Well after a legendary first album the pressure would have been on for Dio to back it up with another just like and back it up he did, Dio The Last in line is another masterpiece, its hard to go past Holy Diver but I’m thinking “this is one mighty good stab at it”. Well at least the first half of the album. I really feel this one starts off with a type of energy that “Holy Diver” (Even though it was great) didn’t have.
The album starts off with the absolute riff fest “We Rock” a statement of intent if ever there was one. The album sounds fresh and although I can’t imagine it selling anything like Ozzy’s solo albums, it musically gave Ozzy a run for his money with both bands boasting superstar level musicians. The second song “Last in Line” (after a brief interlude) keeps momentum going nicely and brings back some memories of Rainbow for me. Again a slower but really powerful song that allows Dio’s voice to soar majestically. This is pure magic. Vivian Campbell’s solos are just unbelievable and really I think they give Randy Rhoads a good run for his money. The magic alluded to before keeps coming with “Breathless“. Riff after glorious riff just keeps flowing, until the ball tearing “I Speed at Night” just rips your head off. There are not many bands that can keep this standard going the whole album through.
I’ve heaped a lot of praise on this album but its still only been half the record. “One Night in the City” keeps the momentum going with some huge riffs. The second side of this allows the band to relax a little. The next couple of songs aren’t the stadium rockers that we’ve been hit with previously but still great songs. “Eat Your Heart Out” puts the pedal back to the metal with some big riffage and another great Vivian Campbell solo. At this point I’m going to say the second half of the album isn’t as strong as the first but still really cool. There were just too many big songs that give you that heavy metal “Sugar hit” on the first side but they weren’t there on the second side. But if you’re listening this far you obviously dig it, these would be the deeper cuts, no less great songs but don’t hit you the same way as some of Dio’s bigger songs.
Either way, great record, and while the first side has some of Dio’s best moments the second side feels more like a chilled out version of Dio, allowing the listener to relax a little and just soak up the talent that resides in this band. Both are great but I definitely like the first side better
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