This is the first time I read a book via audio book. Based on my experience, I definitely prefer reading on my kindle. I found more opportunities for my mind to wander and less impulse to rewind when I possibly missed some words. I can be a slow reader, and if I've got other pressing things on my mind I can actually read but not comprehend what I've just read. But I've always wanted to try out an audio book, so this was a worthwhile experience getting it out of my system.

I was a huge fan of heavy metal during the eighties, especially "hair bands". This wasn't quite a hair band, but I used to see their videos on MTV's "Headbangers Ball" which I would faithfully watch on the weekends, as well as subscribe to various hard rock/metal magazines such as RIP, Hit Parader and others. Even if I didn't particularly have a passion for a certain group, I would still read the articles about other bands just out of curiosity. I did like one particular video of Dio's called "Rainbow in the Dark" that I saw on the Headbanger's Ball. I also heard about Ronnie James Dio recently while watching a great Ritchie Blackmore documentary. Blackmore talked about Ronnie being the lead singer of his solo band "Rainbow" which he created after leaving "Deep Purple". Ritchie made a snarky comment about one of the reasons they parted ways- that Ronnie became more distracted with his wife Wendy than being focused on Rainbow's music.

Ronnie James Dio died in 2010, but he had been writing his autobiography. He died before finishing it, so wife/manager Wendy helped complete it- along with seasoned rock biographer Mick Wall (I just recently finished a biography of Led Zeppelin that he authored, and it was excellent). The narrator of the audio book did a great job, and it just felt like Ronnie was talking to you the way it was written. When it got to the part of his life where he met his future wife Wendy, it occasionally traded off segments where she took up the story, but the male narrator still read it- making his voice higher to reflect that she was talking...and it worked. I have to admit I was a little bored in the beginning with the lead up to him taking off as a known musical act. He started out playing a brass instrument and only much later out of necessity took on the singing role, of which he was surprisingly gifted at. Ronnie was of Italian descent, and his real name was Ronald James Padavona. He adopted the last name Dio from a mobster that he encountered while touring in an earlier band.

Ronnie's band eventually took the name "Elf", an obvious nod to his short stature. They wound up being noticed by the metal band Deep Purple and eventually became a supporting act on their tour. As mentioned previously, founding member and lead guitarist of Deep Purple Ritchie Blackmore asked him to be lead singer of Rainbow in 1975, when he left Purple for the first time. Then when Dio's tenure in Rainbow came to an end, he was asked to replace original Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne. This spawned a very successful album for Sabbath called "Heaven and Hell". When things in Black Sabbath soured, Dio created his own band called "Dio", financed entirely by himself and his now wife Wendy. Wendy also assumed manager duties.

Dio finally found the ultimate satisfaction with this home grown band. They had success right out of the gate with their debut album "Holy Diver". As with all bands, there was the occasional drama with personnel, particularly with the exit of guitarist Vivian Campbell who now is a member of iconic 80s band Def Leppard. One thing Dio is famous for bringing into metal music culture is the hand gesture of horns, which derived from a classic Italian gesture his grandmother used.

Ultimately, I felt just a bit let down because I had hoped the book would cover Ronnie's illness and death, since his wife was also a part of this book. There was nothing about it. I would have been very engaged in that aspect of his life's challenges on a human interest level. Other than that and the slight disappointment with the audio book format, I was generally pleased with the book. Dio was an intelligent man who loved to read in his spare time, and he did a good job writing this bio.

Thank you to Niji Entertainment Group, Inc./Tantor Audio who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

This was a pretty good accounting of Ronnie Dio's earlier years. I can't imagine how hard it would be to construct an autobiography based on Ronnie's notes ten years later, so I am cognizant of that fact as I review it. However, the simple truth I am left with after finishing is that there isn't enough here. The early life of Ronnie is covered in much more detail, leaving me to believe that was the stuff he left the most notes on/had begun writing before his death. But as he got into success, I feel like the book just leapt from one thing to another, almost a cliff notes version of events from his perspective. Wendy's perspective is used a few times to add more context, and that's effective. She also mentioned that Ronnie had a specific endpoint in mind for his "first" autobiography. I get that she wanted to respect his wishes, but he isn't around to write more, and this book took ten years (after a long, understandable grieving period) and I just wish she had come to conclude that had Ronnie wrote this entirely himself, it likely would have been larger and more detailed, thereby making his preferred stopping point an acceptable ending, but without him around, the right move is probably to have done an entire life retrospective. Maybe interviews with others to fill out more of Ronnie's notes, etc.

I still really enjoyed this. It is obviously a labor of love. It just doesn't feel complete. Part of that is the "auto" in the biography being pseudo-auto, but part of it is trying to be too economic. She mentions perhaps doing a second book of the second half of his life, but why? This one was very short, and she's 76 years old. The time was now.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Really enjoyed this one, much more than I expected too. Interesting. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook

I absolutely loved this. I didn't know much about Dio, so it was great to listen to his story in his own words. He's a good storyteller, and the narration was great, too. Very much recommend the book.

I was given an advance copy of this audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley.

I've always enjoyed music memoirs written by the artists themselves, especially after listening to Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis, so when I heard that this was coming out, I immediately added it to my ever-growing TBR pile.

I've been a fan of Ronnie James Dio ever since he was fronting Black Sabbath in the very early 80s, and one of the concert highlights of my late teens was seeing him with his own band, Dio. The man was an epic singer and had one of the most powerful voices in rock.

This was a nice trip down memory lane, though admittedly most of these memories belonged to RJD himself and were significantly before my time. It did take awhile to get going good, as RJD seemed to go into great detail on his early years. This was a foundation for the artist he'd become, but to me it really got interesting at the point that he and his bandmates solidified into the band known as Elf. From there his story really took off, to eras in his musical career that I could relate to, from joining with Ritchie Blackmore to form Rainbow, through his Sabbath days, and finally into forming the band he wanted all along, that which showcased his name: Dio.

I do feel like there was a lot of time that wasn't covered, from the early Dio days of the late eighties until his tragic death in 2010. I'm thinking he simply hadn't gotten around to writing about that era, but as the peak of his success came with the popularity of Dio, this was enough to make a good story. Still, it would have been interesting to hear his thoughts on the times he got back with Sabbath, first with the reunion album Dehumanizer, then to later regroup with them again to form the side-band Heaven and Hell. As I said, he probably had lots to say about all of that, just hadn't the time.

RIP, Ronnie.

What a great book! I love Ronnie James Dio, but honestly knew nothing of his life. This book told so much, including embarrassing moments and exciting times. So many stories that were fun to hear. I could picture the events, too. As I listened, I realized that without all of these rough times and exhausting times, we would not have the legend that is Ronnie James Dio. I loved this book and highly recommend it, especially if you love him and miss him, too.

The thing about biographies is that they are mostly preaching to the choir; meaning, they are often there to respond to previous negative rumors/press and targeted to people who already like/love/respect the subject. I felt that keenly with this book: written by Dio himself and by those who loved him, it is very one-sided and any bads are glossed over or downplayed. What you get is a deification (ironic, considering his moniker) of Dio. But because it is first hand, you also get a lot of information about his youth and behind the scenes that you wouldn't get otherwise. This is very obviously a sweet love letter to the artist and very optimistic throughout.

The story is told chronologically, starting with Dio's childhood in an upstate New York Italian community. It progresses through the various bands he played in as he earned his name - and the hijinks they got into playing various clubs and Summer vacation spots in the State. Dio was born just after World War II, so he was playing pre-Beatles. Those early years reminiscences greatly reminded me of the movie "Dirty Dancing" since both seemed to take place at the same time/place.

As Dio's experience grew, his band Elf began to take shape in the late 1960s. Though it never took off over the 7 years they played, it gave dio a sounding board and connections that would eventually lead to the Rainbow opportunity. The dealings with the Ritchie Blackmore era of his career are arguably the most interesting in the book. Mercurial Blackmore and his fractious relationship with his bandmates while Dio acted as intermediary and sometimes victims of Blackmore's mood swings tell a lot about the rock and roll era in the late 1970s. Dio isn't bitter about it though his wife Wendy had a few choice words in-between about that time.

In twists of fate, the Rainbow era ended and Dio found himself as frontman for Black Sabbath and what many consider to be the magnum opus of his career. The story again gets very interesting here as Dio is navigating personalities and egos while still heavily contributing to creating the most melodic of Black Sabbath's offerings. One thing that the book makes very clear is how influential Dio was on the bands in which he was a part - from the fantasy-lyrics to the heaviness. Once Dio left those bands, those influences were very obvious as the bands would become more pop oriented.

The Sabbath deal led to a solo career where Dio started his own band. The book ends here at the top of Dio's success in 1985. Those familiar with his career will know that things went downhill from there, with many band member changes and even style changes until Dio's death in 2010 at the age of 67 to stomach cancer.

Reading between the lines, it is easy to see that this book was written to combat criticisms: 1) Dio's age/being too old to keep rocking; 2) Being difficult to work with/egotistic/trying to take over bands; 3) not treating his bandmates well or fairly. To combat the age criticism, dates were rarely mentioned in the book nor were the mores or specifics of time periods. Especially at the beginning, you could hardly tell that Dio was operating in the early 1960s, with all that would entail. There were a few comments about racism in the South but for the most part, it was fairly timeless. To combat the interpersonal relationship issues, it was always about artistic integrity and fellow artists misunderstanding things (Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi) or being moody (Ritchie Blackmore). And for the treating bandmates well, Dio's wife Wendy directly assesses the situation of a disgruntled former bandmate of Dio who left with allegations of broken promises. She lists actual payment amounts but the issues of promised royalties and credits are downplayed or ignored.

There were some ironies here. Perhaps the most interesting is we're told over and over that Dio loves everyone (especially the fans) yet every one of his bands seemed to be plagued with issues of bandmates finding him difficult or heavy handed. With someone like Ritchie Blackmore, that makes sense - though I can see why Blackmore would want to go more friendly pop than heavy fantasy, as was Dio's style. But the issues with Black Sabbath were downplayed as Iommi being resentful of Dio being offered a solo album and causing Iommi to reject Dio seems a bit far fetched. As well, Dio continued to have problems with his own band and keeping players from leaving him, with constant reports of frustration with working with Dio. The book never really stops to take a moment and put any culpability on Dio for that - or try to define why.

Perhaps the biggest irony ended up being the parallels between Blackmore's Rainbow and Dio's band. In Rainbow, Dio mentioned constantly that he was frustrated with lack of credit and Blackmore's complete control of the band. Dio hated that Blackmore fired people for what he considered frivolous things. Yet that was the same complaint leveled frequently against Dio himself when Dio had his own band. It was as if Dio ended up doing the same thing as Blackmore did without realizing it.

As per the introduction, this book was the labor of love by Dio's wife Wendy. It looks like she also took a lot of the ire of former bandmates since she was also Dio's manager. Dio is quick to defend her and she makes points to note that she and Dio argued all the time, so it wasn't a case of Dio letting his wife run rampant on the band's finances, etc. while he turned a loving blind eye (I imagine her lack of experience before becoming a manager were cited). So again, it feels a lot like white washing at times against former allegations.

Rainbow in the Dark is a very easy and also entertaining read. You'll learn a lot about Dio's past and get some amusing anecdotes along the way. But it doesn't feel like an honest or reflective book either. As with Peter Frampton's memoirs, it is light and fluffy and kind of glosses over anything bad about the artist. You won't learn why Dio was so fascinated with medieval fantasy and the occult. Any discussions about it in the book can be very inane, as with Dio defending the cover of Holy Diver with something along the lines of, "How do you know the devil is the bad guy? How do you know that's even a priest?" And yes, you'll be told endlessly that Dio originated the devil horn hand symbol (from his superstitious grandmother) that sprung up everywhere in the 1980s.

I listened to the audio narration and the narrator did an excellent job. This is a great choice for listening rather than reading since it is pretty light and fluffy. Note that there are images in the books that you don't get with the audio narration. Reviewed from an advance listener copy provided by the publisher.

This was a great audiobook! I’ve been a Dio fan for a long time. I learned much about Ronnie James Dio that I didn’t know before. It was interesting to learn of all the bands he was in, why he left.

4.5 stars.

I always considered Dio as one of the top ambassadors of metal (admittedly not really chasing down his work until after the Tenacious D's 2001 song that bore his name), but I sorely misunderstood just how positive of an effect he had on the industry and its fans. Coming from the late man himself (along with his wife, Wendy), this recounting of climbing through the ranks and ending in 1986 not only gives it a real rock-n-roll ending (meaning that it doesn't really make mention of his all-too-sudden death), but that it transmits a ferociously feel-good vibe from a guy who'd basically seen and/or done it all.

As biographies and autobiographies are wont to do, they place things into context so that the reader can best understand the impact of a career and/or lifetime; in summation, seeing all that Dio was able to accomplish is tremendously staggering, and, while it's at points not so out-of-bounds to realize when you hear him sing, the eloquent and personal touch that he gives to his struggles gives it the epic feel to match so many of the songs he wrote.

From repeated automobile accidents to having AC/DC open *for him* to headlining a world tour on his own terms, it's a straight-forward, inspiring, and engrossing read that turned out great and irons out a number of details that fans might have been curious about--I mean, seriously, how do you go from growing up in upstate NY to being the new lead singer of Black Sabbath?

If you're a fan of music autobiographies, it's a must. It'd also be pretty cool to see if this book turns readers on to his records.

Toward the end of the book, there's a callback to a particularly stressful (but comical) moment in Dio's life that's worth the read alone.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the advanced listen.

I received this audiobook from the publishers via Netgalley for a review. The life of the late great Ronnie James Dio in his own words. A wonderful book but sadly only up to his third album, hopefully his wife will do a follow up. The narrator does an excellent job.

I loved the style of storytelling Dio writes in, with foreshadowing sprinkled liberally throughout the early part of the book.
I appreciate the response to criticism at the end of the book; things I've heard about over the years get his direct and firm response.
But mostly I appreciate the additions of his manager and wife, Wendy. Having an "outside" or different perspective to the past helps solidify Dio's interpretation of his past. She also has one of the best "I have the receipts" I've ever heard.
The ending is abrupt and a little jarring, I would have liked to have more of a ending about his feelings towards what he talked about, etc., but a great story nonetheless.
**I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a well-written, entertaining, informative, and enjoyable autobiography. It is tastefully written with wit, some humor, and creative and meaningful chapter headings. It vividly describes the evolution of a musician, singer, songwriter and his bands. The tragedies and triumphs of Ronnie James Dio's life, the behind the scenes drama, the meanings behind songs, and little known facts are marvelously depicted. This autobiography is a must read for rock fans, and especially for fans of Ronnie James Dio. The narrator, Daniel Thomas May, has a captivating voice and does an outstanding job. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Ronnie James Dio himself could have narrated his story.
NetGalley kindly provided me with an ARC of this audiobook, and this is my honest opinion.

This autobiography is an absolute treat for any Dio fan. Or music fan in general, since we get a lot of insight into how the music industry really works.

Despite Dio sadly passing away before finishing this book, the story feels very complete and cohesive. It's really interesting to see the chronological recount of his life. I personally didn't know many of the details explained in this biography and I feel like I now know Dio a lot better, which helps me enjoy his music even more.
The "chaos" (sex, drugs and rock and roll, right?) of the decades in which Dio and his different bands started their music career makes for really cool rock and roll stories as well. And the behind the scenes shenanigans are really interesting.

Obviously, it would have been fantastic to have Dio himself narrating this audiobook. However, the narrator was fantastic at performing his story. Very clear voice and engaging as well.

I'm a Dio fan for sure, but there was more I didn't know about Ronnie James Dio than I knew, until I read this book. This memoir has really good insight into how he got involved in the bands he was in, and where he got his inspiration, and really captures his voice in his writing as well. I read this in one day.