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.