RITCHIE BLACKMORE'S RAINBOW: Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

Produced by Martin Birch, Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio

Released: 1975

I was in the middle of some other reviews when the news broke that Ronnie James Dio had finally succumbed to his stomach cancer. Dio was such a huge figure in the world of rock and metal that almost nothing anyone could do would pay him tribute enough, so far be it from me to make any attempt here. Dio's voice was one of the first things that attracted me to hard rock and heavy metal. One of the other things was Ritchie Blackmore. This was the first of their colloborations, one of the major factors that turned me onto the Left Hand Path that is metal. While both Blackmore and Dio would go on to make better albums (like Rising, the very next thing they would do together), this was the genesis of an entire genre of heavy metal music that still exists today and inspired everyone from Lars Ulrich to the bloke fronting that crappy band down the pub last week.

This was ostensibly a Blackmore solo album at the time of conception, a way for him to explore the dark, classically-inspired music he adored that Deep Purple was no longer making. There could have been no better fit for the guitarist's ponderous Baroque riffing than the golden throat of Ronnie James Dio; just like Blackmore, Dio had a love of allegory and mysticism that led to the birth of fantasy-themed metal in tracks like "The Temple of the King" and the better-realised "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" full of sword-play, damsels in distress and a towering guitar solo. The album opens with the majestic marching riff of "Man on the Silver Mountain" that immediately establishes Dio's reputation for mystical optimism and became a classic that he played for the rest of his life. "Self Portrait" strays close to the realm of plodding doom before the groove returns on a cover of a Quatermass song called "Black Sheep of the Family" that Blackmore never got to do with Purple. "Snake Charmer" hits pretty hard, but "If You Don't Like Rock N Roll" seems like an odd track to throw on here, even with Ronnie's tongue-in-cheek lyrics that he often put to Rainbow's more upbeat rockers. Then in the middle of the album is the magnificent "Catch the Rainbow", Blackmore's best ballad featuring understated (for him) guitar and Dio's huge, magic vocal.

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow is a glorious album of classic 70s heavy rock, an album that began a legacy but one that also resulted in vastly different fortunes for those who recorded it. Dio went on to height after height from this moment, while Blackmore never quite attained the level of greatness he had enjoyed with Deep Purple. As for the rest of the band, keyboards-player Mickey Lee Soule, bassist Craig Gruber and drummer Garry Driscoll (who was murdered in 1987), their capable but workmanlike performances were rewarded with being fired before the band even left the studio.

1. Man on the Silver Mountain
2. Self Portrait
3. Black Sheep of the Family
4. Catch the Rainbow
5. Snake Charmer
6. The Temple of the King
7. If You Don't Like Rock n Roll
8. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
9. Still I'm Sad

Rating: 80%