The Last in Line

The Last in Line
The Last in Line
Studio album by Dio
Released	July 2, 1984
Studio	Caribou Ranch (Colorado)
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	41:07
Label	Warner Bros.; Vertigo;
Producer	Ronnie James Dio
Dio chronology
Singles from The Last in Line
	"The Last in Line"; Released: June 11, 1984 (EU); "We Rock"; Released: August 3, 1984 (UK); "Mystery"; Released: September 21, 1984;

The Last In Line is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Dio, released on July 2, 1984. It is the first Dio album to feature former Rough Cutt keyboardist Claude Schnell. It became the band's highest-charting album in both the UK and the U.S., reaching number 4 and number 23, respectively (Sacred Heart would later reach number 4 in the UK as well).

It was certified gold (500,000 units sold) by the RIAA on September 12, 1984, and was the first Dio album to be certified platinum, achieving the feat on February 3, 1987.^[3] In the UK, it attained Silver certification (60,000 units sold) by the British Phonographic Industry, achieving this in January 1986, at the same time as Holy Diver.^[4] To date, these are the only two Dio albums to be certified at least platinum.

Reissues

The album, along with Holy Diver and Sacred Heart, was released in a new two-CD deluxe edition on March 19, 2012, through Universal for worldwide distribution outside the U.S.^[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[6]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	10/10^[7]
Rock Hard	9.5/10^[8]

In 2005, The Last In Line was ranked number 372 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.^[9]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Ronnie James Dio, music as stated.

Side one
No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"We Rock"	Dio	4:36
2.	"The Last in Line"	Dio, Jimmy Bain, Vivian Campbell	5:40
3.	"Breathless"	Dio, Campbell	4:04
4.	"I Speed at Night"	Dio, Vinny Appice, Bain, Campbell	3:22
5.	"One Night in the City"	Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell	5:15

Side two
No.	Title	Music	Length
6.	"Evil Eyes"	Dio	3:38
7.	"Mystery"	Dio, Bain	3:46
8.	"Eat Your Heart Out"	Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell	3:49
9.	"Egypt (The Chains Are On)"	Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell	6:57

2012 deluxe edition CD 2
No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Eat Your Heart Out" (live B-side of "Mystery" 12')	Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell	5:11
2.	"Don't Talk to Strangers" (live B-side of "Mystery" 12')	Dio	6:03
3.	"Holy Diver" (live B-side of "We Rock")	Dio	4:23
4.	"Rainbow in the Dark" (live B-side of "We Rock" 12')	Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell	4:43
5.	"One Night in the City" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)	Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell	5:55
6.	"We Rock" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)	Dio	5:05
7.	"Holy Diver" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)	Dio	4:28
8.	"Stargazer" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)	Ritchie Blackmore, Dio	1:53
9.	"Heaven and Hell" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)	Geezer Butler, Dio, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward	13:03
10.	"Rainbow in the Dark" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)	Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell	5:11
11.	"Man on the Silver Mountain" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)	Blackmore, Dio	8:14
12.	"Don't Talk to Strangers" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)	Dio	5:38

Personnel

Dio

Ronnie James Dio – vocals, keyboards
Vinny Appice – drums^[10]
Jimmy Bain – bass
Vivian Campbell – guitar
Claude Schnell – keyboards

Production

Ronnie James Dio – producer
Caribou Ranch, Colorado – recorded at
Angelo Arcuri – audio engineer
Rich Markowitz – assistant engineer
Mixed on Westlake Audio BBSM6 monitors
George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York
Andy Pearce – remastering for the 2012 Universal deluxe edition
Steve Hoffman – remastering for the 2012 Audio Fidelity 24K edition
Barry Jackson – illustration

Charts

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)^[11]	51
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[12]	11
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)^[13]	5
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[14]	23
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[15]	7
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[16]	6
UK Albums (OCC)^[17]	4
US Billboard 200^[18]	23

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Oricon Japanese Albums Charts^[19]	154
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)^[20]	23

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[21]	Silver	60,000^{^}
United States (RIAA)^[22]	Platinum	1,000,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ Popoff, Martin (2018). Deep Purple Family, Year by Year vol 2 (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-908724-87-8.
^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 20.
^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum Database, search for "The Last in Line"". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 22, 2009.
^ "Search for Artist Dio". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
^ Siegler, Joe (February 1, 2012). "Dio Deluxe Editions". Black Sabbath Online.com. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Dio The Last in Line review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
^ Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 98. ISBN 978-1894959315.
^ Stratmann, Holger. "Rock Hard review". issue 7 (in German). Retrieved May 24, 2013.
^ Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 59. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
^ Saulnier, Jason (March 24, 2012). "Vinny Appice Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8940". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Dio – The Last in Line" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Dio – The Last in Line" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Dio – The Last in Line". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
^ "Swedishcharts.com – Dio – The Last in Line". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
^ "Dio Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
^ ロニー・ジェームス・ディオのアルバム (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
^ "British album certifications – Dio – The Last in Line". British Phonographic Industry.
^ "American album certifications – Dio – The Last in Line". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links

The Last in Line song lyrics

[1] Popoff, Martin (2018). Deep Purple Family, Year by Year vol 2 (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-908724-87-8.

[2] "Music Week" (PDF). p. 20.

[RIAA-3] "RIAA Gold & Platinum Database, search for "The Last in Line"". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 22, 2009.

[BPI-4] "Search for Artist Dio". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 28, 2013.

[5] Siegler, Joe (February 1, 2012). "Dio Deluxe Editions". Black Sabbath Online.com. Retrieved October 27, 2013.

[6] Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Dio The Last in Line review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 3, 2013.

[martin-7] Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 98. ISBN 978-1894959315.

[8] Stratmann, Holger. "Rock Hard review". issue 7 (in German). Retrieved May 24, 2013.

[9] Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 59. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.

[Music_Legends-10] Saulnier, Jason (March 24, 2012). "Vinny Appice Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved May 6, 2013.

[group=-11] "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8940". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

[ac_Netherlands_Dio-12] "Dutchcharts.nl – Dio – The Last in Line" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

[FINI-13] Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.

[ac_Germany_Dio-14] "Offiziellecharts.de – Dio – The Last in Line" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

[ac_Norway_Dio-15] "Norwegiancharts.com – Dio – The Last in Line". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

[ac_Sweden_Dio-16] "Swedishcharts.com – Dio – The Last in Line". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

[ac_UK2_-17] "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

[ac_Billboard200_Dio-18] "Dio Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

[19] ロニー・ジェームス・ディオのアルバム (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

[ac_UKRock_-20] "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

[United_KingdomDioThe_Last_in_LinealbumCertRef-21] "British album certifications – Dio – The Last in Line". British Phonographic Industry.

[United_StatesDioThe_Last_in_LinealbumCertRef-22] "American album certifications – Dio – The Last in Line". Recording Industry Association of America.

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v t e Dio
Ronnie James Dio Vinny Appice Jimmy Bain Jake E. Lee Vivian Campbell Claude Schnell Craig Goldy Simon Wright Rowan Robertson Jens Johansson Scott Warren Tracy G Jeff Pilson Doug Aldrich Rudy Sarzo
Studio albums	Holy Diver The Last in Line Sacred Heart Dream Evil Lock Up the Wolves Strange Highways Angry Machines Magica Killing the Dragon Master of the Moon
Live albums	Intermission Inferno: Last in Live Evil or Divine: Live in New York City Holy Diver: Live At Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987 Live in London, Hammersmith Apollo 1993
Compilations	Diamonds: The Best of Dio The Very Beast of Dio The Very Beast of Dio Vol. 2
Singles	"Holy Diver" "Rainbow in the Dark" "The Last in Line" "Rock 'n' Roll Children" "Hungry for Heaven" "Electra"
Videos	A Special from the Spectrum Sacred Heart "The Video" Time Machine Evil or Divine – Live in New York City We Rock Holy Diver – Live Live in London, Hammersmith Apollo 1993
Related bands	Black Sabbath Elf Hear 'n Aid Heaven & Hell Last in Line Rainbow
Tribute albums	Holy Dio: Tribute to Ronnie James Dio Dio (Jørn album) Ronnie James Dio – This Is Your Life The Dio Album
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