ZEEGLER
Well-known member
None of Dio's stuff after Vivian was at the same par. Yeah it was decent, but the first three were gold! I wish they could have worked it out.
napalmdeath
Well-known member
Yeah, it wasn't the same without Vivian.. I did like some of Tracy G's albums, including the live one he played on.
jabps
Well-known member
I actually think had Greg Guiffria not buried Craig in the mix and taken that band more in a guitar driven direction ala Journey they might have actually hit big. Craigs playing on there is good but it's so buried with keyboards.
I think one of the reasons I loved Vivian was back then in the cover bands we did Dio and I had a handle on that stuff, it was right up my alley as a plyer and Gary was a huge influence on me as well.
jabps
Well-known member
His rackmount Soldano Bob Bradshaw days. Loved that Anderson.
pipelineaudio
Well-known member
Our Dio tribute band started mostly as a joke, but damn! Trying to get VC's sense of timing on the solos broke my brain!
67mike
Well-known member
Vivian was on fire in Dio.
Too bad he ended up wasting his talent in Whitesnake and Leppard
Too bad he ended up wasting his talent in Whitesnake and Leppard
napalmdeath
Well-known member
Atleast he got paid. Dio paid him peanuts.
Rottweiler
Well-known member
Yeah did you catch the Dio portion of that interview? It really made me see Dio in a different way.
67mike
Well-known member
That sucks. Too bad.
C
chumbucket
Well-known member
The singer is Dave King (Fastway) and the drummer is Mike Alonso. They were both in Katmandu and now Flogging Molly.
SoooRad
Well-known member
The more I hear about Ronnie from people that aren’t him, he was great to the fans, but a jackass to his fellow musicians.
mentoneman
Well-known member
saw him on last in line and he was great but yngwie opened in support of the marching out album and stole the show.
saw him with Riverdogs open for Satch Flying tour and again he was cool but i didn’t connect with the music/band at that time. even bought the record and only listened to it a few times then shelved it.
but recently revisited that lp and it’s actually killer music. his tones and playing on it may be his best work apart from dio.
saw him with Riverdogs open for Satch Flying tour and again he was cool but i didn’t connect with the music/band at that time. even bought the record and only listened to it a few times then shelved it.
but recently revisited that lp and it’s actually killer music. his tones and playing on it may be his best work apart from dio.
SoooRad
Well-known member
On the topic of Dio, as mentioned above, the band wasn't the same without him, however as time has passed the Tracy G era of Dio has pulled in front as my favorite. The lyrics and soundscapes are meaner in a good way.
jabps
Well-known member
Riverdogs first album is a hidden gem. Tones, playing as I said earlier it was the height of Viv's playing IMO.
jabps
Well-known member
Ozzy was the same way. Ripped off Bob, Lee and just straight up strong armed Jake into giving up everything off Bark at the Moon. Two people have confirmed, one being Grover Jackson that RR had to threaten to walk during the Diary tour rehearsals because he still hadn't been paid. Hell Randy's mom had to take them to court for unpaid royalties. That suit was dropped so I assume she eventually got RR's royalties. Not to mention Ozzy punching Randy in the face a few weeks before he passed.
I know Dio didn't pull in the money Ozzy did however just honor what you promised, I get he was footing the bill for everything but again, don't make a promise you can't keep. Ultimately Dio never had another Gold album after Viv was fired so in the end, was it worth it?
The~Kid
Well-known member
This guy is fucking amazing......
Wow
Wow
WizardAmpIphoneClip
Well-known member
Vivian had a fuckin ferrari when he was like 22. He expected to be loaded playing for a Solo artist. He'd be pushing a broom if Dio hadn't gotten him started in the industry. Absolutey. Dio forever. Fuck Def Leppard
SoooRad
Well-known member
Vivian had a fuckin ferrari when he was like 22. He expected to be loaded playing for a Solo artist. He'd be pushing a broom if Dio hadn't gotten him started in the industry. Absolutey. Dio forever. Fuck Def Leppard
But that's only because of what Ronnie told him, that they would be paid as an equal part band, which evidently was bullshit. Ronnie thought having a guitar player shoot lasers at a robot spider was more important than the music. The rest of the guys in the band have all acknowledged this, and Vivian was the only one with enough balls to actually go out as a free agent. History shows that, at least financially, that was probably a good move.
That being said, I agree. Def Leppard sucks.
jabps
Well-known member
Actually the Ferrari was smoke and mirrors. He's explained in other interviews how he got it, it was used, it was also a baseline model and he bought it in the UK when the dollar had a high value and financed it based on future Dio earnings.Vivian had a fuckin ferrari when he was like 22. He expected to be loaded playing for a Solo artist. He'd be pushing a broom if Dio hadn't gotten him started in the industry. Absolutey. Dio forever. Fuck Def Leppard
Dude also lived with his parents so when he wasn't in LA or on tour with Dio, he was living at home and had no overhead. Also explained he pocketed every single dollar he made including his per diems when he was on the road and ate with the road crew. The Ferrari was sold when he was fired.
Bottom line he and Jake with Ozzy were making pennies about $100 bucks per week. Vinnie Vincent was making $550 a week in comparison.
More telling is what he said he was driving when he joined Def Leppard, a Honda CRX. This is after recording and touring in two pretty big bands at the time.
Again, Dio never had another Gold or hit album after Vivian was fired. There was definitely magic in those 4 guys.
Fiesta Red
Well-known member
Here's Doug Aldrich talking about leaving Dio to join Whitesnake. The whole 5 min video is the entire story however Dio's reaction at 2:30 into the video
