VINNY APPICE Reflects On DIO’s Game-Changing Debut Album, Almost Cutting “Rainbow In The Dark”

In the classic metal album hall of fame, Dioof sacred diver It’s on the list of the most widely loved and respected contenders. It’s a near-perfect piece of work with heavy metal sorcerer-esque soaring and a welcome stamp of approval after years of practicing someone else’s vision. Ronnie James Dio I was ready to write my own.

Vinnie Appice I remember those days fondly.

Legendary drummer who co-starred Dio over 30 years Dio band, black sabbath and heaven hellreflects the pace of an era when it was the norm for albums to be released each year to coincide with a staggering level of touring.

“You know? It was like that at the time. Normally, we would make an album every year, every year and a half, and that was the schedule. Then we would finish the album, take a little break, and then it would be like. It was “rehearsal and go on tour” Apis I remembered when I was sitting with metal injection.

“and Dio and Sabbath We toured a lot, played in a lot of countries and places, then came back, took some time off, and then decided to start another album. That’s what it was. It was natural, wasn’t it? So it was like nonstop. It was cool. ”

When I was working as a frontman for black sabbath, Ronnie James Dio put everything in for their debut album and set out to forge their own path. Dio Mysterious, magical and wonderful band sacred diver.

what he brought Apis Reunion with former members on drums rainbow band mates Jimmy Bain In charge of the bass, he brought together the talents of the time Sweet Savage guitarist Vivian Campbellhe would later become world famous for his work with British rock legends Def Leppard.

“I think it will come out Sabbaththe first idea was to use that record deal. Ronnie was in place.he signed the record deal during his tenure Sabbathwhile doing mob rules. And he was signed to Warner Bros. and was planning to make a solo record.but at the end of the tour mob ruleswe did live evil,” Apis I will delve into and recall the formation of Dio band.

“By then the band was on the verge of breaking up. And this was between those three guys, not me. I’m new to the block. He decided, ‘That’s fine. I’m going to do my own band ”once together!”, because he just worked with me. Sabbath, and he does not control his entire destiny. It was always someone else who could make the decisions.Same as Richie Blackmore. So he decided, “Well, I can’t do anything about this.” I will try it myself! ’ And he said he was making up his mind and wanted me to come with him because he was going to quit his band and start his own band. So I said, “Yeah, let’s do it!”

“I thought it was going to be really exciting because we got along really well and he lived very close to where I lived in California, so it was easy to get together and it was natural. And then we finally got the band together: “We wrote the songs, we rehearsed, we started jamming. was all put together in rehearsals, jamming riffs, trying all sorts of crazy changes, smoking a ton of cannabis and stuff, and that’s how we came up with it.” sacred diver. And we tried everything. ”

Unconventional techniques were incorporated into the recording process, Dio and jointly. Brave, vibrant and powerful new sounds to keep you moving forward. Ingenuity and out-of-the-box thinking were encouraged in the loose, free-flowing, and admittedly enjoyable studio sessions that dominated the early mainstream. Dio era.

“There’s something backwards on that album. The beginning of ‘Invisible’ was all about getting that sound.” [makes a swishing sound]was the tire. A friend of ours, actually the guy who always brought pots, was loading his truck with tires. Ronnie I wanted that sound. And said it’s like air escaping. He said, “I got a tire in my truck!” “Please put it in!” I put a microphone on the tire, do you understand? Anything was possible in those days.

“It was very cool. There was no word in the equation, ‘I can’t.’ It was a song before the tires ran out of air. And that’s what’s at the beginning of “Invisible.” I don’t know what they did with it if they put it backwards or something, but it was all on tape, right? “They made records and had a lot of fun hanging out in Sound City. They let us do whatever we wanted there and it was a very, very happy creative moment.”

“Rainbow in the Dark” is one of the album’s hits and one of the album’s staples. Dio Legend has it that the original set was mostly scrapped by Ronnie in the studio.

”Ronnie We didn’t want to be a hair band, we didn’t want to be a pop band. That’s why he didn’t like the idea of ​​him making just one simple song. Other parts of the song are a little more complicated. So he didn’t like it. We all liked that song. And he didn’t like it when we finished it. ” Apis He admitted that he was able to persuade a steadfast frontman from the brink of cutting one of his biggest hits.

“Fortunately, we all convinced him that this was the song that should be on the record. It’s a very strong song.” [song]. It’s not a real pop song, but it’s easy to listen to and girls like it. And luckily, that song thrived on the album. And the song had already been used in many movies and, at the time, commercials for Budweiser beer. Then he learned to love it. ”

40 years later, and sacred diver Considered a groundbreaking classic album, it is undoubtedly a gem. Ronnie James DioAs one of Mount Rushmore’s heavy metal voices, he has been crowned for decades.

listen, ask ApisAt the time, everyone knew they had something special, but the record’s longevity and lore would surprise even its main designer 40 years later. .

“I thought it would probably work. Road crews used to say, ‘This is going to be platinum!'” We thought, well, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars at the time. . It wasn’t that good back then. Now it is. And we didn’t expect it to come out, rocket up the charts, take us into arenas, and then and then and then and then it would continue 40 years later.

”Ronnie If he were alive he would be surprised to see this still happening.and movie [Thor: Love and Thunder] came out and they used his song. “Rainbow in the Dark” Thor At the end of the movie came a request to publish some songs. I’m playing outside playing some songs. It’s amazing, is there an album that will last this long after 40 years? ”