Three years after the release of their solid debut Heavy Crown, Last in Line have returned with their sophomore effort from Frontiers Records, titled simply II. Once again on board are ex-Dio mates Vivian Campbell (guitar), Vinny Appice (drums), vocalist Andrew Freeman, and bassist Phil Soussan, who replaced the late Jimmy Bain after the bassist passed away during their tour of the debut album. While their initial release was a strong effort and showed the band trying to hit on similar musical ground to Ronnie James Dio's classic line-up, II sees the band gelling even more, relying less on trying to replicate the magic of the Dio band and just tryin to find and create their own identity.
Tunes like "Blackout the Sun" and "Landslide" are memorable, crunchy hard rockers, led by Campbell's always tasty guitar riffs & solos and Freeman's potent vocal attack. "Year of the Gun" is one of the albums more upbeat & frantic rockers, Viv laying down a wealth of vicious riffs over some pounding Appice drums, while Freeman spews his venom on the grinding heavy rocker "Give Up the Ghost". "Sword From the Stone" has an almost Zeppelin flair to it, the riffs majestic and hefty, and "Electrified" lives up to its namesake, a high energy, blistering hard rocker that again sees Viv and Andy delivering the goods in a big way. The guitarist launches some tasty riffs and screaming pinch harmonic fueled solos on the heavy "Love and War", and the textured, melodic closer "The Light" almost reminds of Campbell's other band Riverdogs.
Another strong effort from Last in Line, that, like the debut, has a wealth of great material but also some that songs that border on the generic. I'm left feeling that this sophomore release does a better job of showing us who this band is than their debut, but still left wanting a little more for some reason. Perhaps the best from Last in Line is yet to come, but II is still a mighty fine release from this little supergroup that we all can savor in the months ahead and beyond.
Track Listing
- Intro
- Blackout The Sun
- Landslide
- Gods And Tyrants
- Year Of The Gun
- Give Up The Ghost
- The Unknown
- Sword From The Stone
- Electrified
- Love And War
- False Flag
- The Light
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