Rising (Rainbow album)

Last updated

Rising
RainbowRainbowRising.jpg
Cover painting by Ken Kelly
Studio album by
Rainbow
Released17 May 1976
RecordedFebruary 1976
Studio Musicland, Munich, West Germany
Genre
Length33:28
Label Oyster/Polydor
Producer Martin Birch
Rainbow chronology
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
(1975)		Rising
(1976)		 Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
(1978)
Singles from Rising
  1. "Starstruck" / "Run with the Wolf"
    Released: 3 August 1976

Rising (also known as Rainbow Rising) is the second studio album by the British-American rock band Rainbow. It was released on 17 May 1976 on the Oyster label. The album contains only six songs, with two more-than-8-minutes-long epic compositions on side two. One of those, the song "Stargazer", is regarded as one of the best Rainbow songs and a classic in heavy metal music.

Contents

After the release of Rainbow's debut album, band leader and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore fired all the musicians in the band with the exception of singer and lyricist Ronnie James Dio. In their stead he hired veteran drummer Cozy Powell and newcomers Jimmy Bain on bass and Tony Carey on keyboards. The new line-up rehearsed and toured for the first time in late 1975, composing new songs in long jam sessions before entering Musicland Studios in West Germany to record them with renowned producer Martin Birch. The recording sessions went smoothly, did not last for long and were favoured by the spontaneity and high energy performances of every musician involved.

Starting in June 1976, the band embarked for six months in an intense world tour supporting the album's release and frictions among the band members emerged. As a result, both Bain and Carey were fired at the end of the tour.

The album received positive critics from the musical press, which praised Blackmore's guitar work, Dio's vocal delivery and the cohesiveness of the band. The reviewers appreciated the heaviness and complexity of the music and some suggested a replacement of the waning Deep Purple, the band Blackmore came from, with Rainbow in the hard rock hierarchy. Especially in the United States, Rising was not the commercial success that Blackmore hoped, pushing the guitarist towards more commercial compositions in the following years.

Today Rising is considered a classic album by critics and fans and a very important step for the progress of heavy metal and the development of its many sub-genres.

Background

Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore officially left Deep Purple in June 1975 to pursue a solo project and initially he appeared to have joined the American band Elf. Ritchie Blackmore - Barcelona.jpg
Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore officially left Deep Purple in June 1975 to pursue a solo project and initially he appeared to have joined the American band Elf.

Rainbow's debut album Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow was released on 4 August 1975 [3] [4] to a moderate success, reaching No. 30 in the US [5] and No. 11 in the UK. [6] Musical critics generally appreciated the album, but many of them lamented a lack of energy [1] and put it at the same level of Stormbringer , the then last Deep Purple album, [2] [7] which the English band leader and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore despised for its funk and soul influences. [8] [9]

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow featured as guest vocalist Blackmore's girlfriend Shoshana Feinstein, whose intense relationship with the guitarist abruptly broke in May 1975. [10] [11] As a consequence, Blackmore retired in his new house in Hollywood, California, drowning his sorrow in alcohol and parties. [10] Blackmore had already centered all his activities in California, so it felt natural that the rest of the band moved from New York City to Los Angeles to rehearse the songs for the upcoming tour in support of the album. [12] Rainbow's management rented a rehearsal space for the band at Pirate Sound Studios in Los Angeles, where the guitarist became quickly unsatisfied with the sound produced by the musicians who had recorded the album and by their stage presence. [13] They were all members of singer Ronnie James Dio's former band Elf, but Dio was the only member who Blackmore fully appreciated for his vocal talent, his musical creativity and their common interest in classical music, medieval lore and the occult. [14] [15]

Bassist Craig Gruber was the first to be fired, [2] [16] quickly replaced by Jimmy Bain from the unsigned Scottish band Harlot, whom Blackmore and Dio had seen playing at The Marquee in London in September. [17] Soon after Bain's arrival, drummer Gary Driscoll was also fired and keyboard player Mickey Lee Soule left of his own free will. [18] [19] Dio regretted the firing in rapid succession of his former bandmates, but found it inevitable and participated in the search for their replacements. [2] [19] Auditions were set up in Los Angeles as long jam sessions, [13] [20] where the musicians were tested for both stamina and compatibility with the guitarist's expectations. [17] The English Cozy Powell was the 13th drummer auditioned and easily the best of them all. [20] He was well known for his membership in the Jeff Beck Group and Bedlam and for a couple of hit singles in the United Kingdom charts. [16] [17] However, he was on his way to retire from the music business to become a professional race driver in Europe when Blackmore's call arrived. [2] Despite a few clashes, his strong personality and a similar sense of humor granted a quiet coexistence with the egocentric guitarist for the following five years. [17] For the role of keyboard player a few musicians were considered, including former Curved Air and Roxy Music member Eddie Jobson. [20] The slot in the roster was instead occupied by the young and talented American keyboard player Tony Carey, who Bain encountered in a nearby studio during rehearsals and invited to try an audition. [21] In the following jam session, Carey showed his personality responding note for note to Blackmore's guitar solos and was hired on the spot. [2] [20] [22]

With the roster completed, the new band returned immediately at Pirate Sound Studios to rehearse and write new material. [23] In the same facility Deep Purple were preparing their US tour with their new guitarist Tommy Bolin and the studio manager had to arrange the schedule in order to avoid the meeting of Blackmore with his former bandmates. [24] Robert Plant and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and members of Bad Company came visiting their friends Ritchie Blackmore and Cozy Powell in the studio and even joined the jam sessions. [25] Rainbow debuted live on 10 November 1975 in Montreal, Canada [16] and then went on a twelve dates tour in the United States for a month, playing songs from the first album and the new compositions "Do You Close Your Eyes", "Stargazer" and a "A Light in the Black". [20] On the technical side, the vast, 40-foot-wide Rainbow backdrop, powered by 3,000 light-bulbs was a major attraction, [26] but played havoc with the guitars and amplification and caused interruptions of the shows. [27]

Writing, composition and style

I like themes. I like music that is direct, dramatic music. That's why I like Bach. He's my favorite composer. Pachelbel, and people like Buxtehude, Telemann, they're all German composers, very direct. They're dramatic, no-nonsense.

Ritchie Blackmore (1975) [9]

Blackmore and Dio had begun writing songs together when Elf were the supporting group of Deep Purple on the Stormbringer tour. [28] Blackmore found this collaboration "refreshing" and easy, [29] as Dio had the same musical interests in classical and folk music [15] and knew how to integrate his vocal melodies and lyrics with the riffs the guitarist proposed, [30] sometimes taking them from those he had already performed live in his long improvisations in Deep Purple shows. [31] The compositions of the first Rainbow album were entirely written by the two men and then presented to the rest of the Elf members in the recording studio. [4] [2]

Ritchie Blackmore's mood and the music he listened to influenced profoundly his compositions for the second Rainbow album. During his Californian retirement, he dedicated much of his time to listening to classical and medieval music and was taught to play the cello by his friend Hugh McDowell of the Electric Light Orchestra; [9] [32] according to his statements, the cello was a dark and melancholic instrument very close to his emotional state. [10] The guitarist's original intention for the music of Rainbow was "to carry on and expand upon the essence of Deep Purple – aggressiveness – and at the same time add a kind of medieval feel to it." [33] In this regard, he was disturbed by the critics of lack of intensity in the first Rainbow album and wanted to prove a point to the press and to his former Deep Purple bandmates. [2] [20] [26]

When the rehearsals with the new band members began in September 1975, Blackmore and Dio had already ideas and riffs for new songs, [34] but, differently from the writing process of the first album, they gave freedom to the new musicians to improvise upon the main theme of the rough compositions in long jam sessions, taking any suggestions to improve the music. [2] For example, the album showpiece, the "Kashmir"- inspired "Stargazer", [35] started from a riff tried by Blackmore on the cello [36] and then prolonged by a vocal melody provided by Dio. [37] The band completed its composition and arrangement and Blackmore added a long slide guitar solo incorporating unusual Arabic scales in it. [36] However, the music on the album is attributed only to Blackmore and Dio and no contribution from other band members was officially acknowledged. [38] [39]

Rainbow moved to West Germany in December 1975 and rented a farmhouse in Fürstenfeldbruck near Munich for two weeks, to write and arrange other songs for the new album with minimal equipment. [34] [40] As in the Californian rehearsals, the music was written in long jams which started from a riff or a phrase. Dio rarely participated to the jams and spent most of his time in seclusion writing lyrics. [34] Besides the songs included on Rising, those sessions produced also "Kill the King", which Rainbow played as opener of their live shows in the 1976 tour, [41] and "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll". [36] Both songs were recorded in studio for the following album Long Live Rock 'n' Roll of 1978. [42]

Dio provided all the lyrics for the songs, indulging often on his preferred themes of fantasy and ancient history: [43] [44] "Tarot Woman", a topic commissioned by Blackmore, is about a fortune-teller, [45] "Run with the Wolf" about werewolves [46] and "Stargazer"/"A Light in the Black" a fantasy epic about a wizard's downfall and the liberation of his slaves in ancient Egypt. [47] Thematic exceptions are the lyrics of the love song "Do You Close Your Eyes" [48] and "Starstruck", which tells the story of a particular female fan who had stalked Blackmore for a few years. [49]

The music on Rising comprised no ballads and was fast and heavy, [34] [50] [51] driven by Powell's potent drumming, [52] [53] Carey's pervasive keyboard sound [54] and Dio's "ferocious" vocal delivery. [20] [55] Many journalists found Blackmore's guitar work on this album and in the following tour as his best [8] [56] [53] and remarked how he reached his goal of combining hard rock and classical influences supported by a dynamic and functional band. [26] [57] Tony Carey defined this incarnation of Rainbow as a "hard rock progressive blues band" [58] and music critics described the music on Rising as ranging from hard rock. [53] [59] [60] to heavy metal. [61] [62] [63] In his book Sound of the Beast , Ian Christe actually listed Rainbow among the proto-metal bands which influenced profoundly the following generations of heavy metal musicians. [64] Modern reviewers also observed how the music of Rising mixes elements and themes that would become common in the power metal subgenre in the following years, such as fast rhythms, classical music influences, and lyrics about fantasy and mythology. [53] [65]

Recording and production

Musicland Studios was located in the basement of the Arabella-Hochhaus. The band was staying in the hotel upper floors for all the time of the recording sessions. Arabella-Haus Muenchen-1.jpg
Musicland Studios was located in the basement of the Arabella-Hochhaus. The band was staying in the hotel upper floors for all the time of the recording sessions.

Rainbow entered Musicland Studios in Munich, West Germany to record the new album in February 1976. [34] The studio was owned by the Italian songwriter and musician Giorgio Moroder [66] and Blackmore knew it well, having recorded there Stormbringer with Deep Purple and the first Rainbow album. [20] Four months before, Deep Purple had recorded in the same studio Come Taste the Band and a few days before Ian Gillan had completed the recordings of Child in Time with his new band. [39] [67] The studio was located in the first basement of a tall hotel building made of concrete walls, very good for acoustics and very easy to adapt to specific needs. [66] In fact, Powell's drum kit was assembled in a special concrete and tile alcove created tearing down a wall in a storeroom, in order to achieve a more direct and powerful sound. [20] [68] This was done to avoid the muffled drum sound typical of the then current pop and rock recordings caused by the rugged walls of the studios. [20] [34]

The famous English producer and sound engineer Martin Birch was in charge of the recording sessions, assisted by the German resident engineer at Musicland Reinhold Mack. [20] [66] Birch had been associated with Blackmore since Deep Purple live album Made in Japan of 1972. [69] According to Carey, Birch worked as the main engineer and acted as mediator between the band members' strong personalities, but the actual producer was Blackmore, who chose the sounds, the cuts and the recordings to keep or discard. [34] Birch preferred to use mostly the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio's new 24-track recorder to engineer the tracks, instead of Musicland 16-track equipment. [66] [70] [71]

While the studio was still occupied, the band had continued to rehearse the songs at a local disused club. [34] [39] After such a long preparation and rehearsing, drums, bass, guitar and keyboards instrumental tracks were recorded separately in less than ten days in one or two takes. [34] This fact explains why no alternate or demo versions exist, just the original or rough mixes taken during rehearsals. [72] In contrast with what happened for the recording sessions of the first album, this time Blackmore gave the musicians freedom to improvise intros, fills and solos, a gesture which Bain, Carey and Powell appreciated. [34] [73]

Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg
Rainbow – "Stargazer" (1976)
The addition of the orchestra to the last section of the song created some problems, as Blackmore recalled: “The orchestra was too flowery, and there was too much detracting from the simple melody, we kept taking out parts… and mixed in some Mellotron to even out the orchestra not sounding cohesive or in tune.” [36]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Blackmore and Carey overdubbed their solos and most of the keyboards on the instrumental basic tracks and Carey provided intros for "Tarot Woman" and "Stargazer". [68] The first one was improvised on a Minimoog in solitude in the studio and, after trying for many hours to perfect it, the very first spontaneous version was chosen; [36] the latter was discarded in favour of the drum intro which is on record. [34] A take of the discarded keyboard intro of "Stargazer" can be found on the 2011 Deluxe Edition's "Rough Mix" section. [34] Carey also recorded a complete orchestral track for "Stargazer", using a Vako orchestron keyboard. [36] Dio's vocal performance was the last part to be recorded and took more time than the others, requiring multiple takes to be perfected. [40] [72]

Despite Blackmore's reluctance to work with a live orchestra after his past experiences with Deep Purple, [9] it was decided to add horns and strings to "Stargazer". 28 elements of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, which had already been used for other recordings done at Musicland Studios, [66] were hired to provide the tapestry of classical instruments to be added to last part of the song. [74] The orchestra had a simple score, which was recorded when most of the band members had already returned in the US and then mixed with the keyboard track left by Carey. [75] A violin solo was also performed during those sessions, but it did not end up on tape and was lost. [34]

Birch mixed the album at Musicland and wrapped up the recording sessions in about three weeks. [39] According to Bain, the original mix was well-balanced and bass heavy, but the record label was not satisfied with it; so, Blackmore and Dio were called to New York City to change it and cut the lower frequencies before giving it to the mastering engineer. This mix was used for all the vinyl releases and is known as the New York Mix. [39]

Artwork and packaging

Ritchie Blackmore had quite clear in his mind the cover of Rainbow's second album. He said that "the artwork was reflective of the audiences we played to... they liked to raise their fists in the air." [20] The artist chosen for the job was the American Ken Kelly at his second assignment in the music business. Kelly had worked for a few years on the covers of fantasy and horror magazines and books when he was contacted to paint the cover for the album Destroyer by Kiss, which sold millions of copies and made the painter suddenly famous and a much more requested artist. [76] Kelly met Blackmore at the guitarist's office in Los Angeles to discuss the cover art. Describing the meeting, Kelly recalled that Blackmore "knew exactly what he wanted", down to the details of the tiny eyes of an owl. [77] Having so many indications, Kelly quickly sketched on pencil a few drafts of the cover and the band chose their favourite, indicating minor additions. [20] [77] He then painted it and delivered the finished art in a very short time, in what he called "a very smooth and simple transaction." [77]

The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve, containing a large photo in black and white of the band shot by renowned photographer Fin Costello, who cured also the art design. [78] Just like producer Martin Birch, Costello had been associated with Blackmore's works since Made in Japan of 1972. [79] Shots by Costello of the musicians playing live on stage are on the back cover. The lyrics of "Stargazer" were the only ones printed inside the cover, mimicking the sleeve of the first Rainbow album, where only the lyrics of "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" were included. [78] [80]

Release and commercial reception

The German edition of the single "Starstruck". Rainbow - Starstruck.jpg
The German edition of the single "Starstruck".

The album was released on 17 May 1976 on the Oyster label, [81] a subsidiary of Purple Records, inaugurated by Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow the year before, [1] and was distributed worldwide by Polydor Records. [78] The original vinyl release of Rising comprised four mid-to-fast tempo rock songs on side one and two more-than-8-minutes-long compositions on side two. [82] The title Rainbow Rising was taken from the lyrics of the song "Stargazer" [83] and it appears, with the band billed as Blackmore's Rainbow, in all the labels and ads as the official name of the album. [78] Only the remastered edition of the late 1990s changed the band's name in Rainbow and the album title in Rising, probably to align title and logo with the other products of the series. [84]

Rising was not a striking commercial success, as it did not enter the Top Ten of any chart worldwide, peaking only at No. 48 on the US Billboard Pop Albums chart [85] and at No. 11 in the UK. [86] However, the album proved to be a long-seller and was certified gold for selling 100,000 copies in the UK in 1979, [87] with the Deluxe Edition being certified Silver in 2013. [88] It also achieved gold status in Australia and Japan. [89]

The only single extracted from the album was "Starstruck" with "Run with the Wolf" on the B-side. It was released in Europe on 3 August 1976, but did not chart anywhere. [90]

The album was reissued multiple times on vinyl during the 1980s and finally released on CD in 1986, with a different mix than the previous editions. [91] The so-called LA Mix had the bass frequencies restored and included a few slight differences, such as a longer delay before the band entered after Carey's opening solo in "Tarot Woman". The 1999 remastered CD editions restored the original vinyl mix. [91] A limited-edition deluxe version of the album was released in Japan on 5 April 2011 as a 2 SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) Deluxe Remastered Edition. [92] This reissue was released in a cardboard gatefold sleeve and was part of a two-album Rainbow reissue series featuring Rising and Down to Earth . [93] The European edition was released the same year in digipack with two regular CDs. This edition contains both the New York and LA mix on disc one and recordings taken from the rehearsals at Pirate Sound and outtakes from the recording sessions at Musicland on disc two. [94]

Touring

The band embarked in a world tour from 11 June 1976 starting from the US and then moving to Europe, Australia and Japan, generally in mid-sized arenas. [82] Some of the troubles with the digitally-controlled rainbow backdrop which had plagued the previous tour had been sorted out and Blackmore had a new white Fender Stratocaster specially built with components not interfering with the lighting gear. [95] In the days before the tour tensions were already rising between Blackmore and Carey, whose behaviour on and off stage irritated the guitarist. [36] Rainbow's manager Bruce Payne contacted Vanilla Fudge's Mark Stein and the Italian keyboard player Joe Vescovi to replace him, but nothing happened and Carey remained in the band. [36]

Few of the album tracks made it into the band's live set: "Stargazer" featured in all the 1976 shows and "Do You Close Your Eyes" was the encore song, [41] but the physically-demanding "A Light in the Black" was dropped early in the 1976 tour, [96] although it was reintroduced into the set in a couple of Japanese dates. [97] "Starstruck" was played in shortened form, usually in a medley with "Man on the Silver Mountain". [41] The band added Deep Purple's "Mistreated" to their setlist, and song lengths were stretched to include improvisations and long solos. [26] [41] Despite receiving very good critics, [98] the first leg of the tour was expensive and difficult [82] and a few gigs in the US had to be cancelled because Phil Lynott, leader of the co-headliner band Thin Lizzy, was hospitalized with hepatitis. [99] To cut the costs as headliners, Rainbow opened for Jethro Tull, Heart and Blue Öyster Cult in a few different dates in the US. [82] [100] The band moved to the UK in August 1976 for a series of acclaimed and mostly sold out shows, [56] supported by Stretch. [100] During a gig at Newcastle City Hall, Blackmore ostentatiously fired Carey while on stage but, to his dismay, he was forced to reinstate him because no replacement was available for the rest of the tour. [36] [101] The following European dates had the up-and-coming Australian band AC/DC as support group. [102] [103] Japan received Rainbow as superstars in the last leg of the tour, culminating with two shows at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on 16 December 1976. [104] [105] Blackmore was also given an award for being the most voted guitarist in a Japanese music magazine. [82] Despite the tour being far from perfect, the band had some great performances especially in Germany and Japan and some of them were recorded for the live album On Stage released in 1977. [36]

"Stargazer" was dropped from the setlist after the 1976 tour and was rarely performed in the 1980s, [36] [106] returning in a Rainbow show only in 2016. [107] "Starstruck" in his reduced form and "Do You Close Your Eyes" appeared in the 1977 world tour setlist, but were completely abandoned in the following years. [82]

Blackmore fired Bain after the end of the tour in January 1977, officially for his difficulty to play complex bass parts. [108] He also finalized the dismissal of Carey and invited Vescovi, who he had met through his old acquaintance Arvid Andersen, to replace him. [109] Blackmore eventually recalled Carey for the recording of Long Live Rock 'n' Roll in France a few months later. [110]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [111]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 9/10 [63]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [112]
Sounds Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [50]
Sputnikmusic 5/5 [53] [113]

Contemporary reviews were generally positive. New Musical Express reviewer Bob Edmands wrote that "with one album, Blackmore has transcended anything he did with Deep Purple" and that the combination of him and Cozy Powell produced the "hottest heavy in years" with a "fat, powerful and brutish" sound. [61] Geoff Barton writing for the British magazine Sounds loved the consistency of the new line-up and the album, whose content he described as "hard rocking, exciting music with an underlying medieval influence." [50] David Brown of Record Mirror liked the "good hard rock" of the album and thought Rainbow ready to take the place of the waning Deep Purple. [59] Rolling Stone reviewer Robert Duncan instead described the music on Rising as "disjointed, grandiose and humorless" and Dio's lyrics dark, apocalyptic and gothic, concluding that "Blackmore's guitar soloing has always been the saving grace of his compositions", but this album is too "gloomily banal" for his playing to shine. [62]

Modern reviewers acclaimed Rising as a classic album, fundamental for the development of heavy metal sub-genres and for influencing the next generation of metal musicians. [8] [53] [57] AllMusic said that on Rising "Blackmore and Dio (were) at the peak of their creative powers", put the album on a par with "classic Deep Purple" and remarked the great progress the band had made from their debut. [111] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff praised the album, calling it "a near masterpiece of medieval metal" and “the largest guitar rock record from either Deep Purple or Rainbow since In Rock ". [63] Sputnikmusic reviewer wrote about the "huge influence" that Rising had on the '90s European power metal bands and concluded that "the album could have been longer but the combination of emotion, power and the qualities that each member brought to the band make Rising a monument of hard rock." [53]

Legacy

Bain, Carey and Powell considered the album a major achievement and one of their best works. [34] [39] [72] On the contrary, Dio was not happy with Rising and called it "amateurish" and self-indulgent, lamenting years later the preponderance of the guitars and drums in the sound of the album. [114] In one of his interviews, Blackmore rated Rising as his favourite Rainbow album [115] and "Stargazer" one of his greatest musical accomplishments, [10] but was not fully satisfied with the final too high-pitched mixing. [36] He was also disappointed of the commercial results and of the scarce radio play in the US, which he imputed to the album being too heavy. [8]

Musicians and fans alike have been taking Rising in high esteem since its release. Former Deep Purple bass player Roger Glover was convinced to join Rainbow by listening to "Stargazer", which he recognized as something new in rock music. [116] Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson cited Rising as a very influential album where he discovered Dio's voice. [117] Musicians Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Snowy Shaw have paid tribute to the album in recent years, with Shaw describing it as "a masterpiece and pretty much a milestone" and saying that it "introduced a more Dungeons and Dragons type fantasy heavy rock to the masses." [118] [119] A fan poll for The Greatest Heavy Metal Album of All Time published in issue No. 4 of the British magazine Kerrang! , cover-dated October 1981, placed Rising at number one. [120] [121] In 2021, 45 years after the album release, a fan poll for the Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time placed Rising at No. 39. [122] Another survey among the fans in 2018 ranked the song "Stargazer" at No. 4 among The Top 250 Heavy Metal Songs of the '70s. [123]

Notable cover versions

Accolades

PublicationCountryAccoladeYearRank
Kerrang!United Kingdom"Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time" [120] 19811
Kerrang!United Kingdom"100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time" [131] 198914
Q United Kingdom"The 30 Greatest Classic Rock Albums Ever" [132] 2004–
Kerrang!United Kingdom"100 Best British Rock Albums Ever" [133] 200574
Classic Rock United Kingdom"100 Greatest British Rock Album Ever" [134] 200618
Rolling StoneUnited States"100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". [135] 201748

Track listing

All credits adapted from the original releases. [34] [78]

All lyrics are written by Ronnie James Dio; all music is composed by Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Tarot Woman"5:58
2."Run with the Wolf"3:48
3."Starstruck"4:06
4."Do You Close Your Eyes"2:58
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."Stargazer"8:26
6."A Light in the Black"8:12

2011 Deluxe Edition

Disc one – New York Mix
No.TitleLength
1."Tarot Woman"6:01
2."Run with the Wolf"3:41
3."Starstruck"4:06
4."Do You Close Your Eyes"3:00
5."Stargazer"8:26
6."A Light in the Black"8:12
Disc one – Los Angeles Mix
No.TitleLength
7."Tarot Woman"6:05
8."Run with the Wolf"3:45
9."Starstruck"4:05
10."Do You Close Your Eyes"2:58
11."Stargazer"8:22
12."A Light in the Black"8:11
Disc two – Rough Mix
No.TitleLength
1."Tarot Woman"6:06
2."Run with the Wolf"3:49
3."Starstruck"4:04
4."Do You Close Your Eyes"3:04
5."Stargazer" (with keyboard intro)9:08
6."A Light in the Black"8:12
7."Stargazer" (Pirate Sound tour rehearsal)8:34
8."A Light in the Black" (Pirate Sound tour rehearsals) 
9."Man on the Silver Mountain" (Pirate Sound tour rehearsals) 

Personnel

Rainbow
Additional musicians
Production

Charts

Chart (1976)Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [136] 33
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [137] 17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [138] 38
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [139] 12
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [140] 36
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [141] 23
UK Albums (OCC) [142] 11
US Billboard 200 [143] 48
Chart (2011)Peak
position
Oricon Japanese Albums Charts [144] 67
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [145] 7
Chart (2025)Peak
position
Greek Albums (IFPI) [146] 44

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [136] Gold20,000^
France (SNEP) [147] Gold100,000*
Japan (RIAJ) [148] Gold100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [149] Gold100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [150]
2011 Deluxe Edition 		Silver60,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Thompson: p. 176
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Barton, Geoff (31 January 1976). "The view from the top of the Rainbow". Sounds . p. 24. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  3. ↑ "Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow". Dutch Charts . Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  4. 1 2 Popoff: p. 26
  5. ↑ "Ritchie Blackmoe's Rainbow Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  6. ↑ "Ritchie Blackmoe's Rainbow Chart History". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  7. ↑ Stewart, Tony (30 August 1975). "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" (14 August 2025). New Musical Express .
  8. 1 2 3 4 Makowski: p. 126
  9. 1 2 3 4 Rosen, Steven (2007). "Rock Chronicles. 1970s: Ritchie Blackmore". Ultimate Guitar.com. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Bloom: p. 197
  11. ↑ Willow, Christopher (16 June 2017). "Shoshana Feinstein Former Backing Vocalist for Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow". Hardrock Haven.net. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  12. ↑ Popoff: p. 52
  13. 1 2 Bloom: p. 188
  14. ↑ Bloom: p. 187
  15. 1 2 Popoff: p. 32
  16. 1 2 3 Thompson: p. 195
  17. 1 2 3 4 Bloom: p. 189
  18. ↑ Popoff: p. 53
  19. 1 2 Makowski: p. 68
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Makowski: p. 69
  21. ↑ Popoff: p. 61
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