| Black Sabbath: The Dio Years | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 3 April 2007 | |||
| Recorded | 1980–1982, 1992, 2007 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 79:27 | |||
| Label | Rhino Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Black Sabbath | |||
| Black Sabbath compilations chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Tour Edition cover | ||||
 The UK Tour Edition cover | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Billboard | (favorable)[2] |
| Blabbermouth.net |    [5] |
| Jukebox:Metal | [3] |
| Okayplayer | (89/100)[4] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [6] |
Black Sabbath: The Dio Years is a 2007 compilation CD of material recorded by Black Sabbath during vocalist Ronnie James Dio's tenure in the band. The CD contains remastered tracks taken from the studio albums Heaven and Hell (1980), Mob Rules (1981), and Dehumanizer (1992), as well as a live version of the song "Children of the Sea" taken from the live album Live Evil (1982). It also contains three songs that were recorded in 2007: "The Devil Cried", "Shadow of the Wind", and "Ear in the Wall".
It was reported that the collection was first conceived of as a box set including all albums from Heaven and Hell to The Eternal Idol. This idea was eventually scrapped, and instead a box set was planned to feature just the four albums recorded from the Dio era of the band. This second idea was put aside, though would eventually be revisited as The Rules of Hell, a box set released in the summer of 2008.
In an interview conducted by Martin Popoff, Tony Iommi revealed that originally two new tracks were planned,[7] but after recording three new songs the original plan was changed to accommodate all three tracks in the compilation.
On 23 February 2007, both Eddie Trunk and Sirius Satellite Radio unveiled the song "The Devil Cried" from the upcoming album. Rhino Records subsequently made the track available (for preview only) on 26 February 2007. "The Devil Cried" was released as a single on 13 March 2007.[8]
After the recording was completed, the members decided to tour under the moniker Heaven & Hell.[9] Dio and Iommi decided that the working partnership they had achieved in recording the three new songs would not be wasted, so they recorded The Devil You Know.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ Graff, Gary (7 April 2007). "The Billboard Reviews". Billboard: 38. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
- ^ Lye, Andy (2007). "Black Sabbath – The Dio Years". jukeboxmetal.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years". okayplayer.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ Alisoglu, Scott. "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ "Black Sabbath: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (14 December 2006). "Tony Iommi Reveals The New BLACK SABBATH Tracks!". bravewords.com. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ Siegler, Joe (22 February 2007). "The Devil Cried Single". black-sabbath.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (15 December 2006). "Half of Black Sabbath Reunite With Dio; Tour Begins in March". MTV . Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2003.