Rainbow, were one of the most iconic bands to ever grace the boards in the late Seventies/early Eighties.
Responsible for the birth of Power Metal and creators of one of the best Hard Rock albums ever recorded (and one of my all time favourites) “Rising”. 2014 sees them re-issuing their entire singles collection and it makes you realize what a wealth of cracking tunes they produced.
In 1975 guitarist Ritchie Blackmore was impressed with rock band “Elf” that had supported Deep Purple on a couple of tours and was fronted by a small but powerfully voiced singer named Ronnie James Dio. With a solo project in mind he asked the band to collaborate with him on the album Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Blackmore enjoyed his working relationship with Dio so much that it gave him the push to leave Deep Purple and pour all his energy into Rainbow. Blackmore’s constant strive for perfection saw the band go through more musicians than Formula 1 drivers change tyres!
But those musicians were the best in the business, names like: Cozy Powell, Don Airey, Bob Daisley, Roger Glover, Jimmy Bain, Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner were all drafted in and then fired seemingly on a whim after an album or two!
This CD box set comes with all of Rainbow’s UK singles, with some foreign ones thrown in for good measure. Beautifully packaged with re-vamped original covers, a 32 page booklet with info on each release and sleeve notes by Rainbow expert Andy Francis – all yours for a whopping sixty five quid!
That price tag alone marks this down as a “collector’s item” as there are several Best Of’s on the market to choose from that would make for a much cheaper purchase. Plus the fact that a few of the songs are repeated on this Box set for the different singles from UK and say Japan, (Man On The Silver Mountain FOUR times no less). There are a few interesting B sides and some decent Live recordings. All in all it would be a great present from a fantastic friend but I would be hard pressed to shell out for this myself, but maybe thatís just the skinflint in me.
Tracklist
CD 1
1. Man On The Silver Mountain (7″ Edit)
2. Snake Charmer
CD 2
1. Still I’m Sad
2. Temple Of The King
CD 3
1. Man On The Silver Mountain
2. Snake Charmer
3. If You Don’t Like Rock ‘n Roll
4. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
CD 4
1. Starstruck
2. Run With The Wolf
CD 5
1. Kill The King (Live / Edit – On Stage)
2. Man On The Silver Mountain (Live – On Stage)
3. Mistreated (Live / 7″ Edit – On Stage)
CD 6
1. Long Live Rock ‘n Roll
2. Sensitive to Light
CD 7
1. LA Connection (7″ Edit)
2. Lady of the Lake
CD 8
1. Since You Been Gone
2. Bad Girl
CD 9
1. Since You Been Gone
2. No Time To Lose
CD 10
1. All Night Long
2. Weiss Heim
CD 11
1. I Surrender
2. Vielleicht Das N‰chster Zeit (Maybe Next Time)
CD 12
1. Difficult To Cure
2. Can’t Happen Here (7″ Edit)
3. Jealous Lover
CD 13
1. Magic
2. Freedom Fighter
CD 14
1. Can’t Happen Here (7″ Edit)
2. Jealous Lover
CD 15
1. Stone Cold
2. Rock Fever
CD 16
1. Death Alley Driver
2. Tite Squeeze
CD 17
1. Street Of Dreams
2. Anybody There
3. Power (Live at the Convention Center, San Antonio)
CD 18
1. Can’t Let You Go (7î Edit)
2. All Night Long (Live at David’s Hall, Cardiff)
3. Stranded (Live at David’s Hall, Cardiff)
CD 19
1. Bad Girl
2. Spotlight Kid (Live at Budokan, Tokyo)
3. Man On The Silver Mountain (Live)
Links
https://www.thinglink.com/scene/485427114409984000
Words: Dan OíGara
