A light in the black (Rainbow) (LP 3594 - 3596)

Rainbow  Rising (Vinyl, Oyster/Polydor Records, 1976) ****  

Rainbow  Long Live Rock'n'Roll (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1978) ***

Rainbow  Pot of Gold (CD, Spectrum Music, 2002) ****    

Genre: Hard rock

Places I remember: World Music Club, Marbecks Records & Tapes, The Warehouse

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Kill The King 

Gear costume: Since You've Been Gone, A Light in the Black

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: Ritchie Blackmore is an amazing, iconic, axe hero and by all accounts a curmudgeony kind of person - difficult to work with, a royal pain in the backside - yada yada. 

Luckily, I didn't have to work with him, so I can forget all that personality side show and just focus on what a brilliant guitarist he is. He's also an excellent judge of musician. For instance - Ronnie James Dio is exactly the right vocalist for Rainbow, and he knows that the right kind of drum sound is crucial. Step up Cozy Powell and take a bow - he's an under-appreciated drummer in my opinion.

I didn't buy their first album (Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow was an inauspicious debut), so we start with Rising. It's well named! Side one has shorter songs - good hard rock tunes like Starstruck (and point to where the band would go post Ronnie James Dio) but side two is where the fireworks reside for me with two epics.

Stargazer and A Light in the Black are beyond incredible and if you feel up for a spot of air guitaring from time to time - try this after you've played Deep Purple's Made in Japan.

Long Live Rock'n'Roll has survived a few culls over the years - mainly because it contains Kill The King, Gates of Babylon, The Shed, and the title song. Certainly enough for me to hang onto it.

  

Overall, it's not as strong as Rising (their real peak as a band) but it's still quality hard rock before they moved into poppier waters to chase chart success.

Special mention to Martin Birch again in this blog - he always delivers, and he certainly got the best out of Rainbow.

Where do they all belong? Pot Of Gold is a good budget compilation (there are plenty to choose from) which covers most of the bases over their career (Starstruck is a glaring omission). It does have Since You've Been Gone - their last great song.