Heaven & Hell

I want to personally thank someone from my past today. It was the fall of 1987 in Union City when I was first introduced to the greatest metal vocalist of all time. On the playground that day I was introduced to "Holy Diver" by Eric Crawford. Eric was one of the baddest kids I knew. He smoked in 5th grade, he wore a Guns N' Roses Jacket and he carried switchblades and Chinese stars to school. He was a bad ass and he always had kick ass music. He gave me this cassette and said something like " Dude turn it upside down and it says DEVIL". I thought I was in way over my head at the time as I knew nothing about the ways of satanic metal. HAHAHA.That is to say that Dio was even close to satanic metal. I realized that as I got older and a bit wiser. There was however something mystical and dark about Holy Diver. From the title track to Lock Up the Wolves, and Don't Talk to Strangers, you could easily be transferred to a magical land of wizardry and demons, fighting the devil armed only with your sword and shield. It's why I still rank Holy Diver in my top 10 albums that changed my life. While Eric hooked me with Holy Diver, I was reeled in when I heard the Black Sabbath album "Heaven and Hell" a few years later. This was of course recorded before Holy Diver, but the lyrically genius was still quite evident. From Children of the Sea to Die Young and on and on. Every song on that album kicks ass. I know for some this next statement is Metal blasphemy but I could care less. Heaven and Hell is the definitive Black Sabbath record. My favorite and the bands best. Sue me if you disagree. It's funny how devine intervention sometimes takes hold of you throughout life. On Friday I heard that Ronnie James Dio had canceled the summer tour with Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath), but that his recovery was going very well. Since then my ipod has "been gay" for Dio. My playlist won't go more than three songs without Ronnie's voice blasting through the speakers. It's either Sabbath, Rainbow, Dio, or even some Elf. On Saturday while mowing the yard "Die Young" came on and I thought to myself "This is one band I have to go see as soon as they tour again". Sadly I must come to live with the fact that I now will never get to hear that amazing voice live. Yesterday at 7:45 am the world lost a heavy metal legend. An innovator, pioneer, and in my opinion the most powerful and recognizable voice in metal music. I wept when I read the news, maybe more for myself than for his family, but I wept just the same. Only two days after I heard the news of a good recovery for Ronnie I now must say goodbye and put that good news to rest. Like so often when we are faced with the death of someone we admire, we must tell ourselves that the music lives on. That is true. I will always have those albums, I can always watch his interviews, and I can always still get freaked out when I hear the first 1:30 of Don't Talk to Strangers, but I'll still miss him. Even without meeting him I feel like I knew him. May sound weird, but when you connect to music you connect to the people that make it as well. So today I hope Ronnie James Dio is still rocking the metal horns and still fighting the battle of good vs. evil that is Heaven and Hell. I also wonder where Eric Crawford is these days. I think he dropped out in 9th grade(like I said he was a bad ass). In my mind I picture him still rocking that GnR jacket with the sleeves ripped off, a couple of jailhouse tats, smoking Marlboro reds, on a Fatboy riding down some desert road with Holy Diver as his soundtrack. Wherever he may be, thank you for Dio and thank you for being a badass! Also, thanks Ronnie for all the great albums and allowing me to love Metal.