Rainbow
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

THE REVIEW

When the great Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple, exhausted by the band that was wearing him out, he thought of launching into a solo project. The Elf, a group that had been significantly boosted by the same Purple in previous years, were the right band to be colonized by the historic guitarist; in fact, he immediately took full command and, with the exception of the guitarist for obvious reasons, made it his personal support band.

Among all, the vocalist Ronnie James Dio stood out, a small marvel passionate about fantasy themes, exactly those themes that would be the cornerstones of his many-year career, starting from this debut album: "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow", precisely to underline the fact that it was supposed to be a solo project.

The album opens with the formidable "Man On The Silver Mountain", a hard rock in which the singer's exceptional vocal skills stand out right away, supported by one of Ritchie's many masterpiece riffs and an excellent solo, becoming an instant classic of the band. "Self Portrait" continues in the same style, while "Black Sheep Of The Family" is the first of 2 covers, in this case by the semi-unknown Quatermass: it is one of the most catchy tracks on the record.

"Catch The Rainbow" is an absolute masterpiece, the second of the work: over 6 minutes for an immense romantic ballad that will also become a classic of the group, in the live "On Stage" its best version of over 15 minutes. "Snake Charmer" is another excellent piece, always very hard rock n' roll along the lines of the first 2 tracks, overall the piece I consider minor despite its more than good craftsmanship; but the greatest masterpiece, the last of the 3 on the record, is the following marvelous "Temple Of The King": a haunting ballad with Ronnie in the unprecedented role of minstrel taking us to dream in the epic journey of a man in search of the king's temple: "One day in the year of the fox, came a time remembered well, when the strong young man of the rising sun, heard the tolling of the great black bell/ One man in the year of the fox, when the bell began to ring, meant the time had cometh, for one to go, to the temple of the king".

The fun Jerry Lee style rock n' roll of "If You Don't Like Rock n' roll" (precisely) introduces us to "Sixteenth Century Greenslaves", the last highlight of the work, which is based on a granitic riff that will be unabashedly plundered by Judas for their classic "Beyond The Realms Of Death": musically another great piece although inferior to the best. To close this fantastic debut, there's the second cover: "Still I'm Sad" by the Yardbirds in now instrumental version.

In conclusion, we can talk about a more than excellent debut, a debut heavily influenced by the classic hard rock of the time, with peaks of rock n' roll and (rare) hard blues; nothing particularly original, but an album that will start the saga of a band fundamental for the development of heavy metal in the years to come, especially power metal especially concerning fantasy themes.

This album is unanimously considered inferior to the subsequent "Rising," considered the great masterpiece of this extraordinary band; surely the latter will be a work that, while not completely detaching from this previous debut, will present itself with a more complex, mature, and definitive sound, also thanks to the 3 renowned replacements that will enter the lineup after the tour. Despite this, among the 9 tracks of the album, there are at least 3 definite absolute masterpieces and another 6 between excellent ideas and great pieces, each seasoned with epic and dreamy themes that enrich everything, as only the great Ronnie knows and will know how to do.

Finally, I can't give less than 5 stars to this album despite the certain inferiority compared to the famous successor, as mentioned earlier. An essential album for all rock lovers.