Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Polydor / Umgd - Polydor / Umgd
Rainbow
Release date: 1999-04-27
Audio CD
Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Pop, Pop/Rock Music, Popular Music, Rock, Rock/Pop
1. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll
2. Lady of the Lake
3. L.A. Connection
4. Gates of Babylon
5. Kill the King
6. The Shed (Subtle)
7. Sensitive to Light
8. Rainbow Eyes
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Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Date undefinedI've received my fair share of criticism allegedly being a person who only wants to listen to hard rock. Although that's not true, I certainly listen to my share of hard rock and heavy metal including Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Judas Priest, and my favorite band, Black Sabbath. Rainbow is also a hard rock band and also one of my favorites. When I heard this album, Long Live Rock & Roll, I couldn't have agreed more! It's rock and roll at its best, and the tracks Lady of the Lake, Gates of Babylon, The Shed (Subtle) along with the title track are some of the best hard rock songs I've heard.
What a surprise when I heard the bewitching Rainbow Eyes! This song is musical magic. It's been more than twenty years since I first heard this song, and I still believe it's the finest piece of music I've ever heard. You don't get any anvil-chorus drums or screaming guitars on this song. What you do get is a kind of time warp in which a modern-day rock band somehow finds itself in medieval England playing as troubadours for a noble knight who has lost his lady love. At least that's what it says to me. It can say something else to you, I suppose, but the flute, guitar, violin, and Dio's vocals can really make you fall in love with this song. Check it out. If you're anything like me, you won't find anything better!
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Date undefinedThe Blackmore/Dio/Powell axis ended on a high note with this 1978 album featuring a great band drawing for the cover. It continues in the hard rock/early metal vein of the previous one with a few surprises as well. In addition to Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Ronnie James Dio (vocals), and Cozy Powell (drums), two new members came in for the recording with Bob Daisley on bass and David Stone on keyboards. In charge of the production was the great Martin Birch just like the last two albums. The challenge in Rainbow is try to pay attention to what the keyboard is doing on each song as it tends to get pushed back in favor of the guitar!
The first song "Long Live Rock And Roll" displays their bluesy hard rock with excellent vocals by Dio, and a killer solo by Blackmore. One of the few songs from this album to be played regularly in concert. Note the fine keyboard playing that accompanies throughout the song. Too bad it's kind of buried in the mix.
The second cut is "Lady Of The Lake". A mean riff by Blackmore is repeated for the verses but the chorus ends up being the real highlight of the song. Unlike the previous track, the keyboard work here is very prominent with that choir-aah sound that I really like! Also notice that for the second and final verses, Blackmore adds a slide guitar overdub that really enhances the song.
For the next song, the album goes back to more bluesy hard rock in "LA Connection" where the guitar seems to be filtered through a phasing effect. But my favorite part comes at the end where Stone steps in to add some cool piano runs.
However the best is yet to come with the epic eastern-tinged fourth number "Gates Of Babylon". This got to be one of Rainbow's best songs ever! A stunning keyboard intro opens this masterpiece. Then the main part of the song appears with a haunting eastern riff, stellar vocals by Dio, the choir-aah keyboard for the chorus, and one of the best solos Blackmore ever did! This is definitely among his top five!
The rebellious "Kill The King" comes next and it's an excellent early speed metal number that drummer Powell co-wrote with Dio and Blackmore. Check out Liege Lord's great cover on their album "Master Control".
Blackmore's bluesy soloing introduces the next number called "The Shed (Subtle)" that also includes a songwriting credit to Powell. A catchy riff is repeated throughout that sounds slightly reminiscent of the Deep Purple song "Stormbringer". No keyboard here? Of course there is. Listen carefully towards the end for that thick Hammond organ sound.
The fast-paced "Sensitive To Light" is the shortest song on the album at only three minutes. Sounds kind of poppy but I like it a lot, especially the melodic instrumental bridge that pops up in the middle.
But there's still one more highlight to come with the ballad "Rainbow Eyes". Easily one of the best ballads the group ever wrote! Dio has a nice gentle voice here while Blackmore plays some seemingly Hendrix inspired rhythm guitar. But don't overlook it's marvelous string arrangement that includes a flute player as well! I really like the ending too, when that melody keeps repeating until the fade out. A great way of finishing this awesome album!
Fans of hard rock should definitely consider adding this hard rock masterpiece to their respective collections as soon as possible! You won't be disappointed!
Thanks for taking the time to read!
Later...
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Date undefinedMany people come to the end of the Deep Purple and Black Sabbath catalogs and ask themselves a profound and frightening question, "is this all there is of awesome '70s hard rock?" While Dio's later work in the 80's is okay and certainly good hard rock continues to be made, there was just something special about gut wrenching Blackmore riffs and devil references that actually made you a little scared (not the cartoon devil of Ozzy- this devil had horns!).
And so we arrive at this small window in time where a guitarist needed a voice and a voice needed 130 decibels of power chords and two supporting guys named Ian that rock harder than any 'rage rocker' of today.
The themes are simple. Rock and roll should live forever, rock and roll is king, the devil is mean and mysterious and medieval ladies were hot and well mysterious. Throw in a raunchy song about LA and moody sappy ballad for the chicks (sorry ladies) and we have ourselves one great album.
A note of thanks to a good friend of mine from Mendoza Argentina who turned me on to this hidden gem. It rocked 30 years ago (holy cow) and it rocks today.
