Rising (Rainbow album)

Last updated

Rising
RainbowRainbowRising.jpg
Cover painting by Ken Kelly
Studio album by
Released17 May 1976 [1]
RecordedFebruary 1976
Studio Musicland Studios, Munich
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"
    Released: August 1976 [3]

Rising (also known as Rainbow Rising) [4] is the second studio album by the British-American rock band Rainbow. It was released on 17 May 1976.

Contents

History

Band leader Ritchie Blackmore retained only singer Ronnie James Dio from the previous album line-up, and recruited drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Jimmy Bain and keyboard player Tony Carey to complete the new roster. [5] Recorded in Munich in less than a month, the album was overseen by rock producer and engineer Martin Birch. The band was originally billed as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in the US, [4] but was titled simply Rainbow on this release. In 1996 Cozy Powell told Record Collector magazine that much of the album was recorded in one or two takes, with some subsequent overdubs, which explains why no alternate or demo versions exist, just the original or rough mixes.[ citation needed ]

The album showpiece,[ according to whom? ] the eight-minute-and-26-second track "Stargazer", features the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, and originally had a keyboard intro as evidenced on the 2011 Deluxe Edition's "Rough Mix" version.[ citation needed ]

Few of the album tracks made it into the band's live set: "Stargazer" and "Do You Close Your Eyes", written prior to the inaugural US tour in late 1975, featured in all the 1975 and 1976 shows, while "A Light in the Black" was dropped early in the 1976 tour, although it was reintroduced into the set during the Japanese dates. "Starstruck" was played in shortened form, usually as part of "Man on the Silver Mountain".[ citation needed ]

Release

The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve, containing a photo of the band inside, with a generic Polydor inner sleeve. Rising peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. [6] In the UK it peaked at number 11. [7]

The first CD issue had a slightly different mix to that of the original LP, including a longer delay before the band entered after Carey's opening solo in "Tarot Woman", and a longer play-out on "Run with the Wolf". The track "Stargazer" had the vocals mixed without the delay, the extra synthesizer deleted and some of the phased sounds deleted. When remastered in 1999 the original vinyl mix was restored.[ original research? ]

2011 Deluxe Edition

After several reschedulings, the deluxe version of the album was finally released in Japan on 5 April 2011 as a three-SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) Deluxe Remastered Edition. This limited edition reissue was released in a cardboard gatefold sleeve (mini LP-style paper jacket), featuring the "high-fidelity" SHM-CD manufacturing process (compatible with standard CD players) and was part of a two-album Rainbow cardboard sleeve reissue series featuring Rainbow Rising and Down to Earth. Both feature the unique-to-Japan obi strip and an additional insert. The Deluxe Edition subsequently received wider release, and went Silver in 2013 in the UK. [8]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 9/10 [10]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Rolling Stone (mixed) [12]
Sputnikmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [13] [2]

According to AllMusic, Rising captured "Blackmore and Dio at the peak of their creative powers...(it) chronicled both the guitarist's neo-classical metal compositions at their most ambitious, and the singer's growing fixation with fantasy lyrical themes – a blueprint he would adopt for his entire career thereafter." [9]

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." [14] [15]

In Issue 4 of Kerrang! magazine (cover-dated October 1981), Rising was voted the greatest heavy metal album of all time. [16] [17] In 2017, it was ranked 48th at Rolling Stone 's "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". [18]

Notable cover versions

Track listing

All tracks are written 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 two – 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 three – 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

Personnel

Rainbow
Additional musicians
Production

Charts

Chart (1976)Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [20] 33
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [21] 17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [22] 38
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [23] 12
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [24] 36
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [25] 23
UK Albums (OCC) [26] 11
US Billboard 200 [27] 48
Chart (2011)Peak
position
Oricon Japanese Albums Charts [28] 67
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [29] 7

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [20] Gold20,000^
France (SNEP) [30] Gold100,000*
Japan (RIAJ) [31] Gold100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [32] Gold100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [33]
2011 Deluxe Edition
Silver60,000*

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

Accolades

PublicationCountryAccoladeYearRank
Kerrang!United Kingdom"Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time" [16] 19811
Kerrang!United Kingdom"100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time" [34] 198914
Q United Kingdom"The 30 Greatest Classic Rock Albums Ever" [35] 2004
Kerrang!United Kingdom"100 Best British Rock Albums Ever" [36] 200574
Classic Rock United Kingdom"100 Greatest British Rock Album Ever" [37] 200618

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