Dio - Rainbow in the Dark

I know exactly what you’re thinking; even by 1980s heavy metal standards, this is a weird video. What’s going on with this strange stalker angle? And why is no-one trying to help Ronnie James Dio, who is clearly stuck on a roof about ten miles away from where the rest of the video is happening?

Taking those oddities in our stride, however, grants us front row ear tickets to one of the great heavy metal songs ever released, performed by one of the legends of the game. Ronnie James Dio already had a ridiculous rock n’ roll pedigree by the time the Dio band was formed in 1982, having been a member of both Rainbow and Black Sabbath before he even penned a single song about a unicorn.

But Dio was always going to be a bit of a different beast than what had come before. Untangled from the constraints of other people not wanting to write songs about unicorns, RJD (not to be confused with Iron Man – the Marvel one, not the Black Sabbath one, boy this is getting confusing) and Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice set out to take the world by storm with their own brand of powerful, fantastical heavy metal. And storm they did, debuting with the legendary Holy Diver and not stopping there.

With RJD’s incredible, unmistakeable vocals and the almost playful approach to sword-and-sorcery themed songwriting, Dio wrote themselves into the history of heavy metal seemingly overnight. So, we’re celebrating the late great man and the band (who are still going to this day, by the way) with one of their greatest hits. Holy Diver might be the one everyone knows best, but Rainbow in the Dark is nothing short of a certified barnbuster and well deserves you shouting it down the earholes of all of your neighbours right now. Just try and let the video slide, if you can.