This album from legends Rainbow is a must have download from the 1970's. The Rainbow debut album was mostly a more laid back hard rock affair compared to the Blackmore monsters of old. He dug into old Deep Purple songs of old like "Highway Star", "Space Truckin" or "Hard Lovin Man" for inspiration on this album. He definitely lets the vibe of those aforementioned tracks shine through and put into the mix the delivery on this album. When you throw in the range of a Mr Ronnie Dio (God rest his soul RIP) and some nifty quality tracks and you have another metal smash similar to "Machine Head" on your hands. Basically a revamped version of that album with more accomplished production and in my opinion a better vocalist although without anything as groundbreaking as "Smoke On The Water" or "Highway Star". If you haven't heard these tracks check out a download of the songs I recommend.
Artist: Rainbow
Release Title: Rising
Release Type: Full Length Album
Release Year: 1976
Artist Genre: Heavy Metal
Artist Origin: UK
My Rating: 87%
Buy From: Amazon
Track Listing: 1. Tarot Woman 2. Run With The Wolf 3. Starstruck 4. Do You Close Your Eyes 5. Stargazer 6. A Light In The Black
Total playing time: 33:35
However there is a pretty groundbreaking track with the diamond of the album, "Stargazer". An eight and a half minute progressive stunner with a nice range of moods, great performance from Dio and an awesome chorus and interchange between classical keys on the keyboard and Dio. The rest of the album is more modest in nature but still contain belters like "Starstruck", "Tarot Woman" and "A Light In The Black". They are are nice catchy ditties whereas "Run With The Wolf" and "Do You Close Your Eyes" are more standard. Overall a very cool album, their best and mandatory if you dig early Deep Purple. Check out mp3 downloads of the tracks I mentioned and buy it from amazon if it's your thing.
