Rainbow (Official Thread)

Lynch

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Re: Rainbow

Well, I can understand it from some. But as far as I remember, Ronnie is one of your top rated vocalists, so yeah, that comment shocked me.
 

Cosmic Harmony

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Re: Rainbow

Oh Ronnie certainly is one of my favorites. I might even go as far as to put him at #2 behind Freddie Mercury alone but my favoritism for "Down To Earth" over the the Rainbow albums with Ronnie is purely because I love the albums more, even if I like Ronnie more than Graham as a singer. Plus with Ronnie you have more material with Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, and Elf but Graham's material is much more scarce that just makes this one album more special.
 

Lynch

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Re: Rainbow

Gotcha. ;)

I like Bonnet, always have. From Rainbow to Alcatrazz to Solo to MSG to Impelliteri, he's got a pretty cool voice. I think him and Ritchie just mixed like oil and water (something that Ritchie seems to have in common with almost every singer he's worked with). That and his "look" was really odd for Rainbow back in the day, with the short chopped blonde hair and the Don Johnson Miami Vice look on stage.

:heheh:
 

Cosmic Harmony

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Re: Rainbow

Oh yeah, Graham mentioned his look when he was on That Metal Show. He actually never thought he was going to get the gig in Rainbow because of his hair and because he loved doo-wop. :heheh:
 

opera races

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Re: Rainbow

This should be embarrassing to admit ... but I haven't ever been embarrassed about this. This is why I bought the record Rainbow - Down To Earth in 1979:

The band name was Rainbow. I was hugely into rainbows at the time. This was just BEFORE rainbows became something of a fad which turned into something of a cliche by the early 80's when you could find rainbows on anything and everything one could imagine.

I really dug the album cover. Had NO CLUE about the band - NONE!!!

Ok, I'm not sure which occurred first ... the hole in the wall no frills record shop at the mall where I bought a lot of records due to 1) best prices; and 2) great selection had a bunch of posters for something like $1.00 each. Actually it was several copies each of promotion posters for a couple of albums. I thought the one for Rainbow - Down To Earth looked really cool ... That one went up on my bedroom wall. (I still have it but rolled up in a tube with other old posters in a closet.) Then I also went ahead and bought the actual record album.

From what I remember none of my friends had heard or knew anything about the band. Well, this one guy I'd hung out with sometimes and who liked a lot of the same records I liked ... I forget his exact comment now but apparently he had heard of Rainbow but wasn't overly impressed with the band. By then it was too late for his opinion anyway! I had no frame of reference and if I read the album credits on the back none of the names made an impression on me. I know I had Deep Purple - Machine Head at that point and really dug that record but I dug the music and couldn't have told you the names of the band members to save my life! Looking at the inner sleeve of Down To Earth with the pictures of the band members - and at that time I didn't care what the people in the bands I enjoyed looked like - Rainbow looked like a bunch of old guys who apparently played great sounding music - pretty much the story of most of the bands I was into right then!

I don't remember what I was expecting the first time I listened to the record if anything at all. Maybe 60's sounding hippie music considering a name like Rainbow? I do remember I liked Down To Earth right from the start - a good rocking album. For a long time I paid more attention to the music. The first time I really listened to the lyrics on All Night Long I was completely appalled! But I managed to put my sense of humor in gear and that song wound up on and stayed on a mix tape I made that sort of evolved over the years.

I also remember there was a sticker on the album plugging both All Night Long and Since You've Been Gone. I found the presence of Since You've Been Gone on the record and that it was being promoted rather odd and confusing. Around the same time Head East had what I thought was a better known rendition on their Live album - from where I was sitting in 1979 - and not only heard that version on the radio a lot but also had the Live 2-record set in question - oh and liked that version better. Years later I found out it was a Russ Ballard tune - so it was actually a cover tune for both Rainbow and Head East.

For some strange reason I didn't pursue Rainbow beyond Down To Earth. I was into so many different bands, songs, records, etc. quite a few music-related things fell by the wayside that I didn't explore until years later.

About 15 years ago I acquired The Very Best of Rainbow CD. I was sort of surprised that I already recognized most of the songs and they were mostly songs I already liked too! But again, being into so much stuff musically I STILL haven't gotten around to exploring Rainbow any further all that much. About time???
 

Nololob

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Re: Rainbow

I really dug the album cover. Had NO CLUE about the band - NONE!!!
That's what I love about buying albums - if you find a cover interesting, you get it and most of the time it was a good choice.
 

Grunge

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Oh...not this kind of rainbow? I'm a little disappointed to say the least.
rainbow.jpg
















Sarcasm for those who thought I was serious and didn't know who this band was.
I use to get stoned and take a trip with Rainbow on my stereo.

 
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E-Z

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I always liked both of the DIFFICULT TO CURE and BENT OUT OF SHAPE albums from the early 1980s version of the band although i never quite liked STRAIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES as much for some reason although i like the tracks DEATH ALLEY DRIVER, STONE COLD & POWER from that album though.

I just read a music critics review of the above albums and as usual they get a bad write up for some reason but i've always liked DIFFICULT TO CURE & BENT OUT OF SHAPE.

Granted most Rainbow fans preferred the Ronnie James Dio era Rainbow but Joe Lynn Turner done a good job with his time in the band i always thought?.
 

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