Totally agree that Holy Diver is the best. Production is fuller, and there's not a single filler song. Seems like Last in Line has a couple songs that are a bit poppy sounding to me
Before I even watch this I just want to say that to me Dio has no bad albums. I can listen to every album and not be disappointed, thats also including his Rainbow albums, Black Sabbath albums, and ELF. That's why he remains my number 1 metal singer and band of all time.
Strange Highways, I love how heavy it is. I think Tracy G guitar tone (on this album) kick ass, the robot kind effects are crazy. Also Vinny presence it's another thing that make this album my favorite. "Evilution" and "Pain" are great songs.
Angry machines and Strange Highways were way ahead of their time. 10 years later they would have been killers! Love the records with Appice, the drumming is so good! All Dio albums are so good!
"Last in line" is the very best album of Dio, no doubt. Let me tell you "We rock" is very hard to sing the way Dio does. This song also contains one of the most iconic chorus melody lines in metal/Heavy rock ever released.
I was fortunate enough to work a show for him on the Magica tour. Ronnie was a total class act, really cool guy. My Dio crew shirt is something I treasure.
10. Angry Machines 9. Master of the Moon 8. Magica 7. Killing the Dragon 6. Strange Highways 5. Sacred Heart 4. Lock Up the Wolves 3. Dream Evil 2. The Last in Line 1. Holy Diver
Strange Highways!!! Awesome album, the sound, the riffs, everything. And most of all: Dio´s performance. He was on fire!!!! in my opinion Strange Highways should be, at least, in the Top 3. Ruthless Metal: great job man, excellent video!
Saw DIO on the Angry Machines tour and it was a pretty sparse crowd, and alot of the crowd left after Motorhead, but Dio sang and performed like he was in front of 80,000 people. It was really awesome! I will treasure those memories forever.
@@RuthlessMetalYT There's something about the guitar tone that melts my face everytime I listen to that album and I think Dio sounds amazing on it. It's a spiritual successor to Dehumanizer which is one of my favorite Sabbath albums.
Great list, you've done it again! It's nice seeing Dream Evil toward the top. I never got to see Dio's solo band play live, but I did get to see him twice with Vinny, Tony and Geezer. The world is a better place because of Dio.
Great ranking list man! And my list would probably be pretty close to yours. Only difference is that Last In Line and Holy Diver would both be in my #1 spot for Dio's albums. They are both phenomenal masterpieces and deserve to be my favorites from him. And believe it or not. It is rare that I would put 2 albums in the same spot. But there is no taking them apart for me. I got to see Dio once in 2003 with Motorhead and Iron Maiden and again with Heaven & Hell, Machine Head and Megadeth in 2007. Both shows were awesome and as well as the other bands at those shows!
Not a huge Dio Solo or Dio Sabbath fan. I honestly thought his best work was in Rainbow. However, my fav Dio solo album is Lock up the Wolves from 1990
1) Holy Diver 2) Last in Line 3) Dream Evil 4) Sacred Heart 5) Strange Highways 6) Killing the Dragon 7) Master of the Moon 8) Lock Up the Wolves 9) Magica 10) Angry Machines
But that works great! For instance, I fell in love with "Forbidden Evil" after the video, and I had not paid attention to it before. Just keep up the awesome work, man!
I ever so slightly prefer Ozzy era Black Sabbath over Dio era. But when comparing their solo careers, Dio has the more solid and consistent high quality. Dio is also the better technical singer, which even Ozzy admits.
Check out 'The Rageaholic' Razorfist's channel. He did an ACCEPT video. He does a lot of stuff on music, gaming, movies and his political rants are freaking fantastic.
The most talented singer to set foot in this earth! Nice to see some love to Dream Evil. Though your top 2 are untoutchable, I allways thought Dream Evil was really close eheh Great video, cheers!
Nice!! Because of this video I just spent the last three hours revisiting every Dio album. Not by song either. All albums in their entirety. Many hours left and I'm looking forward to all of em. Great video man.
Last In Line is the first metal album I ever bought, and one of my favorite metal albums. I don't remember any filler. One of the bigger shocks of my teenage years was hearing "Hungry For Heaven" coming out of my aunt's headphones. She was listening to whatever movie's soundtrack that was part of.
You’re right in that even his weaker albums have some great stuff. The Angry Machines songs on Inferno: Last in Live are better than the studio versions. Strange Highways took awhile to grow on me but I love it now.
I agree. The first 3 albums with the original line-up. Other great singers I have to mention are Mike Kiske from Helloween and Joakim Cans from Hammerfall
I also prefer Last in Line over Holy Diver, maybe cos Holy Diver gets so much love while L.I.L. often gets overshadowed by H.D. But I'd bump Killing the Dragon & Master of the Moon into my top 5. They also happen to have the best album covers in my opinion, I mean just look at them, they are so metal that Manowar should blush ;) ...Speaking of which, you should absolutely do a Manowar list soon \m/
Good list! Can't argue with the rankings although there will be many who will rank Holy Diver over Last In Line. I agree Dream Evil was criminally overlooked at the time but by 1987 Dio was sadly seen as too 'old school' and the kids wanted new fresher, faster and heavier stuff to namecheck to their mates.
Is always difficult to talk about Dio. For me, along with rob halford, he is the god of singing in metal. And i don’t put it to the past because he still is, even after years of his death. I cannot say that i disagree with the list, but probably my favorite album is dream evil. As you say, it has some dark heavy metal songs like “night people”, but also incredible heavy ballads like “all the fools sail away”, “naked in the rain”, etc. Dio sings with energy and passion like i never see before, give me chills every time i heard the songs. It’s one of the albuns of my life.
Thank you for your dedicated work, sire. I know I am late to the party, but I´d like to throw my two cents in. First, there is no such thing as a bad Dio album - I prefer the terminus "slightly not as marvelous" for some of them. Second, Dream Evil does rarely get the love it deserves, so I am glad that it emerges on #3. I saw Dio first time on the ill-fated European leg of the DE tour, and this turned me to a 100% fan. Third, your ranking is pretty solid, I´d only put Strange Highways some steps up, Magica and Killing the Dragon down. And I am sorry for Angry Machines... so it´s not the worst album by RJD, he just recorded nine better ones. Cheers, and Up the Horns.
Greatest metal singer of all time! Also one of the greatest bands ever. Rainbow is fantastic too. These are some great ranking lists. Just out of curiosity, would ever do a ranking of the Blue Öyster Cult albums?
Okay, you definitely surprised me with your list. Of course, most of us would put "Holy Diver" as number 1 (I do) but we all have our own tastes and it shows how diverse metal fans are. Great list!
Great list Ruthless! Nearly the same as I had in my mind. 1. Holy Diver (though Last in Line is about equal) 2. Last in Line 3. Dream Evil 4. Sacred Heart 5. Magica 6. Lock up the Wolves 7. Killing the Dragon 8. Master of the Moon 9. Strange Highways 10. Angry Machines Btw give us a Manowar list!
Usually when someone mentions a metal band's keyboardist, that alone is a bad sign. But not with Ronnie James Dio! He could have a xylophone player in his band and still rock hard!
Totally agree with this ranking, tho my favourite between Holy Diver and Last In Line changes every week lol.. The best Rock /Metal ever, still sorely missed today! 💔🤘
@@RuthlessMetalYT Counting the bands you ranked, the only other I listened to was Metallica, I prefer progressive Metal with bands such as Opeth, Katatonia, early Anathema and Dream Theater
I noticed you reply to every comment even the recent ones, so before the actual comment, just wanted to say that's really cool of you. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I got into metal somewhat recently and your Rank 'Em All series has been helping me discover bands and their albuns. I can sort of tell which albuns I will enjoy based on your short but eficient descriptions, so this series sort of makes my metal experience much better. I will definitely be checking out some Dio albuns now. Thanks for making Rank 'Em All and keep up the good work! \m/
I totally agree with your review of Dio albums, yes some of the lyrics were a bit suspect but what a voice. I met him in Maida Vale In London back in 1998 and he was a total gentleman. RIP Ronnie James Dio.
Angry Machines actually has a couple of good songs on it. Listen to the song "Dy ing in America" it has a very catchy heavy main riff. Also the song "Don't tell the kids" has some thrash metal elements. The rest of the album was forgettable.
I think many complain that Dio always uses Fantasy lyrics and theres plenty of truth in that, but when he goes for something different these people also complain. 😁
Best singer of alltime period. Damn this is a Hard list to make 1 Holy Diver 2 Last In Line 3 Dream Evil 4 Sacred Heart 5 Strange Highways 6 Magica 7 Killing The Dragon 8 Angry Machines 9 Lock Up The Wolves 10 Master Of The Moon
Here's my list, more or less, as most titles might shift a bit depending on the day for me. 01 Holy Diver 02 The Last In Line 03 Magica 04 Dream Evil 05 Sacred Heart 06 Lock Up The Wolves 07 Master Of The Moon 08 Strange Highways 09 Killing The Dragon 10 Angry Machines
A very hard ranking. Great job doing that, I can't imagine the difficulty. I completely agree with the top 5. Those are solid albums. The rest is hard to rank. If I could lump them all in #6 position then that's where they would stay. Keep doing the great work.
Great video! DIO is my all time favourite singer. My ranking is: Holy Diver The Last in Line Dream Evil Lock Up The Wolves Magica Sacred Heart Master of the Moon Killing The Dragon Angry Machines Strange Highways
Ruthless Metal Ranking Machine!! You're on fire!!! 3 in a row ?! You rule!! I just love to dig in the discographies of bands I only knew from their 2-3 first albums... Nuclear assault, Exciter... I simply played your suggestions from each album and discovered great, and not so great moments from each bands you ranked; some albums I had neglected over the years and some I simply forgot... Now, I'm hoping you consider the german band "Rage" classic enough to rank them... and what about W.A.S.P? To me they're more "metal" than "hard rock"; whadaya think?
@@RuthlessMetalYT Then you've got something very interresting to discover; You might want to try the albums "Trapped", "The Missing Link", Black in Mind", "end of all days" "13" and "Unity". If you don't like those, that means it ain't for you since these albums are in my opinion the very best ones. Their 2nd and 3rd ones are the "classics" but I think you probably know those (Execution/Perfect Man). Rock on, Ranking Machine! ;-)
Me personally, I would've bumped up Killing the Dragon and Magica up to 3 and 4 and dropped Dream Evil to 5th. Also I have to disagree with the statement about Dio being at their low point during Killing the Dragon. Although Dio never regained it's popularity from the early 80's, they were in the middle of a resurgence that was started with the previous album Magica. They were playing larger venues at this time and were frequent guest performers on Maiden tours.
I might be in the minority, but I always loved Magica more than most Dio albums. I would put it in my top 3 behind The Last In Line and Holy Diver. I probably listen to the song Turn To Stone more than any other Dio track.
Great ! From awhile ago but nice to see. I bought Holy Diver new and loved it but didn't get into anything else for years. 10 or 15 years ago i see Last In Line on used vinyl for like $3.00 and figured I could learn the title track after just going from memory. Did that to a degree. Can't recall much else. I need to fix that.
Now that I've seen you're list, good choices can't do no wrong with Dios discography. My rankings 1. Master of the Moon 2. Holy Diver 3. Last in Line 4. Strange Highways 5. Dream Evil 6. Killing the Dragon 7. Sacred Heart 8. Angry Machines 9. Lock up the Wolves 10. Magica
This was cool. Thanks. Only saw Dio once; New Year's Eve in December of 1985. TKO, and Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force were the opening acts. Felt sorry for the keyboardist. We were to the left of the stage; great seats, but we were also able to see behind the curtain. The keygoardist, Claude Schnell (?), performed his heart out, but almost no one saw him. I'd seen Deep Purple earlier that year, and it was so different to see how revered Jon Lord was, while Schnell was almost a liability.
What a fantastic discography, I personally don't think there are any bad Dio albums. Here's my personal ranking: 1. Dream Evil 2. The Last in Line 3. Holy Diver 4. Strange Highways 5. Sacred Heart 6. Magica 7. Lock Up the Wolves 8. Killing the Dragon 9. Master of the Moon 10. Angry Machines
Was at some Dio listening earlier in his Rainbow form. Great stuff. Also if I may ask, why there is a slightly less black patch in the bottom right of most of your videos? An editing thing?
Good list m8,only thing i disagree is Strange HIghways,i would had put it on 3rd or 4th place, Dio albums are hard to rank,theres not really correct order cause different people like different songs, btw are u planning on doing a face reveal for 50k or 100k subs,would be cool
@@RuthlessMetalYT Yeah give Highways another listen,too many good songs on that album. Side A is all bangers,the outro of the first song, the guitar solo of Firehead, PAIN i think one of his best and angriest songs and other good stuff. Theres a bus interview Dio made the same year 94 where he roasted all his former bandmates from Sabbath and Rainbow, he was mad at everyone at that time and that contributed to the album having angry and heavy sound.
Went down to the bunker gym at college to work out at 12 AM for years and Night People was usually playing on my cassette Walkman (remember those?). Also clearly remember Dio's interview for the album on Detroit radio.
I believe I saw Rough Cut open for Dio, seems like it was between '84 and '86. Even when I didn't buy his new album, I always went to see Dio in concert, even when he was playing smaller places. Even saw him at a club in Baltimore called Hammerjacks. I know the exact date because it was the day that OJ went on the white Bronco chase, all the TVs in the club were playing it and Ronnie came on late because he couldn't stop watching it unfold.
Lock up the wolves Is my favorite Dio album . I think it's his most bluesy album and it was cool seeing a young Rowan Robertson up there just a couple years older then me tearing it up .
it's been almost 11 years since Ronnie passed away. never forgotten. for me I'll start with the worst Magica I never liked the concept angry machines I agree it wasn't that great either master of the moon it was heavy but the songs weren't interesting for me strange highways with Jeff pilson kinda disappointed lock up the wolves it was heavy with yhe new guitarist he got Dream evil is awesome sacred heart Vivian Campbell's last album with dio Last in line rivals Holy Diver in my opinion but I feel it came out too soon after Holy diver 1 Holy diver will always be his masterpiece. I didn't mention killing the dragon because I haven't listened to it. yet
Dio and Lemmy seriously no joke we're 2 people that I really looked up to growing up. They were good dudes badass musicians and both left us with alot of great fuckin music I'm grateful they are not replaceable
Killing the dragon was my first Dio solo album after getting Black Sabbath Heaven and hell. I still love it and the evil or divine dvd that came out in that time. Very upbeat and good songs. Glad to see it and lock up the wolves get some love here. I would actually move strange highways up the list and sacred heart down the list otherwise.
I still love all these albums, but gun to my head ranking: 1. Master of the Moon 2. Holy Diver 3. Sacred Heart 4. Strange Highways 5. Last in Line 6. Killing the Dragon 7. Dream Evil 8. Lock up the Wolves 9. Angry Machines 10. Magica
Har nog 2-3 ex var av Holy Diver, Sacred Heart, Dream Evil och Last In Line på LP. Köpta för kanske en femma styck på div loppisar när skivor fortfarande var rimligt prissatta.. Ibland är det gött att vara gammal! Äger dock inga andra album med DIO så de är mina favoriter i ingen speciell ordning.
holy diver is the best, literally every song in this legendary album was amazing\m/
yeah, pretty much, the same with the last in line, all classics. Cheers!
It's a good album, but Last In Line is still his best album
Totally agree that Holy Diver is the best. Production is fuller, and there's not a single filler song. Seems like Last in Line has a couple songs that are a bit poppy sounding to me
Top 4 for me:
1. Holydiver
2. The last in line
3. Sacred heart
4. Dream evil
Cheers! 🍺
Before I even watch this I just want to say that to me Dio has no bad albums. I can listen to every album and not be disappointed, thats also including his Rainbow albums, Black Sabbath albums, and ELF. That's why he remains my number 1 metal singer and band of all time.
I couldn't agree more. Cheers! 🍺
What about the most important of the bunch, Ronnie and the Red Caps :D
He certainly has a discography to be proud of.
One of the very best.
Strange Highways, I love how heavy it is. I think Tracy G guitar tone (on this album) kick ass, the robot kind effects are crazy. Also Vinny presence it's another thing that make this album my favorite. "Evilution" and "Pain" are great songs.
Yeah I actually like Strange Highways. Especially the title track (after the intro) has a really heavy sabbath doom metal vibe.
Hello to you Mechanix,It's a great album,second only to Holy Diver in my opinion. RIP Ronnie James Dio
It's my favorite Dio album. 🤘
Cheers!
Strange Highways and Angry Machines are both better than Magica, Master of the Moon, and Lock Up the Wolves.
Best metal singer of all times , the god of metal himself , RIP.
Cheers! 🍺
Check out Diviner
Why are you talking about Rob Halfold in a Dio ranking?
@@richboutin4044 hahahahahahaha😂😂😂😂
Rob Halford
Angry machines and Strange Highways were way ahead of their time. 10 years later they would have been killers! Love the records with Appice, the drumming is so good! All Dio albums are so good!
Cheers
As a new metal fan,I’m very grateful for these videos thank you
:) Glad you enjoy 'em. being a new metal fan is the best thing there is, discovering masterpieces. :) Cheers!
Whoah!! Seems you've got a lot on your plate to discover! Good luck!
Enjoy the journey,listen to every genre and see what fits 😁
Yeah being new to metal is so much fun cause of the discovery stage
@@biblicaladrian6007 Yeah I rarely discover new stuff that blews my mind anymore. :D
For me, Magica is at least top 3 of Dio albums, such a shame that we never got the sequels that Ronnie wanted to do
Cheers! 🍺
I agree.!!
Right. Back to almost Rainbow fantastical lyrics. Loved it as soon as I heard it!
"Last in line" is the very best album of Dio, no doubt.
Let me tell you "We rock" is very hard to sing the way Dio does. This song also contains one of the most iconic chorus melody lines in metal/Heavy rock ever released.
Cheers!
Holy Diver and The Last in Line are my favorites, True Classics! 🤘🤘
For sure. Cheers!
I was fortunate enough to work a show for him on the Magica tour. Ronnie was a total class act, really cool guy. My Dio crew shirt is something I treasure.
damn, that's cool. :)
10. Angry Machines
9. Master of the Moon
8. Magica
7. Killing the Dragon
6. Strange Highways
5. Sacred Heart
4. Lock Up the Wolves
3. Dream Evil
2. The Last in Line
1. Holy Diver
Cheers! 🍺
You're doing good in this world keeping Ronnie's memory alive 🤘🏻🤘🏻 He would be proud!!
Thanks boss, Cheers! 🍺
Personally Strange highways in my opinion is one of Dio's best solo albums, its one of angriest anyway. 🤘😤🤘
I agree 100%. I bought it the day it came out and always loved it. It's the heaviest album in the Dio discography and one of the most fun to listen to
Cheers
Strange Highways!!! Awesome album, the sound, the riffs, everything. And most of all: Dio´s performance. He was on fire!!!! in my opinion Strange Highways should be, at least, in the Top 3. Ruthless Metal: great job man, excellent video!
Thanks boss, Cheers! 🍺
I loved the album cover and the title song ( strange highways)
That's it. Top 3 Dio albums - Magica, last in line and holy diver.
Saw DIO on the Angry Machines tour and it was a pretty sparse crowd, and alot of the crowd left after Motorhead, but Dio sang and performed like he was in front of 80,000 people. It was really awesome! I will treasure those memories forever.
I bet! Cheers!
1 - Strange Highways
2 - Holy Diver
3 - The Last In Line
4 - Dream Evil
5 - Lock Up The Wolves
6 - Killing The Dragon
7 - Master Of The Moon
8 - Angry Machines
9 - Sacred Heart
10 - Magica
damn strange highways number one? ;) Cheers! 🍺
@@RuthlessMetalYT There's something about the guitar tone that melts my face everytime I listen to that album and I think Dio sounds amazing on it. It's a spiritual successor to Dehumanizer which is one of my favorite Sabbath albums.
Angry Dio on Strange Highways and Dehumanizer is great. Angry Machines...not so great.
@@kevinbrown1893 Agree on Angry Machines though it does have some worthwhile songs like This Is Your Life and Don't Tell The Kids.
Great list, you've done it again!
It's nice seeing Dream Evil toward the top. I never got to see Dio's solo band play live, but I did get to see him twice with Vinny, Tony and Geezer. The world is a better place because of Dio.
Cheers! 🍺
Great ranking list man! And my list would probably be pretty close to yours. Only difference is that Last In Line and Holy Diver would both be in my #1 spot for Dio's albums. They are both phenomenal masterpieces and deserve to be my favorites from him. And believe it or not. It is rare that I would put 2 albums in the same spot. But there is no taking them apart for me. I got to see Dio once in 2003 with Motorhead and Iron Maiden and again with Heaven & Hell, Machine Head and Megadeth in 2007. Both shows were awesome and as well as the other bands at those shows!
thanks boss, Cheers!
Not a huge Dio Solo or Dio Sabbath fan. I honestly thought his best work was in Rainbow. However, my fav Dio solo album is Lock up the Wolves from 1990
I thought that was mandatory to be. ;) Cheers!
1) Holy Diver
2) Last in Line
3) Dream Evil
4) Sacred Heart
5) Strange Highways
6) Killing the Dragon
7) Master of the Moon
8) Lock Up the Wolves
9) Magica
10) Angry Machines
Cheers! 🍺
@@RuthlessMetalYT You too!
I've been waiting this for this one since the Rainbow Rank'em All! You never fail to deliver, cheers from São Paulo!
Yeah, I wanted to keep you guys hanging for a while. Can't rank all the big ones in a row, then I have nothing more to say. haha Cheers!
But that works great! For instance, I fell in love with "Forbidden Evil" after the video, and I had not paid attention to it before. Just keep up the awesome work, man!
The Last in Line is my favorite album in the discography too man!
Yeah, the first two are more or less equals in my opinion. Maybe Holy Diver is a bit overplayed so that's why I prefer the last in line. Cheers!
I have to love his first 3 albums as I knew Vivian Campbell from back here in Northern Ireland 🤘🤘
Cheers! 🤘
Dio has one of the most solid bodies of work of any singer in any genre. Also, have you done Riot or Accept yet?
I ever so slightly prefer Ozzy era Black Sabbath over Dio era. But when comparing their solo careers, Dio has the more solid and consistent high quality. Dio is also the better technical singer, which even Ozzy admits.
We really need Riot and Accept!
Yes, I'd like to see a Riot one as wel
@@deantodd8103 I can't pick between Ozzy and Dio anymore. But Sabbath with Gillan has been moving up the ranks, too.
Check out 'The Rageaholic' Razorfist's channel. He did an ACCEPT video. He does a lot of stuff on music, gaming, movies and his political rants are freaking fantastic.
The most talented singer to set foot in this earth! Nice to see some love to Dream Evil. Though your top 2 are untoutchable, I allways thought Dream Evil was really close eheh
Great video, cheers!
Thanks boss, Cheers! 🍺
Nice!! Because of this video I just spent the last three hours revisiting every Dio album. Not by song either. All albums in their entirety. Many hours left and I'm looking forward to all of em.
Great video man.
Thanks boss, it's always a good time to revisit Dio's catalogue. Cheers! 🤘
Last In Line is the first metal album I ever bought, and one of my favorite metal albums. I don't remember any filler.
One of the bigger shocks of my teenage years was hearing "Hungry For Heaven" coming out of my aunt's headphones. She was listening to whatever movie's soundtrack that was part of.
hehe. nice. Cheers! 🍺
And you forgot to mention the albums cover artworks that were absolutely amazing, very D&D inpired and a true match to the greatness of his music
That is true. He had some amazingly cool art. Cheers! 🍺
That guitar solo from the song Last in Line is legendary! Vivian Campbell 🔥🤘🔥
Cheers!
I've only listened to the first three, but Last in Line is definitely my favorite
time to check out some of the other stuff then. ;) Cheers! 🍺
You’re right in that even his weaker albums have some great stuff. The Angry Machines songs on Inferno: Last in Live are better than the studio versions. Strange Highways took awhile to grow on me but I love it now.
Cheers! 🍺
Ronnie James Dio is the greatest singer in metal. Holy Diver, Last in Line and Sacred Heart are some of my favorite Dio albums. To many to list.
pretty much, he halford and geoff tate. ;) Cheers! 🍺
I agree. The first 3 albums with the original line-up. Other great singers I have to mention are Mike Kiske from Helloween and Joakim Cans from Hammerfall
@@paulchaplin2032 I've seen Hammerfall a few years ago. They were awesome live.
Strange Highways to me is the true follow up to Dehumanizer and is #5 in my ranking of Dio
Cheers! 🍺
I also prefer Last in Line over Holy Diver, maybe cos Holy Diver gets so much love while L.I.L. often gets overshadowed by H.D.
But I'd bump Killing the Dragon & Master of the Moon into my top 5. They also happen to have the best album covers in my opinion, I mean just look at them, they are so metal that Manowar should blush ;) ...Speaking of which, you should absolutely do a Manowar list soon \m/
That I should! Cheers!
im loving Rank Em All. Thank u for making these!
Thank you!
Good list! Can't argue with the rankings although there will be many who will rank Holy Diver over Last In Line. I agree Dream Evil was criminally overlooked at the time but by 1987 Dio was sadly seen as too 'old school' and the kids wanted new fresher, faster and heavier stuff to namecheck to their mates.
yeah shit happens. :) Cheers!
Is always difficult to talk about Dio. For me, along with rob halford, he is the god of singing in metal. And i don’t put it to the past because he still is, even after years of his death. I cannot say that i disagree with the list, but probably my favorite album is dream evil. As you say, it has some dark heavy metal songs like “night people”, but also incredible heavy ballads like “all the fools sail away”, “naked in the rain”, etc. Dio sings with energy and passion like i never see before, give me chills every time i heard the songs. It’s one of the albuns of my life.
good stuff! Cheers! 🍺
Thank you for your dedicated work, sire. I know I am late to the party, but I´d like to throw my two cents in. First, there is no such thing as a bad Dio album - I prefer the terminus "slightly not as marvelous" for some of them. Second, Dream Evil does rarely get the love it deserves, so I am glad that it emerges on #3. I saw Dio first time on the ill-fated European leg of the DE tour, and this turned me to a 100% fan. Third, your ranking is pretty solid, I´d only put Strange Highways some steps up, Magica and Killing the Dragon down. And I am sorry for Angry Machines... so it´s not the worst album by RJD, he just recorded nine better ones. Cheers, and Up the Horns.
cheerios
Greatest metal singer of all time! Also one of the greatest bands ever. Rainbow is fantastic too. These are some great ranking lists.
Just out of curiosity, would ever do a ranking of the Blue Öyster Cult albums?
I don't know if I will, I haven't listened that much to them besides the hits. Cheers! 🍺
Never mind the blue Oyster cult, should do the cult
Finally, another one putting The Last In Line on top! That one is my favorite too!
it was a close call. Cheers! 🍺
How did I miss this video?You may be the most accurate metal historian on YT.Great channel(and you mentioned ELF🙂)🤘
Thanks man. I appreciate it. Cheers!
I saw Dio live for Master of the Moon. He seems very nice and cool. I got Magica but I'm more partial to his first 5 albums. But that's me.
Cheers! 🍺
Okay, you definitely surprised me with your list. Of course, most of us would put "Holy Diver" as number 1 (I do) but we all have our own tastes and it shows how diverse metal fans are. Great list!
yeah, that one and the last in line is equals for me, the last in line isn't as overplayed as holy diver though.
Great list Ruthless! Nearly the same as I had in my mind.
1. Holy Diver (though Last in Line is about equal)
2. Last in Line
3. Dream Evil
4. Sacred Heart
5. Magica
6. Lock up the Wolves
7. Killing the Dragon
8. Master of the Moon
9. Strange Highways
10. Angry Machines
Btw give us a Manowar list!
Thank you, solid list!
Impressed how close your picks are compared to mine,we might flip a couple ,but pretty much agree with your list,cool
Cheers!
Love Dream Evil, Holy Diver, and Last in line
classics. Cheers! 🍺
Same top 3 for me!
Usually when someone mentions a metal band's keyboardist, that alone is a bad sign. But not with Ronnie James Dio! He could have a xylophone player in his band and still rock hard!
Yeah it certainly can be bad if it's overused. Cheers! 🍺
Totally agree with this ranking, tho my favourite between Holy Diver and Last In Line changes every week lol.. The best Rock /Metal ever, still sorely missed today! 💔🤘
For sure, Cheers! 🤘
I agree with your top 5 100%. I really enjoyed Master of the Moon, too
Cheers!
Hell yeah, the first band you ranked that I actually listen to
haha. I've ranked so many bands, you must like some of them? Cheers! 🍺
@@RuthlessMetalYT Counting the bands you ranked, the only other I listened to was Metallica, I prefer progressive Metal with bands such as Opeth, Katatonia, early Anathema and Dream Theater
1 - The Last In Line
2 - Holy Diver
3 - Sacred Heart
Cheers! 🍺
Oh yes! I agree with the first 5 🤘
I noticed you reply to every comment even the recent ones, so before the actual comment, just wanted to say that's really cool of you.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I got into metal somewhat recently and your Rank 'Em All series has been helping me discover bands and their albuns. I can sort of tell which albuns I will enjoy based on your short but eficient descriptions, so this series sort of makes my metal experience much better.
I will definitely be checking out some Dio albuns now. Thanks for making Rank 'Em All and keep up the good work! \m/
Thank you, yeah I've probably answered 100.000 comments by now. haha I wonder if there is any stats on that. :D Cheers!
1. The Last In Line (1984)
2. Holy Diver (1983)
3. Strange Highways (1993)
4. Angry Machines (1996)
5. Master of the Moon (2004)
6. Lock Up The Wolves (1990)
7. Dream Evil (1987)
8. Sacred Heart (1985)
9. Killing The Dragon (2002)
10. Magica (2000)
Cheers
I totally agree with your review of Dio albums, yes some of the lyrics were a bit suspect but what a voice. I met him in Maida Vale In London back in 1998 and he was a total gentleman. RIP Ronnie James Dio.
:) Cheers!
Angry Machines actually has a couple of good songs on it. Listen to the song "Dy ing in America" it has a very catchy heavy main riff. Also the song "Don't tell the kids" has some thrash metal elements. The rest of the album was forgettable.
yeah, it's alright I guess, there were certainly worse albums released during that time. Cheers!
I think many complain that Dio always uses Fantasy lyrics and theres plenty of truth in that, but when he goes for something different these people also complain. 😁
These are my only two favorite Songs on this album too 😉
Best singer of alltime period. Damn this is a Hard list to make
1 Holy Diver
2 Last In Line
3 Dream Evil
4 Sacred Heart
5 Strange Highways
6 Magica
7 Killing The Dragon
8 Angry Machines
9 Lock Up The Wolves
10 Master Of The Moon
Good stuff! Cheers!
Sepultura next maybe? I've been wanting to see that ranking since the first rank 'em all
I'm going to try to rank one big heavy metal band per month in the upcoming months, so it's in the pipeline. ;)
I really enjoy those rankings (Congrats again!) but normally we are sure about the very first positions hahahaha Cheers!
Thanks boss, Cheers! :)
Holy diver is my personal favorite but that's just my opinion. Keep up the good work my man!
Cheers! 🍺
All the fools sailed away is in my opinion, the finest vocal RJD ever put to tape.
its unreal!!! and the lyrical content...wow!!
It's a cool song. Cheers! 🤘
Close, but I would put his work on Stargazer ahead of it.
Glad to see this ranking. Another great video!
Thanks boss, Cheers!
Here's my list, more or less, as most titles might shift a bit depending on the day for me.
01 Holy Diver
02 The Last In Line
03 Magica
04 Dream Evil
05 Sacred Heart
06 Lock Up The Wolves
07 Master Of The Moon
08 Strange Highways
09 Killing The Dragon
10 Angry Machines
Cheers!
A very hard ranking. Great job doing that, I can't imagine the difficulty. I completely agree with the top 5. Those are solid albums. The rest is hard to rank. If I could lump them all in #6 position then that's where they would stay. Keep doing the great work.
Thanks boss, I'll try. Yeah it's tough when a big chunk of the albums are great. Cheers! 🍺
@@RuthlessMetalYT Cheers! 🤘
Love these ranked lists😎🤘🤘 Great stuff!! Perhaps do W.A.'S. P. , Grand Magu's, Enforcer next
Thanks, we'll see where these ranks takes us. :)
Great video! DIO is my all time favourite singer. My ranking is:
Holy Diver
The Last in Line
Dream Evil
Lock Up The Wolves
Magica
Sacred Heart
Master of the Moon
Killing The Dragon
Angry Machines
Strange Highways
Thanks boss! Cheers!
I really liked this dude, you should do the rainbow albums and dio sabbath albums
Edit: I just saw you already did those lol
already done it. ;) hehe Cheers! 🤘
Ruthless Metal Ranking Machine!! You're on fire!!! 3 in a row ?! You rule!! I just love to dig in the discographies of bands I only knew from their 2-3 first albums... Nuclear assault, Exciter... I simply played your suggestions from each album and discovered great, and not so great moments from each bands you ranked; some albums I had neglected over the years and some I simply forgot... Now, I'm hoping you consider the german band "Rage" classic enough to rank them... and what about W.A.S.P? To me they're more "metal" than "hard rock"; whadaya think?
I'm not that familiar with Rage's discography more than the first handful of records. Yeah some big ranks are certainly coming up soon. Cheers! 🍺
@@RuthlessMetalYT Then you've got something very interresting to discover; You might want to try the albums "Trapped", "The Missing Link", Black in Mind", "end of all days" "13" and "Unity". If you don't like those, that means it ain't for you since these albums are in my opinion the very best ones. Their 2nd and 3rd ones are the "classics" but I think you probably know those (Execution/Perfect Man). Rock on, Ranking Machine! ;-)
Me personally, I would've bumped up Killing the Dragon and Magica up to 3 and 4 and dropped Dream Evil to 5th. Also I have to disagree with the statement about Dio being at their low point during Killing the Dragon. Although Dio never regained it's popularity from the early 80's, they were in the middle of a resurgence that was started with the previous album Magica. They were playing larger venues at this time and were frequent guest performers on Maiden tours.
Killing the dragon is great for a somewhat modern release.
Excellent ranking! Last in Line has always been my favorite DIO album. I also think that Strange Highways is a hidden gem of the discography.
Thanks boss, Cheers!
I might be in the minority, but I always loved Magica more than most Dio albums. I would put it in my top 3 behind The Last In Line and Holy Diver. I probably listen to the song Turn To Stone more than any other Dio track.
It's a good album for sure but I think the classics are even better. ;) Cheers! 🍺
it would be much more interesting to see you rank all the albums of his career. his solo ranking is fairly obvious to me. good work as always!
I might do that some day when I run out of ideas. hehe Cheers! 🤘
Great !
From awhile ago but nice to see.
I bought Holy Diver new and loved it but didn't get into anything else for years.
10 or 15 years ago i see Last In Line on used vinyl for like $3.00 and figured I could learn the title track after just going from memory. Did that to a degree. Can't recall much else. I need to fix that.
Cheers!
Now that I've seen you're list, good choices can't do no wrong with Dios discography. My rankings
1. Master of the Moon
2. Holy Diver
3. Last in Line
4. Strange Highways
5. Dream Evil
6. Killing the Dragon
7. Sacred Heart
8. Angry Machines
9. Lock up the Wolves
10. Magica
Oh, master of the moon number one? ;) Cheers! 🍺
@@RuthlessMetalYT yup, his last in line is my first in line lol cheers 🍻 to you bro. Keep up the good work
This was cool.
Thanks.
Only saw Dio once; New Year's Eve in December of 1985. TKO, and Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force were the opening acts.
Felt sorry for the keyboardist. We were to the left of the stage; great seats, but we were also able to see behind the curtain. The keygoardist, Claude Schnell (?), performed his heart out, but almost no one saw him. I'd seen Deep Purple earlier that year, and it was so different to see how revered Jon Lord was, while Schnell was almost a liability.
must have been great. Cheers! 🍺
Excellent ranking, fully agree. By the way, most of your video have the title Defending the Faith since 2001. What does 2001 signify?
I'll answer that in an upcoming Q&A video. ;) Cheers! 🍺
What a fantastic discography, I personally don't think there are any bad Dio albums. Here's my personal ranking:
1. Dream Evil
2. The Last in Line
3. Holy Diver
4. Strange Highways
5. Sacred Heart
6. Magica
7. Lock Up the Wolves
8. Killing the Dragon
9. Master of the Moon
10. Angry Machines
Cheers!
Was at some Dio listening earlier in his Rainbow form. Great stuff.
Also if I may ask, why there is a slightly less black patch in the bottom right of most of your videos? An editing thing?
It's a black album cover in the background and it's ripped in the corner. maybe it's not so easy to see. :) haha Cheers! 🍺
@@RuthlessMetalYT Ohhh that makes sense, so it looks like an auld CD/ LP as cover, clever.
Cheers! 🍻
Good list m8,only thing i disagree is Strange HIghways,i would had put it on 3rd or 4th place, Dio albums are hard to rank,theres not really correct order cause different people like different songs, btw are u planning on doing a face reveal for 50k or 100k subs,would be cool
I've seen a lot of people liking that album, maybe I missed something. :D Not really, I like to remain anonymous.. haha
@@RuthlessMetalYT Yeah give Highways another listen,too many good songs on that album. Side A is all bangers,the outro of the first song, the guitar solo of Firehead, PAIN i think one of his best and angriest songs and other good stuff. Theres a bus interview Dio made the same year 94 where he roasted all his former bandmates from Sabbath and Rainbow, he was mad at everyone at that time and that contributed to the album having angry and heavy sound.
Cheers!
Went down to the bunker gym at college to work out at 12 AM for years and Night People was usually playing on my cassette Walkman (remember those?). Also clearly remember Dio's interview for the album on Detroit radio.
Cheers! 🍺
I'd love as ranking including his Rainbow, Sabbath and Elf output as well.
already ranked rainbow and sabbath. ;) Cheers! 🍺
You are absolutely correct, sir.
But I usually consider LiL & HD
to be two parts of the same album.
Cheerios!
My favorite Dio album has always been The Last in Line. The first 4 albums are amazing. Love the Dream Evil album cover.
Cheerios!
I believe I saw Rough Cut open for Dio, seems like it was between '84 and '86. Even when I didn't buy his new album, I always went to see Dio in concert, even when he was playing smaller places. Even saw him at a club in Baltimore called Hammerjacks. I know the exact date because it was the day that OJ went on the white Bronco chase, all the TVs in the club were playing it and Ronnie came on late because he couldn't stop watching it unfold.
ooh that must have been amazing. Cheers! 🤘
Thanks for ranking Dio man🤘😊🎸
Thank you, Cheers! 🍺
Lock up the wolves Is my favorite Dio album . I think it's his most bluesy album and it was cool seeing a young Rowan Robertson up there just a couple years older then me tearing it up .
Yeah, it definitely has another tone to it. Still great though. Cheers! 🍺
@@RuthlessMetalYT cheers
it's been almost 11 years since Ronnie passed away. never forgotten. for me
I'll start with the worst
Magica I never liked the concept
angry machines I agree it wasn't that great either
master of the moon it was heavy but the songs weren't interesting for me
strange highways with Jeff pilson kinda disappointed
lock up the wolves it was heavy with yhe new guitarist he got
Dream evil is awesome
sacred heart Vivian Campbell's last album with dio
Last in line rivals Holy Diver in my opinion but I feel it came out too soon after Holy diver
1 Holy diver will always be his masterpiece. I didn't mention killing the dragon because I haven't listened to it. yet
yeah time flies. RIP Ronnie. Cheers! 🍺
Excellent ranking video my friend! I have to say I agree with this one. 🤘🏻
Thanks boss, Cheers! 🍺
Dio and Lemmy seriously no joke we're 2 people that I really looked up to growing up. They were good dudes badass musicians and both left us with alot of great fuckin music I'm grateful they are not replaceable
Cheers! 🤘
Other than bumping Lock up the Wolves up a space or two your list is the same as mine. I SPEED AT NIGHT!
Good stuff! Cheers! 🍺
Would love to see you review all of his collaborations especially with Kerry Livgren from Kansas
Cheers!
I was at the Sacred Heart show. Rough Cutt opened. Fantastic concert.
I bet it was. :)
Long live rock and roll and Ronnie James Dio 🍺🍺🍺🤘🤘🤘
🤘
Switch 1 with 2 and 3 with 4 and you basically get my list. When you do Rainbow and Black Sabbath, you should do a combined Dio list or a Top 10.
I've already done Rainbow and Sabbath. ;)
@@RuthlessMetalYT Dou! (Facepalm) Well, then a combined list will be next? :)
Now I see That I even commented on the Rainbow one. Must be old age creeping up on me 😢
hehe, seems like it. ;) yeah, I might do a combined one some day when I run out of ideas. haha
Killing the dragon was my first Dio solo album after getting Black Sabbath Heaven and hell. I still love it and the evil or divine dvd that came out in that time. Very upbeat and good songs. Glad to see it and lock up the wolves get some love here. I would actually move strange highways up the list and sacred heart down the list otherwise.
Cheers! 🤘
Holy Diver vs Last In Line its a very hard battle with a many many victims in the arena!! Anyway...2 metal eternal MASTERPIECES!!!
True, Cheers!
DIO IS DIO!Fantastic singer!metal POWER! DIO FOREVER!🤟
Cheers!
Dio is the best singer ever, not just of metal, but all popular music. There will never be another one like him.
True, Cheers!
I still love all these albums, but gun to my head ranking:
1. Master of the Moon
2. Holy Diver
3. Sacred Heart
4. Strange Highways
5. Last in Line
6. Killing the Dragon
7. Dream Evil
8. Lock up the Wolves
9. Angry Machines
10. Magica
Cheers!
Har nog 2-3 ex var av Holy Diver, Sacred Heart, Dream Evil och Last In Line på LP. Köpta för kanske en femma styck på div loppisar när skivor fortfarande var rimligt prissatta.. Ibland är det gött att vara gammal! Äger dock inga andra album med DIO så de är mina favoriter i ingen speciell ordning.
ja, man skulle ha handlat mer på den tiden. :D Dags att spana in lock up the wolves eller killing the dragon då. ;) Cheers! 🍺