[KarlsMetal member "Kibitzer" had this to say about Ronnie James Dio, who passed away May 16th]:

     Ronnie James Dio…. if I can use one word just to sum up what this man is to the Heavy Metal community, it is “Pioneer”. He was there at the beginning of the genre that we now call Heavy Metal and he was there before it had a name. Dio contributed a lot to the Heavy Metal community and he never allowed himself to be homogenized nor trapped in an industry that can suck the life out of you and bleed you dry without knowing it.

    When he was in Black Sabbath after Ozzy Osbourne left the band, Ozzy was a tough act to follow but that didn’t deter him from giving it his all. He was still a self made musician and he was always in control of what he wanted to do with his music and he was tenacious yet very caring toward his fans and took good care of them as he was one of only a handful of musicians in this business that was the “good guy”.

    I was never an avid fan of Dio, but when I heard his music, it took me to a place that was different than the rest of the other bands. During a time today where Thrash, Power, Prog, Neo-Classical, Black, Hardcore, Death, Goth and Doom Metal are more prevalent today, many people forget that if it weren’t for Dio, a lot of these other sub-genres would never have existed. Dio is the musician and the man that was the crux and the blue print for future Heavy Metal bands. He had style but most of all he didn’t let stardom change him. When it was time to go home at the end of the day, he left Dio up on stage. Ronnie was the man that went home at the end of the show. I will surely miss him as he is one of a kind.

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    The Kibitzer

     5/19/10