Paul Gilbert will release The Dio Album on 7 April 2023 via Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group. The twelve-song LP features songs from Ronnie James Dio in Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio, and, as Paul explains, was inspired by seeing someone wearing a ‘Dio’ cap when Gilbert was out driving his car.
“I live in Portland where people love bumper stickers, right?” explains the shred pioneer, “and you get bombarded by everybody’s ideologies constantly. I look with hesitation! But I see this Dio cap on someone, and I’m like, ‘I could support that.’ For some reason, it hit me, and I just went, Yeah!”
On the drive home, Gilbert formulated a plan to capture the raw energy and excitement on an album devoted to Ronnie James Dio’s most celebrated tracks. The challenge was to not only analyse Ronnie James Dio’s electrifying vocal melodies but also pay tribute to the incredibly talented guitar legends Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore and Vivian Campbell.
Paul Gilbert – The Dio Album
“Playing all these Metal riffs like Stand Up And Shout, Neon Knights, and Kill The King gave me serious chills,” Paul says, smiling. “The guitar parts of Ritchie, Tony and Vivian brought no small number of goosebumps. These amazing riffs are the steel girders of the songs upon which everything else rests.
“It had been a while since I’d been this deep into Metal rhythm guitar playing, and it felt like I was digging up gold nuggets of fire with a magic platinum shovel. All while wearing a star-covered wizard hat! The guitar solos in these songs came screaming from distant mountaintops. Ritchie, Tony, and Vivian set the standard breathtakingly high.”
In order to truly hone in on the late singer’s essence, Paul Gilbert dissected many of the melodies line by line, throwing every inch of himself into the music. Paul said it was the only way to capture every ounce of the energy and emotion.
The Dio Album has been engineered by Zach Bloomstein, with Paul handling all of the instrumentation, save for Bill Ray’s inspired drum work.
“Just like he sang, ‘The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams… it’s Heaven and Hell! Thank you, Ronnie, and long live rock and roll,” Paul says. The Dio Album can be pre-ordered from https://lnk.to/PaulGilbert.
Paul Gilbert – The Dio Album
- Neon Knights
- Kill the King
- Stand Up And Shout
- Country Girl
- Man On The Silver Mountain
- Holy Diver
- Heaven And Hell
- Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll
- Lady Evil
- Don’t Talk to Strangers
- Starstruck
- The Last In Line
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Holy Diver / Shred pioneer Paul Gilbert to release The Dio Album first appeared on
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