Black Sabbath - The Dio Years

year 2007 review:While certainly not as long, prolific, or seismic as the Ozzy Years, Black Sabbath's stint with Ronnie James Dio merits more than a mere footnote in the band's storied history, and Rhino's The Dio Years aims to rectify the oversight. When Ronnie James Dio left Rainbow and joined Sabbath in 1979, the band was rapidly becoming commercially inconsequential and Dio was hungry to prove himself as more than Ritchie Blackmore's frontman. The resulting two studio albums, Heaven & Hell and Mob Rules, not only re-established Sabbath's commercially viability, but also announced Dio as one of the most undeniable metal singers of his era. The Dio Years focuses almost exclusively on tracks--sterlingly remastered--from the aforementioned records, but also includes "Children of the Sea" from Live Evil and a few from the 1992 reunion flop Dehumanizer. The real surprises of The Dio Years are "Shadow of the Wind," "The Devil Cried," and "Ear in the Wall," three new songs recorded by Sabbath with Dio shortly before the compilation's release. The Dio Years is a great start for casual Sabbath fans looking to get in a little deeper or for Dio fans looking for his great Sabbath moments in one place.