Rainbow "The Best Of Rainbow" 1975-1981(rec) 1981(comp)*****

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow was the first record I ever bought, in my early teens. It captured my imagination, both musically with its rocking guitars and emotive ballads, and lyrically with its sword-and-sorcery imagery. After a couple of years I got this compilation which lasted me for almost a decade - i.e. until I decided to get their complete discography on CD. I wasn't in a hurry to do that, since (almost) every Rainbow song you need is here; since it was released in 1981, it omits the band's last two LP's with Joe Lynn Turner but that's no great loss - not to dis the singer, but I'm not a fan of those albums' commercial sound. As for my favorite Rainbow song ever ("Temple Of The King") it's conspicuously absent from most of their compilations and was excluded from the band's concerts until their 1995 re-emergence with Doogie White on vocals. It seems the band never really liked it, maybe it was too acoustic for them. In Greece, though, it was hugely popular. Everyone playing acoustic guitar in the 80's just had to learn it, it was one of the most requested "foreign" songs around the campfires and friendly gatherings of the era. Other than that, though, these 16 songs represent the very best Rainbow have to offer. We'll examine them chronologically, although the compilation doesn't take a chronological approach, trying to achieve a balance between the 4 LP sides. Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975) was recorded as a solo album when Blackmore was still with Deep Purple. He's backed here by Ronnie James Dio's band Elf, minus the guitarist. From that album we get one of the all-time classic heavy riffs of "Man on the Silver Mountain", medieval fantasy rocker "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" and fantastic power ballad "Catch the Rainbow".

For the second album Rising (1976), Rainbow morphed into a proper band. The first of countless personnel changes included Jimmy Bain on bass, Tony Carey on keys, and powerhouse drummer Cozy Powell. Both of the album's 8+ min. epics ("Stargazer" and "A Light in the Black") are included, as well as radio friendly single "Starstruck". A hugely influential album, Rising can arguably be considered a precursor to both the prog metal and power metal subgenres. We get nothing from the live album On Stage (1977), and I can't say I mind at all. Sure Rainbow were great live, but their performances were too long and over-indulgent. If I have to choose, I'll always prefer the studio version. Their last album with Ronnie James Dio, 1978's Long Live Rock 'n' Roll continued in similar vein; despite the absence of an epic like "Stargazer" it's still a great album. We get here the proggy, strings-augmented, "Gates of Babylon", proto-power metal "Kill the King", and the celebratory title track whose catchy chorus has made it an absolute live favorite. Most people (myself included) consider the 3 albums of the Dio/Blackmore era to be the band's pinnacle, but Blackmore was intent on taking a more commercial direction which Dio was unwilling to follow - enter Graham Bonnet for 1979's Down to Earth.

The band for this album also includes Blackmore's former Deep Purple bandmate Roger Glover on bass and production duties, future Deep Purple organist Don Airy, and Cozy Powell. 4 tracks from the album are selected for inclusion: a cover of Russ Ballard's AOR rocker "Since You Been Gone" was their highest charting single so far, with the equally earworm-y 2nd single "All Night Long" following suit. The latter was criticized for its "sexist" lyrics e.g. "I saw you standing down by the stage/Your Black stockings and your see through dress...Don't know about your brain/But you look alright". Yes, the lyrics are so bad they could be a Spinal Tap-style parody. "Lost in Hollywood" is another AOR piece, while the relatively underrated "Eyes of the World" successfully bridges their new commercial sound to the earlier neo-Classical style, and may well be the best song on the LP. Now, Bonnet wasn't your typical hard rock singer but he did well for the band; he could even pull off Dio material in concert but that wasn't enough for Blackmore. Exit Bonnett and Powell, enter Joe Lynn Turner and Bobby Rondinelli for 1981's Difficult to Cure. From this line-up we get the 3 hit singles: "Can't Happen Here", Russ Ballard cover "I Surrender", and the eponymous track from the Jealous Lover EP (1981). It's cool radio-friendly stuff, and they'd release 2 more successful albums with Turner, but writing catchy hit singles is not what Blackmore will be remembered for. In the end he chose to return to his hard rock roots by resurrecting Deep Purple in '84. Anyway, if you're into vinyl this is the best (not to mention only) way to get almost every essential Rainbow song in one place. I kind of like the album cover too - no wonder as it's designed by Hipgnosis. There's also a CD version, though it's not as exhaustive as, say, Catch The Rainbow: The Anthology. Curiously, even that one finds no place for "Temple Of The King ", despite its 2,5-hours running time. WTF?

***** for Man on the Silver Mountain, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, Stargazer, Since You Been Gone, Sixteenth Century Greensleeves, Catch the Rainbow, Eyes of the World, I Surrender, Gates of Babylon

**** for All Night Long, Lost in Hollywood, Jealous Lover, Kill the King, A Light in the Black, Can't Happen Here, Starstruck