Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Rainbow
Label: Polydor Records
Released: 1978
Length: 39:27
Rating: 4.5/5
Every success story ends sooner or later. For British hard rock legends Rainbow, their most artistically fruitful period came to a close when the guitar innovator in black, Ritchie Blackmore, and the pint-sized vocal giant Ronnie James Dio threw their battle axes at each other. With »Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll«, the last Rainbow masterpiece, they ended an incredibly productive three-year partnership for good. Blackmore had grown increasingly hungry for commercial success on the other side of the Atlantic, which Rainbow kept stubbornly slipping away from despite hordes of (Central) European and Japanese fans, and he had less and less patience for Dio’s fantasy lyrics about dragons, wizards, princesses and knights. Ronnie, meanwhile, was fed up to the back teeth with the ‘man in black’s’ almost bizarre willfulness. Drum legend Cozy Powell, who had also contributed songwriting more than once, more or less stayed neutral in the conflict, so Blackmore granted him a ‘pardon’ and kept him in the lineup for two more years.
Before recording »Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll«, Ritchie did a big round of hiring and firing. Along the way he swapped bassist Jimmy Bain for Mark Clarke (ex-Uriah Heep, Colosseum), who let him down pretty quickly, so in the end Blackmore recorded most of the album’s bass lines himself. For the remaining bass lines and, above all, the needs of the tour, he brought in Australian Bob Daisley (ex-Kahvas Jute, Chicken Shack, Mungo Jerry, Widowmaker), who is also known for his later work with Ozzy Osbourne, Uriah Heep, Gary Moore and Black Sabbath, to name just a few. Canadian keyboardist David Stone (full name Michael David Stoyanoff) replaced American Tony Carey, who had recorded about half of the album’s keyboard textures before leaving. Stone’s contribution was therefore noticeably limited, and after the »Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll« tour ended, he and Daisley had to pack their bags on Blackmore’s orders. The grand orchestral arrangements on the epic classic »Gates Of Babylon« came from a Bavarian symphony orchestra conducted by German Rainer Pietsch, while a string trio on »Rainbow Eyes« played a key part in creating the incredible atmospheric magic of that evergreen.
Unsurprisingly, the best moments on »Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll« come exactly where Dio’s fantasy lyrics meet an epic musical backdrop courtesy of Ritchie, Cozy and the other two musicians, creating a perfect symbiosis of fantasy and reality. The opening bomb »Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll«, built on Ritchie’s punchy guitar riff, topped with Dio’s thunderous vocals and Cozy’s tireless drum stampedes, is at heart a true hard rock anthem. Thanks mostly to its rousing chorus, it was made first and foremost to fire up a live crowd. Later on, Dio would go solo and create an anthem all his own, a rock classic long since adopted by the people, called »We Rock«, which was much more than just a symbolic sequel to »Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll«.
On the somewhat enigmatic yet equally epic classic »Lady Of The Lake«, the legendary singer, amid the whinnying of Blackmore’s ruffled guitar passages and majestic keyboard arrangements, lands on ‘home turf’ for the first time on the album: ancient legends and fantasy worlds. His vengeful vocals instantly conjure up long-forgotten ancient images from Celtic and Anglo-Saxon mythology. Ritchie seasons the mighty atmosphere with a witty guitar improvisation, while Carey’s orchestral-tinged keyboard textures deepen the overall epic grandeur even further.
The mid-tempo »L.A. Connection« is the least interesting track on the album. It already hints at the legendary band’s coming, more ‘American’ direction, which is evident from the chorus and from lyrics totally untypical for classic Rainbow, with which Blackmore wanted to win over the Americans at any cost, while Dio was probably fuming as he was forced to hammer out the verses. The thoroughly average melody, jokey barroom piano and simple guitar phrase don’t leave much of an impression, but luckily Dio’s vocals save the whole thing, working wonders over even such mediocre music. It was one of only three songs from the album played on the 1978 tour, but after the band figured out that American audiences weren’t having mass orgasms over it, it was soon dropped from the setlist.
Right after that, as if on cue, comes one of the finest songwriting and lyrical achievements in the whole Rainbow saga, the epic treat »Gates Of Babylon«. With its Oriental flavor it takes the listener on an epic journey through time to ancient Babylon, where, through Ronnie’s ‘storytelling’, endless caravans and temples to Ishtar and Marduk suddenly rise out of the desert ground. Blackmore’s pentatonic-spiced guitar runs and Cozy’s merciless drum fills give wonderful support to Dio’s unforgettable vocal performance. The majestic chorus set quality standards for the development of epic heavy metal in the years that followed, while Ritchie’s complex pentatonic guitar improvisations still take your breath away today. Here, far from for the first time, Rainbow managed to build an exceptionally convincing bridge between hard rock and progressive rock, and its intense atmosphere keeps the listener on the edge of their seat from the first second to the last of this epic journey with the devil through the gates of ancient Babylon.
Few other Rainbow classics had as much influence on the development of heavy metal as the combative »Kill The King«, which packs yet another inventive, long-since-classic guitar riff and rushing drum fills, while Dio’s epic vocals practically burst with energy. It’s also the oldest composition on the album, since Rainbow had already played it on the »Rising« tour, and most people first heard it on the live album »On Stage« (1977). The rough-edged »The Shed (Subtle)« opens with a short, bluesy Blackmore improvisation, then shifts into a punchy section where the tempo is dictated by a mighty guitar riff, Dio’s snarling vocals and Powell’s furious rhythmic build-up on the cymbals. The album’s hard-hitting streak carries on into more melodic waters with »Sensitive To Light«, a rhythmically much more relaxed track than its predecessor with a shy rock ‘n’ roll pulse, which the epic guitar harmonies soon nip in the bud. Those same harmonies also keep the whole thing from sounding too cheerful or getting anyone up to dance.
It’s only fitting that the end of an era, before Blackmore sold his soul to the ‘capitalist devil’, wraps up in the most romantic way possible. The folk-rock closer »Rainbow Eyes« may even be the most beautiful ballad in Rainbow’s entire history, its only serious competition being the unforgettable evergreen »Catch the Rainbow«. With its nostalgic atmosphere it takes the listener one last time into the world of ‘Arthurian’ legends, with Blackmore’s gentle acoustic guitar passages, Dio’s one-of-a-kind vocal pathos and the piercing string arrangements playing the key roles. Here the little man with the big voice proves himself a first-rate singer of romantic elegies and shows that his unique voice knew no genre limits, even though he spent the lion’s share of his career in hard rock. After Dio’s departure and the sonic ‘Americanization’, Rainbow never again had such art rock subtlety, which was a real shame in its own way. Ronnie later managed to conjure up some of that magical atmosphere during his brief stint with Black Sabbath and, above all, when making music for his own band Dio.
»Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll« was the last masterpiece from the unforgettable Rainbow and a one-of-a-kind moment when the magic between Blackmore and Dio shone in all its glory one final time, before the pursuit of the ‘American dream’ snuffed it out for good. Dio quit after Blackmore loudly and clearly renounced neo-classical metal tendencies and banned any lyrics about ‘dragons and wizards’, hoping to conquer the American market with a new, melodic rock/AOR direction. An era was definitely over, and although Rainbow went on to enjoy nice commercial successes in the following years (they never quite ‘conquered’ America, though), for many fans the only true Rainbow, with heart and soul, is still the one with Dio in the lineup.
As a closing word, here’s one more slightly comical tidbit about »Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll«: the album’s inner sleeve has a photo of a euphoric crowd at a concert, with a big banner reading ‘Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll’ in the front rows. That photo wasn’t taken during a Rainbow show, but at a moment when Canadian art rock giants Rush were on stage. In true Stalinist fashion, Blackmore removed the ‘Rush’ lettering and swapped in his own slogan. The same goes for the Rush logos on individual concertgoers’ T-shirts, which the dictator in black diligently darkened out, creating the impression that the crowd was going wild with excitement while his Rainbow played on stage.
Lineup
Ritchie Blackmore – guitar, bass guitar
Ronnie James Dio – vocals
Cozy Powell – drums, percussion
David Stone – keyboards on “Gates of Babylon”, “Kill the King”, “The Shed”, piano on the intro to “L.A. Connection”
Bob Daisley – bass guitar on “Gates of Babylon”, “Kill the King” and “Sensitive to Light”
Tony Carey – keyboards on “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “Lady of the Lake”
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Bavarian orchestra conducted by Rainer Pietsch on “Gates of Babylon”
Ferenc Kiss & Nico Nicolicv – viola on “Rainbow Eyes”
Karl Heinz Feit – cello on “Rainbow Eyes”
Rudi Risavy & Max Hecker – flute on “Rainbow Eyes”
Production
Martin Birch
Track List
1. Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll
2. Lady of the Lake
3. L.A. Connection
4. Gates of Babylon
5. Kill the King
6. The Shed (Subtle)
7. Sensitive to Light
8. Rainbow Eyes
