Sacred Heart (Dio album)

Sacred Heart is Dio's third studio album. It was released in August 15, 1985 on Warner Bros. Records in North America, and Vertigo elsewhere. The record peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 chart. It is one of Dio's most well-known albums, and includes singles such as "Sacred Heart", "Rock 'n' Roll Children" and "Hungry for Heaven".

This was the last Dio album to include guitarist Vivian Campbell, who was fired midway through the album's tour. Campbell went on to join several other bands, most notably Def Leppard, Riverdogs, Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy. A rift occurred during the recording of this album between Dio and the guitarist - "...for me, he (Viv) wasn't even there for this record." The album, along with Holy Diver and The Last in Line, was released in a new 2-CD Deluxe Edition on March 19, 2012 through Universal for worldwide distribution outside the U.S.

Tour
The accompanying stageshow was a spectacle involving a mechanised dragon and laser effects, as captured on the VHS (and later DVD reissue) Sacred Heart "The Video". Ronnie James Dio and his band referred to the dragon as Denzil (although originally it was called Dean).

Cover
The cover art is by Robert Florczak. The inscription around the border of the cover is in Latin and reads FINIS PER SOMNIVM REPERIO TIBI SACRA COR VENEFICVS OSTIVM AVRVM. A possible rendering is Along the borders of dreams I found for you the sacred poisonous heart and golden door. More data useful for the interpretation could be contained within the lyrics to the song "Sacred Heart". Since Latin relies on context for a translation the inscription could translate as follows, "comes the end by sleep I will prepare the sacred heart which is the magic that opens upon the altar"

Track listing
All lyrics written by Ronnie James Dio, music as stated

Personnel

 * Dio
 * Ronnie James Dio – lead vocals
 * Vivian Campbell – guitars
 * Jimmy Bain – bass
 * Claude Schnell – keyboards
 * Vinny Appice – drums


 * Additional musicians
 * Craig Goldy – guitars on "Time to Burn"


 * Production
 * Recorded at Rumbo Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA
 * Produced by Ronnie James Dio
 * Engineered by Angelo Arcuri
 * Assistant engineered by Gary McGachan
 * Laser Effects: LaserMedia Inc., Los Angeles, CA
 * Laser Operator: Michael Moorhead
 * Originally mastered by Greg Fulginiti at Artisan Sound Recorders, Hollywood, USA
 * Remastered by Andy Pearce (2012 Universal Deluxe Edition)
 * Mixed on Westlake Audio BBSM6 monitors
 * Illustration by Robert Florczak

Charts

 * Album


 * Singles

Certifications
The RIAA certified Sacred Heart Gold (500,000 units sold) on October 15, 1985. It was for a long time the last Dio album to receive this certification, until The Very Beast of Dio was certified gold on November 3, 2009.