Rainbow

An absolutely BRILLIANT album, and I don't say that about Greatest Hits packages. This album covers all of their studio albums (except the 96 "reunion" one). The track listing shows just how great Rainbow was - you don't think of them as having tons of hits, but this album shows it in spades. Even though I have just about every one of these songs already on another disc, I still love this, because I get to hear something from all their albums at the same time. If you don't have Rainbow, GET THIS!!

For some reason, I never completed the Rainbow discography on CD. I used to have every album on pre-recorded cassette, but I never got everything on CD. After LLR&R, there was Down to Earth, Difficult to Cure, Straight Between the Eyes, Bent out of Shape, & Finyl Vinyl before the band broke up when Ritchie Blackmore rejoined Deep Purple in the mid 80's. After Ritchie left Purple again for good in the mid 90's, he reformed Rainbow for one album before giving that up, too. We got this album. I rather liked it at the time, but it doesn't seem to have held up all that well. There's a few good tracks, but overall, I'd prefer to listen to Dio era Rainbow. :)

Another really great album from Rainbow. Not as great as Rising, but a very solid, very good rock album in it's own right (even if it has god-awful cover art). There's another "spectacle" song here, that being Gates of Babylon. Also, Kill the King is a wonderful concert opener, I wish Dio still played that one, and the concert staple "Long Live Rock & Roll" is here. It's the last album with Dio, and for most the end of Rainbow. The music made later was a conscious effort to be more commercial, more "radio friendly", and as such, Dio left.

This album was originally released under the title of "Rainbow: On Stage". This version is essentially the same as the original, except the songs are longer. The original print had songs cut down to make them shorter to fit onto spots on the album, but now that we're almost 20 years later on, technology allows for some more space, so the original versions have been restored. It isn't the greatest sounding live album, but it is a testament to the brilliance of this lineup that the sound and energy can shine through on a not totally up to par recording.

This is Rainbow's best album. Rising is a masterpiece, from the opening of Tarot Woman through the spectacle that is Stargazer through Light in the Black - a brilliant album all the way through. Contains a few names that folks will recognize. Jimmy Bain who has played with Dio on many Dio albums, and Cozy Powell (veteran of many bands). This album also started the revolving door of personnel - I don't think Ritchie had the same lineup on two consecutive Rainbow albums ever. :)

After leaving Deep Purple, Ritchie formed his own band, Rainbow. Initially, it consisted of the remnants of the former band Elf, which had Ronnie James Dio as its vocalist. Ronnie said that he'd join if Ritchie took on the members of Elf with him (except the guitarist, of course). Anyway, the result is the lightest Rainbow album. The rest are more "serious" albums, this one seems more "happy" and airey, which is a goofy way to describe a rock album, but I can't think of any other way. ;) Contains the Rainbow signature song "Man on the Silver Mountain".