1310. Rainbow / Stranger in us All. 1995. 4/5

When Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover, who made up two-fifths of the band Rainbow in its then-current form in 1983, decided to go ahead with the proposed reformation of Deep Purple’s Mark II lineup, leading to that band’s first album in nine years, it left Rainbow dead in the water. Rainbow of course had been Blackmore’s initial vehicle to get OUT of Deep Purple back in 1975, the story of which you can find in the very recent episode of this podcast that is dedicated to the debut album by the band. With his departure the band came to an unceremonious conclusion, never to see the light of day again. Famous last words as it turned out.
Deep Purple released “Perfect Strangers” to worldwide acclaim and followed it with “The House of Blue Light” which did not receive quite the same acclaim (but which I absolutely adore). It surprised no one at the time that the simmering tension that had often abounded between Blackmore and lead vocalist Ian Gillan had continued into this reformation, and that after just two albums it had Gillan quitting once again. The recruitment of Joe Lynn Turner as his replacement then saw the excellent “Slave and Masters” album released, one that almost sounded like a Rainbow album, which given that three-fifths of this iteration of the band had been in Rainbow should not make that a surprise. As the band began preparations for the follow up, there was a huge push from their record company for the band’s 25th anniversary – but they (along with the rest of the band apart from Blackmore) wanted Gillan back in the lead vocals role as a part of this. Despite the tension that still existed, Blackmore insisted and received $250,000 from the record company for this to occur, and Gillan returned for “The Battle Rages On” - the album title not the actual battle... though as it turned out, it was also accurate in the band! The differences between the lead singer and lead guitarist plummeted further, until eventually mid-tour it was Blackmore who pulled the plug and quit, never to return.
Free to now move into a new sphere of his career, Blackmore’s intention was to go out and record a solo album, one where he would be free to create whatever style he desired. Unfortunately, as so many artists who have been in successful bands find out when they are looking to do a solo project, the record company was having none of it. His label BMG more or less insisted that what Blackmore should be doing is recording an album under the name of that other band that he used to be in... what was it... Rainbow? Yeah that was it! How about another Rainbow album! No matter that it had been 12 years since that particular bands last album. Let’s resurrect it and go with that! Despite no doubt being pushed into that decision, Blackmore at least made the decision not to reform that band lineup. Going back to Turner on vocals would have been an interesting step, considering he had just worked with him on a Purple album. Instead, he recruited a whole new band, more or less young gunslingers to team up with the grizzled veteran gun shooter. And as a final statement he made sure that the band took on the name that had originally been the moniker when the band began – Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. With the new band on board, they went into uncharted territory to come up with the eighth – and final – album of the band’s career, “Stranger in Us All”.

The beautiful opening riff of Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar greets you as you put the album on, stating from the outset that this IS Ritchie Blackmore and his album. It moves into the song proper with his wonderful riff, before we are greeted with the amazing voice of Doogie White for the first time, and it is this combination here that drags you in. This is the first time for most that they would have heard Doogie White, and his entrance is spectacular. “Wolf to the Moon” is the name of the song, and Doogie sends you to the moon with his soaring vocals. But what also hits you is that here, for the first time for a few years at least, is the true Ritchie Blackmore. His guitar is the prominent instrument throughout, not sitting back and letting the organ or vocals or bass have its turn in the spotlight. Here, it is all guitar, all Ritchie. And h seems to be far more comfortable as the leader than just one of five with an equal say. “Wolf to the Moon” is a superb opening track, and is followed by a comforting similarity of days gone by with “Cold Hearted Woman”, which truly channels the last few Rainbow albums in its style and substance. Doogie also channels Joe Lynn Turner here, but this song holds its own here on the album despite any perceived Ghosts of Rainbow Past. “Hunting Human (Insatiable)” has a very different feel about it completely. Indeed, there is a doom feel about the track, that combined with the lyrical prose attached makes it almost creepy to listen to, a song that feels as though it should have a slower tempo with which the guitar is actually propelling, but is being carried by the 2/4 beat of the drums which sticks to a mid-fast tempo. It makes for an interesting track, one that will divide opinion as to its effectiveness.
“Stand and Fight” returns to the stye that Blackmore wrote for the Turner-era albums, picking up the energy and liveliness of the song, and even incorporating the harmonica into the mix. I’m not sure it was necessary or even adds to the track. (Can we mix that out?... No?... okay, just go for it I guess...). “Ariel” is co-written by Blackmore and his soon-to-be wife Candice Night, and the collaboration has similar themes as to where their partnership would take them in the future. It also channels the mystical atmosphere that the early Rainbow albums with Ronnie James Dio headed musically and lyrically. The music here is just fabulous, and Doogie again is amazing, the way he is able to bring in the emotion of the song through his voice is incredible. As the song fades out, you actually feel that there should be more. It’s an interesting glimpse of both the past and the future for Ritchie Blackmore’s music.
Sometimes you wonder just how much trouble Blackmore had in coming up with ideas for this album, and three songs in particular come to mind when you listen to the album. There are of course the final two songs on the album, but there is also “Too Late for Tears”. Now, again, this is a perfectly good song and an enjoyable song. But when you listen to it, you are immediately reminded of another song that comes from the Rainbow catalogue, a song by the name of “Can’t Happen Here”. Why? You may ask. Well, firstly it is the same chords, and the same chord structure as that song. And secondly, even though they are different lyrics, Doogie singing on this song sounds incredibly like Joe Lynn Turner, utilising the same vocal techniques and delivery on this song that Turner did on that original song all those years ago. Coincidence? Perhaps. But surely when they listened back to the finished product, SOMEONE must have noticed the similarities. No matter, it still works. In a creepy, incestuous way.
“Black Masquerade” is a great song, and every time I listen to it, I understand more fully just how influential it, and Blackmore’s music as a whole, is so influential on the power metal genre that was enveloping Europe at the time. Indeed, this song could be seen and heard to be the template for so many of those bands and artists that began to come into the music scene at the time this album was released. And Doogie’s vocals here are a massive part of that. Just a super song and one of the best reasons to come by and check out this album. “Silence” is a completely different kettle of fish, very Blackmore oriented and he gives us his best performance on the album here with some old style Blackmore soloing and riffing. Keys that mirror horns add a contemporary mix to the sound, and Doogie just wails over the top. This is almost just a jam session, it does sound as though they went into the studio and just played to see what would come out. Like I said, the Blackmore of old appears here and it is worth every cent.
The final two tracks are great, but perhaps show just where this project was before it had even been released. “Hall of the Mountain King” is a reworking of the classical piece by Edvard Grieg, one that everyone knows as soon as you hear the most famous piece in the song. Blackmore composed the arrangement for the band, while his soon-to-be wife Candice Night wrote the lyrics for the track. And it works, and it sounds great.
In the long run, it perhaps best sums up this album that by far the best track here is the final one, which is a cover song, and one that should have been better utilised when the band FIRST recorded it. Because the final song is the same one that closed out the band’s debut album 20 years earlier, the cover of The Yardbird's “Still I’m Sad”. On the debut album it had been played as an instrumental despite the band having one of the greatest singers of all time available to be on the track. Here at least the same mistake has not been made, as Doogie White absolutely bosses the vocals here, injecting it with the emotional and power that befits what a brilliant song this is. This version is a ripsnorter, from the quiet guitar doodling from Ritchie to begin the song, right through to its conclusion where he plays it out with another of his wonderful solos. Whether or not at the time they recorded this album they knew it would be the final sign off for the band, it is perhaps the best way for the 20 years of Rainbow to come to its conclusion.

This album passed me by at the time of its release, more from the fact that 1995 was a difficult year in my existence than not wanting to listen to another Rainbow album. In fact, I was quite looking forward to it, but did not actually get around to it until five years after its initial release. By that time of course Blackmore had moved on to his newest love, Renaissance and medieval music, by forming the band Blackmore’s Night with his partner Candice Night, something that held no desire of mine to become involved in. I came across “Stranger in Us All” and gave it a listen, mainly to satisfy myself that I had probably missed nothing in the intervening years since its release. What I discovered was something far more intriguing than I would have thought. There was a bit of everything on the album – I mean, harmonica was present, there was even some horns thrown in at one stage. Another interpretation of Edvard Grieg’s “Hall of the Moutain King”. And another interpretation of The Yardbirds “Still I’m Sad”. The music SOUNDED like it was based in the sound of the 1970’s, but in a more contemporary fashion. And Doogie White – my goodness, the vocals from Doogie on this album are superb. They are simply the starring role on “Stranger in Us All”. Sure, Ritchie will always be Rainbow, but Doogie here makes the album. He is the driving force of the songs.
I must say I was looking forward to dragging this album out again this week. It is like so many other bands, if I am choosing to like to an artist, there are 4-5 albums that I will favour when I don’t really want to think about what I want to listen to, and when it comes to Rainbow that does centre on the first five albums. But my memory always remembers this as a good album, one that I don’t believe I have ever been disappointed by. And I found the same thing this week. It is a very enjoyable album to listen to. I mean, like Black Sabbath’s “Seventh Star”, it isn’t a true Rainbow album. It is a Blackmore solo album, where he has brought in these young guys and they find a connection and they write and perform some very good songs. OK, so the reverting to familiar track for the end of the album might mean they ran out of ideas, or maybe Ritchie just wanted to do another version of those songs for his own method.
Whatever it might have been, this album is a worthy one. Though the legacy of the band still holds true to its eventual demise in 1983, if this is to be truly considered the final album of the band, it is a good one to go out on. Even if it is only for this scintillating version of this song that shows Doogie White at his powering best.

1165. Rainbow / On Stage. 1977. 5/5

By the time this album was being thought of and considered, Rainbow had already built themselves up to being a hugely massive band. Led by virtuoso guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and featuring the amazing vocals and writing talents of Ronnie James Dio, the band was rounded out by other amazing musicians of the era – Jimmy Bain on bass guitar, Cozy Powell on drums, and Tony Carey on keyboards. Touring on the back of the ground-breaking and simply incredible “Rising” album, with the band now in the groove, it was decided to record some of the shows with the idea of releasing them as a live album, to showcase the band at its best in its element. As a result, several dates in Germany and Japan were recorded in late 1976.

 
Some of the things that, in my opinion, make it difficult to release a truly representative live album of the band at this time must surely have been the same things that producer Martin Birch came up against in his battle to have this done and released properly. The first issue was the length of the songs as they were played in the live environment. Now, Rainbow was already renown for longish tracks when it came to their albums, but in the live environment it was even more prevalent. As was often the case in the 1960’s and 1970’s, bands played extended length version of their songs live, which allowed the musicians to showcase their wares. The guitars and keyboards would often please themselves for what they were playing, with the drums and bass holding the rhythm of the background until such time as they broke back into the song again. Now this was all fine (although, if you ask me for my personal preference, I would rather hear another 6 songs being played than have several songs extended into freeform experimentations that may be okay for awhile but in the long run just a little bit boring), but when it came to trying to put them on vinyl, it made it difficult for Birch to fit them on one side of an album without cutting the songs in half! Birch eventually solved this by having the songs on the double album out of sequence that they were played, and had them such that they could fit snugly on their section of the vinyl. This we had the songs, but not in the order they were played. Probably not a big deal, but one that could cause annoyance for some fans. The length of the songs also prevented Birch from being able to have all of the songs played on the two LPs, which meant that “Stargazer” and “Do You Close Your Eyes” were both left off the album, as it was felt that having this set as a three LP collection would have been too costly and overpriced for the fans. It also meant that one of the band’s most amazing tracks “Stargazer”, was ditched for two cover songs, Deep Purple’s “Mistreated” (which of course Ritchie had co-written) and The Yardbirds’ “Still I’m Sad”. This seems like an injustice, though to be fair I love both of those songs and the versions that appear here.
Apart from this, check out the majesty of the songs here. The amazing “Kill the King”, opening each gig on the end of this tour even though it had yet to be laid down in the studio – it didn’t appear until the next studio album, “Long Live Rock and Roll”. The awesomeness of “Man of the Silver Mountain” in its best habitat, the live version. “Catch the Rainbow” and “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves” just terrific. The best ever version of “Mistreated”, with Ronnie on vocals and Ritchie brilliant on guitar. And then the best ever version of “Still I’m Sad” with Ronnie on vocals and Ritchie on guitar. I still cannot believe that the version they did of this on the debut album was done just as an instrumental without Ronnie providing the vocals. What the bloody hell was Ritchie thinking of?!

If you’ve been here before, then you’ve heard me say this before. Live albums should be good, because they show a band in their natural environment, and they should also contain the best songs of the band. So in essence live albums should always be awesome, and if they aren’t the band has stuffed up big time.
I first had a copy of this album after high school, and always enjoyed it but was more interested in listening to the studio albums than this live album, for the reasons already mentioned – not enough songs, and the songs here are too long and have too much improvising to stretch them out. Eventually though, this grew on me to the point of amazing obsession. And the main reason for this is the quality of Ronnie James Dio’s amazing vocals. Seriously, check them out, listen to how he carries himself and the songs, and you’ll know what I mean. And that’s not to put down the other musicians here because all of them are also brilliant. Ritchie’s guitaring is at the top of his game, Jimmy Bain is bossing the bass, and Cozy Powell’s booming drums again showcase his great talent.
I think it’s amazing that a band used to play a song live that it hadn’t yet actually recorded in the studio. Imagine turning up to a gig now and having a band open their gig every night with a song you didn’t know. But I love this version. And listening to Dio singing “Mistreated” is just brilliant. But not as good as him singing “Still I’m Sad”. This is such a scintillating version of this song. Listen to the original Yardbirds version, and then what Rainbow has done on this album. Chalk and cheese. It is such a shame they never did a studio version of it (with Dio singing at least), but this version on this album will always be one of my favourite things that Rainbow and Dio did.
This live album is top shelf. It’s one of the best out there, capturing that moment in time for this band when all members were at their very best, and although it would have been great to have the whole show from start to finish (which, if you are interested, you can now get on the “Live in Germany 1976” that was released in the 1990’s), it is still one of the greats. Only one of the band remains alive, and I miss all of them every time I put this album on.

1157. Rainbow / Straight Between the Eyes. 1982. 3.5/5

Rainbow had been Ritchie Blackmore’s ticket out of Deep Purple, and since its beginning Blackmore had begun looking to tweak the material the band was writing in order to go for a more commercial sound, to find the mainstream success he was looking for. It had led to separation with Ronnie James Dio, and after one album it found his replacement Graham Bonnet also leaving due to dissatisfaction with the material and with the relationship he had with Blackmore. That had led to the hiring of Joe Lynn Turner as lead vocalist, and along with the return of his former Deep Purple band mate in Roger Glover, the band had released “Difficult to Cure”. With some of that commercial success coming from the release of the single “Since You Been Gone” (ironically not written by the band, but instead another writer called Russ Ballard), the scope was to continue down the path the band had set for itself, and find that success it longed for. It had already led to much of the Dio-era songs being shunned on live tours, and a much different feel for the way the band approached that side of things as well.
The album was written and recorded in Quebec in December 1981, with Roger Glover once again producing. And while “Difficult to Cure” had still had moments where Blackmore was experimenting beyond the fringe, the new album left little doubt as to where the band leader and his members were looking to tread when it came to their new material.

The first single from the album was the big power ballad, “Stone Cold”. It is the kind of song that Joe Lynn Turner styled his career on, and that’s not to say that he couldn’t sing great hard rock songs either, because he proved over a long career that he could. But it is this song especially that Rainbow was looking for their commercial success, and in that regard they succeeded, reaching top 40 in both the US and the UK with this single. Spoiler alert – it was the only single Rainbow had that did.
It was not the only song in that style on the album however, as the band sped down the commercial highway. “Tite Squeeze” lyrically and musically tends to push those boundaries, and without a doubt “Tearin’ Out My Heart” absolutely does this, a song that musically is looking for that radio airplay to sell singles, which in many ways makes it unusual that it wasn’t released in that way. Sure, in many ways it is a slightly changed variation on a Deep Purple song that has been pushed towards a different angle, however, the title of the song itself already tells you what it is trying to achieve musically. And the closing track on the album, “Eyes of Fire”, certainly sets itself up to be the epic song of the album, the longest at over six and a half minutes, and harks back slightly to those days of “Rising” and “Long Live Rock N Roll” without the same intensity of the songs on those albums.
Beyond that though, there is still lots to like here for the fans of fastest more potent material. The uptempo vibes of “Bring on the Night (Dream Chaser) is excellent, driven along by the excellent drumming from Bobby Rondinelli and bass legend Roger Glover, while Joe sings his heart out and Ritchie produces another great solo burst on the guitar. “Power” is a great song to open the second side of the album with great lyrics and vocals from Joe, while Ritchie again dominates the song with his solo break. “MISS Mistreated” is the antithesis of a metal song or a power ballad. Indeed, it is almost the perfect combination of the two, and it is pulled off in style. The keys of David Rosenthal give it that power ballad feel, but the power increase prior to the chorus and through the bridge of the song raises it above that. It could still have been released as a single in that respect, but I think it does gravitate beyond that. Or maybe I’m just trying to justify my love of a power ballad. And the suitably titled “Rock Fever” also has a great tempo that bounces along nicely. But perhaps the best song of the album is the one that kicks the album off, raging in with drums and guitar riff and fast paced driving power that becomes that great album opener, “Death Alley Driver”.

While there are four distinct eras of Rainbow the band – quite a few if you think about it considering they only released eight albums – I have always enjoyed each of them for what they were. The Dio-Blackmore-Bain-Powell era was amazing, where they were absolutely at their most influential. The Bonnet era of the “Down to Earth” album is superb. And I still love the Doogie White-helmed comeback of “Stranger in Us All”. And what really makes this era of the band is the fantastic combination of Joe Lynn Turner on vocals, with his unmistakeable commercial voice that he can still bring the power to for hard rock and metal tracks when the need arises, and Roger Glover’s cool presence on bass guitar as well as album production, Bobby Rondinelli’s solid drumming that doesn’t take the focus away from the core of the band, and Ritchie Blackmore’s still-defining guitar playing and ability to write a catchy riff and make it stick.

And there is no doubt there are still some great songs here. All of the ones I’ve chosen for this podcast episode - “Death Alley Driver”, “Stone Cold”, “Power”, “Miss Mistreated” - are still worth listen to 40 years on.
At high school I had one particular mate who took on Rainbow, and Ritchie Blackmore especially, as his heroes, and he never ceased to bring them up in conversations in music. “Ritchie Blackmore is the only musician with originality in music – everyone copies him” was one of those quotes that not only provoked serious discussion but hearty laughs in the same instance. And this album has always stuck with me for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the album cover, with the guitar coming out straight between the eyes – it is distinctive and memorable even to this day. And secondly those four songs I mentioned. I had a Rainbow best-of cassette I recorded for myself in those years, with Dio and Bonnett on one side, and Turner on the other, and these four songs got played over and over a thousand times as that tape went around and around. And, as always with these episodes, I have had this album playing a lot over the last two weeks, and it has been fantastic catching up and reliving all those old memories, but perhaps just with Joe’s smooth as honey vocals and Ritchie’s awesome riffing.

1113. Rainbow / Rising. 1976. 5/5

Back in those long-ago days of high school when I was first discovering the so-called dark arts of heavy metal music, the mixture of bands that were sampled during that time ranged from mainstream to hard rock to metal. Players switched bands, which brought about more music to be searched for to listen to. One particular friend had a penchant for the guitaring of Ritchie Blackmore – and why not, he is a legend – and one day brought to school the album Rising by a band called Rainbow. It was not the first material I had heard with Ronnie James Dio on vocals, but it was probably the first time I actually realised just what a powerhouse he was. And in no way was I ready for the change in style of music that came here from what had been Ritchie Blackmore’s forte in Deep Purple. What I found was the start of a new chapter in my love of music.

This has been considered a great album pretty much since its release, a defining album, an album that is influential to so much that followed. All of this is true, but there is always a question over the relative ‘greatness’ of all of the songs on an album, and whether that brings down where the album ranks amongst the greats of any genre or era. That is also true here, as of the six songs that comprise Rising I would consider three to be at the top of the tree, one to be a high standard, and two that are above average but without the qualities of those ranked higher. Thus, the rating of this album for some is a stretch.
The two songs in question for me are “Run with the Wolf” and “Do You Close Your Eyes”. The use of the term ‘filler’ is too harsh for these songs, as aside from the fact that it is difficult to have filler on a six-song album, they both also have their charm. Perhaps the lyrics aren’t what you generally expect from Dio, indeed one could say that they are unexpected given his output from this point on. “Run with the Wolf” does deal with the supernatural and has its flight through this, whereas “Do You Close Your Eyes” falls a bit too close to pop lyrics which is an unexpected left turn considering the opening salvo. Certainly, to me this is the case with “Do You Close Your Eyes”, but was this the Ritchie Blackmore influence, looking for that track that would get radio airplay? Once Dio moved on from Rainbow there was a much great effort to make the band radio friendly, and these are the kinds of lyrics that Joe Lynn Turner was happy to go with in his tenure with the band. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. It’s a jaunty enough track but it just doesn’t have the claws of the other songs that trigger those emotional ties.
“Starstruck” too is an upbeat hard to heavy song, and one that gets the mood moving. The chorus is a crowd pleaser and the overall vibe of the song has always given the middle of the album a kickstart. No doubt there are those out there that rate this as highly as the gold tracks of the album. I don’t think it quite reaches that level but I still enjoy the song.
The other half of this album is pure joy. The album opener “Tarot Woman” is one of my favourite songs of all time, and has everything you could ever want from a high voltage song. The beautiful 90 second opening synth prelude from Tony Carey sets the tone up beautifully, wreaking the emotive beginning into the Ritchie’s guitar and Cozy Powell’s drums and underscored by Jimmy Bain’s bass line, crashing into the powerhouse of the song as Ronnie lets loose with his amazing vocals. It also showcases Ritchie’s amazing soloing on guitar, which here is perfectly supported by the keyboards before Dio’s vocals soar for the concluding verse and chorus, and the song then fades out to Carey’s keyboard solo. Still brilliant all these years later.
Most count “Stargazer” as the star attraction of the album, and while I lean to the opening track in this regard that doesn’t make this any less brilliant. It is again full of everything that makes this incarnation of the band its finest. The opening drum solo from Cozy is just awesome, creating the perfect entrance to Ritchie’s guitar riff to start the song. Dio’s brilliant lyrics that are then perfectly performed in telling the story are superb, and then the middle stanza including Ritchie’s best guitar work again make this a perfect work of art. Then we are treated to the joy of “A Light in the Black”, the fastest song on the album where the band again blend superbly. The joyful solo break in the middle of the song is surrounded by Dio’s hard soaring vocals pushing the song to its limits. It is the perfect way to conclude the album with two eight-minute-plus songs that hold your attention all the way to the end.
The performances here by the three major contributors – Dio, Blackmore and Powell – are extraordinary. That is not to ignore the contribution of either Carey or Bain, but these three went on to record the follow up Long Live Rock 'n' Roll which somewhat amazingly outstrips this album. But their perfection in their art – vocals, guitar and drums – on this album is brilliant. Cozy’s hard-hitting drumming is perfect on these songs, Ritchie’s guitar is a shining light and Ronnie’s vocals both here and on the following album are probably his most pure and electrifying of any other project he was involved in. If only Ritchie had not felt compelled to find commercial success, who knows what this trio could have produced.

Whether or not you consider this one of the great ‘heavy metal’ albums of all time, there is little doubt that the influence of Rising on future generations of musicians and bands is enormous. It showed once and for all that Ritchie Blackmore had more to his repertoire than what he did in Deep Purple, and it rose Ronnie James Dio to a prominence that he never fell from again. “Tarot Woman”, “Stargazer” and “A Light in the Black” set the band and its members on to greater glory. The album and its songs sound as great today as they must have when they were first released. To me, it is a triumph and still a joy to put on at any time.

Best songs: “Tarot Woman”, “Starstruck”, “Stargazer”, “A Light in the Black”.

Rating: “Her love is like a knife, she’ll carve away your life”. 5/5

927. Rainbow / Boston 1981. 2016. 4/5

I must admit that when I saw this album a couple of weeks ago, I was tremendously excited. I am always up for a Rainbow live album, especially one that covers different eras of the band, and I was looking forward to hearing Graham Bonnet singing not only the material from the album he was involved in, but also the Dio era of the band. Of course, on further inspection, it was not a Bonnet era live album, but one with Joe Lynn Turner at the helm, on the tour that promoted the first album he was involved with the band, Difficult to Cure. No matter. I like JLT's stuff with Rainbow, and I was more than happy to delve into a recording from this tour. I guess the title Boston 1981 should have been a giveaway really...

The album and show starts off with the wonderful "Spotlight Kid", where Joe really showcases his best. As one of the songs he has performed on he knows where and how to sing it, and this comes across brilliantly, full of the energy and enthusiasm it exudes and deserves. A terrific opening track. This is followed by "Love's No Friend" from the Down to Earth album, and is almost the mirror image of the opening song. It lacks that fire and energy, and falls back into the category that the band had begun to seek from this point in time, the cracking of the mainstream market in the United States. There's nothing overly terrible about the song, and it's obvious that this is where Joe's vocals are at their best, in this kind of song, and he equals Bonnet's original version. But as a great Rainbow song? No, sorry. Next comes "I Surrender", another of the JLT fronted songs that he does the best on. Following this comes a somewhat stilted and difficult version of "Man on the Silver Mountain". Honestly, what were they trying to do here? This is almost like an 'easy listening' version of this great track, dominated here by the keyboard (which should be settled nicely in the background, but instead dominates) and with Joe going a completely different route with the vocals from the originals. Oh dear. "Catch the Rainbow", on the other hand, may not be Dio-esque, but Joe does do quite a good job on the song, and Ritchie loves to play along in this kind of atmosphere and situation. The ability to freeform and extend the song to the band's liking always come in handy as well. Though it again takes up time that another song or two could have filled. Another song off the new album being toured, "Can't Happen Here" comes in next, and again Joe is comfortable in its execution.
"Lost in Hollywood" is a disappointment. Joe's singing of the song is wildly disproportionate to the original version with Bonnet on vocals, and that is a pity. It fuses in parts of "A Light in the Black" - which would have been better hearing Joe have a crack at the full version... or, after this, perhaps it was best not. Still, it should and could have been a lot better. This then segues straight into "Difficult to Cure", which sounds as terrific as it always does. Then Joe has a turn at trying to reproduce "Long Live Rock and Roll". Now, this is a difficult task again. Rainbow's original vocalist pretty much has a mortgage on how to sing his own songs. I guess, as with most of his material, Joe tries to turn this into a commercial version and vision of the song. That's pretty tough, and perhaps for those seeing the band live back then 35 years ago they could accept it as it is performed In the end we run into the same problems that faced the version of "Man on the Silver Mountain earlier". I think listening to it here, any version with Dio singing on it is a better version of the song.
Then we come to "Smoke on the Water", with a little bit of "Lazy" and "Woman From Tokyo" at the start. Now, here we are some six years after Ritchie had left Deep Purple, and he still felt it necessary to re-include this song into the band's set list. Personally, if he had done an instrumental medley, pasting together some of the best riffs from his Purple days, it would have been much more effective. Really, if you go to see Rainbow, with five albums worth of material behind them by this point in time, do you really want this played instead of one or two others? What about "Stargazer"? "Or "Gates of Babylon"? Was Joe less intimidated singing "Smoke on the Water" than these two songs? It seems strange.

As a recording of a moment in time, this has its place. It sounds great, the band is in good form, Joe does his job (as already discussed, with highs and lows), and Ritchie... well, is Ritchie. If you are a fan of the band you will enjoy this, even despite some of things I have said here. It just... could have been better... on any number of levels.

Rating:  "You're in love with the spotlight".  4/5

735. Rainbow / Long Live Rock 'n' Roll. 1978. 5/5

As brilliant as their previous album Rising was, for Rainbow to then follow it up with an album that is so inspired, so ground breaking and so influential to so many who have come since, is quite an achievement. And yet that is what they have done with Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, an album that has legendary songs performed and written by some of the greats of all time.
Here then is Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, a pinnacle in the still fledgling heavy music genre, at a time when Deep Purple was on hiatus, and Black Sabbath appeared on its last legs. It was the third album for Rainbow, by which time the chief contributors Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio had found their groove, and produced a collection of magnificent tracks that roll effortlessly into a majestic album.

It all starts with the title track, the anthemic "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll", which starts the album off with a bang. The lyrics say it all, the riff stands the test of time. Ronnie stands at the front and centre and leads you in the verses and into the chorus. Ritchie rifles through the chorus before sending his guitar through the solo break. This is followed by the highly underrated "Lady of the Lake". This has another great Ritchie riff, simple yet powerful, while Ronnie's layered vocals come through the bridge strong and forceful, pushing it into your chest, and forcing you to sing along as powerfully as he is delivering it to you. Just a great song.
I've never understood the reasoning behind "L.A. Connection" being released as a single. Was it just to keep the album's most noticeably brilliant songs only for those that forked out for the whole album? I don't know, but certainly this would probably have been the last song I would have thought of releasing to promote the album. It's a good song, but only good. It isn't anywhere near as strong lyrically or musically as the other brilliant songs found around it.
Case in point - "Gates of Babylon". This is high on my list of the best songs ever written. Utterly magnificent, firstly by the energy, drive and passion of Ronnie's vocals, then drawn away by Ritchie's brilliant guitar solo through the middle, along with Cozy Powell's enormous drum work, only for Ronnie to return and finish the job. Then you can also add on to that list "Kill the King", yet another brilliant composition of guitar riffs from Ritchie combined with the emotive and powerful vocals from Ronnie. Everything about this is a speed metal song that isn't speed metal, but you can sure hear how it inspired those bands in Europe and especially Germany to follow that path.
"The Shed (Subtle)" is the other song on the album alongside "L.A. Connection" that is a standout for the reason of its averageness rather than its brilliance. Once again, it is a good song, but surrounded by the gems that this album holds, it just seems to take a back seat to them. The band takes the rock 'n' roll element seriously on "Sensitive to Light", a song with a real rock beat, and a rolling, rollicking feel to the song.
The closing song, given the way the whole album has preceded it, is completely unexpected, and 180 degrees apart from them in regards to the performance. But it is a masterpiece, and an amazing musical experience. Combining Dio's amazing vocal range, and Ritchie's talent on the guitar, "Rainbow Eyes" completes the circle for this band. Incorporating flute and violin, this song illustrates the versatility of these two artists. Dio's vocals are just awesome. He hits the notes, he sings the emotion, he just blows minds with his vocal chords. The pureness of his voice is unbelievable.

This album is a masterpiece, one that has stood the test of time and is still just as brilliant today as it was when it was released. Ritchie played most of the bass guitar on this album as well (being 'between bassists' at the time), and he is spectacular. Ronnie's vocals are just amazing. His range in belting out songs like "Long Live Rock n Roll", "Gates of Babylon" and "Kill the King', to the joyous subtleties of "Rainbow Eyes" capture perfectly the brilliance and magnificence of his voice. Of all the recordings he has been a part of, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll is the snapshot in time of his amazing talent. Add to this the marvellous drumming from the incomparable Cozy Powell, and you have an album that is at the very top of the tree in all-time releases.

Rating:  Sleep with the Devil, the Devil will take you away  5/5

617. Rainbow / Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. 1975. 4/5

The realisation of what eventually became the band named Rainbow had its germination in a song called “Black Sheep of the Family” by a band called Quatermass, from their only album of the same name in 1970. This band had contained a drummer by the name of Mick Underwood, who had once shared the stage in a band called The Outlaws with Ritchie Blackmore. By 1974, Quatermass had been disbanded for three years, and Blackmore was plying his trade in the Mark III version of Deep Purple, and currently in the middle of writing sessions for their next album “Stormbringer”. The hiring of lead vocalist David Coverdale and bass guitarist Glenn Hughes had brought some new ideas and a changing direction to the band, something Blackmore was openly critical of at times. It was during this time that Blackmore suggested that the band cover as song that he had found enjoyable, called “Black Sheep of the Family” by Quatermass. Apparently, he pushed hard to have this included on the next album, but he had his request denied by the rest of the band. This stuck in Blackmore’s craw. On the tour to promote that album, Deep Purple once again had the band Elf as their support act, who had as their lead singer a rather unknown person called Ronnie James Dio. Blackmore was later quoted as saying that when he listened to Dio sing, he felt shivers down his spine. Blackmore still carried a desire to record his own interpretation of “Black Sheep of the Family”, and he decided to record it as a solo single. And what better talents to utilise on this particular recording than the voice of Ronnie Dio! Elf drummer Gary Driscoll was also drafted in, while other musicians who were mentioned as being involved in these sessions included Matthew Fisher on keyboards and Hugh McDowell from ELO who at the time was apparently giving Blackmore cello lessons. On Thursday, 12th December 1974, in a studio in Tampa Bay, Florida, Blackmore, Dio and Driscoll recorded two tracks: “Black Sheep of the Family” and also a newly written song for the B-side of the single called “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves”, that Blackmore had just completed and Dio had added lyrics to two days earlier.

These sessions went so well, that Blackmore decided that he wanted to flesh out this single and carry on to create a whole album. To do this, he not only retained Dio and Driscoll, but also asked Elf’s bass guitarist Craig Gruber and keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule to come on board for the recording. Elf guitarist Steve Edwards was, unfortunately for him, surplus to requirements. Blackmore and Dio had already been collaborating on songs before they reached the Musicland Studio in Munich in February 1975 for three weeks of recording, with the help of Deep Purple’s then producer Martin Birch. When the album was completed, and given the chemistry that had come together between he and Dio, Blackmore decided to resign from Deep Purple, playing his last show with the band in Paris in April 1975, with his departure officially announced on June 21, 1975. Less than two months later, the debut album from his new band was released, and album that bore his name in the same way as the band bore his name, “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow”.

Listening to the album anytime beyond the point that the band dissolved when Blackmore returned to the reformed Mark II lineup of Deep Purple in 1983, there is an obvious and thoughtful progression in the music of the first three albums of the band, and then regression from the point Dio leaves as Ritchie chased his commercial success dream. And what is most obvious about this first album is that it is the stepping stones that led from the merged history of the band previous to this album, the Purple and Elf styles of music, to what became the first true marked stamp of the sound of Rainbow. In any conversation on the band’s first three albums, there will be a discussion on the quality of ALL of the tracks as written and performed, and how some of them feel so much more advanced and generally brilliant than some others that appear to be slightly generic and average. This all comes in the eye of the beholder, or in this case the ear of the... beholder. Certainly on this debut album, with four fifths of Elf being present in the recording if not the writing process, the sound of that band does creep in more often here than it would going forward, when only one of them would survive the ‘great purging’ of... five minutes after this album was completed.
This album was the start of a lot of things that proved to be the betterment of the heavy music genre. Firstly, it was the revitalisation of Blackmore's career, kickstarting his enthusiasm and disposing of his stagnancy, which not only went on to produce a magnificent Rainbow discography, but eventually provided the impetus for the second coming of the band that he had just quit. Secondly, it was the real beginning, after almost twenty years in the industry, of the defining years of one of the greatest ever vocalists, Ronnie James Dio. With Blackmore's influence, Dio finally found his niche and began to write and perform the songs that he was meant to produce. And finally, a band emerged, in the main because of Blackmore and Dio, that went on to influence generations of musicians who came after them, and the music that they subsequently created.
All that being said, this isn't the perfect album, caught as it is somewhere between the old and the new. There are several songs that seem to predict a future direction, of Blackmore’s eventual transformation into a folk-rock mandolin hero, playing songs of a medieval age with jesters and kings and jousting. “The Temple of the King” fits this description perfectly, settling into the Blackmore/Dio fantasy realm easily, but also in the acoustically and keys-based theme musically. The music is beautiful if not power and a guitar-based extravaganza as one may have expected. But my word Ronnie James Dio’s voice soars through this entire song. It is the second of the great slow melodic songs on this album, with Blackmore experimenting with strings throughout the song, and Dio's vocals driving it along in sheer beauty. Even in quieter songs, the power of Dio's voice is remarkable. This song gives Dio an opportunity to truly test and showcase his amazing vocal range in the softer song structure that the pair have offered here. Then you can also add “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves”, the song originally composed or the B-side of the single that started it all. It most definitely has that medieval feel throughout, though in a far heavier guitar-oriented way than “The Temple of the King”. Lyrically it is referencing maidens locked in towers, tyrants on the loose, drawbridges down, being cut to the ground, crossbows in the firelight, ‘Meet me when the sun is in the western sky, the fighting must begin before another someone dies’. The bassline on this song is superb, one that I’ve always suspected was played by Blackmore rather than Gruber, mainly because if this was the version recorded for the B-side then it surely had to have been Blackmore. This is still a great song, and when you listen to it now you can hear why Blackmore thought there might be something cooking here, and maybe I need to investigate it further. “Catch the Rainbow” proves again that you can do a slower, melodic tune and still retain the integrity of the songwriting. Dio's vocals soar here in a brilliant showcasing of his amazing range, while Blackmore's guitaring appears understated on the surface, but actually drives the emotional strings of the song. Pure genius. Dio was quoted in a 1975 radio interview on this song as saying: “Catch the Rainbow” is lyrically medieval in that it’s concerning a stable boy who makes it with a lady of the court. She sneaks off to sleep on his bed of straw every night and they think it’s all going to work but as we rudely find out, it never does and they kind of go their own way, but it’s a track that I think Ritchie and I are very proud of”.
There are tracks that have leanings to Deep Purple, not really a surprise but perhaps surprising that they don’t have ENOUGH of the Deep Purple sound to really push them to being greater songs. That is also perhaps a harsh critique because in hearing Ronnie James Dio singing instead of, say, Ian Gillan, that automatically disqualifies the song from being Deep Purple-ish. However, “Self Portrait” has all of the trademarks of a Deep Purple song. The beautiful bass and drum rhythm has the same wonderful style of Purple’s best moody songs. It is nothing like what Rainbow sounded like going forward, but here on this album it is a terrific listen, it has a swaying motion about it in the way Ronnie sings the song, and the rhythm attacks it. It may not be a brilliant track in the whole scheme of things, but it works here and is underrated. “Snake Charmer” is another of the block builders of the album, the song that fills its place to get you to the next point of destination. It is of a style that would come with a few songs over the course of the next two albums. It has a great bass riff from Gruber underneath Blackmore’s solo which acts as the best part of the song. It isn’t a song that anyone would suggest is a favourite. It is an enjoyable but average track.
Elsewhere, the Elf styled blues rock becomes noticeable, as much as anywhere in the song that started this whole business of, “Black Sheep of the Family”, with Driscoll's drumming incorporating all manner of tin cans and an overinvolvement throughout, along with Soule’s keyboards through the first half of the song. Dio’s vocals are good but retain a style that comes from those early Elf days, and Ritchie’s guitar solo takes up far less time than you would expect from a man who desperately wanted to put HIS mark on this song. One still wonders what fascinated Blackmore so much about this song. It's enjoyable enough, but the style doesn't really fit the songs that they wrote after the initial decision to record this as a single. “If You Don’t Like Rock and Roll” is the most Elf-like track on this album, especially in the offering of Soule’s rockabilly blues piano tinkling throughout the song. This could easily have come straight off Elf’s final studio album “Trying to Break the Sun”, which was released just two months before this album was released.
The bookends to the whole album both marvellously performed. “Man on the Silver Mountain” is the opening track to the album, one that has grown from this small seedling as it appears here to becoming the tall redwood that towers to the heights overlooking its heavy metal roots. Here at its beginning it may only be a slow-mid-tempo track, slightly ponderous in its walk, and yet the bones of the track are untouchable. Blackmore’s rhythm riff that is the basis of the track is just superb, with that excellent rhythm support from bass and drums, which then leads to his solo riff in the bridge to the chorus, before his triumphant guitar solo in the back half of the song. This structure cannot be faulted or broken, and when played live for the next 35 years by Rainbow itself, and Dio in his own band, and even now by any band strong enough to cover the track, it is enhanced with a touch of speed and a modern heavy tone. It remains a masterful track, one of the greatest ever Album 1, Side 1, Track 1’s of all time. And at the other end of the album, the closing track is “Still I’m Sad”, a cover version of the same by The Yardbirds. But – for a reason I am still unable to fathom – this version is played as an instrumental only. For the love of Dio, WHY?! You have the greatest voice in heavy metal history IN YOUR BAND, and you decide he isn’t going to sing this song? This version sounds absolutely awesome, but how on Earth is Dio not singing it? Anyway who has heard the band’s live album “On Stage” that was released two years after this has heard this song played live with Dio singing it – and it is just incredible. This is a massive own goal when it comes to the conclusion of the album. Great song, great version, just missing the great man on vocals.

Another gentle reminder with a slight tap on your head with a sledgehammer, if you have not yet checked out the very best heavy metal podcast on the internet – that being the fabulous ‘And Volume for All’, then I insist that you do so ALMOST immediately. Quinn’s amazing and fabulously in-depth deep dive into the life and career of Ronnie James Dio is a must listen for anyone, not even metal enthusiasts. His episodes that describe this era of Elf and Rainbow are outstanding, and if you want to really be entertained while finding out about this album, I highly recommend you do so once you have finished here. It is far more enlightening and informative and fun, believe me.
I had a great friend at high school in my friend group named Pete, but that we all called Wagon, a nickname that would take some time explaining, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Now Wagon was a huge Ritchie Blackmore fan, the biggest I’ve known. He was often claiming the Blackmore wrote every great riff ever and that all other bands were just stealing them off him, and that guitarists like Brian May weren’t original, that they were just copying Ritchie. A lot of that was stuff that we allowed to pass over our heads, but he was the one who encouraged me to listen to Deep Purple and Rainbow, all for Ritchie Blackmore. So I do have him to thank for exposing me to both of those bands. With Rainbow, it was the Joe Lynn Turner albums that I heard first though, before I eventually got to hear the first three albums that had Dio as their lead vocalist.
This debut album for me has always been eclipsed by the two that followed. Like I mentioned here earlier, this album was like a stepping stone from the band members past bands in Deep Purple and Elf, to get to the next album “Rising” where things really began to come together. And mostly because of that this had been one in those latter years of high school and the all too short time at university that was not overly recognised by me in preference of those next two albums. I liked the album, but didn’t love it. And I could get a better version of “Man on the Silver Mountain” on Dio’s live EP “Intermission” anyway.
Over subsequent years those feelings changed, no doubt the more I listened to it. This happened a lot during the 1990’s, where the change in style of most of the bands I loved actually led me to going back and just listening to their albums of the 1970’s and 1980’s. And this album was very much a part of that time for me. And through this constant rotation of albums, I came to truly appreciate songs such as “Catch the Rainbow” and “The Temple of the King”, whereas prior to this I probably hadn’t. And as a result of this the whole track list flowed together much more enjoyably, and I found my love for its content. As I said at the top, this isn’t a perfect album, but it is certainly far far better than average.
I have had my copy out again this week, in the Metal Cavern as well as at work, and it has been a pleasure once again. Blackmore’s guitar is as terrific as always – but it is Ronnie’s vocals that soar, that become the starring attraction, where although they aren't the finished project here, they are well on their way to becoming the great vocal instrument that they became.
As I‘ve mentioned, better was to come, two albums that span time itself. But as a starting point, a place where the shooting stars of Blackmore and Dio first came together, it is a more than solid beginning.

419. Rainbow / Bent Out Of Shape. 1983 2.5/5

The Blackmore-Turner-Glover helmed formation of the band Rainbow reaches its third act with the release of the band’s 7th album “Bent Out of Shape”, with the band’s legacy waiting to be formally put in stone. There is little doubt of the movement the band had made musically since its days being led vocally by both Ronnie James Dio and then Graham Bonnet was in a more commercial direction, with Ritchie Blackmore having made quite clear at the time that Dio had left the band that he craved commercial success with the band, and in particular radio exposure and success. In that bent, vocalist Joe Lynn Turner had been the perfect recruit, and alongside his former Deep Purple associate in bass guitarist and producer Roger Glover they had sailed Rainbow into commercially successfully waters with both “Difficult to Cure” and “Straight Between the Eyes”. The song “Stone Cold” in particular had tickled the fancy of the medium that Ritchie was hoping to romance, and so it appears that the band was hoping to double down on that kind of success when it came to writing and recording this follow up, “Bent Out of Shape”. It was also obvious by this time that Blackmore wanted that success in the United States. His early days in Deep Purple had provided a taste of that and he desired more, so when it came to the songwriting there is obvious moves to dive into the sound of the bands that were gaining the success he needed at that time – Toto, Journey, Boston, the bands that had ‘cracked the code’ on gaining significant radio airplay with their style of rock music.

“Stranded” is the lead out track on the album, and truly and immediately sets out the style that this album is going for. The honey smooth vocals from Joe Lynn Turner and the keyboards of David Rosenthal more forward in the mix does suggest from the outset that this is to be a far more commercial venture than the band has produced before, even more so than “Straight Between the Eyes”. It is an enjoyable song, but the chanted vocals of the title to complete the song, and the muted guitar solo from Ritchie in the middle, suggests that radio airplay in where this album is setting its target. This is followed by the power ballad stylings of “Can’t Let You Go”, with extended keyboard intro into Joe’s best crooning vocals and even Ritchie’s staccato solo following the story thread. If you are blatantly going to throw this kind of track right at the listener from the outset then you know just exactly what audience they are hoping to attract. “Fool for the Night” hops back into a more AOR oriented sound, but don’t be fooled (no pun intended) there’s little doubt of the direction we are still headed in.
Songs like “Fire Dance” and "Anybody There” show why this era of Rainbow was so influential in the beginnings of power metal throughout Europe in particular. These songs have the running keyboard riff through the main part of the song which is much more forward in the mix than the guitar, and then the keyboard wailing solo that becomes so prominent in songs of that genre are right here to begin with. “Fire Dance” in particular could be the template for the stereotypical power metal song, just needing the addition of the fast double kick drums to make it perfect. And to be, double kick drums on this song would have made it better.
The second side of the album starts laying on thick again when it comes to the ‘please give me radio airplay’ tracks. “Desperate Heart” and “Streets of Dreams” could both have been from any of those late 70’s AOR bands like Journey, Boston or Toto. They are pure fluff, without the prevailing power in the guitar or drums to make them even distinctly like a great hit, and yet it is the greater audience that they are pandering to. The guitar seems so irrelevant to these songs that Ritchie could have been having a bake on the sidelines for all the influence he has on the songs attractiveness. Turner offers up what he knows the songs require, and as a result they are mildly tolerable. “Drinking With the Devil” tries to con you into believing this album is still a hard rocker, one where the lyrics are dangerous and the guitar is heavy, but it is followed by the instrumental track “Snowman” which blows that appearance out of the sky. “Make Your Move” tries again to give you a sense of belief in the hard rock side of Rainbow, but it is far too little and far too late to make any firm impression on the listener once they have reached this point of the album.

Due to the obsession of one of my friends in the final years of high school, I was well exposed to Rainbow at that time, and especially the Joe Lynn Turner years of the band. And this included one of my best mates and future brother-in-law who took on that love of this era of the band. So I had copies of all three of those albums before I did of the first four albums. An interesting way to get into the band.
This album was always a punish, certainly in comparison to the other two Turner albums. Those albums has a good mix of songs, and felt as though they still had the basis at least of what the band had begun with back in 1975. But “Bent Out of Shape” to me is a much different album, and I think it suffers as a result. It’s the ‘easy listening’ variant of the band, the one album that you could put on with a bunch of old people and not have them complaining about that godawful noise as soon as the first song starts. It is uneventful, it is harmless. And while Turner’s vocals are as good as ever, and the rest of the band is good, is Blackmore even on this album? He has almost pushed himself to the side, and allowed the keyboards to dominate and set the standard for the album, while he occasionally appears just to confirm that he is indeed still a part of the music. In 1975 this band was RITCHIE BLACKMORE’S Rainbow. By 1983, it was Mainstream Radio Rainbow, with a little bit of Ritchie in the corner of the album peering out to see if he has fooled you yet.
The album has been played by me around the other albums I am reviewing at the moment for the past couple of weeks, and about the only time I actually noticed it was playing until it got my full attention for this review was when the chorus of “Street of Dreams” came on, and my reaction was simply... “this song again?!”
Rainbow from 1975-77 and from 1981-83 are the same band in name only. Only Blackmore remains as a member of both eras, and the music style is completely at opposite ends of the spectrum. That is what Ritchie wanted, so you can only judge it on that. Like I’ve said, “Difficult to Cure” and “Straight Between the Eyes” are good solid albums. This one slides to a different level – a level that I rush to point out that many people loved. For me though it is a bridge too far, and it still never fails to disappoint whenever I put it on.
Perhaps the best statement on this album is that Rainbow was disbanded after the tour that followed, as both Ritchie and Roger departed for the reformed and no doubt more lucrative return of Deep Purple Mark II, where their return effort “Perfect Strangers’ took the world by storm. If any better comparison could be made on “Bent Out of Shape” and what was to come next, this would have to be it.

379. Rainbow / Finyl Vinyl. 1986. 4/5

Released in the mid-80’s at what was considered to be the final incarnation of Rainbow (we probably should have known better given Ritchie Blackmore’s history), this album is a collection of mostly live tracks. Again, most also generate from the Joe Lynn Turner era, with a couple included from previous eras with Graham Bonnet and Ronnie James Dio.
While on the surface it appears a bit uneven, it does at least show all three lead singers in a live environment on the same album. Could it have been done better? Well, no doubt there, but there was an obvious focus on the final band combination, and at least the singers were singing the songs from their own era.

Not many bands give you the chance to ‘compare’ vocalists on the same recording. This does, and I like it, while I acknowledge many may not. Funnily enough, the highlight on the album for me is the live version of “Difficult To Cure”, which has no singer involved.
I would love to have heard more of Bonnet’s era live. But I don’t get to make these choices, do I?

Rating: One for the nostalics amongst us. 4/5.

249. Rainbow / Down To Earth. 1979. 4.5/5.

Through the mid to late 1970’s, Rainbow, the band formed by Ritchie Blackmore on his departure from Deep Purple, and featuring the iconic vocals of Ronnie James Dio, had released three powerhouse albums, each building on the previous one, and stacking up against all releases in the hard rock to the burgeoning heavy metal albums of the period. From the self-titled debut album, to the amazing “Rising” album and into “Long Live Rock and Roll”, Rainbow had found their marketplace and were on a domineering run as they concluded the tour to promote that third album in late 1978.
Following this however, Blackmore did as he always seemed to do – went about reshaping the band, personnel wise and also musically. Bob Daisley and David Stone were both moved on, and the gulf between Dio and Blackmore musically widened intensely. Roger Glover, who had been hired to produce the new album and would eventually play bass on it as well, spent a couple of weeks taking cassettes back and forth between the two men with their separate ideas for tracks on the new album. No talk between them, just cassettes, and with widely different paths. After following this strategy for that time, Dio finally quit, something that was a shock at the time, but which Blackmore basically shrugged his shoulders at. From having two egos pulling at each other in order to keep the music ideas balanced, now there was only one ego, who was going to get what he wanted.
And what exactly was that? Well Ritchie had never really hidden from the fact that he wanted commercial success, with songs that stormed the singles chart and made him the kind of icon he wanted to be. And it was obvious that Rainbow was not going to attain that level of commercial success if they continued to sing about mythology and fantasy such as was the lyrics and style that Dio had brought to the band. And so, Ritchie had started to turn towards simpler song structures, and song lengths that were around that four-minute mark that would get picked up by commercial radio, rather than the complex and lengthy tomes that the band had given us prior to this.
The band, now with just Blackmore and drummer Cozy Powell, wrote and recorded the songs for the album without a vocalist, with Glover playing bass and writing the lyrics, no doubt along a path pushed for by Ritchie. Along the way they picked up Don Airey to play keyboards, and Glover was eventually asked to join the band as a full-time member. Ian Gillan was approached to come on board as vocalist, an interesting development given the love-hate relationship he shared with Blackmore over the years, but eventually declined. It was Glover who turned to Graham Bonnet, formerly of The Marbles, and with commercial success in Australia as a resume, who auditioned and was offered the role, which he accepted. Given the songs had already been recorded, his vocals were the final piece added to the album, and so came about the Rainbow album that was to steer their destiny in another direction, “Down to Earth”

On your first listen to the album, the change in direction of the band from their earlier albums is distinctly noticeable. There is far less of the fantasy in the lyrics and far more about... well... the pursuits of young men. And the overall style of the songs trends to the more commercial sound of American radio than soaring heavy metal anthems. And it is true that the Blackmore/Dio partnership did have songs that moved in that kind of direction - “Snake Charmer”, “Do You Close Your Eyes” and “L.A. Connection” for instance – they were few and far between. But once you have heard the entirety of “Down to Earth”, you can hear exactly why Dio moved on from the band, and what Blackmore was hoping to produce as his overall direction for the band to take. And then you have the titles of the majority of the songs on this album, and it doesn’t take too much imagination to guess just what market Blackmore and his band were targeting. “All Night Long”, “No Time to Lose”, “Makin’ Love”, “Since You Been Gone”, “Love’s No Friend”, “Danger Zone”. There’s a bit of difference from these songs to titles such as “Stargazer”, “Tarot Woman”, “A Light in the Black”, “Gates of Babylon”, “Kill the King”, “Man on the Silver Mountain”. So yes, a big change in output, and a big change in direction lyrically and musically.
For instance. “No Time to Lose” is an upbeat song, almost rockabilly in basis, and showcases Bonnet’s vocals at their best. The pace of the song is driven along as a result, and also has an almost Deep Purple like keyboard solo from Don Airey through the middle of the track. There is a bit of the template fro future albums in this track. There is a drop in tempo for the follow up track “Makin’ Love”, along with a melodic backing of vocals to emphasise the heartfelt attempt of the lyrics, while Ritchie plays a generic power ballad solo through the middle section. And then from side two we have an even furthering of the changing tempo and more emphasis put on the soft rock ballad type track with “Love’s No Friend”. The pace plods along and relies on Bonnet’s charisma to push the song along, something he does very well despite the material he has been handed. Once again, this song is almost the blueprint for a lot of the tracks that came on the Joe Lynn Turner era of the band down the track. The result here is that it’s a bit colour-by-numbers songwriting, albeit carried off in a way that draws on the integrity that Glover and Blackmore pull from their Deep Purple days. Which is an interesting thought, because Ritchie left Deep Purple because of the direction the music was taking.
Elsewhere, there are the more highly promoted tracks, and the ones that have gained prominence for the right reasons. The album opens with “All Night Long”, the second single released from the album, and is designed precisely to be a single – short, sharp, showcasing the vocals of Bonnet and the guitar of Blackmore, and lyrically is positioned right at their new target audience. “Since You Been Gone” opens up side two of the album in the same sort of energy, and given it was the first single released from the album it is not surprising. This track was a cover of a Russ Ballard song, not the last time they would lift one of his tracks for an album. Both singles are cast from the same mould
“Danger Zone” has a more epic feel about the track itself, Airey’s keys combining perfectly with Blackmore’s more engaging guitar riff and solo through the middle, much more like the Ritchie Blackmore you pay your dollars for. Bonnet’s vocals soar here as well, making a pleasant experience for all on board. And the album closer “Lost in Hollywood” retains the great vibe of the two singles, and ends the album on a great note with plenty of energy, enough to almost convince you to flip it over and start it all again.
The album highlight however is the second track on the album, “Eyes of the World”. It is the only song on the album that retains the mysticism and epic tones from the Dio-era of the band. It has that same atmosphere that is evoked by those songs I mentioned at the top of this section, and it is a song that you can believe you hear Dio singing. It is the one song on the album that isn't dedicated to love or chasing love or acting on love. Instead, it deals with the evil within man and the consequences thereof and is the antithesis of everything else this album portrays. And perhaps because it is so different, that’s what makes it stand out on this album, and makes it so wonderfully brilliant.

While Rainbow was a band that seeped into my listening by way of my regular heavy metal music dealer at high school, the actual push towards listening to the band came from another high school friend, colloquially referred to as ‘Meat Wagon’ (please don’t ask). It was his insistence that Rainbow was the greatest band on earth, and that (and I quote) “Ritchie Blackmore is the one who invented guitar playing, and every other guitarist just copied him” and that “Rainbow are the only original band in the world”, that eventually led me to getting albums of the band. Those albums initially were the later ones, with Joe Lynn Turner on vocals, and the Dio and Bonnet eras didn’t come until later.
The first songs I heard from this album were on the double vinyl “The Best of Rainbow” album that I picked up at Illawarra Books and Records, which had four songs from this album on it. And I loved every song on that best of, but I was interested in Bonnet’s vocals immediately, and wondered how many albums he had done with the band, and what they sounded like. It was still some years later when I actually got a copy of this album, and was able to enjoy it for all of its glory. Well, that was the idea.
The first thing I discovered was that the four songs that had been on that best of album were most certainly the best four songs on “Down to Earth”. So much so that their quality hung much higher than the remaining four tracks. That bothered me for awhile. But by this time I knew the three JLT era albums very well, and once I had come to the conclusion that really those other tracks were a precursor to those albums, I relaxed and just enjoyed the whole album for what it is. It isn’t a Dio-helmed album (apart from one track) and the direction taken here is followed up by the next few albums, just with a different vocalist. It is interesting that Bonnet apparently left Rainbow following this album due to the direction the music was heading as well.
So just to quantify – I have enjoyed this album since I first got it. And I have now had it running around on various devices and stereos for the past month. It is a short album, and I’ve listened to it in excess of 30 times, and I am still enjoying it. For me it is mostly about Graham Bonnet’s vocals, they are still supreme here, and when he really lets fly he is amazing. As was the case as the band moved on, Ritchie’s guitar became less prevalent and more into the mix of the song, much like commercial rock songs. That’s a shame, but there is the odd moment on this album when it crops up, and I still say ‘oh THERE he is!’
Bonnet and Cozy Powell moved on to other projects after this album, and Joe Lynn Turner arrived to become the focus of the band’s drive to tap into American commercialism. It is a shame that this is the only Rainbow album with this lineup, because I feel they could have produced a really excellent heavy album, especially if those two had been able to contribute to the song writing. However, it was not to be, and so we are left with this only outing to showcase that. Overall, it’s a worthwhile experience.

233. Rainbow / Difficult To Cure. 1981. 3.5/5

Graham Bonnet lasted one album as lead singer of Rainbow. Following his departure, a replacement was found in Joe Lynn Turner, and another beautiful partnership began.

The album itself is a mixture. While it gets off to a rollicking start with I Surrender and Spotlight Kid, it does lose momentum in the middle, especially with Ritchie's instrumental. The back half of the album recovers ground, but it is slightly disappointing after the great start.

JLT makes a solid beginning to his Rainbow career. The combination of Turner's vocals, Blackmore's guitaring, Roger Glover's excellent bass lines and the drumming of Bobby Rondinelli lay the foundations of a solid album. One does wonder in hindsight though where Rainbow's audience was coming from at this time in the early 80's.

My favourites from the album include I Surrender, Spotlight Kid, Magic, Can't Happen Here and Difficult To Cure.

Rating : The good is very very good, and the rest is pretty boring. 3.5/5.

117. Rainbow / The Best Of Rainbow. 1981. 5/5.

This is an excellent compilation of the formative years of Rainbow, and the songs that made them the group they were.
Formed when Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple, and picked up a rising star in Ronnie James Dio, this double CD features the best songs from Rainbow's first five albums.

OK – so it is close to their best. I have a problem with Tarot Woman not being included here, but I guess everyone has their own choices. What this album does show is the wonderful force that Blackmore and Dio made as a writing team – Stargazer, Man On The Silver Mountain, Long Live Rock And Roll, Kill The King, Gates Of Babylon... and the list goes on.

It also makes you wonder what may have happened if Graham Bonnet had stayed with the group. His one release as vocalist, Down To Earth, contains great hits like Eyes Of The World, All Night long and Since You Been Gone.

Joe Lynn Turner gets a couple of token songs tacked on, with Difficult To Cure having only just been released when this came out, but he contributed just as much as these other two to Rainbow's legend in coming years.

Memories : I remember Rainbow getting me through a lot of the early stage of Uni in 1988. Think I had listen to Dio to death, and put this album on one day, and didn't take it off for about two months. Kill the King, A Light In The Black and Gates Of Babylon in particular were songs that helped me out a lot at the time.

Rating : Though there were more albums to come, and there has not been a definitive best-of done since, this is pretty much as good as you can get anyway. 5/5.

31. Catch The Rainbow / A Tribute To Rainbow. 1999. 5/5.

It's hard to believe, though easy to comprehend, that a musician could be so dedicated to one of his favourite bands, that he would put together a project for the sole purpose of recording a tribute album dedicated to that band. But that is exactly what Uli Kusch, former Helloween and Gamma Ray drummer, and current Masterplan drummer, did way back in 1999.
Along with some mates, and some special guests, here is a tribute album that is truly worth listening to and owning.

It covers all three eras of Rainbow (before the shortlived comeback in 1995), of Ronnie James Dio, Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner. It has a selection of their greatest tracks, and each one of them is superbly done. Sure - I may have done some different songs, but I can't complain about the ones they chose, and they way they covered them. You can feel the love and respect in each track.
My faves are Kill The King (with Ralf Scheepers), Stargazer, Spotlight Kid and Eyes Of The World (which Uli himself sings).

Memories : “Rainbow are the only original band. Everyone since has just copied them”. Peter Orgill, 1986.

Rating : This is yet another example of how to do a Tribute album RIGHT! 5/5.