Debut album of the band of a Riccardo Nerodipiù, who has self-exiled from Deep Purple for the crime of lèse-majesté against others, and is ready to create a project all his own (yes, with Black Jack and a luxurious Ronnie James Dio) where he can fully express his idea of rock in an epic-fantasy style, emphasizing the most grandiloquent side of folklore and merging it with a genre, Hard Rock, that has never really been known for its sobriety, quite the contrary, in none of its aspects (from the living comics of Kiss to the expansive muscular power of the Purple themselves, or even folks like Uriah Heep, who have been "discreet" pioneers when it comes to refined Hard Rock that is simultaneously "epic" and majestic) and the result is an Hard Rock that aims for exaggeration and epicness in lyrics and melodies, with RJ's voice clean and wide, ringing without annoying high notes every three seconds, proving perfect for the operation. No one like Rainbow had pushed Hard Rock to such epic (and "clean" and "airy"... and even a bit kitschy, if you allow me) territories. I can't say that the result excites me incredibly (my favorite track is the one that strays the furthest from their style, and it's a cover too) but some songs ("Temple of the King" "Catch the Rainbow") are indeed beautiful and evocative as intended and the album is good. Better will be "Rising", the definitive manifesto of Nerodipiù's epic and pompous music.
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