Holy Diver

Released on May 25, 1983, the album has been hailed by critics as Dio's best work and a classic staple in the heavy metal genre. The album was certified gold in the US on September 12, 1984, and platinum on March 21, 1989. "Caught in the Middle" shares the main guitar riff with Campbell's previous band Sweet Savage's song "Straight Through the Heart" (1983), whose title was used for another song in this album. Album art The album art is illustrated by Randy Berrett. It features the band's mascot Murray, a demonic creature, pulling or whipping a snapped metal chain and a Catholic priest flailing and splashing around in a body of water, wrapped up and locked in the other end of the broken chain. Dio was quick to argue that appearances are misleading, that it could just as easily be a priest killing a devil, wanting people not to "judge a book by its cover". Murray is featured on several other Dio albums. ==Themes==

Around the time of making the album, a rise of heroic adventure elements in popular culture (such as J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings books and role-playing games Dungeons & Dragons) were having influence. "Much of heavy metal took place on similar turf, a realm of dark towers and impenetrable wilderness populated by battles and adversity." When Ronnie James Dio had been with Black Sabbath, "He reverently refurbished and reinvented the band's stately doom with grandiose concepts... Dio found a fertile fantasy framework for the big Sabbath themes of madness and desolation". It had previously found prominent use in John F. Kennedy's inaugural presidential speech of January 20, 1961, as well as in the titles of the far-right thinker Julius Evola's 1961 book and of the American rock band Jefferson Starship's opening song on their 1974 Dragon Fly album. ==Reception==

AllMusic reviewer Eduardo Rivadavia praises the album, stating that: Canadian reviewer Martin Popoff describes the album as "quintessential traditional metal", with Ronnie James Dio "almost single-handedly reinventing gothic hard rock for the '80s, incorporating strong melodic hooks and more than the genre's usual share of velvety, classical-based pyrotechnics." Today, Kerrang! still considers it a "perfect melodic metal album" and an "essential purchase". The rock historian Ian Christe relates that for the post-Sabbath solo career: Placing the album at number 8 on its "Top 25 Metal Albums" list, IGN wrote: In 2017, it was ranked 16th on Rolling Stone list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". ==Track listing==

Original release ==Personnel==

Dio • Ronnie James Dio – vocals, keyboards, production • Vinny Appice – drums • Jimmy Bain – bass, keyboards • Vivian Campbell – guitar Production • Engineered by Angelo Arcuri, assisted by Ray Leonard • Recorded at Sound City, Los Angeles • Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound, New York • Remastered by Gary Moore at Universal Digital Mastering, London (2005 Rock Candy reissue) • Remastered by Andy Pearce (2012 Universal Deluxe Edition) • Remastered by Steve Hoffman (2012 Audio Fidelity 24K edition) • Illustration by Randy Berrett • Original art rendering by Gene Hunter • Original concept by Wendy Dio ==Charts==