The Last in Line

This article is about the album. For the band named after it, see Last in Line.
"One Night in the City" redirects here. Not to be confused with One Night in One City.

The Last in Line
Studio album by
Dio
ReleasedJuly 2, 1984
StudioCaribou Ranch (Colorado)
GenreHeavy metal
Length41:07
LabelWarner Bros., Vertigo
ProducerRonnie James Dio
Dio chronology
Holy Diver
(1983) 		The Last in Line
(1984) 		Sacred Heart
(1985)
Singles from The Last in Line
  1. "The Last in Line"
    Released: June 11, 1984 (EU)
  2. "We Rock"
    Released: August 3, 1984 (UK)[1]
  3. "Mystery"
    Released: September 21, 1984[2]
Music video
"The Last in Line" on YouTube

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

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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

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal10/10[7]
Rock Hard9.5/10[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

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

Side one
No.TitleMusicLength
1."We Rock"Dio4:36
2."The Last in Line"Dio, Jimmy Bain, Vivian Campbell5:40
3."Breathless"Dio, Campbell4:04
4."I Speed at Night"Dio, Vinny Appice, Bain, Campbell3:22
5."One Night in the City"Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell5:15
Side two
No.TitleMusicLength
6."Evil Eyes"Dio3:38
7."Mystery"Dio, Bain3:46
8."Eat Your Heart Out"Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell3:49
9."Egypt (The Chains Are On)"Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell6:57
2012 deluxe edition CD 2
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Eat Your Heart Out" (live B-side of "Mystery" 12')Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell5:11
2."Don't Talk to Strangers" (live B-side of "Mystery" 12')Dio6:03
3."Holy Diver" (live B-side of "We Rock")Dio4:23
4."Rainbow in the Dark" (live B-side of "We Rock" 12')Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell4:43
5."One Night in the City" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell5:55
6."We Rock" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)Dio5:05
7."Holy Diver" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)Dio4:28
8."Stargazer" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)Ritchie Blackmore, Dio1:53
9."Heaven and Hell" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)Geezer Butler, Dio, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward13:03
10."Rainbow in the Dark" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)Dio, Appice, Bain, Campbell5:11
11."Man on the Silver Mountain" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)Blackmore, Dio8:14
12."Don't Talk to Strangers" (live at Pinkpop Festival, Geleen, Netherlands, June 11, 1984)Dio5:38

Personnel

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Dio

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

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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

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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

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  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.
  3. ^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum Database, search for "The Last in Line"". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 22, 2009.
  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.
  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.
  10. ^ Saulnier, Jason (March 24, 2012). "Vinny Appice Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  11. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8940". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  12. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Dio – The Last in Line" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  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.
  14. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Dio – The Last in Line" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  15. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Dio – The Last in Line". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  16. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Dio – The Last in Line". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  17. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  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.
  20. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  21. ^ "British album certifications – Dio – The Last in Line". British Phonographic Industry.
  22. ^ "American album certifications – Dio – The Last in Line". Recording Industry Association of America.
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