Dio - Holy Diver: Guest Post by this album's owner

Here is a Guest Post by my neighbor and fellow musicologist, Jim - who graciously donated this album to my collection.  The cover art is so great - as you can see, it is my Blog's new title backer shot.

"Holy Diver is Ronnie James Dio's first album as a solo artist, following his stints with Elf, Richie Blackmore's Rainbow, and as Ozzie Osbourne's replacement in Black Sabbath.  The album's most popular tracks are the title track and Rainbow In The Dark.  My favorite tracks are Holy Diver and Don't Talk To Strangers and are excellent representations of the awesome range of Dio's voice.  Rainbow In The Dark is likely Dio's most recognizable song among both fans and non-fans.  Ironically, Dio didn't particularly care as much for the song as his fans did.  But being the consummate professional he was, he would always include it in his set for his fans.  Other musicians on the album include Vinnie Appice on drums and Vivian Campbell on guitar.  Mr. Appice was also the drummer for the Dio-fronted version of Black Sabbath and is the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice who played for Vanilla Fudge, Rod Stewart, Cactus, and his own band, among other ventures.  Holy Diver was responsible for introducing Mr. Campbell to the world, and Vivian subsequently played with the likes of Whitesnake, Def Leppard, and Thin Lizzy.  A couple of other interesting facts about Mr. Campbell: 1) his second-ever performance with Def Leppard was on stage at the Freddy Mercury Concert For Life (talk about pressure!), and 2) he plays on Lou Gramm's solo album Long Hard Look (I didn't realize this until now, I'll have to give that album a closer listen now)."  Thanks Jim - what a great Guest Post!