DIO Disciples

[SweetSymptom]

From a posting on 'The Official Ronnie James Dio Fan Page' on Facebook

"Dear Friends,

I wanted to let you know that Rudy, Simon, Craig and Scott will be playing some shows in Europe together with Ripper Owens and Toby Jepson as DIO Disciples.

There will never be another Ronnie, but we want to keep his music alive and hope you will support the band and become one of the DIO Disciples.
...
We will post the UK/European tour dates as they are confirmed, and we are
planning some US dates also.

Hope to see you at one of the shows.

With love, Wendy"

[danielb]

Unfortunately they went with Ripper, when the natural choice would have been Jorn...

[kentuckyfan]

Ripper will be fine this will be a must see show.

[Charger]

Unfortunately they went with Ripper, when the natural choice would have been Jorn...

Yeah sure, ofcourse they should have chosen an average (at best) singer instead of one of the greatest singers in the world...


This thing is going to be brilliant! There is no doubt about it. Now that I know they'll be coming to Finland, I will be there! This is one of the greatest collaborations in music right now...Only thing better would be Tim, Tony, Geezer and Vin!

[-E5150 StarWanderer-]

Yeah sure, ofcourse they should have chosen an average (at best) singer instead of one of the greatest singers in the world...


This thing is going to be brilliant! There is no doubt about it. Now that I know they'll be coming to Finland, I will be there! This is one of the greatest collaborations in music right now...Only thing better would be Tim, Tony, Geezer and Vin!

It's an opinion, I rarely see Ripper hailed as a legendary voice in metal and topping listings. Of course neither is Jorn, but that wasn't my point anyway. Taste issues aside, Jorn definately is an amazing vocalist technically, He's one of my favorites, I like his voice, it's a hybrid between RJD and Coverdale. And I've never heard another vocalist come so close to Dio himself in Stargazer as Jorn. And one could ask if Ripper's so great why he never seems to get jobs fronting bands as an original singer, he seems to be the guy to go for replacing departed (and better) vocalists Nah, just kidding, I like Ripper, even if his not just one of my absolute favorites and I think his style doesn't really do justice for RJD led songs, like I just stated in the "Live Shows in 2011" thread:

Ok, now I HAVE to get a ticket for friday and saturday. Priest, Tarot and Queensrÿche are some of my very favorite acts and I'd very much like to see the Dio's disciples, even if Ripper isn't my favorite choice for the slot. I just think he's too much of a Halford "copy" and I don't like his renditions of Dio songs too much -he's vibarato is a bit artificial and strong for RJD led songs IMO. Owens isn't a totally bad choise though, the guy can sing. I just would have preferred Jorn Lande or Nils Patrick Johansson, but maybe it's better they keep concentrating on their own original projects.

Either way, it's great to see that they are keeping the legacy of DIO alive, although I'd rather see them starting up new projects instead of turning into a tribute act.

[danielb]

Ripper, "one of the greatest singers in the world while Jorn is average (at best)"? Come on. I guess there is a reason Jorn sang at High Voltage. There is no one out there who can Dio as well as he can, which is why it's puzzling why he wasn't asked to join this project. I'm sure many would agree.

My opinion is that Ripper has the stage presence of a roadie onstage, a voice lacking any distinct personality... This could explain why he hasn't managed to make a name of his own.

But I'm sure he's a nice guy and it's cool that you're such a fan of him.

[Sabbathman]

Ripper, "one of the greatest singers in the world while Jorn is average (at best)"? Come on. I guess there is a reason Jorn sang at High Voltage. There is no one out there who can Dio as well as he can, which is why it's puzzling why he wasn't asked to join this project. I'm sure many would agree.

My opinion is that Ripper has the stage presence of a roadie onstage, a voice lacking any distinct personality... This could explain why he hasn't managed to make a name of his own.

But I'm sure he's a nice guy and it's cool that you're such a fan of him.

One question, just for checking: have you seen Ripper live by yourself? I mean, live on location?

[eiricd]

I'm quite surprised by this. Never thought the Dio band minus Ronnie would go out again, and certainly not less than a year after RJD's passing. Having said that, the name of the project makes it ok in my book. It's a tribute to Ronnie - and they don't seem to pretend otherwise

I hope they do a live dvd with the profits going to the cancert fund.

I wonder what venues they will play - I can't imagine they'll draw the same amount of people as "Dio", so perhaphs this will be mainly in clubs?

---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:01 PM ----------

as for Ripper vs Jorn

Jorn is perhaps my favourite hard rock vocalist these days (in terms of vocal abilities as we write) - that he can do justice to Dio songs is evident on his tribute album.
saw Ripper with Hail! where they did Stand up and shout. good version indeed - but I do think Jorn could cover more ground in the Dio world Ripper is able to (perhaps hence the second vocalist in "Dio Disciples" ?)

there's no accident that Jorn was on High Voltage. I also listened to an "old" interview with him from about 5 years ago - where he said that he was working with Tony on some stuff "a few years ago" (which makes it 2000 ish).

with Jorn's appearence on High Voltage, Geezers statement about "no further Sabbath" and Vinny's interview recently about how H&H are talking about future projects (albeit he mentioned Halford) - I wouldn't be surprised if Iommi, Butler, Appice and Jorn will go out at some point

[MH1986]

Glad they're calling it Dio Disciples and not just Dio. Ripper is a fucking beast, one of the few guys in modern metal that has truly great vocals. Guy is a metal machine.

As for Jorn, don't care for him. Ripper has far more talent, only thing better than this would be if Iommi and Butler brought him on board for an album. Now that would make my day. Jorn can continue doing Masterplan and cover albums, its what he does best. He's good but, not in the same league as Owens.

Right now, Tim Owens has just about the best voice for metal. I can't think of anyone currently that can do what he does as well as he does it.

[danielb]

One question, just for checking: have you seen Ripper live by yourself? I mean, live on location?

Yes, I have.

[Charger]

I'm not going to continue this fighting about taste matters. It's pointless and only leads to mindless bashing.

I'm just going to this: If Wendy thought that Tim would be the only one who could handle this job, then that is really all there is to say.

[cwilder86]

I actually like Ripper better than Jorn.

[Dr.Fukk]

I like them both. Masterplan's first album was my favorite that year. I notice many people dont like Ripper and I dont get it. I'm a huge fan of early Iced Earth and do like Matt Barlow. But I think I'm alone when I say Ripper is not only a better singer then Matt, he is also a better fit for IE. And his band "Beyond Fear" SKULLS! So did Winters Bane. Didnt like his Priest stuff but I cant blame him for that because Mr.Tipton ran the show duing those year. And the Yngwie stuff is whatever....and we know he runs that show as well.

Would love for this Dio tribute band to come down to South Florida.

[dioslefthorn]

Wendy is Ripper Owens Manager. ! Nuff said.

---------- Post added at 03:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:15 PM ----------

Oh yeah.. Dio Disciples can have Ripper

Sabbath ( Iommi ) can have Jorn .

[Sabbathman]

Wherever METAL needs to be sung, Ripper can deliver it great. In addition to being a great metal singer, Ripper is a huge fan of heavy music. That's exactly why he's been so much in demand after he graduated from Judas Priest. Everybody seems to want Ripper to sing for them, he knows his business and does it great. 2004 - 2011 has seen Ripper perform in a great number of good metal albums and even greater number of bands. Dio's Disciples is the latest one and for a good reason.