Rainbow: Live Albums Collection (1976-1977)

×

Rainbow: Live Albums Collection (1976-1977)

Close

The brainchild of former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, Rainbow quickly developed into one of the '70s most successful heavy metal bands behind charismatic front man Ronnie James Dio. Together, the duo would produce a string of acclaimed albums which are still considered classics of the genre. But the group would change their musical approach numerous times following the singer's departure, eventually confusing and alienating much of their audience. Releasing eight albums during it's decade long run, the band finally came to an end when Blackmore departed to rejoin his old Deep Purple comrades in a full-fledged reunion in 1984. And while the impact of Rainbow's influence has faded with the intervening decades, theirs was a crucial chapter in the development of heavy metal and hard rock.

Disillusioned and fed up with the chaotic state of Deep Purple in the mid-'70s, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore made the stunning announcement in May of 1975 that he was quitting the group he had founded and led for over seven years in order to start from scratch. Teaming up with up-and-coming American vocalist Ronnie James Dio, Blackmore built Rainbow around the singer's former band Elf, minus their guitarist David Feinstein. Featuring bassist Craig Gruber, keyboard player Mickey Lee Soule, and drummer Gary Driscoll, the group's 1975 debut Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow was quickly embraced by European fans and yielded their first hit single, "Man on the Silver Mountain." Blackmore and Dio were dissatisfied with the album's sound, however, and decided to re-vamp Rainbow (by then sufficiently established to do without Blackmore's name) by drafting bassist Jimmy Bain, keyboard player Tony Carey, and former Jeff Beck Group drummer Cozy Powell. It was with this lineup that they entered Musicland studios in February 1976 to record the landmark Rising opus – once voted the greatest heavy metal album of all time in a 1981 Kerrang! magazine readers' poll. Capturing Blackmore and Dio at the peak of their creative powers, Rising chronicled both the guitarist's neo-classical metal compositions at their most ambitious, and the singer's growing fixation with fantasy lyrical themes – a blueprint he would adopt for his entire career thereafter. Following its release, the band embarked upon a successful world tour, culminating in a sold out European jaunt which spawned a best-selling live album entitled On Stage, released in 1977.

By the time they returned with the equally acclaimed Long Live Rock'n'Roll album in 1978 (featuring bassist Bob Daisley and keyboard player David Stone), Rainbow had established themselves as one of Europe's best-selling groups and top concert draws. But the volatile relationship between Blackmore and Dio had already begun to deteriorate, as the American-born singer became increasingly frustrated of standing in the guitarist's shadow – even in his own country, where the group was now fully committed to breaking big. To make matters worse, Blackmore had been so impressed with "Long Live Rock'n'Roll"'s success as a single, that he began to consider altering the band's sound in order to pursue a more mainstream hard rock approach (a direction which Dio wanted no part of). A chance meeting with Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath (only recently divorced for good from unreliable front man Ozzy Osbourne) helped the singer make up his mind, and Dio officially quit Rainbow in early 1979 to join the Sabs.

Finding a suitable replacement for the charismatic singer proved a serious dilemma, and when Blackmore eventually recruited former Marbles vocalist Graham Bonnett, his decision came with an all-around re-tooling of Rainbow's sound, not to mention, once again, the band's membership, which now included former Deep Purple cohort Roger Glover and keyboard player Don Airey. With the release of 1979's Down to Earth, gone were the mystical themes and epic metal compositions, replaced by a more streamlined commercial hard rock style. But despite containing two of Rainbow's biggest singles, "All Night Long" and "Since You've been Gone" (the second, written by former Argent singer Russ Ballard), the album sputtered in stores, selling far less than the group's previous, Dio-fronted efforts. Bonnett also failed to meet Blackmore's lofty expectations on stage, and after a single, disastrously drunken performance at the inaugural Castle Donington Monsters of Rock Festival in the summer of 1980, the singer was unceremoniously given the boot.

Once again strapped for a vocalist, Blackmore found his man in American singer Joe Lynn Turner, who along with new drummer Bobby Rondinelli signaled a true career rebirth for Rainbow. Wishing to shed the group's overblown, Dio-associated Euro-metal sound of days past once and for all, the new Rainbow lineup was made to order for another bid at widespread acceptance in America. The first product of this new direction, 1981's well received Difficult to Cure helped the group regain some of their momentum and yielded their highest-charting single ever, another Russ Ballard-penned track entitled "I Surrender." In fact, the record's title track – a sprawling, ten-minute metallic blitzkrieg through Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 – was the only throwback to Rainbow's highbrow metal origins. Released in 1982, Straight Between the Eyes failed to chart any successful singles, however, and the band's appeal began to nose-dive, along with Blackmore's increasingly uninventive, risk-free song writing. 1983's Bent out of Shape (featuring new members in keyboard player David Rosenthal and drummer Chuck Burgi) fared no better, and after accepting the fact that Rainbow's best days were behind them, Blackmore finally relented to take part in the long-rumored and hoped for re-formation of Deep Purple's classic Mark II lineup. Typically, the guitarist refused to go out quietly, and Rainbow were backed by a full symphony orchestra for their final March 1984 performance in Japan.

A posthumous live release, entitled Finyl Vinyl, was compiled in 1986, and though he would briefly resurrect the Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow moniker after quitting Purple for the second time in 1994 (even recording an album called Stranger in Us All"), this incarnation would be short-lived. Blackmore was last heard from performing with his purported fiancé Candice Night in the medieval folk duo Blackmore's Night.

by Eduardo Rivadavia, AMG

×

Rainbow: Live Albums Collection (1976-1977)

Close

Indispensable two CD set recorded live in Cologne on September 9, 1976 during their tour to support the Rainbow Rising album. The band during this gig featured Ronnie James Dio, Cozy Powell, Tony Carey, Jimmy Bain and, of course, Ritchie Blackmore. Eight tracks including 'Kill The King', 'Man On The Silver Mountain', Stargazer' and 'Mistreated'.

~ amazon

×

Rainbow: Live Albums Collection (1976-1977)

Close

Repressing of this two CD set released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Rainbow's first world tour. Recorded September 27th, 1976, it's astonishing to hear the crowd chanting Ritchie onto the stage football terrace style - and he doesn't disappoint. Ronnie James Dio is in very strong form, confident enough to be taking liberties with the phrasing, whilst keeping on top of it all. Newly remixed from the original concert tapes. The eight page booklet details the band's history along with many rare unseen photos of this period.

~ amazon

×

Rainbow: Live Albums Collection (1976-1977)

Close

2007 two CD archive release, a superb live show from the hard rockin' Rainbow recorded at the Nurnberg Messezentrum Halle in Germany on September 28th, 1976. Nine tracks including 'Stargazer', 'Kill The King', 'Man On The Silver Mountain' and more…

~ amazon

×

Rainbow: Live Albums Collection (1976-1977)

Close

As expected, this is an excellent live album. Blackmore blazes on guitar, so much so that even his ten-minute-long solos keep the listener's attention (at least this listener's attention, anyway). Dio is also great as always, again proving himself one of the most talented singers of all time. Unfortunately, this album is rather ancillary if one already owns "On Stage" - for those songs that the albums share, the performances are nearly identical (this version featuring some slightly extended renditions). While this proves Rainbow was a very tight and consistent live band, it also robs this release of some originality. While "Live in Germany" perhaps could be considered a tad more intense than "On Stage," the difference is minute (I probably only mention it because it says so in the liner notes). Also, the production of "On Stage" is a bit better. The major selling points of this album are "Stargazer" and "Do You Close Your Eyes," which aren't included with "On Stage." While the latter song is presented well, "Stargazer" just isn't up to par with the studio version - unless my ears deceive me, there is no orchestral support and thus the song is reduced. Despite this, it's still worth a listen. Also, "Man on the Silver Mountain" is presented alone, as opposed to in a medley. Overall, this is a very good live album, but recommended only if you don't own a live Rainbow release already.

By Azmodi, amazon

×

Rainbow: Live Albums Collection (1976-1977)

Close

After having established a group he thought would hold up his requirements, Blackmore set out to express his ambition by setting up an impressive light show that included a cool-looking Rainbow. But however impressive this giant lightning fixture was, it was extremely unreliable providing many glitches and interferences on the PA and amplifiers, that it was sometimes impossible to use. So choosing between the recordings to make-up this album was probably no easy task, and this sole official live album for over two decades was rather frustrating on a few points.

Not only were there some very short album sides (the second and third were simply scandalously short), but some of Tony Carey's solos were disastrous, leading to his dismissal, being replaced by the much better classically-trained Canadian David Stone. But on this album we have to put up with Carey's completely inept performance especially on anotherwise excellent Still I'm Sad. And that track is not the only excellent version: as most of the selected songs are well-played and especially well recorded (maybe even a bit of tampering or touch-ups), which is hardly the case of the other more recent release of that era.

We are graced with a Dio version of the Purple blues Mistreated, a vastly different (extended) Catch the Rainbow, a new fantastic Kill The King (Cozy Rules) and a shining (if you except Carey) Still I'm Sad which unlike its studio version regains the vocal parts perfectly sung by Dio, even if those vocals have nothing to do with the original Yardbirds Gregorian chants. But my other main gripe is that in this selection, aside one track thrown in the Medley, there is not one track from the preceding superb Rising on which promotion tour this album is derived. And apparently, on other recordings released from that era, the same flaw occurs almost every time.

by Sean Trane, progarchives

×

Rainbow: Live Albums Collection (1976-1977)

Close