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…
In 1997, BGO released Tom Rush/Wrong End of the Rainbow, which contained two complete albums – Tom Rush (1970, originally released on Columbia) and Wrong End of the Rainbow (1970, also originally released on Columbia) – by influential folky Tom Rush on one compact disc.
Originally issued in November of 1981 as a double LP compilation, the sixteen-song The Best of Rainbow features several of the greatest songs from the first five studio albums recorded by moody Ritchie Blackmore and his ever-changing supporting cast in Rainbow. The anthology peaked at number 14 in the U.K., and The Best of Rainbow was subsequently reissued in 1993 as a twin CD set.
With Joe Lynn Turner on board, Rainbow tried one crossover record and one no-frills hard rock record – which meant that Bent out of Shape, their third album with Turner, provided a fine opportunity to get a little arty. Not that the band has turned into Genesis or even returned to the mystical pretensions of its early work; they have merely broadened their horizons…
The departure of Ronnie James Dio gave Ritchie Blackmore a chance to reinvent Rainbow, which he does to a certain extent on Down to Earth. Adding former Deep Purple colleague Roger Glover as bassist and Graham Bonnet as vocalist, Blackmore tones down some of the excess of the Dio years, particularly in terms of fantastical lyrics, and turns to straight-ahead hard rock, only occasionally adorned by prominent synthesizers…
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll may be singer Ronnie James Dio's last album with Rainbow, but at least he went out on a high note. While the material is not quite as strong as on the previous studio effort, Rising, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll maintains the momentum the band had built up. "Kill the King" had been previously heard on the live On Stage record, but here it sounds more fully realized…
After the commercial failure of the excellent Home of the Brave, Chris Rainbow was brought back down to earth with something of a bump by Polydor. Out went the exotic recording locations and top American sessionmen but, more critically, out too went the innovative production team of Malcolm Cecil and Bob Margouleff, who had been responsible for giving HOTB much of its spectral beauty…