CD Odyssey Disc 861: Rainbow

This next review got delayed by a combination of me working late and over-filling my social dance card. I’m squeezing it in now before I go and play ulti.

Disc 861 is….Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll

Artist: Rainbow

Year of Release: 1978

What’s up with the Cover? There is a subset of ‘giant head’ album covers that can best be described as “head collage.” Other examples include Queen’s “The Miracle” and Kings of Leon’s “Youth & Young Manhood”

This cover may be the best of them all: five heads bound together by the human hair of rock and roll.

How I Came To Know It: This was the final of three albums that Ronnie James Dio made as part of Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow and it took a while for me to find it. I eventually got it at Scrape, a record store in East Vancouver specializing in heavy metal and hard rock.

How It Stacks Up:  I have three Rainbow albums. Of the three, I must reluctantly put “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” in third spot. And as this is the final Rainbow album in my collection, here is the traditional recap:

1. Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow: 4 stars (reviewed back at Disc 743)
2. Rising: 3 stars (reviewed back at Disc 625)
3. Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll: 3 stars (reviewed right here)

Ratings: 3 stars

“Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” is the most Dio-esque of the three Rainbow albums featuring him. I’m not sure if this is just a function of it being a later release, or if Ronnie James Dio just slowly takes over whatever band he’s in. I suspect the latter.

The album has a creative a tug-of-war common in bands where the two principals are about to part ways, with Blackmore’s seventies guitar rock dominating some tracks and Dio’s bombastic fantasy-driven proto-metal dominating others.

The opening (and title) track has a bit of both elements, and you can feel Blackmore and Dio trying to adapt to each other. Dio’s lyrics have a hint of his desire to sing about weird stuff, but the song is grounded in a bluesy riff that is all Blackmore. The song’s subject matter (rock and roll is cool) isn’t sufficiently weird to let Dio get too crazy. For the most part it works, but it isn’t the timeless anthem either artist probably hoped it would be.

Better is “Lady of the Lake” which descends more fully into Dio’s crazy-ass lyrics. The Blackmore riff still grounds this track, but the soaring Dio vocals are what bring it to life as he sings about Arthurian legends, taking plenty of liberties with the story:

“I know she waits below

Only to rise on command

When she comes for me

She’s got my life in her hands

Lady of the lake.”

Er…a bit of a strained metaphor, but what the hell. The album is fully infected with Dio’s awesome and over the top lyrics. Songs like “Gates of Babylon” and “Kill the King” dig even deeper. Neither song is as strong musically as “Lady of the Lake” and “Gates of Babylon” has a lot of questionable lyrics, including:

“The power of what has been before

Rises to trap you within

A magic carpet ride, a genie

Maybe more.”

Seriously, Dio? “Maybe more” is the best you could come up with? The specific is terrific, my friend. “Gates of Babylon” also tries way too hard to work in eastern rhythms, in draining the song of energy. “Kill the King” is better, with a driving energy but Blackmore’s guitar solo, usually a highlight of any Rainbow song, doesn’t take the song anywhere it hasn’t already gone.

Blackmore gets his moments of glory on the record, starting with “L.A. Connection.” “L.A. Connection” has an irresistible guitar lick, and Dio’s vocal falls into line to sing along and reinforce it, rather than trying to soar over the top. This song has a groove to it that is good for dancing, driving or head-banging in equal measure. Blackmore’s guitar solo is tasty and adds just a hint of prog-water amid the weeds of the beat.  

The record ends with “Rainbow Eyes” a soft ballad which showcases how talented Dio is as a vocalist. Here he sings what is almost a folk song, and Blackmore’s guitar picks along behind the scenes (along with a flute) giving an elfin quality to the song. At 7:31, “Rainbow Eyes” drags on a bit too long, but it is still a nice palate cleanser to end the record. Also, nice that Dio was able to work one his beloved rainbow metaphor into a song before the album closed.

The tension between the styles of Dio and Blackmore is clear, and while not as well blended as on Rainbow’s two previous albums, still melds together into a unique and interesting sound. The album has a solid energy to it, and at eight tracks and 40 minutes, benefits from the time-limiting quality of seventies vinyl.

Two giant egos like this couldn’t last, and Dio would go on from here to make the classic Black Sabbath album “Heaven and Hell” where he discovered a brand new stubborn guitar player to fight with (Tony Iommi).

Blackmore would make five more records with Rainbow that enjoyed comparably more commercial success. None of these included Dio, and as a result have failed to catch my interest. Never say never though.

Best tracks:  Lady of the Lake, L.A. Connection, 

CD Odyssey Disc 743: Rainbow

I am writing this a few hours after coming back from getting another tattoo, and I can now definitively say that getting your elbow tattooed sucks. It marks the first time since I started getting tattoos that I had to tap out (over four hours in, mind you) and the thought of another two hours in the chair a few weeks from now doesn’t appeal.

But I’ll do it because…art! Speaking of which, here is some musical art to consider.

Disc 743 is….Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow

Artist: Rainbow

Year of Release: 1975

What’s up with the Cover?  A whole lot of awesome. My new (not quite complete) tattoo has a Dracula’s castle on it. This looks more like Dr. Strange’s castle, if Dr. Strange did a lot of LSD.

How I Came To Know It: I’m a big Dio fan and I wanted to check out what he did before he joined up with Black Sabbath. My friend Spence, who is a seventies rock aficionado, encouraged me to do the same.

How It Stacks Up:  Rainbow has eight studio albums but so far I’ve only been interested in the first three (the only ones to feature Ronnie James Dio). Of those three, I put their self-titled debut first, narrowly beating out “Rising” (reviewed back at Disc 625).

Ratings: 4 stars

I’m note feeling 100% at present (see “tattooing your elbow” above) but I think seventies hard rock is even better when you are feeling a bit woozy, so I’ll give it a go.

Part of that woozy fun is the heavy guitar sound that Blackmore brings to Rainbow’s debut album from the very first track. “Man on the Silver Mountain” is a riff for the ages; the kind of song that makes you lift up your goblet of rock, your crimson wide-cuffed robe spilling off your arm as you majestically declare “behold – this rules!” “Man on the Silver Mountain” doesn’t get the same ubiquitous praise of equally riff-heavy tracks like Black Sabbath’s “N.I.B.” or Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” but it deserves to be in that conversation.

I don’t know a lot about Deep Purple, “Blackmore’s previous band, but from what I do know “Rainbow” is a departure. The keyboard-heavy sixties vibe is gone, replaced with a whole lot of Blackmore’s signature guitar sound. I guess when you name the band after yourself, you get what you like.

That said, there are still songs that remind me of sixties Who at their heaviest, including “Black Sheep of the Family” showing this album still has its foundations in that decade. They’ve just been made bigger.

A big part of making everything bigger is vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Blackmore has gone through a lot of musicians that didn’t follow his strict vision (I guess the big hint is he called the band “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow”). Whatever the band’s name is, Dio is a big part of what gets created here and I suspect when Dio left Rainbow (voluntarily, according to Wikipedia – which as we know is never wrong) I expect he took some of the furniture with him, musically speaking.

Dio soars on the majestic “Man on the Silver Mountain” and on many of the other songs his wacky warlock lyrics take centre stage as well. Hell, the band is named “Rainbow” a visual that RJD has put centre stage throughout his career. Of course, Dio doesn’t need a rainbow to write something crazy and mythic. Consider the opening lyrics to “The Temple of the King”:

“One day in the year of the fox

Came a time remembered well

When the strong young man of the rising sun

Heard the tolling of the great black bell”

When was the year of the fox? What great black bell? It doesn’t matter, my friends – relax in the robed arms of RJD and accept that magic doesn’t have to make sense. “Temple of the King,” more than any other on the album, shows the great combination of Dio and Blackmore’s talents. Dio adds the majesty, and Blackmore’s guitar on this song is sublime, trilling through the melody in a style that has elements of blues, folk and even flamenco, but never loses its rock edge.

The album ends with a cover of the Yardbirds’ “Still I’m Sad” the core of which always sounds to me like “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” Give it a Youtube listen and see if you agree.

Rainbow’s debut is responsible with its time, clocking in at only nine tracks and 37 minutes. It is yet another reminder that vinyl did us all a favour by limiting the amount of playing time an LP could have. My copy is a remaster, and I’m pleased to say they didn’t add any additional content – just the original songs, with better sound.

While you could argue that Rainbow’s second album, “Rising” rocks harder, I default to their debut partly because of the manifold ways they explore this new sound. Dio and Blackmore are like two long lost musical twins finding each other like a rainbow in the dark – maybe after being separated at birth by an evil sorcerer. Now that they are united and ringing that great black bell of rock, striking a tone that lets the world know once and for all that if you don’t like rock and roll, it’s too late. It’s here to stay.

Hmmm…I’ve been listening to too many Dio lyrics today…

Best tracks: Man on the Silver Mountain, Self Portrait, Snake Charmer,The Temple of the King, Sixteenth Century Greensleeves

CD Odyssey Disc 625: Rainbow

Ordinarily, today would be my last day off before heading back to work. Instead, I took next week off to recharge my batteries. So far, it feels great. I’ve had drinks with friends, worked in a fun game of Ultimate, played plenty of Arkham Horror with Sheila and generally had a good time – and I’m just getting started.

Disc 625 is…. Rising

Artist: Rainbow

Year of Release: 1976

What’s up with the Cover? A giant fist rises from the deep, clutching a rainbow. I love this album cover, which is exactly as over the top as seventies rock albums should look.

How I Came To Know It:  My friend Spence is an aficionado of all things related to seventies hard rock. He put me on to the band “Rainbow” after he told me that Ronnie James Dio was their lead singer for their first three records. I bought their debut record, “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow” first and liked it – “Rising” was my next stop as I drilled through their collection.

How It Stacks Up:  I have three of Rainbow’s albums, coinciding with the only three where Dio is the lead singer. Of the three, “Rising” is pretty awesome, but so is “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow”. Those two albums are so different that it really depends on what kind of mood I’m in in terms of which one is better. Today I’m in a mood to put “Rising” second.

Rating:  3 stars but almost 4

The mid-seventies were a great time for hard rock, and “Rising” is a good example of why that is; powerful, innovative and not afraid to take chances.

The band’s debut, “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow” came out a year prior and was a mix of progressive rock and Allman Brothers type blues riffs. “Rising” is very different. It is a lot heavier, more akin to the late seventies metal that would follow it than the psychedelic sixties that preceded it.

The album is anchored by the prodigious talent of guitarist and band founder Ritchie Blackmore (of Deep Purple fame) and Ronnie James Dio (of not-so-famous band “Elf”). Blackmore and Dio share writing credits on all the songs, and for the most part I like the result. The songs sound like a combination of the Deep Purple prog-psychadelia and the operatic rock sensibilities that Dio would later bring to Black Sabbath when he joined them a few years later.

Dio is blessed with one of the great voices of rock, and on “Rising” he is allowed to soar and show off. Blackmore’s guitar is restrained where it needs to be, but has a nice bluesy quality to it that keeps the nerdy song topics from becoming too ridiculous.

As with Dio’s later career, many of the songs seem to be right on the edge of being about something really important, but you can never fully figure out just what he is going on about. Apparently there is a “Tarot Woman” and at some point we are invited to “Run With the Wolf” but I can never figure out exactly why.

The album’s best song “Stargazer,” is at least recognizably about something; a wizard that builds some massive tower in the desert, while the people suffer around him. It isn’t clear why he does this, but I am given to understand that wizards like to build towers in mysterious wastelands. It is a thing. Even Dio admits:

“We build a tower of stone

With our flesh and bone

Just to see him fly

We don’t know why.”

Also, this song has at least three killer riffs that build perfectly off one another throughout the eight and half epic minutes of this track. If halfway through “Stargazer” you are not playing air guitar (or drums) then this type of music is simply not for you. Go read about the Beatles. I happen to love songs packed with power chords that are about fantastical landscapes, so I think it is brilliant.

As you may have guessed, “Rising” is decidedly not radio friendly. There are only six tracks, and two of them are eight minute monsters (the other, “A Light In the Black” is OK, but no “Stargazer”).

Don’t look for ballads on “Rising” – this is an up-tempo record with a lot of fury. There is none more furious than “Do You Close Your Eyes” which sounds like an eighties metal song ten years ahead of its time. I love the power guitar, and the thick crunchy sound. Unfortunately, the chorus founders a bit with some questionable chord progressions that saps some of the song’s energy. Also, the chorus “do you close your eyes/when you’re making love” is a bit goofy. The song is clearly about the singer’s girlfriend so…er…wouldn’t he know?

As is often the case with great rock music, it takes two big egos warring with one another to make great songs, and the tension between Blackmore and Dio’s styles is palpable on “Rising” but that tension only makes it better.

Best tracks: Run With the Wolf, Stargazer