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 on the horizon voices of Hagar, Springfield loom while at the same time this could be mistaken for an Ace Frehley record.
Not that this is bad. “All Night Long”, the lead track, is already more ear-friendly than anything from the first record and, in a way, makes me happier than anything on the last record, despite how good the second half of that one is.
As important as robot/android themes are to funk music, the latter part of the 70s were, for metal at least, all about space. ELO was the shining power pop beacon but Frehley had a comet and Rainbow has “Eyes of the World”. It may be mired in evil doing and the like but it’s wrapped in shiny aluminum space suits, to be sure. And on “No Time to Lose” Blackmore sounds like he’s having a good time for the first time since…Rising at least, maybe that’s because Don Airy’s organ playing sounds like it could be Jon Lord. Perhaps this is what Deep Purple would have sounded like if they just took a break in the early 70s and regrouped.
Oh, well.
The extreme leap into Power Pop of “Since You’ve Been Gone” is a reminder (to me) of what 1979-1982 was really about. It’s a great track and just makes me dig this record more and more.
There are occasional missteps (“Love’s No Friend” “Danger Zone”) but there’s more to enjoy on this record that I would have been led to believe. And I love love love LOVE that closer, “Lost in Hollywood”. Just great, guitar licking, speed-synthy greatness.
It’s my favorite Rainbow record (so far). A real treat.
Grade: B+
ASide: All Night Long, Since You Been Gone
BlindSide: Eyes of the World, No Time to Lose, Lost in Hollywood
DownSide: Nothing is really awful. This record’s just a lot of fun.
