CD Review:Ronnie James Dio: This Is Your Life(Various Artists)Released April 1st, 2014(Rhino Records)Adreneline PR

This is a treat not only is this some great re-recordings of some great music but it also goes to help fund Ronnie James Dio Cancer Fund, sadly that is what took the mans life. More about that later.

RONNIE JAMES DIO: This Is Your Life Track Listing:

1.      “Neon Knights” – Anthrax*

2.      “The Last In Line” – Tenacious D*

3.      “The Mob Rules” – Adrenaline Mob

4.      “Rainbow In The Dark” – Corey Taylor, Roy Mayorga, Satchel, Christian Martucci, Jason Christopher*

5.      “Straight Through The Heart” – Halestorm*

6.      “Starstruck” – Motörhead with Biff Byford*

7.      “The Temple Of The King” – Scorpions*

8.      “Egypt (The Chains Are On)” – Doro

9.      “Holy Diver” – Killswitch Engage

10.  “Catch The Rainbow” – Glenn Hughes, Simon Wright, Craig Goldy, Rudy Sarzo, Scott Warren*

11.  “I” – Oni Logan, Jimmy Bain, Rowan Robertson, Brian Tichy*

12.  “Man On The Silver Mountain” – Rob Halford, Vinny Appice, Doug Aldrich, Jeff Pilson, Scott Warren*

13.  “Ronnie Rising Medley (Featuring A Light In The Black, Tarot Woman, Stargazer, Kill The King)” – Metallica*

14.  “This Is Your Life” – Dio

* Previously unreleased

Possibly the most reveared and idolized man of Heavy Metal he had the gift of a singer that has still rarely been matched he fronted groups such as DIO, Black Sabbath, Rainbow & Heaven & Hell. Always a proffesional he had many admirers and fans many of those are here on this compilation.

Above in the picture you can see that the man was friends with many in the metal community, country music has a strong community -there is a strong community in the metal world and he kind of held all that together, this love shows in the work by these artists.

I feel a strong connection to these songs have heard them so many times with the man that this tribute is for but these bands have their own takes on the songs and even without a good number of them being changed hearing new covers are quite awesome , one in particular is Corey Taylor's cover of "Rainbow In The Dark"

This just gets better as the album progresses as you quickly realize how gifted the man was in his vocal styles even though some would label him a metal singer he was more than that , he was an icon when he was alive and a mortal god in death.

Here is something I never thought I would like another song by Metallica but their split cover of a few of his songs is quite good, but this is not their material so it doesn't really count.But regardless they can bring some more attention to this terrible disease.

Ronnie's Widow Wendy

Fittingly, Ronnie James Dio provides the finale (and the album’s title) with his moving performance of “This Is Your Life.” Originally released on Angry Machines (1996), the song’s lyrics explore mortality and are backed by a stark and beautiful arrangement that features Dio accompanied only by his longtime keyboardist Scott Warren on piano. The song serves as a poignant reminder that we will never hear a voice like Dio’s again.





The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, co-founded by Wendy Dio, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable fund dedicated to supporting cancer-prevention research, raising awareness and educating the public about the vital importance of early detection and prevention when dealing with this deadly disease.

Thank you for reading this 

Sincerely

Anthony Nadeau