# Rainbow



## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Ok, so we have a Deep Purple thread. Now it's time for a Rainbow thread . Thoughts on the band? Blackmore's solos are some of the greatest in rock, which is by now a fact, and I am a fan of his soloing for sure.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Mixed feelings - I liked the Dio era, the 'Rising' album being the crowning glory. His short-lived successor Graham Bonnet had a fine set of pipes and he had to overcome fan prejudice due to his smooth soulboy look but the group in whatever incarnation became too slick for my liking from then on (although I've never heard the last album 'Stranger in Us All' so I don't know if it's in a similar commercial vein to the four albums which preceded it).


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> Mixed feelings - I liked the Dio era, the 'Rising' album being the crowning glory. His short-lived successor Graham Bonnet had a fine set of pipes and he had to overcome fan prejudice due to his smooth soulboy look but the group in whatever incarnation became too slick for my liking from then on (although I've never heard the last album 'Stranger in Us All' so I don't know if it's in a similar commercial vein to the four albums which preceded it).


Yeah, Graham Bonnet definitely has a more commercial, '80s' feel to him than does Dio, but I'm in it for the solos and the guitarwork . Blackmore's solos are fine in all albums, he probably goes even further into classical territory (at least in his solos) after Dio's departure.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Very good, but I like Blackmore's Night better. Ritchie is my hero


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## Open Lane (Nov 11, 2015)

I own all of the dio stuff and one other. Can't really listen to the non-dio stuff without thinking "this would be better with dio." Just my opinion.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Ahh-- hard rock before it became a bunch of hair bands with silly metal posturing. I love the sound of the Hammond tone wheels mixed with growling guitar. Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Vanilla Fudge, and yes, Rainbow. But I too prefer the Dio albums and prefer Blackmore's Night over the post Dio albums. 

Stargazer and Gates of Babylon are the stand out tracks for me.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Just wanted to add that I did see the group in 1980 with Bonnet and he handled the Dio-era material really well, even though it looked strange that a bloke with slicked-back hair, shades and wearing a trendy blouson was singing sword-and-sorcery stuff like 'Man on the Silver Mountain' heh heh. 

Keyboard player Don Airey got booed for playing a snatch of Booker T & the MGs' 'Green Onions', presumably because it was associated with the then-prevalent Mod Revival thanks to it being featured in the recent 'Quadrophenia' movie. Support band were Samson (who were very average), who featured not only a drummer in a wrestling mask but also a moustachioed pre-Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Very good, but I like Blackmore's Night better. Ritchie is my hero


Really? Cool. Yeah, Blackmore's Night is an excellent band, I agree. Sometimes I miss the 'rock' aspect of Ritchie though, but the musicianship is very good.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Weston said:


> Ahh-- hard rock before it became a bunch of hair bands with silly metal posturing. I love the sound of the Hammond tone wheels mixed with growling guitar. Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Vanilla Fudge, and yes, Rainbow. But I too prefer the Dio albums and prefer Blackmore's Night over the post Dio albums.
> 
> Stargazer and Gates of Babylon are the stand out tracks for me.


Yeah, Gates of Babylon, but Catch the Rainbow is a masterpiece as well, I was startled upon hearing it of late and realizing that I've never heard this excellent track.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> Just wanted to add that I did see the group in 1980 with Bonnet and he handled the Dio-era material really well, even though it looked strange that a bloke with slicked-back hair, shades and wearing a trendy blouson was singing sword-and-sorcery stuff like 'Man on the Silver Mountain' heh heh.
> 
> Keyboard player Don Airey got booed for playing a snatch of Booker T & the MGs' 'Green Onions', presumably because it was associated with the then-prevalent Mod Revival thanks to it being featured in the recent 'Quadrophenia' movie. Support band were Samson (who were very average), who featured not only a drummer in a wrestling mask but also a moustachioed pre-Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson.


Samson - that was the band Bruce Dickinson was in before Maiden? Hehe, thanks for the info tidbit .


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

I was a fan during the Dio era Went to the concerts bought the vinyl and literally had the t shirt. Blackmore was a big influence on my guitar playing, despite him trying to maim me with a smashed up Stratocaster. The daft bugger thew it at the balcony where I was sitting. I was the only guy who ducked ( I knew what a Fender Strat weighed!) I beleive someone came to grief in the stalls immediatly below. Great guitarist when he wasnt in a strop....I could tell you some tales! Rainbow rising Is still one of the greatest rock Lp;s EVER!


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Badinerie said:


> I was a fan during the Dio era Went to the concerts bought the vinyl and literally had the t shirt. Blackmore was a big influence on my guitar playing, despite him trying to maim me with a smashed up Stratocaster. The daft bugger thew it at the balcony where I was sitting. I was the only guy who ducked ( I knew what a Fender Strat weighed!) I beleive someone came to grief in the stalls immediatly below. Great guitarist when he wasnt in a strop....I could tell you some tales! Rainbow rising Is still one of the greatest rock Lp;s EVER!


A shame the guy would actually injure people in concerts and get away with it. But, I am definitely a fan of his guitar playing.


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## Guest (Dec 12, 2015)

A blast from the past - one of my first year room mates (Class of '77) had only one album (can you believe it???) and I became very familiar with _Stargazer _and _Light in the Black_ in particular.

We 'long hairs' would crank up the volume (I was the only one with something resembling a hi-fi!) until the warden came and complained. I would argue that both Phil Collins and Pierre Moerlen (Gong) were superior (because subtle) drummers to Cozy Powell, and Mike across the landing would argue for Clive Bunker and Barriemore Barlow (Jethro Tull).

Listening to it now on Youtube (what a marvellous invention!) I still wonder at the silly lyrics and what I presume is single-pedal bass drumming - not like the cheats who pass for metal drummers these days! I want to go into the living room and crack it up again!

My sister-in-law is visiting and when she rose I asked if she had slept well. She politely said she did, not letting on to the fact that she had been forced to listen to the music I'd been enjoying on headphones since 6am as I'd forgotten to mute the speakers. Good job it was Sibelius 4th and not _Rainbow Rising_.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I gather the Bonnet line-up only played 'Stargazer' once, at Donnington Park in 1980 - it was Cozy Powell's final gig with the band and he wanted to play it one last time (I think it turned out to be Bonnet's final gig as well). Acceding to Powell's request was possibly one of the few examples of Ritchie Blackmore putting a bandmate's wishes first heh heh... I still think Powell's intro is one of the mightiest intros to a rock song ever.


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> I gather the Bonnet line-up only played 'Stargazer' once, at Donnington Park in 1980 - it was Cozy Powell's final gig with the band and he wanted to play it one last time (I think it turned out to be Bonnet's final gig as well). Acceding to Powell's request was possibly one of the few examples of Ritchie Blackmore putting a bandmate's wishes first heh heh... I still think Powell's intro is one of the mightiest intros to a rock song ever.


It's true, it hits you like a rock. Very metallic.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

"Rising" is unbelievably good but "Long Live Rock'n'Roll" is very good as well. I have the same opinion on stand-out tracks as Weston.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Great Band. Something great on each album. I really liked Joe Lynn Turner's spell as singer.
But as others have said on many posts - Rainbow Rising was their crowning glory.

I just popped over to Wiki and read this



> In 2015, Blackmore announced that he would play four "all rock" concerts in the summer of 2016. Two shows have currently been confirmed in Germany under the banner of 'Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and Friends', with a further show at the Birmingham Genting Arena in England.[32] Later on November 6, the line up was revealed as Lords Of Black singer Ronnie Romero, Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson, Blackmore's Night drummer David Keith and bassist Bob Nouveau.[33][34]


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## Guest (Dec 24, 2015)

I love the Dio-era Rainbow. I saw their 1975 and 1976 tours. They played "Stargazer" and "A Light in the Black" back-to-back just like on the LP. I met them after the 1975 show--everyone was very friendly, even Ritchie, but especially Ronnie and Cozy. Here are some pics I took from the front row:





































They were so loud that I was dizzy and couldn't walk well for about 30 minutes!


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Kontrapunctus said:


> I love the Dio-era Rainbow. I saw their 1975 and 1976 tours. They played "Stargazer" and "A Light in the Black" back-to-back just like on the LP. I met them after the 1975 show--everyone was very friendly, even Ritchie, but especially Ronnie and Cozy. Here are some pics I took from the front row:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow, thanks for the vintage pics! Pretty sweet .


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## Guest (Dec 24, 2015)

MagneticGhost said:


> Great Band. Something great on each album. I really liked Joe Lynn Turner's spell as singer.
> But as others have said on many posts - Rainbow Rising was their crowning glory.
> 
> I just popped over to Wiki and read this


Rainbow's new singer sounds a lot like Dio--and his first name is Ronnie! (Romero is his last name.) Here's a video of Ronnie's band:






I just found a video of him doing "Stargazer"--sounds great, but it would be better without the audience singing along!


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Kontrapunctus said:


> Rainbow's new singer sounds a lot like Dio--and his first name is Ronnie! (Romero is his last name.) Here's a video of Ronnie's band:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Guy knows his Dio, though in the video above, I wouldn't say that his style sounds much like Dio's.


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## Guest (Dec 26, 2015)

There's only one Dio, but this Ronnie certainly sounds convincing. I'm glad Ritchie went for a Dio-esque voice rather than a Joe Lynn Turner--it suggests they'll be doing a lot of Dio-era material.


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