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When Ritchie Blackmore Finally Got His Way: Top 11 Rainbow Songs

Top 11 Rainbow Songs

Rainbow was the brainchild of guitar magus Ritchie Blackmore and unapologetically an attempt to gatecrash the charts. With the side project active for more than two decades, Rainbow did manage to secure hits and, what’s more, to incorporate trends that varied wildly – from proto-power-metal to 80s radio pop.

But, make no mistake about it. This band, while occasionally a little kitschy, is still worth your attention, as the millions who’ve bought their albums and singles will testify to it. Today, I am ranking the best songs by Rainbow and taking a look at all of their eras to do so. Yes, yes, there’ll be plenty of Ronnie.

Top 11 Rainbow Songs

“The Temple of the King” (Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow – 1975)

“The Temple of the King” is one of the purest attempts at a crowd singalong by Rainbow. This is because it blends the interests of the early band’s main songwriters. Ritchie Blackmore, whose name was eventually added to the name of the album to increase sales, gets to nurture his love of medieval music. Ronnie James Dio, the golden-voiced singer obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons-inspired lyrics, gets to nurture his obsession with heroic fairy stories.

The biggest winners are the listeners. The song is more than just the some of its parts. “The Temple of the King” does sound mysterious, memorable and worthy of being played on repeat. I know, I still do.

Top 11 Rainbow Songs

“Man on the Silver Mountain” (Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow – 1975)

Not everything on the band’s album worked. But that didn’t stop fans of Blackmore from buying it. After all, Rainbow, for many of them, was what Deep Purple had been missing for a while. This was a grandiose rock with plenty of guitar pyrotechnics and songs about dragons and heroes. The faux-mystical aspects are tackled on “Man on the Silver Mountain.”

The song must’ve inspired plenty of power-metal bands from Scandinavia. But don’t hold this against Rainbow. Ronnie James Dio provides one of his best vocal performances, which, considering the future Black Sabbath frontman’s career, is saying something.

Top 11 Rainbow Songs


“Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll”  (Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll – 1978)

“Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” was very much the song that Rainbow needed. Sure, their first two albums established the pattern of guitar magicians accompanying ghostly songs about knights and monsters. But where was the “Smoke on the Water” type of anthem?

“Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” hits you over the head with the hook like a man trying to steal your wallet on the London Tube. It’s immense, it’s direct, and it showed Blackmore that the band needn’t rely solely on 10-minute epics. “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” is really just a chorus, but helluva a chorus it is.

“Rainbow Eyes”  (Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll – 1978)

Rainbow might’ve been contractually obligated, for all we know, to at least one epic of a rock song on each release. But if that’s true, us listeners were the lucky ones.

In a decade in which playing ability and talent were the most important factors in achieving success, Rainbow had that in spades. “Rainbow Eyes” proves that Blackmore couldn’t just play faster than almost any pre-Yngwie Malmsteen lead guitarist but also had one of the most beautiful tones and light touches of anyone. It also proves that Dio could be a man of restraint when the song so demanded.

In spite of what you may assume from a title such as this one, “Rainbow Eyes” is a massive composition and a reminder of just what made the early version of the band such an immediate sensation on the rock scene.

Top 11 Rainbow Songs

“Tarot Woman” (Rainbow Rising – 1976)

Ritchie Blackmore, in the 1970s, wasn’t just a virtuoso guitarist. He was a magician from an ancient time. That was, of course, the impression according to most fans of the band who were convinced that Blackmore and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page were engaged in an arms race for who could integrate their occult interest in rock songs the most.

Blackmore’s credentials for occult cool certainly made a leap with “Rainbow Rising.” The album is possibly the most satisfying release by the band, and the album opener, “Tarot Woman”, shows just what the guitarist and partner-in-crime Ronnie James Dio were after – music that seemed to belong to a witch’s almanac of spells.

“Kill the King”  (Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll – 1978)

Rainbow and Ronnie James Dio were often obsessed with grandiosity and occasionally pompous. But they were never vicious. Never, except for “Kill the King.” It’s an aptly titled track, as Ritchie Blackmore’s lightning-fast guitar lines and Dio’s hostile chorus lines make Rainbow resemble more of a NWOBHM band than anything else.

This is easy candy for the more hard-rock-inclined fans of Rainbow. And it’s proof that, yeah, Blackmore was right. Rainbow could play any kind of rock music.

Top 11 Rainbow Songs

“Stargazer” (Rainbow Rising – 1976)

“Stargazer” is the envy of many an ambitious heavy metal band. After all, Blackmore had walked out of Deep Purple, not just because he couldn’t stand being around Ian Gillan and Roger Glover. He wanted ambitious, gigantic songs. “Stargazer” might be Rainbow’s biggest. It’s an eight-minute journey into distant worlds and back again with Ritchie Blackmore’s lead guitar work and Dio’s metalheads’ quest for the divine lyrics. I wore out the pirate vinyl copy of this as a kid.

“All Night Long” (Down to Earth – 1979)

All good things come to an end, especially if your band includes/is led by Ritchie Blackmore. By 1979, Ronnie James Dio was out of Rainbow, and Graham Bonnet, a much different but very versatile singer, was in. Blackmore was a very stubborn man and that was not a bad thing for Rainbow fans.

“All Night Long” is the first sing that Blackmore will manoeuvre Rainbow toward a more palatable rock sound. This proved to be a clever calculation as by 1979, rock was about to go corporate. And, with a guitar riff of vintage flair and Bonnet’s singing learning to lean against these guitar attacks, the song is still easy to enjoy.

“Since You Been Gone” (Down to Earth – 1979)

“Since You Been Gone” is, depending on who you ask, the monster hit that Rainbow deserved after years of hustling or the monster hit that ruined the entire enterprise.

The truth is that “Since You Been Gone” is a hit because it is the defining radio rock jam of the late 1970s. It’s memorable, catchy and well-sung by Graham Bonnet. However, other than the short guitar solo, you wouldn’t notice guitar wizard Ritchie Blackmore was there.

After this, Rainbow became more of a radio-friendly pop-rock proposition. And while that won’t please fans of their original work or old-school Deep Purple enthusiasts, this was a band that made smooth commercial rock from here onward.

Top 11 Rainbow Songs

“I Surrender” (“Difficult to Cure” – 1981)

“I Surrender” was another great pop-rock hit for Rainbow and one that housewives could whistle while making their oven roast. But who could blame Blackmore? “Since You Been Gone” had been a monumental hit, and they’d lost singer Graham Bonnet since the last album.

Joe Lynn Turner was recruited as a replacement on “Difficult to Cure”, and there weren’t many singers that could provide a cleaner, smoother, more commercial pop-rock sound in the 1980s.

By the 1980s, rock bands were battling pop singers for interest from MTV as well as radio. Bikers and fans of mythology, the early admirers of Rainbow, shuddered in disgust. Regardless, “I Surrender” is a catchy pop number and one that kept the band relevant for a while longer.

“Stone Cold” (Straight Between the Eyes – 1982)

Joe Lynn Turner’s natural instinct was to transform his smooth rock singing into the most commercial kind of 80s pop. On “Stone Cold,” however, Blackmore balances this with tasty, blues-inspired lead playing.

It could be easy to assume that Rainbow only made rock ballads during the 1980s, and you wouldn’t be far from the truth. But, “Stone Cold,” commercial-pursuits aside, is a strong release.

About author

Eduard Banulescu is a writer, blogger, and musician. As a content writer, Eduard has contributed to numerous websites and publications, including FootballCoin, Play2Earn, BeIN Crypto, Business2Community, NapoliSerieA, Extra Time Talk, Nitrogen Sports, Bavarian FootballWorks, etc. He has written a book about Nirvana, hosts a music podcasts, and writes weekly content about some of the best, new and old, alternative musicians. Eduard also runs and acts as editor-in-chief of the alternative rock music website www.alt77.com. Mr. Banulescu is also a musician, having played and recorded in various bands and as a solo artist.
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