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Track Listing: We Rock The Last in Line Breathless I Speed at Night One Night in the City Evil Eyes Mystery Eat Your Heart Out Egypt (The Chains Are On)

On July 13, 1984, Ronnie James Dio released his second album "The Last In Line"; an album of elegance, grace, and hard rocking fun. It was certified gold (500,000 thousand copies sold) by the RIAA on September 12, 1984 and was the first Dio album to be certified platinum (1,000,000 albums sold) on February 3, 1987. The album also reached Silver certification (60,000 copies sold) in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry in January 1986. This album is also the first Dio album to feature Claude Schnell, formerly of Rough Cutt, on keyboards.

There are many things that can be said about this album. It can be called a work of art, Dio's most intense opera, or perhaps the most astronomical album Dio ever released.

Whatever you choose to call it, one thing rings true. It's one of the most pure, divine, and absolutely amazing albums to ever grace the Heavy Metal world.

The album opens with the metal anthem "We Rock"; a timeless reminder of how heavy metal will never die. This song has an amazing flow, and was orchestrated in a manner most memorable. Every aspect of this song, from the vocals to the drums, and everything in between rings clear as a bell. Ronnie's vocal work was absolutely brilliant on this track! Everything on this track sounds incredibly fresh, as if it was just released last week. For a track that was released 26 years ago, it hasn't aged a bit.

The title track, "Last in Line" is honestly the greatest song on this album. It opens with a clean, almost classical guitar bit, backed with drums and Dio's incredible singing. The song then goes into a harder, more symphonic direction, all while keeping the rhythm and melody intact and on time. This song is incredibly hard to put into words properly. It's a very emotional song, with a lot of substance and class. The only word I can find to possibly begin to describe it is "masterpiece".

I could go into more detail with the analytical aspect of the review, but I want to talk about the album as a whole, instead of pick apart each song.

Dio was a phenomenal vocalist with an incredibly powerful voice, and an equally powerful band backing him. The production quality and overall musicianship on this album is absolutely superb. I have never heard an album from so long ago with such clarity. Powerful songs like "One Night in the City" only come around once in a rare while, and when they do, they don't live up to the standards that Dio held his songs to. This album didn't need a 10 piece band to sound huge. One guitarist, one drummer, one bassist, one keyboardist and one vocalist were all that was needed to create such an intense epic. Vivian Campbell's guitar work on this album is interesting, with the different styles he uses, be it an odd picking style, or just the monumental riffs he managed to play, his playing was never bland or generic. Vinny Appice's drum work stands out in a lot of the tracks, as well. His style of playing on this album was incredible; simplistic, but complicated at the same time; the kind of drumming that makes you say "I can do that ten times better," but when it comes time to play, you freeze up and can't figure any of it out.

Dio's vocals alone were incredible, but paired up with his band; they were an unstoppable force of pure hard rocking mayhem. I'm still having trouble trying to put the album into words. I guess the best thing I can possibly say is that it's a quintessential album to have in your collection, and if you've never heard a Dio album before, it's a great start if you want to hear his *slightly* less popular tunes. This album hit many milestones; gold, platinum, and silver certification; all from one artist, and for good reason. But I'll let you decide.

This album ranks up on the highest level for me, personally. It's iconic, it's full of yummy metal goodness, and the music is unbeatable. I give this album a 10/10 and 2 horns up.

RIP RONNIE.