Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978) [SACD ISO]

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll may be singer Ronnie James Dio's last album with Rainbow, but at least he went out on a high note. While the material is not quite as strong as on the previous studio effort, Rising, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll maintains the momentum the band had built up. "Kill the King" had been previously heard on the live On Stage record, but here it sounds more fully realized. Also, the title track from the album stands as one of the best songs the band did, not to mention a noble sentiment. The chugging "L.A. Connection" is another highlight. As with all of their first four albums, this one was produced by Martin Birch (who produced everyone from Blue Öyster Cult to Wayne County), and he really knows how to get the best out of the band by this point. The result is that the songs couldn't sound any better, so even if some of the material isn't quite up to their best, the album is still very cohesive, steady, and, ultimately, satisfying. This would turn out to be the last great album Rainbow would ever make, although they did enjoy a great deal of chart success in the post-Dio era. 

 

Rainbow – Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975/2014) [SACD ISO]

Perhaps the first example of “dragon rock” — a style perfected by bands like Iron Maiden and Dio in the early to mid-’80s — was Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, a rather pretentious 1975 collection from the guitarist’s first post-Deep Purple project. Fittingly enough, a young Ronnie James Dio provides the goblin-like frontman presence required by the increasingly Baroque Blackmore. 

 

Rainbow - A Light In The Black 1975-1984 (5 CD, 2015) [FLAC]

 

According to Darker Than Blue: "The first ever history of Rainbow according to the label, and a set which can’t really make it’s mind up what it wants to be. It’s got far too many alternate tracks and rough mixes to be of much interest to casual fans, so seems to be aimed at the more committed Rainbow enthusiast. It’s a difficult balance to strike, as I found out when I put that Listen Learn Read On package together for EMI some years ago and got roundly dissed in some quarters for mixing so many rarities amongst a more off the wall album track choice!

Rainbow - The Last Nights In Germany Vol.I & II. Archives 1995 (3 CD, 2003/FLAC)

 Remastered from the original bootleg soundboard tapes

Rainbow - The Polydor Years 1975-1986 (9 CD, 2007/FLAC)

 

1975 - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (Remastered 2007)

1976 - Rising (Remastered 2007)

1977 - On Stage (Remastered 2007)

1978 - Long Live Rock 'N' Roll (Remastered 2007)

1979 - Down to Earth (Remastered 2007)

1981 - Difficult to Cure (Remastered 2007)

1982 - Straight Between the Eyes (Remastered 2007)

1983 - Bent Out of Shape (Remastered 2007)

1986 - Finyl Vinyl (Remastered 2007)

Rainbow - Deutschland Tournee 1976 (6 CD, 2006)

 

Deutschland Tournee 1976 is a 6-CD box-set released by the British hard rock band Rainbow in 2006, featuring live material from 3 concerts of the band's German tour of 1976, being Cologne on 25 September 1976, Düsseldorf on 27 September 1976, and Nürnberg on 28 September 1976. The complete set of 6 CDs was released only in Japan as a box-set. In Europe all three concerts would be released subsequently as separate double-CD sets, in jewel-cases, with the same track listings and CD timings.

"Over the Rainbow" was an introduction from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz that featured spoken line: "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. We must be over the rainbow!"

•     Ritchie Blackmore – guitar
•     Ronnie James Dio – lead vocals
•     Cozy Powell – drums, percussion
•     Jimmy Bain – bass
•     Tony Carey – keyboards

Rainbow - The Singles Box Set 1975-1986 (19 CD, 2014/FLAC)

 

As one of the cornerstones of British Rock, Rainbow, led by the never-predictable but ever-astonishing guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, became synonymous with some of the most well regarded and popular charting Rock songs of the seventies and eighties. From the mystic and quasi-religious ‘Man On A Silver Mountain’ to the solid gold anthems of ‘All Night Long’, ‘Long Live Rock And Roll’ and ‘Since You Been Gone’, each year in the decade of Rainbow was marked by some of the best songs and performances captured both on record and in-concert.

Passing through the band were some of the best the genre had to offer. Vocalists Ronnie James Dio and Graham Bonnet, bass player and producer Roger Glover and drummer Cozy Powell, each brought their individual talent to the table to record some of Rock’s best loved hard rock on those timeless albums and singles.

Rainbow - Ritchie Serenades Germany [10 CD, 1996]

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow 

The Stranger in Us All 1995-97 tour

Germany Jul 26, 30, Aug 1, 2, 3, 1996