POLL: Stargazer or Kashmir?

[eric42434224]

Wasn't very familiar with Stargazer.  Listened to it.  Great song, and Dio is amazing.

But my vote is Kashmir.

[El Barto]

Wasn't very familiar with Stargazer.  Listened to it.  Great song, and Dio is amazing.

One of Dio's finest hours, in my book.

Anybody who's refreshing themselves with Stargazer (or checking it out for the first time) should also check out Light in the Black, which is the second part of the story (and maybe Cozy Powel's finest hour).

[TAC]

I actually prefer Light In The Black.

[Stadler]

Deep Purple have kind of been on my list of “bands I need to check out” for a while. I might dig into Rainbow Rising first though. I have always liked RJD.

Rainbow Rising AND Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow AND Long Live Rock n' Roll. The three Dio / Blackmore albums are a must.

It's difficult to even suggest one because every one of them has historical and essential songs that are landmarks of the entire genre, but they all have a clunker or two in there as well. But the gems more than make up for it.

Blackmore is my favorite musician bar none, and the 9 seconds that I got to shake his hand is higher on my list than being onstage and singing I Love It Loud with Gene Simmons in Philly (you can google that; though it's hard to see me).   Having said that, you overrate the first album, in my opinion.   After "Man On The Silver Mountain" and "Catch the Rainbow", it drops off pretty quick, also in my opinion.          

[Lonk]

Deep Purple have kind of been on my list of “bands I need to check out” for a while. I might dig into Rainbow Rising first though. I have always liked RJD.

Rainbow Rising AND Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow AND Long Live Rock n' Roll. The three Dio / Blackmore albums are a must.

It's difficult to even suggest one because every one of them has historical and essential songs that are landmarks of the entire genre, but they all have a clunker or two in there as well. But the gems more than make up for it.

Blackmore is my favorite musician bar none, and the 9 seconds that I got to shake his hand is higher on my list than being onstage and singing I Love It Loud with Gene Simmons in Philly (you can google that; though it's hard to see me).   Having said that, you overrate the first album, in my opinion.   After "Man On The Silver Mountain" and "Catch the Rainbow", it drops off pretty quick, also in my opinion.      

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzIgV8hktzw

which one are you?

[Lowdz]

Never been a Zeppelin fan but Kashmir is a great song.

Always been a Blackmore fan and Stargazer is a great song too. Plus it has RJD.

Stargazer. But I’d take Gates Of Babylon and Achilles Last Stand Over both of them.

[jjrock88]

Stargazer, but it’s almost a toss up

[El Barto]

I actually prefer Light In The Black.

Some of the live recordings from Japan are about insane. I always found Cozy's bag of tricks to be quite small, but he was a beast at what he did, and he was pretty much Superman during that era.

[El Barto]

Deep Purple have kind of been on my list of “bands I need to check out” for a while. I might dig into Rainbow Rising first though. I have always liked RJD.

Rainbow Rising AND Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow AND Long Live Rock n' Roll. The three Dio / Blackmore albums are a must.

It's difficult to even suggest one because every one of them has historical and essential songs that are landmarks of the entire genre, but they all have a clunker or two in there as well. But the gems more than make up for it.

Blackmore is my favorite musician bar none, and the 9 seconds that I got to shake his hand is higher on my list than being onstage and singing I Love It Loud with Gene Simmons in Philly (you can google that; though it's hard to see me).   Having said that, you overrate the first album, in my opinion.   After "Man On The Silver Mountain" and "Catch the Rainbow", it drops off pretty quick, also in my opinion.      

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzIgV8hktzw

which one are you?

Black dude with the pretty cool white on black jersey.

[Zook]

Deep Purple have kind of been on my list of “bands I need to check out” for a while. I might dig into Rainbow Rising first though. I have always liked RJD.

Rainbow Rising AND Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow AND Long Live Rock n' Roll. The three Dio / Blackmore albums are a must.

It's difficult to even suggest one because every one of them has historical and essential songs that are landmarks of the entire genre, but they all have a clunker or two in there as well. But the gems more than make up for it.

Blackmore is my favorite musician bar none, and the 9 seconds that I got to shake his hand is higher on my list than being onstage and singing I Love It Loud with Gene Simmons in Philly (you can google that; though it's hard to see me).   Having said that, you overrate the first album, in my opinion.   After "Man On The Silver Mountain" and "Catch the Rainbow", it drops off pretty quick, also in my opinion.      

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzIgV8hktzw

which one are you?

Black dude with the pretty cool white on black jersey.

So that isn't you in your avatar?

[Lowdz]

I actually prefer Light In The Black.

Me too. Agree with Stadler about the first Rainbow album. Half killer. I don’t often feel the need to play it.

[El Barto]

I actually prefer Light In The Black.

Me too. Agree with Stadler about the first Rainbow album. Half killer. I don’t often feel the need to play it.

Funny thing is that Dio felt the same way about Rising. He thought side one was killer, and side two was just a bunch of wankery. Absolutely baffling to me.

[Peter Mc]

I think all 3 are pretty patchy but have absolute classics on them.  Rainbow Live In Germany 1976 is an absolute tour de force by Blackmore at his absolute peak.

Think it might be called Live In Europe on it’s US release, just seen it on Apple Music but they only have disc 1 strangely so doesn’t have the 17min+ version of Stargazer on there.

[TAC]

I think all 3 are pretty patchy

I agree.


I LOVE the first album and how Dio sounds on that.

[Stadler]

Deep Purple have kind of been on my list of “bands I need to check out” for a while. I might dig into Rainbow Rising first though. I have always liked RJD.

Rainbow Rising AND Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow AND Long Live Rock n' Roll. The three Dio / Blackmore albums are a must.

It's difficult to even suggest one because every one of them has historical and essential songs that are landmarks of the entire genre, but they all have a clunker or two in there as well. But the gems more than make up for it.

Blackmore is my favorite musician bar none, and the 9 seconds that I got to shake his hand is higher on my list than being onstage and singing I Love It Loud with Gene Simmons in Philly (you can google that; though it's hard to see me).   Having said that, you overrate the first album, in my opinion.   After "Man On The Silver Mountain" and "Catch the Rainbow", it drops off pretty quick, also in my opinion.      

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzIgV8hktzw

which one are you?

See the fat guy with the hat, acting like he's trying out for a Lemmy tribute band?  And the little kid right next to him that waved (and then got pushed out by the fat guy with the hat; it looked a lot worse from where I was on stage)?  I'm the face right behind the kid.   You can see my ass if you look at the drummer.  The kid was in front of me.  Not for me, I could care less (you can't tell, but I had a great view of Gene and the band; he was right next to me most of the song) but had I a couple more beers in me I would have pushed that fat fuck into the first row.  He could have moved aside and given that kid a moment, instead of holding onto the mike like he was at Live Aid, trying to run a singalong like he was Bruce Dickinson.  Fat fuck.     

[Stadler]

I think all 3 are pretty patchy

I agree.


I LOVE the first album and how Dio sounds on that.

THAT I will agree with; the songs are a little duff for me, but it might be his best pure SINGING.   

[TAC]

To me, Dio's vocal peak was Mob Rules/Holy Diver (the albums), but I love some young early Dio. Such a wonderful voice.
The Temple Of The King still gives me goosebumps all these years later.

[Stadler]

Deep Purple have kind of been on my list of “bands I need to check out” for a while. I might dig into Rainbow Rising first though. I have always liked RJD.

Rainbow Rising AND Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow AND Long Live Rock n' Roll. The three Dio / Blackmore albums are a must.

It's difficult to even suggest one because every one of them has historical and essential songs that are landmarks of the entire genre, but they all have a clunker or two in there as well. But the gems more than make up for it.

Blackmore is my favorite musician bar none, and the 9 seconds that I got to shake his hand is higher on my list than being onstage and singing I Love It Loud with Gene Simmons in Philly (you can google that; though it's hard to see me).   Having said that, you overrate the first album, in my opinion.   After "Man On The Silver Mountain" and "Catch the Rainbow", it drops off pretty quick, also in my opinion.      

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzIgV8hktzw

which one are you?

Black dude with the pretty cool white on black jersey.

Haha, that's how I got on stage to begin with.  He was a cool kid.  He was standing next to me on the floor, and when Gene asked for people to come up, he went CRAZY, and ran over to the security guard by the door; I don't know what the security guard was thinking, but he pointed at me and said "you can take him up there".   So I did.  I lost him on stage, but met up with him again as we were walking back (that was me at 4:28 - 4:34 kind of looking around to the left of Gene).  I don't think I've ever seen someone more excited. 

[HOF]

I think Kashmir definitely has a certain flair that's Middle Eastern, but not Oriental (although the lyrics may say something different).  Sadly, the best example of a band having an Oriental flair that my narrow mind can think of is Rush's Tai Shan and honestly that's not really a "great" song or at least a great song we hold a standard to when it comes to Rush.

Steve Hackett - The Red Flower Of Tachai Blooms Everywhere

[Lowdz]

Rising is a flawless album to me.

LLRnR was patchy.

[TAC]

Lowdz, Side 1 of Rising is damn weak.

[bl5150]

I tend to agree -  I find the 1st half listenable , the 2nd half classic.

[pg1067]

Tarot Woman is a very cool song.

Run with the Wolf is average (that 70s quarter note bass vibe almost never hits well with me).

Starstruck is a cool, fun song.

Do You Close Your Eyes is downright embarrassing (and I wonder if Dio ever commented on it in retrospect).

Stargazer and A Light in the Black form one of the best sides of an album in the history of hard rock/metal.


LLRnR doesn't have a bad song on it.  Not every song is epic, and there isn't anything on the level of side 2 of Rising, but there's nothing I'd ever consider skipping (unless I'm not in a mellow mood for Rainbow Eyes or have a limited time to listen).


By the way, does anyone have the 2011/12 "deluxe" editions of these albums and, if so, are they worth buying?

[Lowdz]

Lowdz, Side 1 of Rising is damn weak.

Not to me. I enjoy it all. Of course it can’t live with the epic ness of side 2, but it doesn’t try to. Side 1 is better than anything on the 1st album, bar maybe Temple of the King. I’d also take it over most of LLRnR.

[pg1067]

Lowdz, Side 1 of Rising is damn weak.

Not to me. I enjoy it all. Of course it can’t live with the epic ness of side 2, but it doesn’t try to. Side 1 is better than anything on the 1st album, bar maybe Temple of the King. I’d also take it over most of LLRnR.

Wow...for me, the first album is very hit or miss (and Temple isn't really one of the hits).  I wish they had done a studio version of Still I'm Sad with the lyrics.  The live versions from On Stage and Live in Germany are fantastic (albeit a bit long with Ritchie's noodling) and a monumental improvement over the Yardbirds version.

[TAC]

I agree. I find the studio instrumental version of Still I'm Sad being quite close You Fool No One.

[Stadler]

Tarot Woman is a very cool song.

Run with the Wolf is average (that 70s quarter note bass vibe almost never hits well with me).

Starstruck is a cool, fun song.

Do You Close Your Eyes is downright embarrassing (and I wonder if Dio ever commented on it in retrospect).

Stargazer and A Light in the Black form one of the best sides of an album in the history of hard rock/metal.


LLRnR doesn't have a bad song on it.  Not every song is epic, and there isn't anything on the level of side 2 of Rising, but there's nothing I'd ever consider skipping (unless I'm not in a mellow mood for Rainbow Eyes or have a limited time to listen).


By the way, does anyone have the 2011/12 "deluxe" editions of these albums and, if so, are they worth buying?

I've heard several comments like yours about DYCYE; I don't see it as that bad.  I like it actually.  The only weak song for me on Side One is really Starstruck, and that's largely because of the way it was played live (as a snippet). 

For me, LLRnR is WAY more spotchy.  "LA Connection"?  GTFO.  A waste, and embarassing (though I'll cop to perhaps some East Coast bias there; I despise "Steamrock Fever" by Scorpions for similar reasons; apparently only "LA" can experience the kings of the heavy new steamrock style).   I'm not too fond of "Sensitive To Light" ("Sens-a-tive to Light-A! I just might-A!").  Those are both lower in quality than anything on Rising; the thing is, the HIGHS of LLRnR are REALLY high.  Gates of Babylon and Rainbow Eyes are essential Rainbow.

As for the 2012 deluxe versions, I have all three of them (Rising, LLRnR and Down To Earth).  Are they worth it?  Hmmm...  I'm a Blackmore fanboy, and a completist, so there's that.  The two (three, actually) mixes of Rising are different enough to notice, in my opinion, not different enough to be "essential".  It's not like I say "Well, now, I'm going to listen to the NY Mix today!".   Some of the live material on LLRnR is of lower sound-quality; don't expect Rainbow On Stage.   The most essential is probably Down To Earth, because it has the most new material ("Weis Heim" is available elsewhere and in my view is essential. 

[Evermind]

For me, LLRnR is WAY more spotchy.  "LA Connection"?  GTFO.  A waste, and embarassing (though I'll cop to perhaps some East Coast bias there; I despise "Steamrock Fever" by Scorpions for similar reasons; apparently only "LA" can experience the kings of the heavy new steamrock style).   I'm not too fond of "Sensitive To Light" ("Sens-a-tive to Light-A! I just might-A!").  Those are both lower in quality than anything on Rising; the thing is, the HIGHS of LLRnR are REALLY high.  Gates of Babylon and Rainbow Eyes are essential Rainbow.

Man do I agree with you wholeheartedly on this whole paragraph but especially on the bolded thing. This song sucks.

[pg1067]

I've heard several comments like yours about DYCYE; I don't see it as that bad.  I like it actually.  The only weak song for me on Side One is really Starstruck, and that's largely because of the way it was played live (as a snippet). 

For me, LLRnR is WAY more spotchy.  "LA Connection"?  GTFO.  A waste, and embarassing (though I'll cop to perhaps some East Coast bias there; I despise "Steamrock Fever" by Scorpions for similar reasons; apparently only "LA" can experience the kings of the heavy new steamrock style).   I'm not too fond of "Sensitive To Light" ("Sens-a-tive to Light-A! I just might-A!").  Those are both lower in quality than anything on Rising; the thing is, the HIGHS of LLRnR are REALLY high.  Gates of Babylon and Rainbow Eyes are essential Rainbow.

As for the 2012 deluxe versions, I have all three of them (Rising, LLRnR and Down To Earth).  Are they worth it?  Hmmm...  I'm a Blackmore fanboy, and a completist, so there's that.  The two (three, actually) mixes of Rising are different enough to notice, in my opinion, not different enough to be "essential".  It's not like I say "Well, now, I'm going to listen to the NY Mix today!".   Some of the live material on LLRnR is of lower sound-quality; don't expect Rainbow On Stage.   The most essential is probably Down To Earth, because it has the most new material ("Weis Heim" is available elsewhere and in my view is essential.

As a Blackmore "fanboy," you might know this:  What is the meaning of "(Subtle)" in the title of "The Shed (Subtle)"?

Also, I read somewhere that L.A. Connection has something to do with Tony Carey leaving the band, but I don't know if that's at all accurate.

Most of the rest of this is just to-each-his-own-stuff (except that Tokyo Bay is also worthy of the new heavy steamrock style), but I think the thing about DYCYE is that it was lyrically so different from anything I'd heard from Dio to that point (I'm pretty sure I had heard Holy Diver, Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules before Rising).  It's a song that Poison (or any of the interchangeable, crappy LA club bands) could have covered.

[Stadler]

I've always heard it was a football (soccer) reference, but that didn't come from the band, so I'm sort of skeptical.  Blackmore claimed once to be a Chelsea fan, and I guess their old stadium was called "The Shed".   I have no idea what "(Subtle)" means.