Ronnie James Dio died in 2010 of stomach cancer, and I don't think the metal world will ever recover. Tributes, websites, facebook pages, etc, all work tirelessly to keep the legacy of his contributions to the genre alive.
Part of his legacy is a cancer foundation, and a bunch of heavyweights of the metal world are putting together a tribute album, the proceeds of which will go to the foundation.
Metallica is making a contribution, and it is being heard now for the first time. They've chosen to do a medley of four Rainbow classics. I have to say a couple things after listening to it.
James' voice - his maturity as a singer as opposed to barking lyrics with a melody - has evolved quite well, in my opinion. He's no Dio, but neither does he sound like a schmuck for trying to tackle Dio songs. He sounds real, real good, IMHO.
After listening to Metallica covering classic Rainbow songs, and being blown away by how they apply the Metallica vibe to songs we already know are excellent, it is apparent to me that the reason I've lost interest in Metallica is because they don't write good songs anymore. If the songs they wrote nowadays were anything close to the quality of the songs they recorded for this medley, they'd be the most popular contemporary metal band in the world, not a fading juggernaut touring their own classics in order to remain relevant. This sounds that good, again IMHO.
Judge for yourself, if you're a metal fan.
Read about the project, and listen HERE
