The Dio-vs.-guitar conflict plays out over all his albums. From Blackmore's Rainbow into the Sabbath years with Tony Iommi (twice) to his solo career and his revolving-door guitarists, Dio and his clarion voice continue the eternal struggle between man and machine. Dio hooks up with a guitarist, then spends a couple of albums pitting his voice against their amps and distortion boxes. When he cuts loose with that tenor roar, Nigel Tufnel and his goes-to-11 amplifier couldn't drown him out. Is it any wonder he burns guitarists out so quickly?
Whoever is playing Grendel to Dio's Beowulf this tour is sure to have his work cut out for him. Dio's catalog stretches back to the early '70s, and there are certain songs the fans expect to hear, and we'll be screaming for them, Zippo in one hand and the infernal horns in the other. And the name we'll be chanting between songs ain't gonna be that guitarist's. Nobody ever yelled out, "Nelson Riddle!" when Sinatra was onstage, either.