I really don't think Rainbow gets the recognition they deserve. I would say either Rainbow or Saxon are the biggest hard rock bands that most people have never heard of. But with Rainbow, songs like Lady of the Lake, Man on the Silver Mountain, Stargazer, Stone Cold, Street of Dreams etc are all outstanding. Has anyone ever heard Rainbow or Saxon played on regular radio ?
When I was a kid, I often heard Man On The Silver Mountain, Jealous Lover, Since You've Been Gone, Stone Cold, and Street Of Dreams.
Plus MTV used to play All Night Long, Death Alley Driver, and Can't Happen Here.
I think as far as longevity, Saxon is amazing.
I don't know if Rainbow is underrated. Ritchie Blackmore is one of the most popular guitarists of all time. I would also say that the Dio/Rainbow albums are the most inconsistent of the bunch.
Definitely wouldn't say underrated, I just think unknown. Just never hear Rainbow or Saxon mentioned whatsoever besides the hardcores.
I'll sort of agree with you; even when Rainbow is mentioned, it's about "Since You've Been Gone" or "Stone Cold" and dismissed as commercial crap. I just bought a couple Rainbow CDs on Discogs - Stranger In Us All, Live in '81, Live in Japan '84, and a box of three shows from '79 - and I was amazed at how good some of that was. The live "Difficult To Cure" (Beethoven's Ninth) from that live show from Japan (I think it's also on Finyl Vinyl) is stellar. I really do prefer the Joe Linquito years (that's Joe Lynn Turner's real name); there is so much material hidden in there that is good.
There's a reason Dream Theater covered all of "Made In Japan", so there's that. But if I had to name five songs to show the greatness of Blackmore, and staying away from the obvious (like Stargazer, which is unequivocally great) I'd go with...
- Highway Star; the solo is just a level above for the sort of hard rock that you'd expect at that time;
- Gates Of Babylon (from Long Live Rock n' Roll)
- Death Alley Driver (or Power) (from Straight Between The Eyes)
- Child In Time (any live version will do, though you probably want Ian Gillan singing it)
- Any of the blues instrumentals; Son Of Alerik (a Perfect Strangers b-side), Maybe Next Time (from Difficult to Cure), Weiss Heim (All Night Long b-side)
And as a bonus track, don't laugh at me, but "Fires At Midnight" from the Blackmore's Night catalogue. I dragged my kid to see Blackmore's Night once, and while she spent most of the night on the phone in the lobby (haha) during "Soldier Of Fortune", Ritchie did an extended acoustic intro and she was like "wow, that fucker (my word, not hers) can play!"
I am a fan boy, I'll concede that. But while he has a style, and there's a fair amount of repetition in the catalogue, there's a reason there are really only two guys in rock that get the sort of emulation and copying that Blackmore and Hendrix get. I will also say, Blackmore is at his best when he's pissed off. By all accounts he hated working on "The Battle Rages On", but it's some of his best work. Some of the riffs on that record are incendiary.
Topic: The Official Hard Rock / Classic Metal Music Discussion and Memorabilia Thread! (Read 906226 times)