Audio Premiere: SLIPKNOT's COREY TAYLOR Sings DIO's 'Rainbow In The Dark'

GuitarWorld.com is hosting the exclusive U.S. premiere of Corey Taylor's new version of DIO's "Rainbow In The Dark".

The track, which can be streamed using the SoundCloud widget below, is taken from the Ronnie James Dio tribute album "This Is Your Life", which will be released April 1.

Joining Taylor on the song— which originally appeared on DIO's classic 1983 debut, "Holy Diver" — are STEEL PANTHER guitarist Satchel, STONE SOUR drummer Roy Mayorga and touring friends Jason Christopher and Christian Martucci.

"Ronnie was the most natural singer I have ever witnessed," Taylor said. "He could do anything, hit any note, make any audience lose their minds. He was one of the greatest and I'm so happy I got to see him live. 'Rainbow In The Dark' was the first DIO song I really loved to death — just a powerful, high-energy hard rock song that was so good I wished I'd written it.

"When I was asked to be a part of this album, I knew there was only one track I wanted to record and luckily I got it. I only hope I did it justice. Having had the privilege of meeting Ronnie before he passed, I hope he knows how much I loved him for who and what he was: One of the greatest."

The official East Coast listening party for for "This Is Your Life" will be held on Saturday, March 29 at 10:00 p.m. at Duff's Brooklyn in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The address is:

Duff's Brooklyn
168 Marcy Avenue (between S 5th & Broadway)
Williamsburg, New York

For more information, visit www.duffsbrooklyn.com.

Although the songs featured on the album touch on the different eras of Dio's career, several spotlight his time with RAINBOW, including METALLICA's epic, nine-minute "Ronnie Rising Medley", which combines the RAINBOW songs "A Light In The Black", "Tarot Woman", "Stargazer" and "Kill The King". SCORPIONS add a scorching take on "Temple Of The King" while MOTÖRHEAD is joined by Biff Byford from SAXON on "Starstruck". Rob Halford teams with frequent Dio collaborators Vinny Appice, Doug Aldrich, Jeff Pilson, and Scott Warren for "Man On The Silver Mountain". The final lineup of Dio's solo band — Simon Wright, Craig Goldy, Rudy Sarzo and Scott Warren — are joined by Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH) for "Catch The Rainbow", a track from RAINBOW's 1975 debut.

ANTHRAX and ADRENALINE MOB honor Dio's memorable stint with BLACK SABBATH with their takes on "Neon Knights" and "The Mob Rules", respectively, as does a group, led by Oni Logan on vocals along with Jimmy Bain, Rowan Robertson, and Brian Tichy, which performs "I" from "Dehumanizer".

"This Is Your Life" also includes songs from Dio's back-to-back platinum albums "Holy Diver" (1983) and "The Last In Line" (1984),with DORO's take on "Egypt (The Chains Are On)", HALESTORM tackling "Straight Through The Heart", Corey Taylor (STONE SOUR, SLIPKNOT) covering the classic "Rainbow In The Dark" and TENACIOUS D (Jack Black and Kyle Gass) putting their signature spin on "The Last In Line". KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's cover of "Holy Diver", a hit in its own right when released in 2006, is also included here.

Fittingly, Ronnie James Dio provides the finale (and the album's title) with his moving performance of "This Is Your Life". Originally released on "Angry Machines" (1996),the song's lyrics explore mortality and are backed by a stark and beautiful arrangement that features Dio accompanied only by his longtime keyboardist Scott Warren on piano. The song serves as a poignant reminder that we will never hear a voice like Dio's again.

"This Is Your Life" track listing:

01. "Neon Knights" - ANTHRAX *
02. "The Last In Line" - TENACIOUS D *
03. "The Mob Rules" - ADRENALINE MOB
04. "Rainbow In The Dark" - Corey Taylor, Roy Mayorga, Satchel, Christian Martucci, Jason Christopher *
05. "Straight Through The Heart" - HALESTORM *
06. "Starstruck" - MOTÖRHEAD with Biff Byford *
07. "Temple Of The King" - SCORPIONS *
08. "Egypt (The Chains Are On)" - DORO
09. "Holy Diver" - KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
10. "Catch The Rainbow" - Glenn Hughes, Simon Wright, Craig Goldy, Rudy Sarzo, Scott Warren *
11. "I" - Oni Logan, Jimmy Bain, Rowan Robertson, Brian Tichy *
12. "Man On The Silver Mountain" - Rob Halford, Vinny Appice, Doug Aldrich, Jeff Pilson, Scott Warren *
13. "Ronnie Rising Medley" (featuring "A Light In The Black", "Tarot Woman", "Stargazer", "Kill The King") - METALLICA *
14. "This Is Your Life" - DIO

* Previously unreleased

"Rainbow In The Dark" studio version:

"Rainbow In The Dark" live performance: