Posted on: December 12, 2008 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0
Black Sabbath set benchmarks for bands to follow in their wake but it was Dio’s inclusion that put them in another realm. The 3 studio albums that they purged out were second to none, benchmarks if you will.  RockNation sat down with Ronnie at their stop in Devore, Ca to talk some history and the magnificent Rules Of Hell box set that Rhino has delivered to the masses.
RockNation: You are involved in the Metal Masters tour.  What brought this tour together?

Ronnie James Dio:  We were not planning on doing any touring at all as we were busy writing for the next album we are going to do, a proper Heaven And Hell album.  We probably needed a break from writing and we were going to take that break anyway but we were going to go home and hang out with our pets, animals and families.  The Priest guys asked us to do a short tour which has only been 17 shows encompassing about three weeks so we thought it might be interesting to get away and do this.  We said yes because we have been friends forever and KK, Rob and Glen are from the same area that Tony is from so it was a very attractive tour to do.  The Motorhead have been my friends for years and the Testament guys I love to and I have known them forever so it made sense.  It would be comfortable to and it was a great package.

Full interview available online at:

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