Ketil Bjørnstad celebrates 50 years as a musician and artist in 2019. Bjørnstad’s 50th anniversary as an artist kicks off with a reissue of “Rainbow Sessions”, earlier released as a limited edition in 2006. This is Ketil Bjørnstad’s homage to the world known Rainbow Studios and the Steinway grand piano. When studio owner and sound guru Jan Erik Kongshaug in 2004 was moving the studio to a new location, the idea to make the last to record in the old studio and the first to play in the new, was born. Two solo piano albums were planned, at the time it turned into three, and for this release evolves into four. This celebratory edition consists of five different Rainbow sessions recorded in the period 2013-2017, which Bjørnstad has put together into a fourth bonus CD.
Perhaps the first example of "dragon rock" – a style perfected by bands like Iron Maiden and Dio in the early to mid-'80s – was Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, a rather pretentious 1975 collection from the guitarist's first post-Deep Purple project. Fittingly enough, a young Ronnie James Dio provides the goblin-like frontman presence required by the increasingly Baroque Blackmore…
Released in 2003, the exceptional two-CD Rainbow collection Catch the Rainbow: The Anthology provides a deeper understanding of how the band influenced the direction of hard rock and heavy metal. Between 1975 and 1984, former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore guided his new band (which had dizzying revolving-door lineup changes) through visions of mystical heavy metal and polished, radio-friendly hard rock. Blackmore's employment of vocalists Ronnie James Dio, Graham Bonnet, and Joe Lynn Turner created three distinct periods, all of which Catch the Rainbow: The Anthology expands upon further than 2000's perfunctory 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Rainbow and 1997's stellar The Very Best of Rainbow.
Probably the most popular release of Marley live, this concert has been newly remastered! This June 1977 concert at London's Rainbow Theater captures the recently reconfigured Wailers ending a European tour to promote the Exodus album. The rare performances of "Trenchtown Rock," "Rebel Music," and "Crazy Baldhead" from the earlier Wailers repertoire are the treasures of this collection, but the whole thing is simply a "must-have".
Following an assassination attempt in Kingston, Jamaica, in December 1976, Bob Marley and his band moved to London – in “exodus” from their home country – and recorded tracks for what became both the Exodus and Kaya albums. Marley’s Exodus, featuring the timeless tracks “Jamming,” “Three Little Birds,” “One Love/People Get Ready,” and the epic title song, came first, which led to early positive reviews, ten early dates around Western Europe and shows at the Rainbow Theatre in London’s Finsbury Park during release week. But an injury to Bob led to the abrupt cancellation of the rest of the Exodus tour, including expected U.S. breakthrough shows scheduled for late summer, leaving June 1-2-3-4 the final performances by the Wailers that year.
In May 1977, Elton John took the stage at London’s iconic Rainbow Theatre with Ray Cooper for a 6-show residency. These performances were the first Elton-and-Ray only shows and featured the first live debuts of tracks; "Roy Rogers", "Cage The Songbird", "Idol" and "I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)".