Ronnie James Dio: Still pissing off easy targets from beyond the grave!

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Ronnie James Dio: Still pissing off easy targets from beyond the grave!

POSTED: Monday, May 24, 2010, 7:58 PM

Filed Under: Music | Web Junk

Black Sabbath fans will be the first to tell you: The riffs sounded pretty evil, but the lyrics were always pretty straight-up Christian. The Ozzy era sure favored "shocking" Satanic imagery (see: the pentagram scene on the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath sleeve) but when you really paid attention the music was a lot like those little comics you find on the subway: Simplistic and cruel cautionary tales with sinners burning in Hell at the end. God was the good guy. That's not Satanism. That's Catholicism, standard issue. "You should realize before you criticize that God is the only way to love." Ozzy Osbourne said that, if you can believe it. By the time Ronnie James Dio took the reins at Sabbath, things got pretty watered down, evil-wise. Dude was singing about dancers and neon knights. Sabbath went from "Children of the Grave" to "Children of the Sea." Again, the riffs and the vocals were hellacious, but the lyrics were delightfully silly. So go ahead, idiots of the Westboro Baptist Church, and protest Dio's memorial service. But you're a bunch of cowards, liars and hypocrites driven by narcissism. "When you listen to fools, the mob rules." Ronnie James Dio said that.

deeney

Posted 2010-05-24 17:45:39

"Sabbath went from 'Children of the Grave' to 'Children of the Sea.'"

Master of Reality, the second Sabbath album that Children of the Grave appears on, is the only Christian leaning album.  And bassist Geezer Butler was the lyricist, not Ozzy.  And compared to say Technical Ecstasy the Dio albums are evil as fukk.

Jim Davis

Posted 2010-05-24 19:48:31

I met Dio for the first time in 2007 at the Spectrum as he invited to join him and the band after the show. I've met alot of celebrities but he's the only rock star I ever truly wanted to meet. He was down to Earth and in my opinion was more a hippie than a heavy metal God. 

When I see right wing religious groups going out of their way to thank God for the death of the person I consider the most influential Heavy Metal star of all time, I can see why he wrote about the hypocrisy that exists in organized religion. 

I met Wendy, his wife, the last time I was invited and my thoughts are for her. As much as I would like to show up and take a pipe to the knees of the protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church, it is not what Ronnie would want. It's all very sad and I find it ironic that Wendy has asked devout Dio fans, like myself, to turn the other cheek. 

RIP Ronnie. You will be missed in Philly!

Patrick Rapa

Posted 2010-05-24 22:48:08

Hey, look, I'm not gonna sit here and praise Technical Ecstasy. Master of Reality was Black Sabbath's third album, and the first one that "Children of the Grave" appeared on so... what is your point here? Why did you make me google that? Why didn't you google that? 

As for whether Sabbath was Christian-leaning outside of Master of Reality, we'll just have to disagree. (Off the top of my head: "War Pigs" and "Into the Void" and "Black Sabbath" seem pretty pro-God, at least.) Anyway, the holy trinity early Sabbath worshiped most often is pot, coke and Tony Iommi.

deeney

Posted 2010-05-25 09:19:03

Sorry, it was a long day and I brain farted while trying to snap you on Sabbath cred.  My bad.  

Yeah, basically they were just really fucking high and so I've always thought that reading any kind of ideology into their lyrics is a pretty fruitless endeavor.  I think that was actually the reason why Dio always vibed less "evil" (he does), because you know he's just this big D&D dork whereas Ozzy was totally fingering through piles of his own vomit at the end of each night looking for undigested pills.  Ozzy was sicker in the head, but self-destruction also always eventually ends up making for bad records, even if you get some legendary stuff along the way.

Joe Bongiorno

Posted 2010-05-25 18:46:51

Good article, Patrick. Too many fans ignore the lyrics, which are indeed pro-Christian and present from the albums Black Sabbath to Never Say Die where we find Butler's non-religious, pro-spiritual stance alongside social criticism, anti-war, protest and lament songs. I've just finished the 2nd draft of a book on the subject tentatively entitled Black Sabbath: The Illustrated Lyrics.

Dio Forever

Posted 2010-07-14 11:29:21

Who cares what came before
We were only starlight
One day, then nevermore
Because we're whispers in the wind

Once upon a time
The world was never blind
Like we are

Right now it seems
You're only dreams and shadows
If wishes could be eagles how you'd fly

This is your life
This is your time
What if the flame won't last forever
This is your here
This is your now
Let it be magical

Who cares what came before
We're only starlight

Once upon the time
All the world was blind
Like we are

This is your life
This is your time
Look at your world
This is your life

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