imo it's the first 3 rainbow albums. dio + blackmore = pwnage

Well that is hard to choose because most of his work is either good or great. Elf was ok, but his work with Rainbow was some of the best in his career. The three albums with him are phenominal. Then he went to Sabbath where he helped make some more of the best albums ever. Heaven and Hell is just to good. Then their is the work he did with his own band, Dio. I would say the first two were the best they had to offer. So I guess his best work would be his stuff with Rainbow and Sabbath, and the first 2 Dio album.

I like his solo career, because I liked his Holy Diver more than any other of his works.. Also I like his other works, especially Heaven n' Hell (Black Sabbath).

The solo career is the best. Just recently got into his music though.. I think Ozzy was way more fitting for Black Sabbath.

He'll never top Holy Diver, but the stuff with Ritchie Blackmore was pretty good.

Really difficult to choose.... Dio's music has always been a great influence (and guidance) to me. I am so glad I will see him again on stage for the 4th time............

keep in mind he is 67 years old today!!!!!!!!!!

Written by TheOwl on 23.05.2009 at 19:38


keep in mind he is 67 years old today!!!!!!!!!!

Somehwo I belive his mussican careat be longer how The Rolling Stones and , he's oldest mussican who lives metal, are metal and dress metal, others well suit dont counts metal

Ozzy is the singer of black sabbath, but dio playing with heaven and hell is fuckin brialliance, its iommis guitar work and dios voice/lyrics- how much more metal can you get??

Voted for Dio...best his songs are from "Holy Diver" album

This is actually a really hard choice, because his solo work was brilliant, but Rainbow Rising remains one of my favorite albums of all.
Therefore my vote will go with Rainbow as it says his "Best"
Elf are good too, and his Sabbath work was very good, Sabbath became a different band with Dio there, and again with Heaven and Hell.

I like Dio's solo work the best, though both Rainbow and Heaven and Hell are also up their in my books. Sacred Heart is one of the most underrated metal albums ever.

Well actually for me, Holy Diver kicked any of his other work (easily)
this album rocks and I like it.

For me its a song, for me his best vocal performance is Stargazer when he was in Rainbow. He sings his butt off on this song and to this day I get so pumped when I hear it!! Get well soon Ronnie!!

Hmm...well, it's a tossup between the solo work and Rainbow. I guess in the end I choose him as a solo artist. I love Rainbow, and they have put up some awsome shit. But rainbow also just doesn't always seem to have the same vocal power that he tends to have as a solo artist. It allowed him to spread his wings a little wider, if you know what I mean. And he offered more material. So dio-solo gets my vote.

All three Rainbow albums are stellar, especially 1st and 3rd, and Blackmore is a very unigue guitarist and grandfather of speed metal and neoclassical etc. I still enjoyed more Campbell's aggressive and flashy work on Dio solo albums. Holy Diver is classic but Last in Line and Sacred Heart are even better. RJD's vocals were top notch throughout the career, and his solo band, though had many line-up changes, still maintained many great players after Campbell left (Robertson, Goldy), and Lock Up The Wolves and Dream Evil are criminally overlooked albums. RJD in Black Sabbath always seemed like a replacement, and didn't fit as well into Iommi's gloomy music than into true rock'n'roll that was Rainbow and Dio. My vote: Dio solo.

Written by Derwood on 28.09.2009 at 02:57
Sacred Heart is one of the most underrated metal albums ever.

Hmm, I think Dream Evil is more underrated, and probably 2 or 3 of his later albums are as well. (Like Master Of The Moon and Strange Highways). 3 fillers during the 2nd half of Sacred Heart means I dont rate it as highly as some of his other underrated albums. But I do think Sacred Heart is a better album than most people make it out to be. I think people dont like it, or rate it, because its the lightest album that Dio ever made. In fact, ''Rock N' Roll Children'' is probably the most overtly poppy song they ever did, yet I also class it as one of Dio's best songs. I also love the much derided ''Hungry For Heaven''. Ronnie's voice could take centre stage, because of the lighter edge to the material, and it probably shined brighter than it ever did on that album's best moments. xD

As for the original question, I cant really give a proper answer, as I havent heard ELF, and I also havent heard all the stuff he did with Rainbow. (Although what I have heard has been awesome!) I think his solo stuff is more patchy than what he did with Sabbath/Heaven & Hell, but he made far more albums with Dio, so its a bit unfair to compare. Dehumanizer is my fave album that Ronnie sang on though. <3

Written by Angelic Storm on 20.05.2010 at 05:11

As for the original question, I cant really give a proper answer, as I havent heard ELF, and I also havent heard all the stuff he did with Rainbow. (Although what I have heard has been awesome!) I think his solo stuff is more patchy than what he did with Sabbath/Heaven & Hell, but he made far more albums with Dio, so its a bit unfair to compare. Dehumanizer is my fave album that Ronnie sang on though. <3

imo Rainbow is much better than what i've heard of his solo work(though my fav song with him on vocals continues to be Holy Diver of course). those 3 albums are absolutely incredible.

Written by Valentin B on 20.05.2010 at 08:34
imo Rainbow is much better than what i've heard of his solo work(though my fav song with him on vocals continues to be Holy Diver of course). those 3 albums are absolutely incredible.

Well...the Rainbow stuff I have heard with Dio has all been amazing! "Kill The King", "Man On The Silver Mountain", "Stargazer" and my absolute fave "Gates Of Babylon" are just awesome songs, which are equally as good as the very best songs with his own band, and Sabbath. I still havent checked out any full Rainbow albums though, which considering how long Ive been a Dio fan is very weird I guess. lol

I'm more of a Rainbow fan even though I still find his solo work to be of stellar quality, Rainbow's Rising is just too good.

No arguments there,Ronnie was more Epic,more powerfull and more <in control> during his solo years.

Dio for Holy Diver album

Written by Guib on 28.09.2009 at 13:22

Well actually for me, Holy Diver kicked any of his other work (easily)
this album rocks and I like it.

Same here, plus its the only work i ever heard by Dio.

While some of the Dio albums are awesome. Black Sabbath - Heaven and hell is so epic. Every song is Great. Plus I saw H&H live 3 times before he died and those song were very special to me.

Nothing beats Holy Diver for me. It's nice to know that somebody predicted the arrival of C. Ronaldo more than 20 years in advance. Dio, what a guy!

Rainbow is awesome, you can't go wrong with songs like Stargazer, Rainbow Eyes, or Gates of Babylon!

I think that he was on his best on his own, but I still think highly of his others works. \m/

Voted for Elf, on consistency.

I Vote for Dio solo project because of tracks like the Holy Diver and Rainbow in the dark and etc but the track Heaven And Hell with Black Sabbath is the best and most memorable track for me from Dio

His most memorable period is the solo one. Holy Diver is such a classic. However, Cildren of the Sea, Heaven and Hell, Neon Knights are probably my favourites so I'll go for Sabbath.

His best work is easily with Rainbow. His solo career has too many downs and well I am of the opinion he never fit in with Black Sabbath, although Mob Rules is quite a good album.