Louder Sound has dusted off a lost interview with Ronnie James Dio, originally published in Classic Rock 97, in September 2006.
Ronnie was talking to Greg Prato, who reports: In 2006, the late great Ronnie James Dio told us about what he called "the greatest album ever made".
Says Dio: "I think that the greatest album that has ever been made is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I can’t think of a losing track on that album.“It was at a time when The Beatles were not just great musicians and incredible songwriters, it was at a time when they were really experimenting, especially in the studio. And that’s what you can hear throughout this album, I think. You can hear the tape loops that were done; the way George Martin manipulated things; the way that Paul McCartney and John Lennon had those kind of ideas; George Harrison’s contribution with the Indian influence; the look of the album, because it was so different. Just everything about it.
“It includes probably my favourite song on earth: 'A Day In The Life', which I think is just an absolutely brilliant song. I think it has the greatest ending that there ever was – and it’s just one piano note going on for 11 minutes or something. The first time I heard 'A Day In The Life' I was in a car, and I had to pull over to the side of the road. I was just absolutely stunned by it."
Read more at Louder Sound.
Dio: Dreamers Never Die, the documentary film celebrating the life of heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio, arrived in theatres worldwide for special event screenings on September 28 and October 2, presented by BMG and Trafalgar Releasing.
The documentary will have its official television premiere on Showtime on December 1st and will also be available for streaming via the Showtime app. Go to this location for details.
Dio: Dreamers Never Die explores Dio’s incredible career with his early bands, to his days in Elf and Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, to replacing Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath, and finally cementing his status as a legendary metal icon with his own band, Dio. The film incorporates never-before-seen footage, personal photos, and scenes with his closest peers, family, and friends, including Wendy Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Glenn Hughes, Vinny Appice, Lita Ford, Rob Halford, Sebastian Bach, Eddie Trunk, and Jack Black.
Ronnie James Dio, who died of gastric cancer in 2010, reigns as one of the most influential rock artists of all time and one of the greatest vocalists ever. With an illustrious recording career spanning from the 1950’s through to the 2000’s, the documentary follows his trajectory from sideman into singer, songwriter and frontman of not one, but three, of rock’s internationally-renowned, multi-Platinum-selling arena attractions: Rainbow, Black Sabbath and DIO. Famous for popularizing the “devil horns” hand gesture that is now synonymous with hard rock and heavy metal music, Dio was known for not wavering in his pursuit of his rock and roll dreams and continues to influence a new generation of music artists. His fans the world over remember him not only for his massive talent, but for his kindness, resulting in millions of dollars raised for cancer research in his memory.
Dio: Dreamers Never Die is fully authorized by the artist’s estate, was financed solely by BMG, was directed by Don Argott and Demian Fenton (Framing John DeLorean, Believer, Last Days Here), produced by Don Argott and Sheena Joyce for 9.14 Pictures, and executive produced by Dio’s widow and longtime manager Wendy Dio for Niji Productions and Kathy Rivkin Daum for BMG.
