Today I received a press release for the upcoming Deluxe Edition re-releases of the first three Dio studio albums, “Holy Diver”, “The Last in Line”, & “Sacred Heart”. These three (well, not the third as much) are generally regarded as classics of the genre. I’ve been waiting for a decent re-master of these albums, as my old 80’s prints of the CD’s lack a bit of punch to them. Even without the extras and the second discs, I was looking forward to the remastering.
That’s because the remastering work was handled by Andy Pearce. Andy handled all the Black Sabbath remasters in the Universal remaster series from 2009-2011. So that’s a good thing. There is of course, the “second discs” (details below), and an expanded booklet with new notes, photos, and all of that stuff you’ve come to expect from this series. The releases have been endorsed by Wendy Dio, as well.
A few administrative type notes, since I know I’m gonna get asked about this:
- These are being released World wide, except for North America. That is because Warner Bros holds the rights to that material in the US/North America. Since these are being released by Universal, if you want ’em in the states, you have to pay import prices, or order it from the UK or somewhere yourself. If you’re in the US, it’s actually cheaper to buy ’em from Amazon UK and pay their shipping than it is to buy ’em from the Amazon US store.
- I asked if they were going to do more Dio studio albums after these, and was told “only these for now”, which I’m not entirely sure means they’re only planning these three, or the others are later or what. Either way, we should enjoy these.
For a lot of people, the big deal will be the bonus disc. Below I will detail the materials on each of the releases. Fans of the Dio EP Intermission will be pleased with this. Additionally, you can click on any of the cover art thumbnails for a much larger version.
Holy Diver
Ordering Links: [ Amazon US | Amazon UK ]
Disc 1
It’s the album we know, remastered by Andy Pearce. Same track listing as the original album.
Disc 2
Disc 2 has a ton of live tracks, and one studio track. Here’s the Holy Diver Disc 2 Track Listing:
- Evil Eyes – studio recording, different than version Last in Line. Originally appeared on B-Side to Holy Diver single.
- Stand Up & Shout – B-Side, Rainbow in the Dark
- Straight Through the Heart – B-Side, Rainbow in the Dark
- Stand Up & Shout – Live, King Biscuit Flower Hour – Oct 30, 1983
- Shame on the Night – Live, King Biscuit Flower Hour – Oct 30, 1983
- Children of the Sea – Live, King Biscuit Flower Hour – Oct 30, 1983
- Holy Diver – Live, King Biscuit Flower Hour – Oct 30, 1983
- Rainbow in the Dark – Live, King Biscuit Flower Hour – Oct 30, 1983
- Man on the Silver Mountain – Live, King Biscuit Flower Hour – Oct 30, 1983
The Last in Line
Ordering Links: [ Amazon US | Amazon UK ]
Disc 1
It’s the album we know, remastered by Andy Pearce. Same track listing as the original.
Disc 2
Disc 2 is all live tracks, taken from B Sides and from a Festival appearance. The source of the various tracks are noted in the track listing below:
- Stand Up & Shout – Live B-Side from Last in Line Single
- Straight Through the Heart – Live B-Side from Last in Line Single
- Eat Your Heart Out – Live from Mystery Single
- Don’t Talk to Strangers– Live from Mystery Single
- Holy Diver – Live B-Side from We Rock Single
- Rainbow in the Dark – Live B-Side from We Rock Single
- One Night in the City – Live, Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- We Rock – Live, Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Holy Diver – Live, Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Stargazer – Live, Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Heaven & Hell – Live, Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Rainbow in the Dark – Live, Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Man on the Silver Mountain – Live, Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Don’t Talk to Strangers – Live, Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
Sacred Heart
Ordering Links: [ Amazon US | Amazon UK ]
Disc 1
It’s the album we know, remastered by Andy Pearce. Same track listing as the original album.
Disc 2
Disc 2 has probably (for me, anyway) the most interesting extras. First off, there’s an addtl studio track here. Second, the whole of the Intermission EP is on here, too. Intermission was the next release after Sacred Heart originally, and was a live EP with one studio track. The studio track on there was done so that new guitarist Craig Goldy would have something of his own on there. So here goes with the Disc 2 track listing:
- Hide in the Rainbow – Studio track, originally on the soundtrack to the movie “Iron Eagle“.
- We Rock – Live B-Side from Rock N Roll Children Single
- The Last in Line – Live B-Side from Rock N Roll Children Single
- Like the Beat of a Heart – Live B-Side from Hungry For Heaven Single
- King of Rock & Roll – Taken from Live Intermission EP
- Rainbow in the Dark – Taken from Live Intermission EP
- Sacred Heart – Taken from Live Intermission EP
- Time to Burn – Studio Track taken from Intermission EP
- Rock N Roll Children – Taken from Live Intermission EP
- Long Live Rock N Roll – Taken from Live Intermission EP
- Man on the Silver Mountain – Taken from Live Intermission EP
- We Rock – Taken from Live Intermission EP
That’s it for the track listings here. These are all being released on March 19, 2012. I have updated the various discography pages on my site with info on these, as well as ordering links both here and on those pages. While it’s the weakest of the three albums, I think Sacred Heart’s extras are the best because of the inclusion of Intermission as well as two studio tracks. However, Holy Diver remains the best studio album of all the Dio releases, IMO. I am partial to Dream Evil, I hope we get a Deluxe Edition of that somewhere down the road.
Make sure and buy ’em! Links above.
Press Release
Here is the official press release from Universal for these albums.
‘Holy Diver / Last In Line / Sacred Heart” Deluxe Editions
Release Date: 19th March 2012
In May 2010 the world of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal had lost one of its most gifted and fervent ambassadors, with the passing of Ronnie James Dio. In his position as lead vocalist for Rock giants such as Rainbow and Black Sabbath, as well as fronting his own eponymous band for nearly three decades, Dio created some of the genres most defining and respected works. Albums such as ‘Holy Diver’, ‘Sacred Heart’ and ‘Last in Line’ all stand as towering monuments of sheer class and brilliance in the Rock pantheon. Dio was also to pave the way in regards to performing live, as few equaled him. With his incredible vocal range, Dio was to preside over countless memorable rock shows, enthralling his millions of fans worldwide. As well as the original CD being re-mastered, these reissues each feature a bonus CD containing an expanded booklet with notes from Malcolm Dome and has been endorsed by Ronnie’s widow Wendy Dio.
‘Holy Diver’ was the debut album from Dio, released 25th May, 1983. It was hailed by critics as some of his best work and in January 1986 it was awarded silver certification. The upbeat sounding ‘Rainbow in the Dark’ was to catch MTV’s attention, with the title track also standing out.
‘The Last in Line’ was the second Dio studio album. It was released on 13th July, 1984 and was the first album from Dio to reach platinum status as well as number 4 in the UK charts. This new album showcased the anthemic tracks ‘We Rock’ and ‘I Speed at Night’ as well as the seven-minute epic, ‘Egypt ( The Chains are On)’.
Released in October 1985 ‘Sacred Heart’ was released as the third studio album from Dio. The album reached number 4 in the UK charts and was to go on to be certified Gold. This was to become a much loved Dio album, and contained the tracks ‘Rock N’ Roll Children’ and ‘Hungry for Heaven’. The stage show that was to accompany this album was hailed as a spectacle, involving a mechanized dragon as well as lasers. Ronnie and his band were to refer to the dragon as Denzil. This was the last studio album to be released by Dio that included guitarist Vivian Campbell.
Holy Diver
Disc one
- Stand Up And Shout
- Holy Diver
- Gypsy
- Caught In The Middle
- Don’t Talk To Strangers
- Straight Through The Heart
- Invisible
- Rainbow In The Dark
- Shame On The Night
Disc two
- Evil Eyes
- Stand Up And Shout
- Straight Through The Heart
- Stand Up And Shout
- Shame On The Night
- Children Of The Sea
- Holy Diver
- Rainbow In The Dark
- Man On The Silver Mountain
Last In Line
Disc one
- We Rock
- The Last In Line
- Breathless
- I Speed at Night
- One Night In The City
- Evil Eyes
- Mystery
- Eat Your Heart Out
- Egypt (The Chains Are On)
Disc two
- Stand Up And Shout – Live – B-Side Last In Line
- Straight Through The Heart – Live – B-Side Last In Line
- Eat Your Heart Out – Live – Mystery
- Don’t Talk To Strangers – Live – Mystery
- Holy Diver – Live – B-Side We Rock
- Rainbow In The Dark – Live – B-Side We Rock
- One Night In The City – Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- We Rock – Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Holy Diver – Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Stargazer – Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Heaven And Hell – Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Rainbow In The Dark – Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Man On The Silver Mountain – Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
- Don’t Talk To Strangers – Pinkpop Festival, Geleen
Sacred Heart
Disc one
- King Of Rock N Roll
- Sacred Heart
- Another Lie
- Rock N Roll Children
- Hungry For Heaven
- Like the Beat Of A Heart
- Just Another Day
- Fallen Angels
- Shoot Shoot
Disc two
- Hide In The Rainbow – Dio EP
- We Rock – Live – B-Side Rock N Roll Children
- Last In Line – Live – B-Side Rock N Roll Children
- Like the Beat Of A Heart – Live – B-Side Hungry For Heaven
- King Of Rock N Roll – Intermission
- Rainbow In The Dark – Intermission
- Sacred Heart – Intermission
- Time To Burn – Intermission
- Rock N Roll Children – Intermission
- Long Live Rock N Roll – Intermission
- Man On The Silver Mountain – Intermission
- We Rock – Intermission
grande dio siempre lo recordaremos forever
This is wonderful news! Like Joe, I also love Dream Evil and hope for the same treatment of that album, as well as all the others (Strange Highways, Lock up the Wolves, Killing the Dragon, etc)
It’s really great news. And we hope others (like Magica and Dream Evil)
Thanks Joe! I have ordered from Amazon.uk. Must say, I am most looking forward to the live tracks on “Last In Line” but, hey, that is just me.
Love the new site.
I love Dip he is a Metal God
Dio will live forever
Sacred Heart needed this. And Hide in THe Rainbow,Time To Burn and King Of Rock N Roll are great!
Holy Diver is Awesome. But I think “Killing the Dragon” is just as good as “Holy Diver”. Released in 2002, it’s a testament (along with H&Hs “TDYK”) that RJD was still putting out quality music till the end.
Looks great!
Agreed on the KTD it was great!
But still no Holy Diver and Last In Line!lol
I love those disc!
The first time I heard Dio’s voice I was 13 and a friend give me Last In Line!
I wonder how the Holy Diver remaster will compare to the Steve Hoffman Audio Fidelity remaster being released on 14/2/12? I was’nt a fan of the Andy Pearce remasters of the Ozzy albums, i prefer the Black Box.
Nice product, but I think this release of HD is the one to invest in: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B006TJMVUS/73407921
Yeah that’s the one that’s been remastered by Steve Hoffman – he went back to the original SOUND CITY STUDIO 1983 analog 30 ips AES half inch non-Dolby original stereo mixes – you can read about it on his website. I know record companies’ actions seldom make sense but why have two different remasters out at the same time?
Great news to be sure!!! I personally had been waiting for this for a very long time, even before Ronnie got back together with the Sabbath guys for H&H. Basically, ever since I upgraded from my old cassette tape, really!!! I can’t tell you how disappointed I was when I finally got the CD, it sounded tiny and completely devoid of low end, yikes, simply put, a most hideous and unbefitting version of a monster classic. I’d definitely be getting these for the remaster alone, but the extra CD’s chuck full with goodies really sealed the deal for me. The one I’m the least excited about is, as you can probably guess, “Sacred Heart”, simply because I feel that by this point, the band was mostly going through the motions. Still, the inclusion of the long out of print “Intermission” is most welcome!!! And just to prove my point, I totally agree with Joe, I’d definitely go for a remastered version of “Dream Evil”, which totally reinvigorated the band after the “missstep” made with “Sacred Heart”. I guess (and hope) that they’ll continue remastering the following records, they probably just concentrated on the first 3 ’cause they are the “classic” ones, strictly from a “classic, original lineup” perspective. Thanks for keeping us informed on all things Sabbath, dude!!!
It’s much cheaper to order them direct from amazon.uk than to spend $40 each getting them as imports through amazon.com or .ca. All 3 Dio deluxe editions through amazon.uk: £29.97+Postage & Packing:£5.06=£35.03/ $55 Cdn. So $18 each, as opposed to $40 each. Which is to say: F*kken ORDERED. Less than you’d pay in a record store for new local 2-disc cd sets.
Long live rock & roll and Ronnie James DIO!!! Hi is God!!
Holy Diver & The last In Line great to have them with extras.
Hello.
I got all three from Amazon.co.uk. I absolutely love them – especially for the bonus discs as I already had older remasters of the original albums :D .
However, I’d have a question related to the bonus disc for The Last in Line.
Does anybody know, why the tracks ‘Stand Up & Shout – Live B-Side from Last in Line Single’ and ‘Straight Through the Heart – Live B-Side from Last in Line Single’ aren’t on the CD?
– It’s a little disappointing to get 12 tracks instead of 14 D: !
– Joe, could you, please, update this post with some info on this matter (so that the fans don’t get mislead)?
Thank you so bloody much :D !
This has been puzzling me. The two live tracks which are “missing” from the bonus disc for The Last In Line are from Donington 1983 and so are already on the Holy Diver bonus disc and someone at the record company must have only realised this late in the day – see info below about singles.
http://www.dio.net/biography/discography/Dio_May1983-Mar1986_12.html
Thanks for the info Andy!
I just got my Dio Deluxe Editions from the UK today. Really impressed with the sound quality compared to older versions — even the 2005 Universal Remaster of HD sounds a bit less “punchy,” and the guitar sounds aren’t quite as full.
My only question thus far is about the first three tracks on Disc 2 of Holy Diver. They sound distorted, as though they’re analog rips (like when I import an old record to my computer). I’m wondering if they didn’t have the master tape, so they made do with the vinyl?
Mind you, I don’t look to “bonus discs” full of extra goodies and expect perfect sound quality. I’m mostly curious about these.
Also, what two B-sides from Donington? Mine doesn’t have those listed. Actually, “Stand Up and Shout” and “Straight Through the Heart” are on my HD Disc 2, and are marked as B-Sides of “Rainbow in the Dark.” The link provided above shows that they’re from Donington. However, these are on Disc 2 of HD, not The Last in the Line.
I have all 3 deluxe editions of these and they are really great but im hoping there will be deluxe editions or even re-issues of the Strange Highways And Angry Machines records, because they are expensive and i just hope that more deluxe editions are on the way
I just want to get a general consensus of which of the Holy Diver reissues has the best sound quality. There’s the Sanctuary one from, I think ’05, the Deluxe Edition, and the 24 carat gold cd. Personally I’ve always assumed that those 24 carat gold cds were a total gimmick going back 20 years to when I first heard the Doors LA Woman gold disc, but I’ve read somewhere someone said the Holy Diver gold disc was incredible. I recently got the Deluxe Edition and am really diggin’ it. Just curious if anyone has any strong feelings about one or the other, or the other lol…