by Ed Rivadavia
After the warm reception accorded their debut, Dio decided to play it safe with their 1984 sophomore effort, The Last in Line -- with mixed results. The in-your-face energy of the band's debut is dulled by a sleeker production job, with generous keyboards from new member Claude Schnell. And Ronnie James Dio's once-amusing Dungeons and Dragons lyrics begin sounding disturbingly repetitive, with the words &rainbow,& &fire,& and &stone& seemingly present in every song. Cuts like &We Rock,& &Breathless,& and &I Speed at Night& go from good to grating surprisingly fast, and the seven-minute epic &Egypt (The Chains Are On)& inexplicably loses it's awesome main riff halfway through. The band score some points with the driving &Evil Eyes,& the theatrical &One Night in the City,& and the solid title track, but the intended hit single &Mystery& is simply horrible. Still, despite the obvious signs of decline, anyone who enjoyed Dio's debut will certainly find much to like here.