. that being said, dio is a better frontman. there’s not a single ozzy-era black sabbath song that dio can’t perform better. he did a great job continuing black sabbath's legacy by improving all his songs and ripping off jinx dawson. i’ll die on that hill

here are some examples of songs i think he did better:

N.I.B [Live at Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR, 4/22/1982] - Mob Rules (Deluxe Edition)

the difference between the original and dio’s performance of N.I.B is night and day. i think this specific recording is the best version of it, if you haven’t listened i highly recommend you do. dio really performs this song with the energy it deserves, gets the lyrics across wayyy better. really makes it his.

Children of the Grave (Live) - Live Evil War Pigs (Live) - Live Evil

...and then there’s the original songs from his time with black sabbath, some of my favorite things he’s ever done!

Heaven and Hell - Heaven and Hell

the best song and album he made with them, not gonna try to be contrarian here. this is my favorite song off the album and the song that got me into him.

Die Young - Heaven and Hell Neon Knights - Heaven and Hell

and a few off of mob rules, these ones are underrated!

The Sign of the Southern Cross - Mob Rules Falling Off the Edge of the World - Mob Rules

these two songs are super similar. i lean towards falling off the edge of the world though. good bass playing from geezer butler (redundant) that is also impossibly fast. breaks my fingers. the sign of the southern cross, it gives me second hand anxiety when he does it live and gets to those first few “fade aways,” i always worry he’ll screw it up lol. i think it was todd in the shadows who said something like, “if a falsetto is less than 98% good, it’s bad”

The Sign of the Southern Cross / Heaven and Hell (Continued) [Live in San Antonio, May 13, 1982] - Live Evil (40th Anniversary Super Deluxe)

this is my favorite live version tho. love the little interlude, highly recommend. ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘ now for his pre-sabbath, pre-dio stuff, i only really like a few so i’m just gonna put them all together.

Stargazer - Rising (Rainbow)

all time favorite from him! right next to rainbow in the dark. a must-hear for anybody who likes him.

Catch the Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (Rainbow)

my elementary school music teacher loved this song but wouldn’t tell us what it was from ‘cause we were elementary schoolers. i just recently realized it was this song. that is to say, dio’s been my guardian angel this whole time

Never More - ELF (Elf)

only elf song i like and i LOVE it. might be a most listened for me on spotify this year.

Sitting in a Dream - The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshoppers Feast (Roger Glover)

and a bonus, not crazy about this song but it’s a rarity, catchy and his voice is just beautiful here. ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘ i don’t really like any of his stuff from heaven and hell era, as he gets older his vocals aren’t too appealing to me any more (i’m really particular about how people sing, if it wasn't obvious i have OCD lmfao) and i also just haven’t explored them very throughly. if you know any you like, let me know!