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Trollheart · 05-14-2011, 05:06 PM

Rainbow Rising --- Rainbow --- 1976 (Polydor)

Boasting what was probably the classic Rainbow lineup of the late Ronnie James Dio on vocals, Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, the late Cozy Powell on drums, Jimmy Bain on bass and Tony Carey on keys, “Rainbow Rising” (often just called “Rising”) represents this phenomenal band at the height of their creative career. Though this was only their second album, and they would go on to cut many more before splitting in 1984, reforming after a fashion and then finally disbanding for good in 1998, I personally feel that with this record they reached the zenith of their creative peak, and although other albums were good --- “Long live rock and roll” springs to mind, as well as “Down to earth” --- for me, they never quite hit the “sweet spot” on other recording as they did on “Rising”. Sure, other albums yielded hit singles, and sadly for those outside the rock world it is those songs for which Rainbow will be remembered, but for me, this album was what Rainbow were all about.

You can see it just by looking at the sleeve. The imagery there grabs you --- you know this is not going to be an album full of truckin' or love songs: the themes explored here are what some would probably call neo-classical, mystical, legends and folklore being used in the lyrics, and in some ways I guess you could argue this is the Rainbow album that comes closest to being progressive rock, though nobody would ever describe them as being a prog band. Of course, RJD (may he rest in peace) was always interested in these sort of ideas --- dragons, princesses, towers, castles, and of course, rainbows! --- and would go on to explore them deeper, both with his own band and during his short time helming Black Sabbath after Ozzy left. Blackmore, weary and disillusioned by the “funk/jazz grove” his former band, Deep Purple had been slipping into, wanted to return to his rock roots, which is why he formed Rainbow in 1975, and this album is a triumphant vindication of his vision.

The prog influences are definitely there though. The opener, “Tarot woman”, kicks off with a two-minute keyboard intro by Tony Carey before it's joined by Blackmore's chugging guitar, and Ronnie James belts out the opening lines. The song itself is a good hard rocker, galloping along at a decent pace, and no doubt made a great introduction for the band's live shows around that time. Even the title has prog rock written all over it! Great solos as always from The Man In Black, with Cozy thumping out a solid beat and reminding us why we miss him so much, now that he's gone to the Great Gig in the Sky. The song ends as it began, Carey taking us out on a long warbling keyboard riff that fades out. It's followed by a song which would become the hallmark of Dio's solo work, as “Run with the wolf” lopes out of the speakers. It's a bit more funky (ironic really, as part of the reason Blackmore quit Deep Purple was that he thought they were getting too funky and less rocky!), slower and sort of remiscent of “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves” from the previous album.

The next track is probably the weakest on the album, and you can see it having possibly been written with one eye on the singles charts, as it's the most straight-ahead rocker, almost pop in its way, recalling the likes of the Sweet as the band launch into “Starstruck”. I personally find it an anarchronism: I could see it on the debut, but here it seems out of place. Nonetheless, Ronnie's in fine voice and the band certainly have fun with the song, and I'm sure it proved popular at gigs. It's kind of more a jam than anything else, I feel. Things kick back into high gear then for “Do you close your eyes?”, a great anthem and power-rocker, with RJD in top voice and Blackmore cranking out the solos and making his guitar scream as he does so well.

As someone once said, “It's a game of two halves”, and I know I've used that reference before, but again it's appropriate here. In particular, as when I bought the album we had none of yer compact disc rubbish, and it was on vinyl, and so “Do you close your eyes?” actually completes side one of the album. Even though on today's CDs and MP3 recordings there is no longer any distinction between “sides”, and no dividing line, there is clearly a change in the whole approach of the album from here on. Side 2, as it were, is taken up by two tracks only, but they're monsters, each over eight minutes, and linked by a central theme.

“Stargazer” is the story of a wizard who believes he can build a tower to the heavens, and touch the stars, and for whatever reason, is able to recruit slave labour from the surrounding lands to carry out the work for him. One would assume it's similar to the ancient pharaohs press-ganging the local citizenry to build their pyramids and tombs. The song centres on the lament of one such slave, who wonders how long they will have to remain there, what will happen, and what it is all for? “In the heat and the rain/ With whips and chains/ Just to see him fly/ So many died/ We built a tower of stone/ Out of our flesh and bone/ To see him fly / Don't know why!”

The song is a majestic, epic slowburner in the tradition of Led Zep's “Kashmir”, and uses many Arabic and Eastern-sounding themes and sounds, so that you really begin to feel the sweat dripping off the slaves as they labour under the harsh, unforgiving sun. But their revenge is at hand: “All eyes see the figure of the wizard/ As he climbs to the top of the world/ There's no sound, as he falls/ Instead of rising! / Time's standing still/ Then there's blood on the sand.” This sort of melody would be echoed in years to come, in part at least, in Dio's second album, “The last in line”, on the track “Egypt (The chains are on)”. As the song fades out and winds down, Ronnie sings “ I see a rainbow rising/ back on the horizon,” an obvious nod to both the title and the artwork on the sleeve.

The closer, “A light in the black”, takes off the kid gloves and the band, heads down, legs no doubt firmly planted apart, thunder to the conclusion of the album, as RJD as the now-released slave heads for his home, wondering if he will ever see it again? “Won't forget his face.” he sings as the song opens, “What a lonely place/ Did they really let us go?/ All the time that's lost/ What's the final cost? / Will I really get away?” Cozy really comes into his own here, the backbone of the song as it careens along, with perhaps one of Blackmore's most powerful and evocative solos halfway through, when the man's grasp of the use of classical music is left in no doubt. In fact, his extended solo covers almost half of the entire track: it's a real showcase for his talents. Showoff? Maybe, but when you have the talent this guy has, why not?

The song comes to an explosive end, with RJD singing his lungs out, and by the end, you're left literally catching your breath. Now THAT's rock and roll!

TRACKLISTING
1. Tarot woman
2. Run with the wolf
3. Starstruck
4. Do you close your eyes?
5. Stargazer
6. A light in the black

Suggested further listening: "Long live rock and roll", also "Heaven and Hell" by Black Sabbath (featuring Ronnie James Dio) and Dio's albums "Holy diver", "The last in line" and "Killing the dragon"

05-14-2011, 05:06 PM	#15 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Rainbow Rising --- Rainbow --- 1976 (Polydor) Boasting what was probably the classic Rainbow lineup of the late Ronnie James Dio on vocals, Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, the late Cozy Powell on drums, Jimmy Bain on bass and Tony Carey on keys, “Rainbow Rising” (often just called “Rising”) represents this phenomenal band at the height of their creative career. Though this was only their second album, and they would go on to cut many more before splitting in 1984, reforming after a fashion and then finally disbanding for good in 1998, I personally feel that with this record they reached the zenith of their creative peak, and although other albums were good --- “Long live rock and roll” springs to mind, as well as “Down to earth” --- for me, they never quite hit the “sweet spot” on other recording as they did on “Rising”. Sure, other albums yielded hit singles, and sadly for those outside the rock world it is those songs for which Rainbow will be remembered, but for me, this album was what Rainbow were all about. You can see it just by looking at the sleeve. The imagery there grabs you --- you know this is not going to be an album full of truckin' or love songs: the themes explored here are what some would probably call neo-classical, mystical, legends and folklore being used in the lyrics, and in some ways I guess you could argue this is the Rainbow album that comes closest to being progressive rock, though nobody would ever describe them as being a prog band. Of course, RJD (may he rest in peace) was always interested in these sort of ideas --- dragons, princesses, towers, castles, and of course, rainbows! --- and would go on to explore them deeper, both with his own band and during his short time helming Black Sabbath after Ozzy left. Blackmore, weary and disillusioned by the “funk/jazz grove” his former band, Deep Purple had been slipping into, wanted to return to his rock roots, which is why he formed Rainbow in 1975, and this album is a triumphant vindication of his vision. The prog influences are definitely there though. The opener, “Tarot woman”, kicks off with a two-minute keyboard intro by Tony Carey before it's joined by Blackmore's chugging guitar, and Ronnie James belts out the opening lines. The song itself is a good hard rocker, galloping along at a decent pace, and no doubt made a great introduction for the band's live shows around that time. Even the title has prog rock written all over it! Great solos as always from The Man In Black, with Cozy thumping out a solid beat and reminding us why we miss him so much, now that he's gone to the Great Gig in the Sky. The song ends as it began, Carey taking us out on a long warbling keyboard riff that fades out. It's followed by a song which would become the hallmark of Dio's solo work, as “Run with the wolf” lopes out of the speakers. It's a bit more funky (ironic really, as part of the reason Blackmore quit Deep Purple was that he thought they were getting too funky and less rocky!), slower and sort of remiscent of “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves” from the previous album. The next track is probably the weakest on the album, and you can see it having possibly been written with one eye on the singles charts, as it's the most straight-ahead rocker, almost pop in its way, recalling the likes of the Sweet as the band launch into “Starstruck”. I personally find it an anarchronism: I could see it on the debut, but here it seems out of place. Nonetheless, Ronnie's in fine voice and the band certainly have fun with the song, and I'm sure it proved popular at gigs. It's kind of more a jam than anything else, I feel. Things kick back into high gear then for “Do you close your eyes?”, a great anthem and power-rocker, with RJD in top voice and Blackmore cranking out the solos and making his guitar scream as he does so well. As someone once said, “It's a game of two halves”, and I know I've used that reference before, but again it's appropriate here. In particular, as when I bought the album we had none of yer compact disc rubbish, and it was on vinyl, and so “Do you close your eyes?” actually completes side one of the album. Even though on today's CDs and MP3 recordings there is no longer any distinction between “sides”, and no dividing line, there is clearly a change in the whole approach of the album from here on. Side 2, as it were, is taken up by two tracks only, but they're monsters, each over eight minutes, and linked by a central theme. “Stargazer” is the story of a wizard who believes he can build a tower to the heavens, and touch the stars, and for whatever reason, is able to recruit slave labour from the surrounding lands to carry out the work for him. One would assume it's similar to the ancient pharaohs press-ganging the local citizenry to build their pyramids and tombs. The song centres on the lament of one such slave, who wonders how long they will have to remain there, what will happen, and what it is all for? “In the heat and the rain/ With whips and chains/ Just to see him fly/ So many died/ We built a tower of stone/ Out of our flesh and bone/ To see him fly / Don't know why!” The song is a majestic, epic slowburner in the tradition of Led Zep's “Kashmir”, and uses many Arabic and Eastern-sounding themes and sounds, so that you really begin to feel the sweat dripping off the slaves as they labour under the harsh, unforgiving sun. But their revenge is at hand: “All eyes see the figure of the wizard/ As he climbs to the top of the world/ There's no sound, as he falls/ Instead of rising! / Time's standing still/ Then there's blood on the sand.” This sort of melody would be echoed in years to come, in part at least, in Dio's second album, “The last in line”, on the track “Egypt (The chains are on)”. As the song fades out and winds down, Ronnie sings “ I see a rainbow rising/ back on the horizon,” an obvious nod to both the title and the artwork on the sleeve. The closer, “A light in the black”, takes off the kid gloves and the band, heads down, legs no doubt firmly planted apart, thunder to the conclusion of the album, as RJD as the now-released slave heads for his home, wondering if he will ever see it again? “Won't forget his face.” he sings as the song opens, “What a lonely place/ Did they really let us go?/ All the time that's lost/ What's the final cost? / Will I really get away?” Cozy really comes into his own here, the backbone of the song as it careens along, with perhaps one of Blackmore's most powerful and evocative solos halfway through, when the man's grasp of the use of classical music is left in no doubt. In fact, his extended solo covers almost half of the entire track: it's a real showcase for his talents. Showoff? Maybe, but when you have the talent this guy has, why not? The song comes to an explosive end, with RJD singing his lungs out, and by the end, you're left literally catching your breath. Now THAT's rock and roll! TRACKLISTING 1. Tarot woman 2. Run with the wolf 3. Starstruck 4. Do you close your eyes? 5. Stargazer 6. A light in the black Suggested further listening: "Long live rock and roll", also "Heaven and Hell" by Black Sabbath (featuring Ronnie James Dio) and Dio's albums "Holy diver", "The last in line" and "Killing the dragon" __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 11-04-2011 at 10:39 AM.