Its been nearly four years since Last In Line released their second album, II, but now with today’s release of the superb A Day In The Life EP, it finally feels like Andrew Freeman, Vivian Campbell, Vinny Appice and Phil Soussan might finally have a chance to re-ignite some well-deserved momentum.
Last In Line – A Day In The Life (earMUSIC)
Release Date: 11 November 2022
Words: Steve Ritchie
The lead track is A Day In The Life, their version of The Beatles classic. It’s a faithful opening to the classic from the Sgt. Pepper album. Freeman delivers the required sombre vocal in some style. Campbell, though, leads their take on this with an electric, uptempo middle section solo.
It’s a cool version of the song and one which would be great to hear live. But it’s the next track, which the band says is “a glimpse of things to come,” that really gets the juices flowing.
Hurricane Orlagh opens with a wonderful unison bass, and guitar riff sprinkled with some extra Campbell magic. “So tear down the walls,” sings Freeman, “in the memory of a million wrongs,” as the song rips along. Appice’s unmistakable drums hold the track together, leaving Freemans’ vibrant emotive vocals to shine. The guitar solo is special, totally prime Campbell.
As for the live tracks, this just harks back to those wonderful times when 12″ vinyl EPs were a thing. There was always something exciting about hearing some live tracks from your favourite bands in between album cycles in the days before YouTube and crap fan-filmed footage. The two live tracks on this EP are just mouth-wateringly astounding.
Devil In Me, from Heavy Crown, is just a jewel of a track. This live version just shows what a fucking superb live band Last In Line are. Tight as Scrooge’s fanny pack, Appice and Soussan hold it together, Cambell is back to his best guitar-wielding flamboyance, and Freeman is just a King with the vocals.
Give Up The Ghost, the second live track, is just epic. Campbell’s guitar shines, and Phil Soussan’s great bass and backing vocals show what a perfect fit he is in the band.
Ten years ago, Campbell got together with Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain (RIP), and Andrew Freeman. This saw him finally get the lust to play proper lead guitar again, and the world is a better place for it. The presence of Phil Soussan should not be underestimated, as the occasional lockdown videos show him as quite the English driver and go-getter.
I guess they will never shake the Dio connection, but that’s now a mere subscript to the reasons for forming. The fact is that Last In Line are a proper top-class band in their own right, now, with enough of their own material already to provide a fantastic evening’s live entertainment.
A Day In The Life might be Last In Line’s Intermission, but on the basis of this, that third album due early next year is going to be immense. Then they should do a live album. And a proper tour. Sort it out. We’ve been waiting for ages.
