In 1975 Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple and founded "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow." The difference between DP and Rainbow is mainly the sound: Rainbow sounds a lot more like 80s heavy metal than 70s hard rock. Another difference is the vocals: in a "Ronnie James Dio vs. Ian Gillan" match, Dio wins in the first round by a TKO. The keyboards still remain the integral part of the music, and that continued into Dio's solo career. Debut "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" (1976) was well received and included a famous classic, "Man On A Silver Mountain." The sophomore album, "Rainbow Rising" (1976), was much of the same, including a song that many people feel is Rainbow's best, "Stargazer." Third release, "Long Live Rock'n'Roll" (1978), is among the best metal albums of the 70s, second only to Priest's early works, IMHO. Soon Dio left the band to join Black Sabbath, and Rainbow went through a number of singers and albums: "Down To Earth" (1979, with Graham Bonnet), "Difficult To Cure" (1981), "Straight Between The Eyes" (1982), and "Bent Out Of Shape" (1983, all with Joe Lynn Turner, who later sang for another guitar egomaniac, Yngwie Malmsteen), but neither exactly reached the classic status of the Dio period. Blackmore reunited with Purple a couple of times, then resurrected Rainbow in 1995 with "Stranger In Us All," until finally pulling the plug, to proceed as an acoustic "Rennaissance Fair" duo with his wife, in a project titled "Blackmore's Night."
RITCHIE BLACKMORE'S RAINBOW (1975)
RATING: ***1/2
BEST SONGS: "Man On The Silver Mountain," "Temple Of The King," "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves"
In spite of everything that Ritchie ever said, this album sounds a lot like DP. Only more melodic and with Dio. The music is good, but the sound is slightly dated (though produced by Martin Birch, who later produced all Iron Maiden classics). "Man On The Silver Mountain" everybody knows, so I'm not gonna go into it. "Self Portrait" is a pretty cool blues, with a neat dancing rhythm and groovy chorus. "Black Sheep" and "If You Don't Like Rock'n'Roll" are both rock'n'roll-ish and not very serious in their nature, and neither is what I would call "Rainbow classics." "Catch The Rainbow," on the other hand, is an terrific slow, showcasing Dio's immense vocal talent (he was probably the most emotional vocalist at that time). "Snake Charmer" is solid rock. "Temple Of The King" is a great, great, great song, that was made even better by Angel Dust. "1500s Greensleeves" is pretty cool, with a terrific solo from Blackmore. "Still I'm Sad" is an instrumental at the end, to which they later added lyrics. So, after everything is said and done, this is a good album, worth having to see and hear the development of heavy metal from its roots. One question: why does the booklet have the lyrics to one song only, "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves"?
LONG LIVE ROCK'N'ROLL (1978)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: title track, "Lady Of The Lake," "Kill The King"
It's amazing how everything Dio touched has immediately began to sound like Dio. Both Rainbow and Black Sabbath with him in the line-up sounded very much alike, and also very much like Dio-the-band. But that's a good thing, though. First two songs are absolute killers. The title track is one of the greatest sing-alongs ever, and "Lady Of The Lake" has fantasy lyrics that are influenced numerous bands (Rhapsody, Blind Guardian, and many more). "Kill The King" is a great speed metal song, defying the statement that speed metal was born in the 80s (and it sounds a lot like Sabbath's "Neon Nights"). "Gates Of Babylon" (very cool Middle Eastern sound) and "Rainbow Eyes" are long, epic tunes, and "The Shed" and "Sensitive To Light" could easily belong on any of the Dio's solo albums: same lyrics, same music, same sound. "Rainbow Eyes" is probably the most emotional song I've heard from Dio: the melody and the passion in his voice is beyond any criticism (the only reason it's not in the top songs is that I can only have 3 picks there, and other three are just as great). Quite listenable in the 90s, mainstream in the 80s, masterpiece in the 70s.
STRANGER IN US ALL (1995)
RATING: ***1/2
BEST SONGS: "Ariel," "Black Masquerade," "Hall Of The Mountain King"
Despite all possible noble intentions, this album and its makers are simply lost in time. Recorded and released in 1995, at the height of "alternative" movement, this album probably sounded dated even to the first people that have heard it. Of course, the sound alone does not make the album: I remember first buying Long Live Rock'n'Roll in 1996 and being blown away. But the songwriting and the execution are not quite there either, and, without these major factors, the sound deficiencies become even more prominent and annoying. The content is hopelessly irrelevant (honestly, who cares about "cold-hearted women" and how it's "too late for tears"?), and the energy/rock aspect is average at best. What saves this album is its occasional hooks and catchy moments, making it not a total waste. "Wolf To The Moon," "Ariel," "Too Late For Tears," and "Black Masquerade" have their shining moments. I especially dig "Ariel," with its neo-oriental groove (think depressive "Gates Of Babylon"), and "Black Masquerade" with its killer main riff and acoustic solo. "Too Late For Tears" has a certain "Lost In Hollywood" vibe. Doogie White (who must be a tremendous masochist to serve under both Blackmore and Malmstein... wait, so was Joe Lynn Turner) is not bad in the early 80s kinda way, but he is not too inspiring. In fact, both his voice and the whole thing remind me somewhat of Black Sabbath's Born Again album, only not quite as heavy. I realize, Blackmore was never "metal" in the true sense of the word, but at times Rainbow rocked with the best of them. This album shows only glimpses and flashes of that, but when it does, it does it well. In fact, its highlights (especially "Black Masquerade") can proudly sit on any Rainbow compilation. Oh, yeah, and "Hall Of The Mountain King" shows not so much Ritchie's neoclassical predispositions as his general clueless-ness: this song is very good indeed, but it just does not touch Savatage, and only a person completely out of touch with the hard rock scene could attempt it. On the other hand, the whole album demonstrates such "out-of-touch"-ness with contemporary hard rock, that this idea is, in fact, completely in place here and a good representative of the album.
SEE THE DIO PAGE FOR THE RAINBOW TRIBUTE ALBUM
|
|
