Rainbow
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

THE REVIEW

Kings, sorcerers, castles, popular revolts, elves, fantastic and evocative scenarios: in one word, FANTASY. These are the atmospheres unleashed by the first Rainbow album, RITCHIE BLACKMORE'S RAINBOW.
This first work is, indeed, a beautiful multicolored fresco with a very epic air where the Man In Black Ritchie Blackmore can express himself in all those fantasy sounds so dear to him.

The CD (created primarily as a divertissement) features songs that seem composed more to indulge certain whims than as a project for a real band (see the Quatermass cover and the cheerful IF YOU DON'T LIKE ROCK N' ROLL with a great piano solo). But despite everything, it is worth noting the excellent musical performance of the new group, with Dio whose voice lends a very evocative atmosphere to all the songs.
Absolutely unmissable are the melodic gems CATCH THE RAINBOW and TEMPLE OF THE KING. The first is a very hypnotic and dreamy ballad (which will be much expanded live), with Blackmore caressing his guitar, excellently followed by Ronnie. The second, on the other hand, is a semi-acoustic song characterized by a very medieval text and a Dio in the fascinating role of the minstrel. Also excellent are MAN ON THE SILVER MOUNTAIN (great riff) and XVI CENTURY GREENSLEEVES, the latter driven by a beautiful riff by Ritchie and great work by the keyboardist Micky Lee Soul. SELF-PORTRAIT (led excellently by Dio) and SNAKE CHARMER are also really pleasant songs that fit perfectly among the gems of the album, enhancing its overall depth and completing it with always fascinating sound and colors. The instrumental Yardbirds cover STILL I'M SAD closes the album, a song that will be elaborated a lot live (also proposing it as a sung version) but it does not look bad on the album either, though it is less engaging.This album is a fascinating (and well-executed) sketch of the Rainbow sound, a sound that will be even more elaborated and developed (by a new line-up always featuring Dio and Blackmore) in the following RISING. The father, in short, of one of the greatest Metal albums.