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Anteater · 12-18-2009, 09:46 AM

^ Glad you guys like it so far!

Rainbow – Rising (1976)

"Walls to the Balls Heavy Hittin' Proto-Metal w/ Keyboardz."

1. Tarot Woman (6.08)
2. Run with the Wolf (3:47)
3. Starstruck (4:04)
4. Do You Close Your Eyes (2:58)
5. Stargazer (8:27)
6. A Light in the Black (8:11)

Once upon a time, there was a burly English mofo guitarist named Ritchie Blackmore, and he was really pissed off. The driving force behind much of what made Deep Purple the hard rock gods that they were from the late 60's through the mid 70's, by the release of their 1974 release Stormbringer he had become fed up with the other band members and their disregard of his concerns about their change toward a more funky/soul influenced kind of rock. After breaking a bunch of stuff, he promptly left before the year was out.

In 1975, he teamed up with the then-vocalist of Elf, Ronnie James Dio, an extraordinary singer who shared with Blackmore a love of harrrrd rock and classical music. And thus, after recruiting a bassist and drummer, the dynamic duo formed a rock band whose name would echo down the years as a household statement, a wonderful collaboration of showmanship and edgy classicism that would prove to be very awesome for awhile: Rainbow.

But although their 1975 debut was quite decent, even spawning a less-than-commercial single that charted, it was on 1976's Rising where everything, from the riffs to the keyboards to the epic delivery, came together without the slightest of hitches and every track was perfect. And amidst all the stuff they've done since that time, they've never outdone the 33 minutes of work recorded here. Not even once.

The party begins with 'Tarot Woman', opening over the course of a minute or so with psychedelic keyboards that seem to float around in distant spiraled space before the main riff comes in around 1:30 to bring you back to reality. What ensues is a good ol' fashioned headbanging back by galloping two-kick drum n' bass. All things considered, you couldn't ask for a better start to one of the best rock albums ever made.

But its not just the opener that hits home. 'Run With The Wolf' and 'Starstruck' are both nice slices of blues based proto-metal with solos that are nice and gritty without the usual cheese you associate with hard rock.

Side 2, however, is where we see just how epic a level Rainbow are willing to...rise to, when given the opportunity to perform longer tracks. 'Stargazer', with its vaguely-Eastern sounding keyboard, knotty guitar and Dio bellowing about sword n' sorcery and whatnot, is sure to be on anyone's dragon slaying playlist and is one of the tracks that laid the foundations for the power and progressive metal genres that would arise in the mid to late 80's, along with the 8-minute closer "Light in the Black", which ends the album on a high note and makes use of all the elements seen in previous tracks into one fantastic whole.

In conclusion, Rainbow, along with Uriah Heep, is just to me one of those bands that truly defined the harder edge of the 70's. More straightforward than Zeppelin, but at times a lot more fun too! Although they would decline down the AOR route once the 80's hit, Rising still stands as this band's distinctive stamp in music history, borne in an era where others may have been weirder, but not nearly as catchy for all their experimental tendencies. For as many of us well know, sometimes simpler is better: for people looking for some blazing hot rock without the excess cock, this here is the peak.