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%

RAINBOW: Rising

Released: 1976

With his departure from Deep Purple finalised, Ritchie Blackmore discarded the group who had recorded Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow even before it had been released, keeping only Ronnie James Dio and building around him a monster touring band: bass player Jimmy Bain, keyboardist Tony Carey and legendary sticksman Cozy Powell who up until this point had been languishing in semi-obscurity as a former drummer with Jeff Beck. Together, moulded into shape by the endless touring regimen even superstars faced during the 1970s, the now simply-tagged Rainbow would create a true neo-classical hard rock masterpiece: Rising.

Blackmore knew there was a lot riding on this album, and he threw everything he could at it including the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. Most of all however, were six ripper songs leading off with an explosion of keyboard pomp courtesy of Carey that solidifies into "Tarot Woman", a solid catchy riff from Blackmore and the rich voice of Dio. "Run With the Wolf" is powered by a thunderous performance from Powell: for a band that had been little more than an ego project on its first outing, Blackmore really allows his supporting cast to shine here. "Starstuck" is just a plain rock-out track about an obsessed groupie and the bluntly succinct "Do You Close Your Eyes?" is possibly the shortest track in Rainbow's entire catalogue.

Possibly more than anything he'd done before, the second hald of Rising was the full flowering of Blackmore's neoclassical pretensions. There is no better example of this than the album's showcase, the ploddingly majestic "Stargazer", which not only features a complete orchestra but has Blackmore's Stratocaster sounding like a Stradivarius for his epic solo. After this, stops are pulled ever further with the extended wankfest that is "A Light in the Black", a track that could easy be the precursor to all DragonForce songs. Originally intended as an instrumental until Dio added his inimitable touches about open doors that need keys and other vaguely allegorical metaphors, in the middle is a spectacular duel between Blackmore and Carey that Sam Totman and his cronies probably have on constant repeat on their tour bus.

For fans of Baroque neo-classical hard rock, there is possibly no finer example than Rising.

1. Tarot Woman
2. Run With the Wolf
3. Starstruck
4. Do You Close Your Eyes?
5. Stargazer
6. A Light in the Black

Rating: 95%