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Rob Halford recommended Holy Diver by Dio in Music (curated)

Holy Diver by Dio

1983 | Rock

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Album Favorite

"Again, I love absolute everything that Ronnie did, from Elf to Sabbath, but it's his voice that drew me to this record because it's so magical and so unique. He was a very accomplished all-round musician though. When you look at his body of work it's just tremendous, but this is certainly one of his best. I love singers that mean what they're singing and have power behind them, and Ronnie meant it. This album is proof that you don't always need to just scream your tits off to make a point. The title track is the standout song on this album for me. If you look at any artist who has had the grace and fortune to be successful for a long period of time there are certain songs that stand out even on greatest hits compilations, but I own a Dio compilation and every song on it is as good as the last. I was involved in a tribute record after Ronnie's death to raise money for his charity. It was a great thing to do, and there were so many talented people involved in it. It just proved that everybody loved Ronnie. Not only did he create some amazing music, but he was a fantastic human being. People were lining up to do that record and by the time I agreed there weren't that many songs left to choose from."

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Kudos

Will Young recommended David Live by David Bowie in Music (curated)

"An odd one and another charity shop purchase actually, and another one that would be played at house parties. The musicianship on it is incredible. It's not the best recorded record, and a lot of things were redubbed apparently, and not massively well reviewed from what I can gather. The first half of the tour had been Spiders From Mars and then he came back with the artwork for Young Americans and he was moving towards things all the time. It's the tour that's featured in Cracked Actor - although I hadn't seen that when I first heard the album. I remember watching him come out across the crowd on a crane on the phone and that was amazing. He's got some amazing musicians on it too, with Michael Kamen who was the MD on it, and he's a legend, so that alone was great. And the most incredible piano parts too. Apparently the story goes that there was a mutiny backstage when the management hadn't told the musicians that they were doing a live recording and would only be paying them the standard $70 fee for a performance. And so they all said that they weren't going on, and so 20 minutes before they went on they agreed to $500 and I wonder if you can hear that incentive in the performance. For some reason I really noticed the band on that record and they really stand out."

Source

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2434 KP) rated The Gift of the Magpie in Books

Dec 13, 2020

Who Used a Helping Hand to Murder?

This year at Christmas, the churches in Caerphilly, Virginia have started a Helping Hands for the Holidays charity event, and Meg is right in the thick of it, organizing and helping. One of their projects is helping Harvey the Hoarder declutter and fix up his house before the county is called to intervene. Day one goes pretty well, but when Meg shows up for the second day, she finds him lying in a pool of blood in the garage. Are the rumors of a treasure hidden in the house true? Did that get Harvey killed?

I always enjoy visiting Meg, and this book was no exception. The sub-plots involving her large family slow down the main mystery early on, but as a fan of the series and the characters, that’s a minor complaint. Once the mystery gets going, it is strong with several good suspects and twists before we reach the great climax. The sub-plots still weave in and out of the main mystery, and I really enjoyed them and the Christmas spirit they give us. I didn’t find this book quite as funny as some of the others, maybe because it left me contemplating which side of the hoarder or collector line I’m on. If you are looking for an entertaining mystery set at Christmas, there’s still time this year to cozy up to the fire and enjoy this mystery.