Rainbow

Released in 1978, Rainbow’s third album, and last with Ronnie James Dio, tends to get overlooked falling as it does between the epic Rising and the more radio friendly Down to Earth so this deluxe reissue is a good opportunity to re-asses it.

Opening with the rollocking title track and taken with LA Connection and Sensitive to Light elsewhere, the more commercial sound that Ritchie Blackmore would explore in later albums is detectable, Having said that the album is probably one of the heaviest they ever recorded with the likes of Kill the King and The Shed being full on hard rock. But there’s also space for some of the flamboyance of the earlier albums with Gates of Babylon and Lady of the Lake. The album closes with the quite beautiful Rainbow Eyes, with Ronnie James Dio’s voice to the fore and demonstrating what a versatile singer he was and why he is so missed.

Overall the performances are top notch with the late Cozy Powell battering his kit into the ground, and of course Blackmore’s fretboard pyrotechnics reminding what a true guitar hero is and what we are missing now that he’s gone all Blondel.

The extras are rough mixes of the album tracks, a rehearsal of Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll, and a live show from 1978 that probably should have been left in the can. These are of curiosity value only and once heard probably never will be again.