Rainbow – Stranger in Us All – 1995 From the very first track, “Wolf to the Moon”, it’s obvious that Blackmore has been itching to rock. Judging from the terrible, wretched pap that he was forced to get behind with Deep Purple I don’t blame him. There’s a certain southern Continue Reading
Rainbow
Listening Post: Purple Sabbath – Rainbow – Bent Out of Shape
Rainbow – Bent Out of Shape – 1983 (I couldn’t be more pleased to be done with Rainbow for a while…..) 1. Stranded – The radio friendliness continues. It’s not a good thing. It’s not a bad thing. If I had to choose, I would choose to listen to Martin Continue Reading
Listening Post: Purple Sabbath – Rainbow – Straight Between the Eyes
Rainbow – Straight Between the Eyes – 1982 The first that struck me on Rainbow’s Straight Between the Eyes is that, while it’s very energetic and all, it’s not a very…cohesive record. The opener, “Death Valley Driver”, a cross between “Communication Breakdown” and “Radar Love” is marred by sloppy lead Continue Reading
Listening Post: Purple Sabbath – Rainbow – Difficult to Cure
Rainbow – Difficult to Cure – 1981 So, while the other major metal relics of the 60s (Sabbath, Ozzy) mine dark and exciting territories, Ritchie Blackmore turned Rainbow into the Greg Kihn Band with a dash of Scorpions. D2C is a toothless record and a weird one. Sel-important and pretentious Continue Reading
Listening Post: Purple Sabbath – Rainbow – Down to Earth
Rainbow – Down to Earth – 1979 Well, Ritchie Blackmore didn’t waste any time. No sooner is Dio out of the band, Graham Bonnett is in, and the Power Pop is in full force. From the outset, Down to Earth sounds like a band trying to be radio friendly. The Continue Reading
Listening Post: Purple Sabbath – Rainbow – Long Live Rock and Roll
Rainbow – Long Live Rock and Roll – 1978 There’s a theory that the children of a movement are more like the cult of that movement. More earnest. There’s less irony. I think that’s sort of true. And it’s no truer than it is with Rainbow. Only it’s weirder because Continue Reading
Listening Post: Purple Sabbath – Rainbow – Rising
Rainbow – Rising – 1976 It’s probably best to forget the last outing and just get started with Rising. After all, it’s loads better, more exciting, less reliant on ridiculous lyrics and uses a tighter band.I would say that this is what I was hoping and expecting from the Deep Continue Reading
Listening Post: Purple Sabbath – Rainbow – Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow
Rainbow – Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow – 1975 A few months before the last Deep Purple album of the 70s (and the first without Blackmore, an album that Ian Gillan, who did not sing on it, would decree not really a DP album) Blackmore came out with his new band and Continue Reading