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Rating: 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.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Man on the Silver Mountain (04:42)
I'm a wheel, I'm a wheel
I can roll, I can feel
And you can't stop me turning
Cause I'm the sun, I'm the sun
I can move, I can run
But you'll never stop me burning
Come down with fire
Lift my spirit higher
Someone's screaming my name
Come and make me holy again
I'm the man on the silver mountain
I'm the man on the silver mountain
I'm the day, I'm the day
I can show you the way
And look, I'm right beside you
I'm the night, I'm the night
I'm the dark and the light
With eyes that see inside you
Come down with fire
Lift my spirit higher
Someone's screaming my name
Come and make me holy again
I'm the man on the silver mountain
I'm the man on the silver mountain
Come down with fire
And lift my spirit higher
Someone's screaming my name
Come and make me holy again
I'm the man on the silver mountain
I'm the man on the silver mountain
Well, I can help you, you know I can
I'm the man on the silver mountain
I'm the man on the silver mountain
Just look at me and listen
I'm the man, the man, give you my hand
I'm the man on the silver mountain
Come down with fire
And lift your spirit higher
I'm the man on the mountain
The man on the silver mountain
I'm the night, the light
The black and the white
The man on the silver mountain
02 Self Portrait (03:17)
Paint me your picture and hang it on the wall
Color it darkly
The lines must start to crawl
Down, down, down
Spin me around and around
Draw me away to the night from the day
Leave not a trace to be found
Down, down
Nothing is real but the way that I feel
And I feel like going down, down, down, down
Down, down, down, down, down
Paint me a picture of eyes that never see
With flashes of lightning that burn for only me
Hey hey hey
There's only the devil to pay
I'm ready to go
Pull me down from below
Give me a place I can lay
Hey hey
Nothing is real but the way that I feel
I feel like going down, down, down, down
Down, down, down, down
Hey hey
Nothing is real but the way that I feel
And I feel like going down
Down, down
Nothing is real but the way that I feel
And I feel like going down, down, down, down
Down, down, down, down
Down, down, down, down
Down
04 Catch the Rainbow (06:27)
When evening falls
She'll run to me
Like whispered dreams
Your eyes can't see
Soft and warm
She'll touch my face
A bed of straw
Against the lace
We believed we'd catch the rainbow
Ride the wind to the sun
Sail away on ships of wonder
But life's not a wheel
With chains made of steel
So bless me
Come the dawn
Come the dawn
Come the dawn
Come the dawn
We believed we'd catch the rainbow
Ride the wind to the sun
And sail away on ships of wonder
But life's not a wheel
With chains made of steel
So bless me, oh bless me, bless me
Come the dawn
Come the dawn
Come the dawn
Come the dawn
05 Snake Charmer (04:33)
Old hollow eyes got no ties
Walking by the light of the moon
A pair of shiny boots
With strings and flutes
Rising like a crazy balloom
Close your door
He's on the loose
Here he comes
No hope for you
Ooh Snake Charmer
Hey mystery man
What's your plan
I've got to tell the world
To beware you don't care
He'll hipnotise you
And tell you lies
He's hiding at the top of the stairs
Close your door
I see him coming out
There's no hope for you
Ooh Snake Charmer
Snake Charmer
Hey fancy face
Got no place
Living from a hole in the ground
Old sparkle eyes
He never cries
One step ahead of the hounds
Close your door
He's on his way
He's coming out of the shadows now
There's no hope for you
Ooh Snake Charmer
Snake Charmer
Old hollow eyes
Got no ties
Play your strings and flutes
Mystery man what's your plan
Snake Charmer
He'll harm yer
08 Sixteenth Century Greensleeves (03:31)
It's only been an hour
Since he locked her in the tower
The time has come
He must be undone
By the morning
Many times before
The tyrant's opened up the door
Then someone cries
Still we close our eyes
Not again
Meet me when the sun is in the western skies
The fighting must begin before another someone dies
Cross bows in the fire light
Greensleeves waving
Madman raving
Through the shattered night
Flames are getting higher
Make it leap unto the spire
Draw bright down
Cut it to the ground
We shall dance around the fire
No more night
We have seen the light
Let it shine on bright
Hang him higher
09 Still I'm Sad (03:51)
Version 1 (From ''Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow'')
instrumental
Version 2 (From ''On Stage'')
See the stars come falling down from the sky,
Gently passing, they kiss your tears if you cry.
See the wind come softly blow
Your hair from your face,
And the rain comes falling down
In its crazy ways
Still I'm sad,
Still I'm sad.
For myself my tears just fall in the dust
They will drive every night will find they're lost
See the wind come softly blow
Time into my heart
And the rain comes falling down
While we're apart
Still I'm sad,
Still I'm sad.
See the stars come falling down from the sky,
Gently passing, they kiss your tears if you cry.
See the wind come softly blow
Your hair from your face,
And the rain comes falling down
In its crazy ways
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
I'm so sad,
I'm so sad.
But still I'm sad.
Feeling so sad
Feeling so bad
You're making me sad
Making me bad
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh, I'm sad.
Version 3 (From ''Stranger in Us All'')
See the stars come fallin' down from the sky
Gently passing, they kiss your tear drops dry
See the wind come, softly blow
Your hair from your face
And the rain comes falling down
In its crazy way
Still I'm sad
For myself my tears just fall in the dust
As I search in the night and find they're lost
See the wind come gently blow
Time into my heart
And the rain comes falling down
While we're apart
Still I'm sad
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Other reviews
By teenagelobotomy
"Man On The Silver Mountain" became an instant classic showcasing Dio’s exceptional vocal skills and Blackmore’s masterful riffs.
An essential album for all rock lovers, a more than excellent debut heavily influenced by classic hard rock with peaks of rock n' roll and rare hard blues.
