Rainbow – Sixteenth Century Greensleeves

I’ve finally found a video of the namesake of this site! Sixteenth Century Greensleeves has raced to the head of the pack, beyond Stargazer, far past Man on the Silver Mountain to be my all time favorite Rainbow song.

It’s got all the earmarks of a classic Dio composition lyrically. The local evil wizard woman has kidnapped one of the Villager’s kin. So one brave (extremely short) warrior decides its time to stop turning a blind eye and kick some wizard bitch ass! He rounds up the posse and breaks out the armory to bring the Wizardess to a bloody end.

Possibly my favorite passage in the song comes when he non-chalantly namechecks “Crossbows in the Firelight” as if to let you know not only do they have an angry mob but they’re armed to the teeth with the equivalent of the 16th Century AK.

Blackmore’s intro of actually playing Greensleeves only adds to the amazing display of majesty…
God bless you Richie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio for, if even briefly, putting together this confluence of rock savants.

Black Sabbath: Die Young

On the other end of the Sabbath spectrum, after Ozzy’s departure, who should replace him? My boy RJD… Here’s a lipsynced version of Die Young that features Dio’s faux magical gesticulating and lots of dramatic poses.

Dio: Rainbow in the Dark

Early MTV had a problem, not enough metal videos featuring Barbarrians and Pervy Stalkers… Who did they turn to in thier time of need? The same man Sabbath turned to in thier darkest hour… RJFuckingD!

Rainbow: Man on the Silver Mountain

I have to say that Rainbow in some ways is everything that sucks about 70’s rock. 20 minute songs, a wanking lead guitarist, Dio… The list goes on and one… Oddly I fucking LOVE Rainbow! Dio is super underrated as a metal singer most people think of his 80’s stuff which can be pretty camp in the light of the 21st Century. All together these guys were a supergroup beyond compare.
This one’s for Red 5 Standing By