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Rating: One of the best hard rock albums ever! Period. Around the mid-seventies, the charismatic guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who had founded the legendary Deep Purple a decade earlier, found himself at a crossroads: continue playing with the band that had made him famous worldwide or seek a change? For some years, he had been tired and demotivated, largely due to the direction Purple had taken towards a funkier sound, which he (and most fans) detested. After the "Stormbringer" tour in the first half of 1975, Blackmore decided to leave. His last date with the group was in Paris in April of that year. "The man in Black," as the guitarist was nicknamed, decided that his time was over and recruited the entire Elf band, led by a certain Ronald Padovana, an Italian-American singer with an incredible blues voice, who would go down in history as Ronnie James Dio. The Elf were a great rock blues band (I recommend listening to any of their three albums, "Elf," "California County Ball," or "Tryin' to Burn the Sun," all released between '72 and '74, fabulous and also quite rare), discovered in 1971 and produced by Roger Glover and Ian Paice, bassist and drummer of Deep Purple. After cutting their teeth in the east coast cities of the United States, for several years they opened for Purple concerts, and Blackmore had no hesitation in turning to them to form his new toy, Rainbow!!
They achieved notable success with their debut album "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow," acclaimed by audiences and critics, and began touring the world, in front of ever larger audiences, using a gigantic neon rainbow as the stage backdrop for their concerts, which became the band's symbol. In 1976, the guitarist decided to fire the entire band on the spot except for the singer and took with him some of the best musicians on the British rock scene of those years. Among them were bassist Jimmy Bain, keyboardist Tony Carey, and Cozy Powell, a great drummer, perhaps too underrated over the years, but capable of holding his own against the exceptional Bonham and Paice.
Blackmore intended to fully exploit the exceptional qualities of the new formation, and in February of that year, they headed to the Musicland Studios in Munich, where their most exciting and unparalleled album, "RAINBOW RISING," was born, produced by a sacred monster like Martin Birch ("Made in Japan," "Machine Head," "The Number of the Beast," just to name a few).
33.28 minutes of pure hard rock, where the guitarist reigns supreme with his epic riffs and solos, canvases on which Ronnie James Dio paints with his powerful and magnificent voice tales of wizards, demons, medieval castles, and knights, giving it all a fantasy and otherworldly atmosphere. It starts with the magical "Tarot Woman," opened by a synthesizer solo from Carey, which then transforms into a powerful Blackmore riff supporting Dio's potent and epic vocals. "Run with the Wolf" follows suit, a very impactful song, opened as usual by an ingenious riff from the man in black, with a splendid Powell adding drive and energy to the track. After the equally ambitious "Starstruck," whose guitar solo was originally intended to be part of a new Purple song but which Blackmore preferred to keep for himself for a solo project, the first side of the record closes. But the best is yet to come!!!
The second side opens with the thunderous "Do You Close Your Eyes," curiously the only song on the album without solos, but equally energetic where Ronnie James Dio perhaps expresses the strongest and highest voice of the entire album. The following "Stargazer" is unanimously the highlight of the entire work: epic, magical, opened by a long roll from trusty Powell, followed by a riff from the best Blackmore, heavily effected and accompanied by Carey's organ that makes it all darker and more evil. The original idea was to close the song with a long violin solo; they did, but they realized in the studio that the tape had run out at the time of the final solo, and everything went down the drain. It was the song most performed live by the band and one of the fans' favorites. This wonderful work closes with the very intense "A Light in the Black," very fast and quite long, with its 8-minute duration and whistles, a fitting conclusion to one of those albums that set the standard for future generations of Heavy Metal bands. Dave Murray of Iron Maiden calls it the best rock album in history (perhaps not true, but said by him...) and even the F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel often listens to it before races, alternating it with Led Zeppelin 4 and Machine Head by Deep Purple.
This album, perhaps the best in Rainbow's production, earned gold in the UK and platinum in the USA, laid the foundations for future new wave heavy metal albums, and consecrated Ronnie James Dio as an exceptional performer. R.I.P great Ronnie!!!!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Tarot Woman (06:04)
I don't wanna go
Something tells me no, no, no, no
But traces in the sand
The lines inside my hand say go go go
Beware of a place
A smile on a bright shiny face
I'll never return, how do you know
Tarot woman, I don't know, I don't know
She can take you there
The entrance to the fair, my, my, my
Ride the carousel
Cast a magic spell, you can fly, fly
Something in the air
Tells me to beware, no, no, no
Her love is like a knife
She'll carve away your life, so go, so go
02 Run With the Wolf (03:43)
In the light of the day
You can hear the old ones say
Was the sound last night the wind?
Can you feel the change begin?
By the fall of the snow
A single soul will go
The footsteps on the white
There's an unholy light
There's a hole in the sky
Something evil's passing by
What's to come - when the siren calls you go
To run with the wolf
When the world makes a turn
The eyes of one will learn
That a sound just like the wind
Only makes the change begin
By the end of the rain
The feelings passed again
From things that snap and bite
An unholy light
There's a hole in the sky
Something evil's passing by
What's to come - when the siren calls you go
To run with the wolf
There's a break in the ground
Like the swirling water's angry as they pull you down
When the siren calls you go, yeah
To run with the wolf
Run with the wolf
There's a hole in the sky
Something evil is passing by
What's to come - when the siren calls you go, yeah
To run with the wolf
Run with the wolf
Like a beast in a field
He knows his fate is sealed
He runs with the wolf, oh oooh
Run with the wolf
See the break, you know it's the same(?)
Now he goes
To run, run, run
Run, run, run, run
Run with the wolf
Run with the wolf
Run with the wolf
Run with the wolf
Run, run, run
Now we go run, run, run, run
Run with the wolf
All right
Run with the wolf
Run with the wolf
03 Starstruck (04:08)
If I'm high on the hill
She'd still been looking down at me
What does she see that brings her closer every day to my heart
If I'm away from home
And think I'm all alone
She's there, somewhere
I look around and see
And looking back at me
She's there, beware!
Creeping like a hungry cat
I've seen her before
I know it can mean that
The lady starstruck, she's nothing but bad luck
The lady starstruck, running after me
The lady starstruck, she's nothing but bad luck, yeah
I could fly to the moon
But she soon find me and wait me there
I never knew for a while as smile made me really care
She wants a souvenir
To everyone it's clear
She's hooked, one look
She want a photograph
But everybody laughs but not me 'cause I see
She's creeping like a hungry cat
I've seen her before
I know I can mean that
The lady starstruck, she's nothing but bad luck
The lady starstruck, running after me
The lady starstruck, she's nothing but bad luck, oh oh o-o-oh
Oh my
The lady starstruck, she's nothing but bad luck
The lady starstruck, running after me, yeah
The lady starstruck, she's nothing but bad luck, yeah
It used to be a game
Now I can't repeat my name at all
She seems to believe that
I never can refuse a call
She wants a souvenir
To everyone it's clear
She's hooked; one look
She want a photograph
And everybody laughs, hah!
But not me 'cause I see
She's creeping like a hungry cat
I've seen her before
I know it can mean that
The lady starstruck, she's nothing but bad luck
The lady starstruck, running after me
The lady starstruck, she's nothing but bad luck, bad luck
The lady starstruck, she's nothing but bad luck
The lady starstruck running after me
The lady starstruck, she's nothing but bad luck
Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck
And back in the tree looking back at me
Climbing up my stair
I've just got to beware
Lady starstruck, yes, she's bad luck, bad luck
05 Stargazer (08:32)
High noon, oh I'd sell my soul for water
Nine years worth of breakin' my back
There's no sun in the shadow of the wizard
See how he glides, why he's lighter than air?
Oh I see his face!
Where is your star?
Is it far, is it far, is it far?
When do we leave?
I believe, yes, I believe
In the heat and the rain
With the whips and chains
To see him fly
So many die
We built a tower of stone
With our flesh and bone
Just to see him fly
But don't know why
Now where do we go?
Hot wind, moving fast across the desert
We feel that our time has arrived
The world spins, while we put his dream together
A tower of stone to take him straight to the sky
Oh I see his face!
Where is your star?
Is it far, is it far, is it far?
When do we leave?
Hey, I believe, I believe
In the heat and the rain
With the whips and chains
Just to see him fly
Too many die
We built a tower of stone
With our flesh and bone
To see him fly
But we don't know why
Ooh, now where do we go
All eyes see the figure of the wizard
As he climbs to the top of the world
No sound, as he falls instead of rising
Time standing still, then there's blood on the sand
Oh I see his face!
Where was your star?
Was it far, was it far
When did we leave?
We believed, we believed, we believed
In heat and rain
With the whips and chains
To see him fly
So many died
We built a tower of stone
With our flesh and bone
To see him fly
But why
In all the rain
With all the chains
Did so many die
Just to see him fly
Look at my flesh and bone
Now, look, look, look, look, Look at the tower of stone
I see your rainbow rising
Look there, on the horizon oh no, who's rising
And I'm coming home, I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Time is standing still
You, give back my will
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Going home I'm going home
My eyes are bleeding
And my heart is lead ahead
But it's not home
But it's not home
Ooh
Take me back
You, give me back my will
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Going home
I'm going home
My eyes are bleeding
And my heart is lead ahead
But it's not home
But it's not home
Take me back, take me back
Back to my home ooh, ooh, ooh
06 A Light in the Black (08:10)
Cant forget his face, what a lonely place
Has he really let us flow
All the time thats lost, what's the final cost
Will I really get away
All my life it seems, just a crazy dream
Reaching for somebody's star
Cant believe it all, did he really fall, what to do now i dont know
Somethings calling me back,
Its a light in the black,
Am i ready to go?
I'm coming home
Breathed the air before, heard the thunder roar
Never knew it was for me
Allway's looking down, lost but never found
Eyes but look but not to see
All my life it seems, just a crazy dream
Reaching for somebody's star
Like an open door, that you've passed before
But you never had the key
Somethings calling me back,
There's a light in the black,
Am i ready to go?
I'm coming home
I'm coming home
Yeah
I'm going back to my home
(Instrumental)
I'm going home home home
Going home home home
I'm coming back
Wont forget his face, what a lonely place
Did he really let us go?
All the time thats lost, whats the final cost
Will I really get away?
All my life it seems, just a crazy dream
Reaching for somebody's star
Cant believe it all, did he really fall?
What to do now i don't know
Somethings calling me back, like a light in the black
Yes i'm ready to go
I'm coming home
Home yeah!
I'm on my way back home
Look to the sky, there in the sky
I see a star
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Other reviews
By Edoardo1
RISING came to light, a masterpiece condensed in 34 minutes of great music.
'Stargazer' doesn’t need much commentary... Ritchie delivers a truly indescribable solo, very epic and overwhelming.
By tuisampa
When I listen to Stargazer, I struggle to stay still; my blood boils with its frenzy and magic.
After listening to this album, I was almost sad that Rainbow never reached these levels of sublimity again.
