rainbow, rainbow

Of Great and Meh – 72%

StainedClass95, August 1st, 2014

This is the debut by Rainbow. A name that would be ridiculous for a band today, but was quite respected in their heyday. This features two all time greats working together. You have Ritchie Blackmore, one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and Ronnie James Dio, one of the greatest vocalists, crafting some excellent songs. They also craft some fillers.

First of all, while the music and quality aren’t consistent, the atmosphere is. This definitely achieved the sword and sorcery theme they were going for. The epic feel found throughout this album would provide a source of inspiration for many power metal bands of every nationality. From Savatage to Blind Guardian, their influence was visible. Going along with the theme is the excellent cover art. The whole scene of a winding pathway leading to the castle set in front of a rainbow and the crescent moon, all surrounded by foggy mountains, is exquisite.

Ritchie Blackmore is as good as his fans claim. For a time in the 70’s, this man was probably the most technically gifted guitarist on the face of the earth. His solos could either go in a well-played bluesy area, slightly reminiscent of Hendrix, or he could go into a neo-classical world that only a couple of Germans were familiar with. To go along with this, he could usually craft quality riffs on a consistent basis. I find this odd considering how much he disliked rhythm playing, but it’s a credit to his talent nonetheless. We have a couple of great ones on display, the groovy one on Silver Mountain, and the heavier one on Greensleeves. He also has a rather interesting one on Snake Charmer. It came from a rare, at the time, classical scale, and now rock guitarists call it the Snake Charmer scale. This is one of the most important aspects of Rainbow. Ritchie really emphasized his classical tendencies on these first three, and it can be excellent.

Ronnie James Dio has his first performance in the medium he was to become a legend in. Elf was a pretty lousy affair, and every hard-rock or metal fan should be glad that he went in this direction. In his prime, Dio had close to four octaves and more power than some opera singers. I’m not sure if I like Dio more than Gillan, but he was definitely worthy to be Ritchie’s next vocalist. His best performances are on the first two sings I mentioned previously, and the ballads. I don’t particularly enjoy the ballads, but he sings splendidly on them. I believe Dio also wrote the lyrics on these songs, and they’re quite enjoyable. I would say that they’re cut from the same cloth as what he would do during his solo career, as well his next couple of Rainbow albums. There is a slight difference in that this stuff is a little more complex and lush, but still pretty similar.

None of the rest of the band does a noteworthy job. The keyboards are there because Ritchie is used to working with one, I presume. The difference is that this man is no Jon Lord. He doesn’t even add atmosphere really. The bass is also not particularly audible, nor is he really doing anything worth paying attention to. The drummer is easier to hear, but no more enjoyable. They would get a fine drummer on the next album, but this has to suffer through a very mediocre rhythm section.

My score is a reflection of the fact that as much as two of these are classics, the rest are not special. Snake Charmer is influential and the ballads are well-sung, but they’re essentially filler. I tend to feel this way about most albums Dio has been on, but I do enjoy his vocals. This album would be much worse with just an ordinary vocalist working on this. This band would improve on the next two albums, but this is still alright. I would recommend this to fans of early, power metal, and hard-rock.