Track Listing

1. Man on the Silver Mountain
2. Self Portrait
3. Black Sheep of the Family
4. Catch the Rainbow
5. Snake Charmer
6. Temple of the King
7. If You Don't Like Rock 'N' Roll
8. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
9. Still I'm Sad

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21543 in Music
• Released on: 1999-04-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

Album Description
Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this classic album from the British Hard Rockers led by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, originally released in 1975. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008.

Customer Reviews

Rainbow's first! :)
Rainbow was formed in 1975 by lead guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore immediately after leaving Deep Purple. He met and struck up a friendship with Ronnie James Dio, who was fronting the bluesy hard rock band Elf. Ritchie was so impressed with Ronnie and the band that he formed Rainbow out of Elf. In other words, when they first began, Rainbow was basically Elf (minus their own lead guitarist, of course) plus Ritchie Blackmore.

Although Elf was basically a bar-room boogie band, both Ritchie and Ronnie envisioned Rainbow to be more of a progressive metal outfit with lyrics concentrating on mystical, medieval, and occult themes. This is why Rainbow's first record has both of these styles represented on it.

It begins with what might be the greatest Rainbow song ever (certainly one of their greatest anyway, as well as one of THE best songs from 1975), a 4 1/2-minute song called "Man On The Silver Mountain." This is the original song that defined Rainbow's music: it starts with a good basic electric guitar riff, then the bass, drums and keyboards join in for support, and when Ronnie James Dio starts to sing, it quickly begins to take shape as the progressive heavy metal song it is. And it has one amazing guitar solo by Ritchie Blackmore!

"Self Portrait" is also a dynamic prog-metal tune, but "Black Sheep Of The Family" is a straight-ahead, slightly bluesy hard rock tune with some great slide guitar work by Blackmore, and is obviously one of the Elf-penned contributions to this record. It is also quite infectious; once you hear it, you can't get it out of your mind for hours.

"Catch The Rainbow," at six and a half minutes long, is the only long song on this album, and is also the most progressive-sounding. It's the one that really paved the way for their next album "Rising," as it sounds more similar to the songs on that record than anything on this one. It's a nice, introspective tune. "Snake Charmer" is almost the opposite; it is a short, loud, brash song that contains a lot of Dio-screaming on it. "The Temple Of The King" gets Rainbow back into fine progressive form, with lyrics conjuring up the medieval. The, they do a sudden roots-rock-about-face with the VERY Elf-sounding, piano-and-bass-driven, ultra-infectious "If You Don't Like Rock 'N' Roll," which some reviewers have dismissed on here, but I think it provides a neat departure for Rainbow on this album. Besides, it shows all of us where Ronnie James Dio really came from (no, not Hell): He came from rock's early days. That's right, he formed his very first band all the way back in 1958, called Ronnie and The Rumblers, so you can tell that he still had some of that influence left in him by the time this album was made. I think it's pretty cool. :)

The CD winds down with "Sixteenth-Century Greensleeves" and "Still I'm Sad." The former is probably the most medieval-sounding track on here, about a revolt against a tyrant, with some evil-sounding singing by Dio. The latter is simply one of the greatest heavy metal instumentals ever, with fast time-changes on bass and drums, and absolutely amazing guitar fretwork by The Man In Black.

If you know only a couple of their later hit songs, then give early Rainbow a try, especially if you already like Deep Purple. Some of these songs are very Deep Purple-ish. If you also like Ronnie James Dio's 80's stuff, then this CD is for you! And...If you don't like rock 'n' roll, THEN YOU'RE TOO LATE NOW! :)

New throat for Blackmore
It was pretty obvious that Deep Purple was getting tired and a little over ripe by '75, so Ritchie Blackmore decided he needed a new vechcle to showcase his soloing and riffing talents. What better vocalist to compliment him than one dimunitive Ronnie James Dio. Though Ronnie was little-known at the time, in fact only known as lead honky-tonker of rollicking band Elf, Ritchie could hear the startling talent that was sure to blossom into something mighty fine. Anyway, this album pretty much sounds like Elf's previous "Trying to Burn the Sun" with Ritchie on leads and a little mysticism. The sound here is considerably more down to earth than the grand sound they would acheive (with a new band) on "Rising." I really like this album for the old world warmth is displays. The tempos are often slow to mid, and the solos usually more delicate and restrained. Songs like "Man on the SIlver Mountain," "Temple of the KIng" and "Sixteenth Century Greensleves" are as good as Rainbow ever put out. Though "Snake Charmer" and "Black Sheep..." are a couple of missteps. Dig those cowbells on "Still I'm Sad."

One of the great guitar albums of all time
This is one of the most amazing guitar oriented albums of all time. Every guitar solo is an absolute masterpiece. Each solo is a song within itself, brilliantly done with incredible feeling and restraint. None of this pointless rambling up and down, and all over scales, that we hear so much of today. So melodic and so well done. Dio is amazing as well! I even like the bass playing by Craig Gruber. This album is one of those few albums that have a real "feel" that carries through every tune. I remember back in 1975 and how it never left my turntable for an entire summer. This is Blackmore's best effort in the heavy genre. Try "Rainbow Rising" as well. If your a real fan of his playing check out the acoustic "Shadow of the Moon". The album is quite unique and again projects a certian kind of "feel"consistent with those albums that will be remembered.