Review Summary: SLEEP WITH THE DEVIL, AND THEN YOU MUST PAAAAAAY!
Despite the quality of
Rising, Ritchie Blackmore once again saw it fit to fire half of Rainbow’s line-up. He decided Jimmy Bain was an incompetent bassist, getting rid of him in ’77. Keyboardist Tony Carey soon followed. The former went on to play on Dio’s
Holy Diver later in ’83, while the latter established a solo career. Blackmore, however, had trouble finding replacements. Eventually, he decided on the Canadian David Stone from Symphonic Slam on keys and Mark Clarke, who had briefly worked with
Uriah Heep, on bass. When recording for Rainbow’s third album, however, Blackmore disliked Clarke’s playing so much he fired him on the spot. Instead, he recorded the bass parts for half the tracks himself. For the remaining, he finally settled on the Australian Bob Daisley.
Though the rhythm section had been partly replaced, Blackmore’s creative leadership allowed the approach to stay virtually the same as that of
Rising. Once again, Rainbow’s third album
Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll was a classic hard rock affair embedded with various classical, medieval and mystical elements. It takes after both their debut and follow-up, unsurprisingly the latter more than the former. You’ve got the straightforward rockers and the epics.
Starting with the rockers, these are, more than on
Rising, what dominates the album. Unfortunately, each following one gets progressively less attractive than the former. The opener title track kicks things off in the very best way possible, and is a true hard rock anthem in each and every note, its chorus begging to be sung along with. If anything ever defined the term ‘catchy’, that song is what does it.
Lady of the Lake veers towards Dio’s later work, and is in many ways a proto-power metal song, of course a genre Dio’s band has had much influence on in the 80’s. The more traditional
L.A. Connection, despite still being catchy, already gets its share of issues with a chorus that may get on the nerves, as well as being slightly repetitive.
When
The Shed (Subtle) and
Sensitive to Light kick in towards the end they can only be called decent. The former is basically Dio commending his own status of being awesome, or as he likes to describe it: ‘like a shotgun’ and ‘I’m steel, so come try to bend me if you can’. While annoying vocally, there is nothing particularly wrong with it otherwise. The same goes for the latter, which may feature a trademark bluesy lead by Blackmore, but gets way overdone by Dio, as he annoyingly belts out ‘She’s a bright and shining star, but I just might be sensitive to light-AH!’. That does say something, for seldom can the little man with the big voice have been called annoying in some way.
But then, Blackmore and Dio make up for those two minor annoyances with another three epics this time around. While
Stargazer and
A Light in the Black off
Rising were similar in many ways, the one relying more on vocals and the other more on instrumental interplay, each one on Rainbow’s third has an even more complete charm of its own. The most epic epic, so to say, is the mystical
Gates of Babylon, introduced, and continued in, a dominant eastern groove. Like
Stargazer, it has been orchestrated to great effect, this time by the Bavarian String Ensemble. Vocally and lyrically, it is without doubt one of the prime moments in Dio's extensive work. Add to that also Blackmore delivers one of the best solo’s of his time (in fact, he has once claimed he thought it was his very best ever), and there you’ve got what may just be Rainbow’s best song.
Though
Kill the King is only four and a half minutes, it just as well deserves to be marked epic. Credit for this goes out to, once again, Dio, creating a grotesque chorus that he himself has not often equalled. And once more, the vocalist and guitarist perfectly complement each other, Blackmore’s fast-paced, heavy, and insanely catchy leads perfecting the experience.
The worthy closer comes this time in the form of an epic ballad. Undoubtedly inspired by the band’s earlier song
Catch the Rainbow, off their debut,
Rainbow Eyes goes to an even more soft and sensitive level, ditching the rock completely and adding a guest violin, flute and cello. Similarly to the orchestra on
Gates of Babylon, it takes the song up to that extra level. Blackmore knows what to call in to add the spice. The crooning vocals Dio displayed here he has seldom shown since.
If only Long
Live Rock ‘n’ Roll had been more consistently impressive, it could have made a true classic for Rainbow.
Rising didn’t quite make it, and neither did this. After Dio left after the album, chances had grown minimal. Rainbow initially showed so much potential, but it was just not in for it for Blackmore. The Dio years, as they are commonly know, were the band’s period of glory, and
Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll ends that era. We should be glad it ended it with a bang.
Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Rainbow was:
- Richard Hugh Blackmore ~ Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar
- Ronald James ‘Dio’ Padanova ~ Vocals
- Robert John ‘Bob’ Daisley ~ Bass Guitar
- Colin ‘Cozy Powell’ Flooks ~ Drums
- David Stone ~ Keyboards
Essential listening:
Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll
Gates of Babylon
Kill the King
Rainbow Eyes
