The brainchild of Dio and Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell, Last In Line was formed in 2012 to celebrate the life of metal legend Ronnie James Dio. Reuniting some of Dio’s former bandmates to perform as a tribute act, Campbell handed vocalist Andrew Freeman the unenviable task of stepping into the great man’s elven boots, the former Great White and Lynch Mob frontman handling the job with confidence and authority ever since.
Originally released back in 2005 (although a DVD had come out a couple of years before), Evil or Divine – Live in New York City (BMG) was recorded on Dio‘s 2002 world tour and still holds up as a great live representation of the band at that point. Promoting the Killing the Dragon (Spitfire) album, the title track is joined by ‘Push’, ‘Rock & Roll’ and ‘Guilty’, with ‘Fever Dreams’ and ‘Lord of the Last Day’ from Magica (Spitfire) making up the rest of their more modern entries.
In what is probably the biggest Who’s Who of heavy metal since Jimmy Bain, Vivian Campbell and Ronnie James Dio concocted the idea of Hear’n’Aid back during those halcyon days of hairspray and bulging spandex around 1985, Metal Allegiance continues to add name after name after name to its roster of well-respected contributors.Continue reading