There are two guitarists in the hard rock/metal genre that are criminally underrated. One is Mel Galley who suffered an unfortunate accident making it incredibly difficult to play guitar resulting in diminishing output before his death 15 years ago. Sadly, he never got the due he deserved because of that and being surrounded by people who would go on to have much bigger careers after they parted ways with him such as Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale.
The other guitarist on my mind actually shares part of the blame for being overlooked; Vivian Campbell. After exploding onto the scene as a teenage prodigy, headlining arenas with the Dio band, and having an unfortunate falling out with the man himself, he meandered between a few bands before finding his home in Def Leppard, not as a lead shredder but as a rhythm guitarist who also disavowed his time spent with the Godfather of heavy metal (note: Dio is the true Godfather who may not have birthed it but certainly grabbed the mantel and ran with it while many of his contemporaries avoided the term “metal” at all).
We all know that Dio was diagnosed with, and eventually succumbed to cancer. Coincidentally, Campbell also had been diagnosed with a different variety of the crappy disease but has thankfully conquered it despite it returning all too often. This played a part in Campbell finally reexamining his time in the Dio band and FINALLY embracing it. A day I never thought would come was when I finally got to see him perform those Dio classics. It was honestly emotional and it felt (and sounded) damn good.
Eventually the band released their first studio album which was exactly what I wanted. Rounding out the original band was Andrew Freeman that sounded almost nothing like Dio except that he could hit all the notes and sounded good doing it. Heavy Crown felt like a lot of leftover Dio songs that have maybe been updated a touch. It was nearly perfect. Sadly, Jimmy Bain passed away and they eventually canned their keyboardist choosing to go out as a four piece with the help of one time Ozzy guitarist Phil Soussan.
The live shows were still killer although a bit odd hearing Rainbow in the Dark without the signature poppy keyboard melody and they eventually released a followup aptly titled II. The changes in the band lessened my enthusiasm and it didn’t do much for me. I also never really gave it a totally fair shake. When I listen to it now, it sounds good but they may have strayed too far from the Dio sound which they have been open about doing. I don’t blame them for not wanting to live in Dio’s shadow but any band is going to live in SOME shadow whether it’s off their first album they need to live up to or in this case their pedigree.
I was trepidatious about their latest album Jericho, and the opening track did little to quell my apprehension. With a kitschy title like Not Today Satan,an overused idiom that got old about a month after it entered the pop culture lexicon, I have to say that we’re not off to a good start. Musically the song is pretty good and on the faster side. It’s always good to hear Campbell’s unique style especially played in conjunction with the one and only Vinny Appice, perhaps the most solid drummer in the history of rock. I get the sense that perhaps they wanted a fast opener and this was one of the only ones they had. Typically that works, but with somewhat uninspired lyrics and forgettable vocal melodies, I’m disappointed.
Speaking of Appice, the second track Ghost Town seems to potentially point this album in the right direction, with a cool groove shared with Soussan. The lyrics and melodies are much more interesting but I’m not blown away. In fact, the song sort of plods along before picking the pace up and really starts cooking with a Viv solo. This song is good but reminds me a bit of their sophomore album in that good seems to sum up the majority of the songs and that’s about it. It does have a killer ending though. I’m dismayed that they really seem to be distancing themselves from the sound I love but not upset to the point where I am anywhere close to being done with the band because the riffs are still there, the playing is still there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they hold back and save some of their better stuff for later in the album.
I was right.
Bastard Son still doesn’t remind me of Dio but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a great song. In fact, if it reminded me of anything it’s Last in Line meets Alice in Chains. While earlier I alluded to Campbell being an underrated guitarist, make no mistake, his riffs are almost as equally underrated as his leads. He has the ability to do somewhat simplistic but unique phrasing and yes, we still get a killer lead. In fact, this is the first track where I feel the band is firing on all cylinders.
They keep firing.
This time with Dark Days, we get a tasty riff with the most aggressive singing I have ever heard Andrew Freeman , err, I guess in this instance, shout. Perhaps best of all, this is the most Dio sounding song yet. Of course, if these were anonymous musicians I MIGHT think to myself there was a bit of Dio resemblance, and that’s really all I ask for. I fully support them forging their own identity, I just want a bit of a morsel to bridge the chasm of decades Campbell put us through waiting for something like this. What might be the coolest thing about this song is the diversity of treating us to aggressive riffing, vocals, and lyrics, to a beautiful melodic outro. Thank god. I didn’t want to give up on these guys so fast!
The light melodies continue with the intro to Burning Bridges with a similar transition into the heavy. This song is a decent mid tempo break from the previous excellent tracks and while it doesn’t stand out as much, it has a similar momentum boost halfway through which keeps the song from getting too close to mediocrity. Unfortunately, I’m torn about where the next song stands on such a scale.
Do the Work was released as a video and a rather low budget one at that. I don’t fault them for saving some dollars on a medium that doesn’t give much of a return, if any, in the form of sales other than to give them a little bit of notice. Unfortunately, I think the money might have been better spent to pay someone a couple hundred bucks to do a generic lyric video. Again, the music is here but the lyrics lean towards a brash sermon better befitting of cheesy 80s band. What’s most frustrating is that the song ain’t bad. Even the vocal melodies are good. I just wish someone stepped in and said, “let’s try again with these lyrics.” Of course, am I one to accuse someone of being cheesy when one of my main complaints is that they don’t sound enough like their dragon slaying precursor?
Hurricane Olraugh is an excellent uptempo song that is the type of track that fits perfectly in the middle of the album. It’s the type of number that really doesn’t standout other than the fact it is one of the least risky songs on Jericho. It’s got all that you could want: speed, shredding, riffs, metal lyrics, and it’s just brief enough that not a sane person in the world could get tired of it. In fact, Walls of Jericho follows it with an even briefer running time and all the same goods this song has to offer.
As we reach the end of Jericho, we’re treated to another wicked groove that keeps a faster pace. Story of My Life is the type of strong track you would likely put towards the beginning of the album as it is just upbeat enough and hits the right chords to keep your interest. Thankfully my interest continues to be piqued by We Don’t Run which is without a doubt Last in Line’s most 80s sounding track. Despite the fact that each member had runs with hairspray and lame sweatsuits at the beginning of their career, most of their music output was the good part of the 80s and this song definitely leans in that direction.
The strength of the second half continues with Something Wicked which features more aggressive vocals without neglecting the melodies. The guitar riff has a unique foreboding feeling and once again, ever so slightly beckons back to a bit of a Dio feel. A part of me feels bad pointing that out each time I notice but this is no slight to a band that features half the people that created the sound. As for this song, I can see many listeners not getting much from this peculiar type of tune, but it’s certainly not too far stylistically from anything else the band has done. For my money, this is a song I’m going to keep coming back to and exhibits just enough of a push beyond any constraints of expectations as it does beckoning to their past.
The album is capped off by House Party at the End of the World which I was expecting to be another poor attempt at using a hollow pop culture reference. While I can’t say I love the title, I can say with 100% certainty that this song is not only one of the best on the album, it could essentially be the long lost fraternal twin of We Rock, Stand Up and Shout, or Don’t Talk to Strangers. This is Vivian Campbell reaching within and finding that young kid not even old enough to drink (in the United States anyway, drinking age in Ireland was…like, 10) and finding the inspiration which launched him into the upper echelons of 80s guitar gods. The lyrics are excellent too! Why the dopey title? I won’t waste much time thinking about it because the song itself is what counts and this could be the best of Last in Line’s short existence.
This album is weird. It’s oddly paced. The track order is poor. The first single was ill advised and yet, there are moments where I think this is their best album. I can just as easily say it’s their worst when I’m blindsided by some of the more generic tracks. As it stands, I’m tempted to give it a B- for all of its flaws until I remember the massively adrenaline pumping moments. An A would be too kind so I’ll have to split the difference and give it a B+. Even then I wonder if my opinion is influenced by my inner child picking up the video of A Special from the Spectrum, having fully pledged my loyalty to the Ozzy camp and realizing dividing lines are bullshit. It turns out, I would lose interest in Ozzy gradually as I discovered how little he had to do with his own albums. Special thanks to Bob Daisley for the awesome lyrics he wrote for the future reality star.
As my Dio fandom grew rapidly, I was utterly dismayed to know Viv would not even talk about his Dio years let alone play the music. In a world facing some serious issues, Campbell’s return to the metal world may seem trivial, but at least it’s a reminder that life can be kind of cool sometimes. It’s made all the cooler that we have, at least a majority of the songs on Jericho, to help remind us of that and Vivian Campbell slowly working his way back to the throne he should have claimed all these years.
Bernard Romero is a history teacher by day and a music and movie fanatic by night. Having met both Ronnie James Dio and Vivian Campbell independently, he can verify they are both amazingly nice individuals so he’s somewhat hopeful that their falling out was just a bad dream and when he wakes up there will be a dozen new Dio albums featuring the original band to keep him busy for the next year.
Tracklist:
- Not Today Satan
- Ghost Town
- Bastard Son
- Dark Days
- Burning Bridges
- Do The Work
- Hurricane Orlagh
- Walls Of Jericho
- Story Of My Life
- We Don’t Run
- Something Wicked
- House Party At The End Of The World
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