Rainbow - Live In The Dark: Another Santiago 1996 Release on Vinyl



Laser Media released on January 19th, 2024 another dodgy LP called "Live In The Dark" on white vinyl. An incomplete version of the Santiago 1996 concert. Laser Media showed their crappy reputation by also releasing on January 19th a 2CD titled Deep Purple "Live in Concert 1977". Fans will know there was no version of Deep Purple in 1977 anymore.

Side A :
Perfect Strangers
Long Live Rock n Roll
Burn

Side B :
Man On The Silver Mountain
Wolf To The Moon
Difficult To Cure
Smoke On The Water






Rainbow - Portraits of Rainbow: The Dio Years book



Portraits of Rainbow - The Dio Years book is a photographic celebration of Ritchie Blackmore’s supergroup, formed in 1975 by the guitarist as he left Deep Purple and recruited four members of the band Elf, including singer Ronnie James Dio. However, the band really took off when Blackmore recruited Cozy Powell, Jimmy Bain and Tony Carey and recorded the seminal album “Rising” in 1976. Sounds writer Geoff Barton remembers: "I marvelled at the fist-thunderin’ maelstrom depicted on the cover, a pulse-poundin’ paintin’ by Ken (Kiss, Manowar) Kelly. I also offered the following description of the album's musical content: Thermo-Nuclear Rock'n'Roll!"

Rainbow were underway and although this less commercial variant of the band that went on to conquer the rock world in the 1980s was relatively short-lived it remains, for most fans, the definitive sound and image of Rainbow with the combination of Blackmore, Dio and Powell creating a powerful, progressive rock band. It all came to an end in 1979 when Ritchie decided to take the band in a new, more commercial direction.

The book features hundreds of classic and unseen, carefully restored, black and white images of Rainbow at play and playing live at a series of stunning, unforgettable shows. Legendary writer and journalist Geoff Barton has written an introductory text based on his professional experience with Ritchie and the band in the 1970s.

The book is 230mm square, case-bound, 240 pages, printed on luxury 170gsm matt-coated paper. The book comes with a fold out poster and is presented in a black slipcase with a gold foil logo. The main edition comes in 666 numbered copies and sells for £55 plus shipping.

The first two hundred orders ship with a free white Strat geepin badge worth £6.95.

In addition to this, a much larger, ultra-limited Leather and Metal Edition measuring 375mm square and presented in recycled leather and a hand welded aluminium metal slipcase with a screen printed logo in a run of 50 numbered copies. This will sell for £500 and includes a free replica of The Pirate Sound T-shirt worn by band members at the time. The books will go on sale on Friday June 23rd at 3pm UK time and will feature a 10% pre-order discount if ordered before July 31st 2023. The books will ship worldwide towards the end of November 2023.

Pre Order: here






Rainbow - Santiago 1996: Release on 2LP Coloured Marble Vinyl



In 2020 the 'Good Ship Funke' Label released "Rainbow - Santiago 1996". Now Coda Records release on May 31, 2023 a 2LP coloured marble vinyl bundle of the same concert with the misleading titles "Strangers In Us All" and "Purple Rainbows".

Coda Records, just like all those other obscure labels we have seen in the past, are releasing recordings of past concerts that had been broadcast live on radio at some point in the past, and are now in the public domain in Europe. Although they are not in general officially-authorized by the artists, they are legal due to differing copyright laws in Europe as opposed to North America.

So after the CD version we now get a vinyl version of the show performed at the Teatro Monumental Music Venue and Theatre, in Santiago, Chile, on 26th June 1996. According to the tracklist on these vinyl albums "Black Masquerade" (that was on the CD release) is missing.

LP 1 - Side 1

1. Over The Rainbow
2. Too Late For Tears
3. Wolf To The Moon/Difficult To Cure
4. Ariel

LP 1 - Side 2

1. Man On The Silver Mountain
2. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll
3. Hall Of The Mountain King

LP 2 - Side 1

1. Since You've Been Gone
2. Perfect Strangers
3. Temple Of The King
4. Mistreated

LP 2 - Side 2

1. Still I'm Sad
2. Maybe Next Time
3. Burn
4. Smoke On The Water








Rainbow: A Visual Biography by Jerry Bloom



From 1975, through the eighties, re-activated in the nineties and a slight return in 2016-18, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow took its fans on numerous journeys from the grandiose beginnings with Ronnie James Dio to the chart busting times with Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner.

And again in the nineties with Doogie White as lead vocalist, and finally stepping out for the last time in the twenty-first century for a handful of shows allowing a new generation of fans to have the opportunity of hearing Rainbow live on stage.

In this hefty tome Jerry Bloom charts Rainbow's full career with great detail and information, along with a huge raft of superb imagery that covers the entire career.

Bloom documents the band's history in a comprehensive timeline, that covers every facet of Rainbow from every angle. Aside from band photos, the visual element is enhanced with rare memorabilia and artifacts.

Format: Hardback: 297 x 210 mm, 224pp.
Code: 978-1-915246-22-6
Price: £ 59,99
Release date: April 14, 2023
Pre Order: here






Rainbow - Legendary Radio Broadcast Recordings & Transmission Impossible



We got notified of some more dodgy releases:

Transmission Impossible (Radio Broadcasts)

Label: Eat to the Beat
Release date: March 4, 2022

CD1: live FM Broadcast Recorded At Nippon Budokan, Japan, 9th May 1980

Eyes Of The World, Love's No Friend, Since You Been Gone, Man On The Silver Mountain, Don Airey Solo #1, Lost In Hollywood, Band Jam/A Light In The Black/Ritchie Blackmore Solo #1, Difficult To Cure, Don Airey Solo #2, Cozy Powell Drum Solo, Lost In Hollywood Reprise/Ritchie Blackmore Solo #2, Lazy, All Night Long, Long Live Rock 'N' Roll, Kill The King/Guitar Clash, Long Live Rock 'N' Roll (reprise), Somewhere Over The Rainbow

CD2: live FM Broadcast Recorded At The Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA, 7th May 1981

Somewhere Over The Rainbow/Spotlight Kid, Love's No Friend, Surrender, Man On The Silver Mountain, Catch The Rainbow, Can't Happen Here, Lost In Hollywood/Ode To Joy, Long Live Rock 'N' Roll, Smoke On The Water

CD3: live FM Broadcast Recorded At The Convention Center, San Antonio, TX, 18th August 1982

Opening, Spotlight Kid, Miss Mistreated, Can't Happen Here, Tearin' Out My Heart, All Night Long, Stone Cold, Power, Ritchie's Blues, Ode To Joy, Drum Solo, Long Live Rock 'N' Roll, Smoke On The Water

This 3 disc collection is a re-release of albums already available individually


Rainbow Box 6cd set - Legendary Radio Broadcast Recordings

Label: Laser Media
Release date: September 23, 2022

CD1: 1976

Kill The King, Mistreated, Greensleeves, 16th Century Greensleeves, Catch The Rainbow, Purple Haze, White Christmas, Man On The Silver Mountain 1, Blues, Man On The Silver Mountain 2, Man On The Silver Mountain 3

CD2: 1976

Starstruck, Keyboard Solo, Stargazer, Still I'm Sad, Keyboard Solo 2, Drum Solo, 1812 Overture, Over The Rainbow

CD3: 1981

Love's No Friend, Can't Happen Here, Catch The Rainbow, Don Airey Keyboard Solo, Lost in Hollywood, Difficult To Cure, Drum Solo

CD4: 1996

Over The Rainbow, Too Late For Tears, Long Live Rock 'N' Roll, Mistreated, Wolf To The Moon, Difficult To Cure, Keyboard Solo, Still I'm Sad, DrumS Solo, Man On The Silver Mountain

CD5: 1996

Temple Of The King, Black Masquerade, Ariel, Since You've Been Gone, Perfect Strangers, Hall Of The Mountain King, Maybe Next Time, Burn, Smoke On The Water

CD6: 1983

Spotlight Kid, Fool for the Night, I Surrender, Drinking With The Devil, Power, Blues, Stargazer, Stranded, Death Alley Driver, Maybe Next Time, Since You've Been Gone

Despite no more info has been given it looks like we got here re-releases of Osaka 1976, Boston 1981, Santiago 1996 and Cardiff 1983 that already got dodgy releases in the last few years.





New limited edition book "Ritchie Blackmore" by Ross Halfin





Rufus Publications and Ross Halfin are proud to present a new, limited edition book "Ritchie Blackmore" featuring hundreds of unseen images from Ross's extensive library.

Ritchie Blackmore, from Deep Purple through to Rainbow and now Blackmore's Night is one of our most influential guitarists and Ross started photographing him and Rainbow from 1980 onwards. This new book is an intimate portrait of Blackmore both on and off stage and captures the brilliance and madness of Rainbow during those years. Ross had unparalleled access for several years and the images in this book often show Ritchie as you've never seen him before. It finishes with shots of early Blackmore's Night in action.

With an introduction by Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen who first saw Blackmore on stage at the age of 14 (and features in a photograph on the back of the legendary Made in Japan cover) and words by Ross and journalist Pete Makowski who knew and worked with Ritchie and Rainbow at the time. As Ross remembers...

"Around this time I met writer Peter Makowski who Geoff Barton (the features editor at Sounds) introduced us with the prophetic words "You two will be bad for each other". Never has a truer word been spoken. Now the one thing I knew about Pete was he knew Blackmore - and I don't mean "knew" him in a music industry sense - he really did know Ritchie and was a friend of his and as Pete said one day - "let's go and do Blackmore".

I actually can't remember where I finally met him but I was pleasantly surprised. Ritchie, who I expected to be off and aloof, was completely the opposite. Once I'd met him he was funny, liked a drink and was fantastic company. Pete and I for the period around this book - I suppose you could say were in his inner circle. We travelled with him, we hung out with him. As you can see from some of the pictures in this book, Ritchie once you knew him was very accessible and as a photographer I could shoot with him more or less anything I wanted - he would never say no - or I would have to give him a funny, twisted reason to want to do it."

The book also includes contributions from Billy Corgan and Colin Hart.

At 304 pages, this deluxe hardback book measuring 245mm x 345mm is signed by Ross and comes in two very limited editions. The main edition, bound in white leather with a black sleeve, is just 350 numbered copies worldwide and sells for £199 plus delivery and a super limited, large format A3 edition at just 50 copies will sell for £599 worldwide. Both editions feature an animated 3D lenticular on the cover of Ritchie throwing his guitar into the air.

The book will go on pre-sale at 3pm UK time on Wednesday September 29th and will ship in mid-December.

Update 1: The book has been delayed until January 2022

Rufus Publications tells: "The book has been delayed until January. We decided, with Ross, to add more content and as a result it is a better book. We have also upgraded the book to include a slipcase and not just a sleeve so the presentation is much higher. At this stage I cannot give a date in January but the book is being printed at the moment so it will be down to binding after Christmas.

Also, in early January we will be launching a new promotional video featuring Phil Collen from Def Leppard talking about Ritchie and his playing technique".

Update 2: Rufus Publications has started shipping the ordered books late January 2022





New photobook "Rainbow On Stages" out in Japan



A new photo book, Rainbow On Stages, is on sale in Japan, featuring 368 photographic pages with the story of Rainbow from 1975 to 2019!

Shinko Music Entertainment has released this new photo book to celebrate the 45th anniversary from Rainbow's first performance in Japan (1976).

Set list, songs from the 1975 North American tour that made its live debut to the latest performances in Europe in 2019. Thorough detailed explanation of each day's performance, including the source of the classic melody inserted in the previous song and the presence or absence of an encore and guitar destruction.

The content of the photo-book:

1975: US Tour
1976: US Tour / UK Tour / Europe Tour / Australia Tour / Japan Tour
1977: Europe Tour / UK Tour
1978: Japan Tour / US Tour
1979: US Tour
1980: Europe Tour / UK Tour / Japan Tour / Monsters of Rock
1981: US Tour / Europe Tour / UK Tour / Japan Tour
1982: US Tour / Canada Tour / Japan Tour / Europe Tour
1983-1984: UK Tour / Scandinavia Tour / US Tour / Japan Tour
1995: Europe Tour / Japan Tour
1996: South America Tour / Europe Tour
1997: US Tour
2016-2019: Germany / UK / Europe

In addition, the book will list all of Rainbow's concert dates, as well as a section dedicated to Ritchie's concert equipment.






Rainbow - The Definitive Osaka 1978 Final Night



And again..... a new dodgy release by Left Field Media (LFM2CD658). While the front cover mention January 20th, 1978 as the date of this live recording the promo ranting mentions the 2nd Osaka Show in 1978. As Rainbow did three shows in Osaka (January 16th, 17th and 20th) it's not clear (yet) which show will be on this release.

Product description: Excellent broadcast recording from Rainbow's Long Live Rock'n'Roll Tour, Released in April 1978, Long Live Rock n Roll is the third studio album by Rainbow, and was the last to feature Ronnie James Dio as lead singer. Recording of the album commenced in April 1977 at a studio in Château d'Hérouville, France, featuring Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio and Cozy Powell. Keyboards were initially played on a session basis by former Rainbow member Tony Carey, while bass parts were started by Mark Clarke. Clarke was soon dismissed, however, and the bass parts were recorded by Blackmore himself.

By July 1977 seven tracks that ended up on the LP were in demo form. Recording was suspended while the band recruited Bob Daisley and David Stone and thereafter commenced extensive touring of Europe in the summer and fall of 1977. A return to the Château d'Hérouville studio in December saw the band finish the album and also yielded a final track, Gates of Babylon. Kill the King was already a staple part of the tour setlists, opening Rainbow concerts since mid-1976. It first appeared on the live album On Stage in 1977.

In the 1977-78 concerts the title track and Kill the King were the only songs performed, although L.A. Connection did get a few airings on the US tour before being dropped from the set. Rainbow finished their Rising tour on November 22nd, 1977 in Cardiff, but by January 11th, 1978 they were in Japan for the start of their Long Live Rock n Roll Tour. By now hugely popular in the country, Rainbow played 15 concerts there until early February.

Generally considered their finest gigs of the LLRR tour, are the two shows the band played at the Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in Osaka, and of these their second concert there was recorded for live FM broadcast. This extraordinary gig is now available for all to hear on this new 2CD set, which captures this entire event, sure to prove a delight for fans everywhere to now witness exactly what went down on this winter evening more than 40 years ago, in the land of the rising sun.

DISC ONE

1. Over The Rainbow Intro 1:23
2. Kill The King 5:09
3. Mistreated 13:00
4. 16th Century Greensleeves 9:05
5. Catch The Rainbow 18:17
6. Long Live Rock'n'Roll 9:36

DISC TWO

1. Man On The Silver Mountain 7:29
2. Guitar Solo 2:28
3. Blues 6:32
4. Starstruck 0:51
5. Captain Cornflakes 3:45
6. Man On The Silver Mountain 0:56
7. Improvisations 5:14
8. Still I´m Sad 27:14

Releasedate: February 5, 2021





Rainbow - Difficult To Cure Tour... Memphis 1981 & Live 1983



Let's continue with crappy releases. This seems to be a never ending story.....

This one has been advertised now by major stores in Japan for a release on December 4, 2020 by the Alive The Live label.

While the artworks says Difficult To Cure Tour...Memphis 1981 the promotional text goes: "In February 1981, he released his sixth album "I Surrender" and started his world tour after a long time. Among them, the Boston performance on May 7 was recorded and broadcasted for the popular American radio music program King Biscuit Flower Hour, but the release as an album was postponed.

Since the set list of the day is 13 songs including medley and encore, this live album is a complete recording of the concert. It is a long-awaited work for fans because not only the audience but also the band's dish is the best because it is a tour with a successful album in the history of rainbow in the United States. Imported board domestic specifications with obi and English commentary." (translated from Japanese so there might be a few glitches).

Tracklist:

1. Over The Rainbow
2. Spotlight Kid
3. Love's No Friend
4. I surrender
5. Man On The Silver Mountain
6. Catch the Rainbow
7. Can't Happen Here
8. Don Airey Keyboard Solo
9. Lost in Hollywood
10. Difficult To Cure
11. Drum Solo
12. Long Live Rock'n'Roll
13. Lazy / Woman From Tokyo / Smoke On The Water


And that's not all because there's also another one announced - same label, same release date (Alive The Live - Dec 4, 2020).

Rainbow - Live... 1983: "In August 1983, he released "Street of Dreams", the last album for Rainbow during this period, and toured only in North America and Europe. Among them, the concert in Wales on September 14/15 of the British tour was recorded for the live album, but the release was postponed and it was only be broadcasted on the BBC radio program.

Since the set list on the day is 19 songs including medley and encore, it is a live album that captures the whole concert. The contents of the set list can be said to be the best of Rainbow, including songs of Deep Purple. It's a long-awaited release for Ritchie Blackmore because it was a tour in his home country for a long time and the performance is also fulfilling! Imported board domestic specifications with obi and English commentary."

CD 1:

1. Over The Rainbow Intro
2. Spotlight Kid
3. Miss Mistreated
4. Fool for the Night
5. I Surrender
6. Can't Happen Here
7. Catch the Rainbow
8. Lazy
9. Drinking With The Devil
10. Difficult To Cure
1. Bass Solo
12. Keyboard Solo
13. Difficult To Cure (reprise)
14. Guitar And Drums Duel
15. Drum Solo
16. Power

CD 2:

1. Blues Session
2. Stargazer
3. Death Alley Driver
4. Rule Britannia / All Night Long
5. Maybe Next Time
6. Since You've Been Gone
7. Woman From Tokyo
8. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
9. Hey Joe
10. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (reprise)

It seems these releases are distributed by all major stores in Japan (including Amazon, Tower Records and HMV). Discogs mentioned these discs are pressed in Taiwan but distributed solely in Japan. Still not sure to classify these as a bootleg or an official release but very dodgy again for sure.

Update:

And to make this complete, another of this obscure releases (earlier judged as a bootleg) titled "Live...Texas '82 King Biscuit Flower Hour" turned out to be also such a only for Japan release by another dubious label; King Street (KINGCD4014). This was released on November 9, 2018.

The promotional ranting for this goes (translated from Japanese): Rainbow, which got a miracle revival by Ritchie Blackmore in 2015, has been performing live activities intermittently since then. Introducing a live album that fully records the concerts that took place in Texas, USA during the 1982 World Tour, which was the heyday of Rainbow!

Some sound sources are also used in the officially released video work "Live Between the Eyes" recorded for the popular American radio program "King Biscuit Flower Hour", and it has been made into a long-awaited CD for fans. Only the tour with the most successful American album "Straight Between The Eyes" in the history of Rainbow, the performance of the songs are also complete, and the audience's reaction is the best, and it is a work with a wonderful finish as a live album.

Tracklist:

1. Over The Rainbow
2. Spotlight Kid
3. Miss Mistreated
4. Can't Happen Here
5. Tearin' Out My Heart
6. All Night Long
7. Stone Cold
8. Power
9. Blues
10. Difficult To Cure
11. Guitar / Drums Duet
12. Drum Solo
13. Long Live Rock'n'Roll
14. Kill The King / Long Live Rock'n'Roll Reprise
15. Vielleicht das Nächster Zeit (Maybe Next Time)
16. Smoke on the Water.






Rainbow - Santiago 1996: The Classic Chile Broadcast 2CD Set



Last week the very dodgy "The Boys From Brazil" by Deep Purple was announced, this week we see announcements for "Rainbow - Santiago 1996" with a tracklist that was given for the previous mentioned release. This one, a concert from 1996 in Chile, is to be released on November 6th, 2020 by the 'Good Ship Funke' Label.

The promotional blah blah: Superb 1996 South American Broadcast In early 1984, Rainbow's management, Thames Talent, co-ordinated attempts to successfully reform Deep Purple MK. II. By April 84, Rainbow was disbanded. A then-final Rainbow album, Finyl Vinyl, was pieced together from live tracks and B-sides of singles, including the instrumental Weiss Heim (All Night Long s B-side). In 1993, Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple permanently due to "creative differences" with other members, and reformed Rainbow with all-new members, featuring Scottish singer Doogie White.

The band released Stranger In Us All in 1995, and embarked on a lengthy world tour. The tour proved successful, and the show in Düsseldorf, Germany, was professionally filmed for the Rockpalast TV show, and later officially released by Eagle Records on CD and DVD as Black Masquerade, in 2013. The live shows featured frequent changes in set lists, and musical improvisations that proved popular with fans and critics alike.

However, perhaps the very finest show of the tour was performed at the Teatro Monumental music venue and theatre, in Santiago, Chile, on 26th June 1996. The show was recorded for live FM Radio Broadcast across the country, and it featured too on TV there. Including a quite stunning track-list and an ambiance that defies belief, it remains a fan favourite almost 30 years since this spectacular concert was performed. The concert however remains unreleased on CD or DVD until now, when this 2 Disc Set features the entire radio broadcast for the first time.

DISC ONE

1. Over The Rainbow 1:53
2. Too Late For Tears 5:02
3. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll 8:46
4. Mistreated 8:46
5. Wolf To The Moon 10:12
6. Still I'm Sad 5:36
7. Man On The Silver Mountain 5:31

DISC TWO

1. Temple Of The King 6:44
2. Black Masquerade 6:29
3. Ariel 7:18
4. Since You've Been Gone 1:07
5. Hall Of The Mountain King 6:35
6. Perfect Strangers 7:01
7. Maybe Next Time 1:50
8. Burn 4:36
9. Smoke On The Water 8:45






Very, very dodgy announcement: The Boys From Brazil 2CD



Just when you thought it could not get any worse..... we have seen recently already a couple of these questionable releases of rainbow live concerts, every time with a non matching photo on the frontcover. The last one (The Broadcast Archives 1975-1981) was with a 1975 photo of Ritchie and Ronnie for a 1981 live concert was probably the worst.

But now there is an announcement for an album titled Deep Purple "The Boys From Brazil" by Left Field Media to bereleased on November 6th, 2020. It is advertised by several online sellers including Amazon and HMV. It is announced as a Deep Purple Mark V previously unreleased FM Radio Broadcast from Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1991.

However the setlist in the press info definitely will raise some eyebrows.... this ofcourse looks like it is from one of the Rainbow Doogie White era live gigs, most likely in Sao Paulo July 1996. Just do not buy this crap!!

DISC ONE

1. Over The Rainbow 1:53
2. Too Late For Tears 5:02
3. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll 8:46
4. Mistreated 8:46
5. Wolf To The Moon 10:12
6. Still I'm Sad 5:36
7. Man On The Silver Mountain 5:31

DISC TWO

1. Temple Of The King 6:44
2. Black Masquerade 6:29
3. Ariel 7:18
4. Since You've Been Gone 1:07
5. Hall Of The Mountain King 6:35
6. Perfect Strangers 7:01
7. Maybe Next Time 1:50
8. Burn 4:36
9. Smoke On The Water 8:45

UPDATE: In the mean time this has been released now and it turns out that the previously given set list was not right and this has a tracklist of a Deep Purple concert from Sao Paulo, Brazil 1991. First seen reviews mention a very poor quality.






In The Shadow Of The Wizard - Rainbow 1975 to 1976



In The Shadow Of The Wizard is a full colour, 224 page A4 hardback coffee table style book that comprehensively documents Rainbow's first formative period. The recording of the first album, whilst Blackmore was still a member of Deep Purple; the first North American tour; the making of the seminal Rainbow Rising and the lengthy world tour that followed.

The reader is taken on a journey gig by gig by what is regarded as the classic Rainbow line-up of Blackmore, Dio, Powell, Bain and Carey.

Accompanied by photos, many previously unpublished; along with memorabilia and archive press cuttings. There is also an in-depth track by track look at the albums, and even a section detailing the short-lived Oyster Records, set up purely at Blackmore's insistence.

The book also chronicles all the known recordings from the time, including full details of the many hours of rehearsal recordings made at Pirate Sound in California and a comprehensive guide to all the officially recorded live material, initially prepared for the On Stage album.

The first 50 ordered will include a memorabilia pack comprising of facsimiles of original Rising and On Stage press packs as well as a replica Rising Australian tour programme. All those who order by 30th June will also get their name in the book on a dedicated fan page.

"It was such a great band! It was a band that influenced so many other bands. They were great songs. It was a groundbreaking time. We were the first to do that kind of material, and it influenced people so much that they've just never forgotten it."
Ronnie James Dio

Publication date 4th September 2020 by Wymer Publishing.

Update: This book has been postponed till October 30, 2020.





Another dodgy release announced: The Broadcast Archives 1976-1981



And here's the next one in this ongoing new trend. Similar recent releases got very poor reviews. As mentioned before these are questionable releases by Radio stations around the world who have found a small merit selling the rights of their recordings often to small and unknown record labels. These releases are considered official discography as long as they are legally registered and the corresponding fees are paid to the musicians involved. Unfortunately these releases often sound like bootlegs and come with poor artwork.

The promotional text reads: A package of various live broadcast sound sources for Rainbow from 1976 to 1981. A retrospective piece that covers the eras of Ronnie James Dio, Graham Bonnet, and Joe Lynn Turner.

This new release by Laser Media will be available on May 29th, 2020 and is called "The Broadcast Archives 1976-1981".

Update 1: The released seems to be delayed till June 12th, 2020.

1. Introduction
2. Kill The King
3. Mistreated
4. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
5. Catch The Rainbow
6. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
7. Man On The Silver Mountain - Starstruck
8. Still I'm Sad - Drum Solo
9. Do You Close Your Eyes - Over The Rainbow
10. Lost In Hollywood
11. Difficult To Cure
12. Drum Solo
13. Long Live Rock'n Roll
14. Maybe Next Time
15. All Night Long


Update 2:

Contrary to what was in the original press release, it appears after the release that there is a different track index. Moreover, this CD appears to be a copy of the bootleg "Lost in Hollywood" of a concert that Rainbow did in Rotterdam in 1981.

01. Spotlight Kid
02. I Surrender
03. Man On The Silver Mountain
04. Catch The Rainbow
05. Can't Happen Here
06. Lost In Hollywood
07. Difficult To Cure
08. Long Live Rock'n' Roll
09. Maybe Next Time
10. All Night Long
11. Medley 1 (Lazy / Woman From Tokyo / Smoke On The Water)
12. Medley 2 (Kill The King / Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (reprise) / Guitar Crash)






Tokyo 1980 - The Classic Japanese Broadcast 2 CD Set



This new trend continues without shame. Like mentioned before with the other questionable releases Radio stations around the world have found a small merit selling the rights of their recordings often to small and unknown record labels. These releases are considered official discography as long as they are legally registered and the corresponding fees are paid to the musicians involved. Unfortunately these releases often sound like bootlegs and come with poor artwork.

The promotional text reads: Superb 2 CD Set Featuring Rainbow in Japan 1980. Following the 1978 departure of Ronnie James Dio as Rainbow's vocalist, Ritchie Blackmore firstly offered the role to Ian Gillan Blackmore's old Deep Purple colleague but when he was turned down the job went to former Marbles singer Graham Bonnet. Concurrently, Don Airey joined on keyboards and another former Purple man, Roger Glover, took over on bass while also producing and composing lyrics.

The band's first album with the new line up, Down To Earth, came out in July 1979 to rapturous praise from critics and fans alike. The record included the group's two biggest hit singles, Since You Been Gone and All Night Long. The Down To Earth Tour kicked off in summer 1979 and played across North America, Europe and the Far East where, on 9th May 1980, the group performed at the Budokan in Tokyo, putting on one of the tour s finest and best remembered shows. Recorded for local TV and FM Radio broadcast, this previously unreleased concert is now available on this 2CD set, 40 years after the legendary gig was performed.

This 2 CD Set will be released by the Unicorn Label (UN2CD021) on April 3rd, 2020

Disc 1:

1. Pomp And Circumstance/Somewhere Over The Rainbow
2. Eyes Of The World
3. Love's No Friend
4. Since You Been Gone
5. Man On The Silver Mountain
6. Catch The Rainbow

Disc 2:

1. Don Airey Solo #1
2. Lost In Hollywood
3. Band Jam/A Light In The Black/Ritchie Blackmore Solo #1
4. Difficult To Cure
5. Don Airey Solo #2
6. Cozy Powell Drum Solo
7. Lost In Hollywood Reprise/Ritchie Blackmore Solo #2
8. Lazy
9. All Night Long
10. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll
11. Kill The King/Guitar Clash
12. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll Reprise
13. Somewhere Over The Rainbow (Exit Music)





Live On The Silver Mountain - Osaka Radio Broadcast 1976



Another questionable release - with a tracklist in a typical bootleg style and artwork that does not match the right period in time - has been announced. Laser Media will release this double compact disc set containing a full show from Osaka, Japan. Recorded live in concert for the Japanese radio station KWO-FM in 1976.

Radio stations around the world have found a small merit selling the rights of their recordings often to small and unknown record labels. These releases are considered official discography as long as they are legally registered and the corresponding fees are paid to the musicians involved. Unfortunately these releases often sound like bootlegs and come with poor artwork.

The new album is titled "Live On The Silver Mountain" and will be out on January 24, 2020.
According to the setlist it will be the concert in Osaka on December 9th, 1976.
The tracklist in the press release is different from the one printed on the 2CD cover (see pic below)

Disc 1:

01. Monitor Check
02. Opening
03. Over The Rainbow
04. Start
05. Kill The King
06. Mistreated
07. Greensleeves
08. 16th Century Greensleeves
09. Prelude In C Major
10. Catch The Rainbow
11. Purple Haze
12. White Christmas
13. Lazy
14. Man On The Silver Mountain

Disc 2:

01. Forty Miles of Bad Road
02. Tequila
03. Medley
04. Keyboard Solo
05. Stargazer
06. Still I'm Sad
07. Keyboard Solo
08. Drum Solo
09. 1812 Overture
10. Still I'm Sad
11. Over The Rainbow
12. Announcement








Another new Rainbow release: Taffs And Toffs



Another new release has been announced for December 6th, 2019; Rainbow - Taffs And Toffs (1983 Broadcast Recording).

The concert at the St. David's Hall in Cardiff on September 14th in 1983 was recorded for live FM radio broadcast. The full concert is now available for the first time on CD.

Tracklist:

1. Over The Rainbow Intro
2. Spotlight Kid
3. Miss Mistreated
4. Fool for the Night
5. I Surrender
6. Can't Happen Here
7. Catch the Rainbow
8. Lazy
9. Drinking With The Devil
10. Difficult To Cure Prelude
11. Difficult To Cure
12. Guitar And Drums Duel
13. Power
14. Blues
15. Stargazer
16. Stranded
17. Death Alley Driver
18. Rule Britannia
19. All Night Long
20. Vielleicht das Nächster Zeit (Maybe Next Time)
21. Since You've Been Gone
22. Woman From Tokyo
23. Smoke On The Water
24. Hey Joe
25. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll






11 LP Boxset "Treasures - A Vinyl Collection" to be released



With Christmas on the way it's time for a new compilation: Rainbow - Treasures: A Vinyl Collection is, as the name suggests, a true treasure chest for any vinyl lover. This strictly limited to 500 copies box contains a total of four Rainbow Live albums in high-quality, partly box-exclusive design on 11 LP's.

Rainbow - Live In Munich 1977 (Ltd. 180g Red 3LP/ Box-Exclusive)
Rainbow - Monsters Of Rock: Live In Donington 1980 (180g Black 2LP)
Rainbow - Live In Japan 1984 (180g Black 3LP)
Rainbow - Live In Birmingham 2016 (Ltd. 180g White 3LP)

This boxset will be released by Earmusic Classics (Edel) on December 6th, 2019

Full tracklist here






New Rainbow Book: Sensitive to Light - The Rainbow Story



Martin Popoff, writer of "Rainbow: English Castle Magic" and "The Deep Purple Royal Family" (Chain of Events Through '79 & Chain of Events '80 - '11) has come up with a new book titled "Sensitive to Light: The Rainbow Story".

- This book is 50% longer, a whopping 120,000 words and 318 pages.
- No pictures in the old one – two swell colour sections of photos in this one.
- New interview footage with Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio, Roger Glover, Jimmy Bain,    Tony Carey, Graham Bonnet, Craig Gruber, Cozy Powell and more.
- major overhaul in the writing and analysis by martin Popoff.
- loads more research of the press, breakdown of the songs, production, album covers etc.
- old one was smaller format; this one is Popoff's usual 6" x 9"
- reissues and live output covered in more detail
- brought up to date with the Ronnie Romero era live shows and new songs

Price including shipping:
US orders: $37.00 US funds
Int'l orders (all books go air): $40.00 US funds
Canadian orders: $39.00 Cdn. funds

Ask Martin Popoff if you'd like a PayPal invoice (please indicate what country you are in), or just do yer usual and direct funds to martinp@inforamp.net

Or mail payment (personal check in US funds, cash, or INTERNATIONAL money order), to: Martin Popoff, P.O. Box 65208, 358 Danforth Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4K 2Z2. Email Martin at martinp@inforamp.net with any further questions, and see martinpopoff (dot) com for descriptions, cover art and ordering info for his other available 45 or so books.





Ritchie Blackmore: A Life In Vision Limited-Edition Photo Book



Wymer Publishing has set a September 12 release date for "Ritchie Blackmore: A Life In Vision", a limited-edition deluxe photo book. Limited to 1,000 copies, the book will and only be available directly from the Wymer Publishing web site. If you order now, your name will be included on a dedicated fan page.

This new deluxe photo book compiled by Blackmore biographer Jerry Bloom is the perfect companion to his 2006 biography "Black Knight", as it portrays Blackmore's career with photos and memorabilia from 1958 to the present day.

Not only does it feature a large selection of photos, many of which have never been seen before but following years of research by Bloom, it also includes the most comprehensive gig list ever published, for Blackmore's pre-Deep Purple career between 1958-67 with over 300 gigs detailed from his days with The Outlaws — backing Gene Vincent and Jerry Lee Lewis; with Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages; Neil Christian & The Crusaders; and even going back to his earliest bands such as The Vampires and The Kestrals.

Augmented with memorabilia from the time, the book also plots Blackmore's career in photos, through Deep Purple, Rainbow and Blackmore's Night, along with narrative by Bloom that puts the visual elements in context. This is a limited edition of 1,000 copies worldwide in a bespoke, custom-made presentation box with a set of prints.

Editorial note: This book requires total independent editorial control. It has not been authorised or approved by Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple or Rainbow or any of their management. It has not been approved by past or present members or their management.

Ritchie Blackmore A Life In Vision
Code: 978-1-912782-28-4
128 Page A4 Full colour
£ 59,99





Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow To Release New Version Of 'The Storm'



Rainbow will release a new digital single, "The Storm", on May 17 via Minstrel Hall Music. The song is said to be "a rocked-up remake" of an old Blackmore's Night track from the album "Fires At Midnight", which was issued back in 2001. Last month, Rainbow issued a newly recorded version of its song "Black Sheep Of The Family". The original recording of "Black Sheep Of The Family" — a cover of a track by the band Quatermass from 1970 — was included on Rainbow's debut album, 1975's "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow".

The first new Rainbow single since 1996, "Waiting For A Sign", was released in March 2018. The song was penned by Ritchie Blackmore, with lyrics by his wife Candice Night and vocals from Rainbow's current singer, Ronnie Romero.

Just as a special limited edition for Rainbow concert goers there will be an EP sold only at the upcoming Rainbow shows in June called "Rainbow Vorwärts" (Rainbow Forwards). It will be available with newly mastered versions of "Black Sheep of the Family", "Waiting for a Sign" and "The Storm".





Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow To Release New Version Of 'Black Sheep Of The Family'



Rainbow will release a newly recorded version of its song "Black Sheep Of The Family" on April 26.

The original recording of "Black Sheep Of The Family" — a cover of a track by the band Quatermass from 1970 — was included on Rainbow's debut album, 1975's "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow". Like the rest of the LP, the song was recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany.

The first new Rainbow single since 1996, "Waiting For A Sign", was released in March 2018. The song was penned by Ritchie Blackmore, with lyrics by his wife Candice Night and vocals from Rainbow's current singer, Ronnie Romero, who is originally from Chile but is now settled in Madrid.

The latest incarnation of Rainbow released two new studio recordings in 2017, but they weren't original compositions; one was an instrumental song called "Land Of Hope And Glory", which was a reworking of the 1902 British patriotic song of the same name from Edward Elgar's "Pomp And Circumstance March No. 1", while the other was a re-recording of the Rainbow classic "I Surrender", which was written by Russ Ballard and was first released by Rainbow in 1981.

"Waiting For A Sign" is included on "Memories in Rock II", which was released in April 2018 via Minstrel Hall/Soulfood. The set also contains a double CD of the June 2017 U.K. Rainbow concerts, a DVD containing over 80 minutes of interview footage with the band and crew, an additional backstage clip and a video for the 2017 studio version of "I Surrender".





Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow "Memories in Rock II" announced to be released



An official preview of the upcoming Rainbow release, "Memories in Rock II" is available below. The set will include a double CD of the June 2017 U.K. Rainbow concerts as well as a brand-new Rainbow studio song and backstage footage of the band and crew.

Update:

The releasedate for this 2CD+1DVD package is April 6th, 2018
It will be also available on a 3LP version (also in a limited edition on red and green vinyl)
Two tracks, 'Carry On Jon' & 'Temple Of The King', will be missing on the vinyl edition.

The Japanese edition, to be released on April 4th, will have an extra CD with the new 2017 studio recordings of 'Land of Hope and Glory' and 'I Surrender' (both released now for the first time on CD) plus the brand new track 'Waiting for a Sign'.
There will be also an additional bonus track, 'Burn' (live Birmingham 2017).

Disk: 1

1. Over The Rainbow (Glasgow)
2. Spotlight Kid (Glasgow)
3. I Surrender (Glasgow)
4. Mistreated (Birmingham)
5. Since You've Been Gone (Glasgow)
6. Man On The Silver Mountain/Woman From Tokyo (Glasgow)
7. 16th Century Greensleeves (Glasgow)
8. Soldier Of Fortune (Glasgow)
9. Perfect Strangers (Birmingham)
10. Difficult To Cure (Glasgow)
11. All Night Long (Birmingham)
12. Child In Time (Birmingham)

Disk: 2

1. Stargazer (Glasgow)
2. Long Live Rock'n'Roll/Lazy (Birmingham)
3. Catch The Rainbow (Birmingham)
4. Black Night (Glasgow)
5. Carry On Jon (Birmingham)
6. Temple Of The King (Glasgow)
7. Smoke On The Water (Glasgow)
8. Waiting For A Sign (Studio Track)

Disk: 3

1. Ritchie Blackmore Interview
2. Ronnie Romero Interview
3. Jens Johansson Interview
4. Bob Nouveau Interview
5. David Keith Interview
6. Candice Night Interview
7. Lady Lynn Interview
8. Dave David Interview
9. Andreas Bock Interview
10. Michael Bockmühl Interview
11. Bonus Backstage Clip
12. I Surrender 2017 Backstage Clip


The new single 'Waiting For A Sign' will be made available on March 16. In Japan on April 8. The track will be included on "Memories in Rock II"







Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow's Manchester Arena show has been cancelled





Following last month's attack at the venue, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow's Manchester Arena show has been cancelled. The main area outside the venue has been temporarily closed since the incident on 22nd May and the arena is yet to announce when it will reopen. All upcoming events at Manchester Arena until at least the 20th August have either been cancelled or moved.

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow have released a statement, reading: "Ritchie, all band members and management are sorry that this tragedy has occurred. Our heartfelt sympathy to all victims and everyone in Manchester".

Other shows on Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow tour are not affected and will continue as planned. The tour dates are as follows:

JUNE 2017
London's The O2 (Stone Free Festival) – Sat 17th
Glasgow The SSE Hydro – Sun 25th
Birmingham Genting Arena - Wed 28th

source: Planet Rock





New Single to be released by Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow on May 26th





Digital shops like Amazon and iTunes are advertising now the two new tracks Ritchie Blackmore mentioned in an interview with BURRN Magazine. The tracks are "Land of Hope and Glory" and a re-recorded version of "I Surrender" featuring Ronnie Romero on vocals. The sites give May 26th as the expected release date.

source: Amazon / iTunes





Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow - Live In Birmingham 2016 2CD Release Due In June



On June 9th, Eagle Rock Entertainment will issue the Live In Birmingham 2016 2CD and Digital Audio - the first release of the audio from the 2016 British show. Packed with a set list combining classic tracks from both Deep Purple and Rainbow, the 2CD boasts "Catch The Rainbow", "Mistreated", "Since You Been Gone", "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll", "Black Night", "Spotlight Kid", "Smoke On The Water", "Stargazer", "Perfect Strangers", and more.

The two German shows at Loreley and Bietigheim were caught on camera to produce the concert film Memories In Rock, which was released by Eagle Vision and Eagle Records in November 2016. This new 2CD set captures the full audio from the British show at the Genting Arena at the NEC, Birmingham, including performances of "Soldier Of Fortune" and "Burn" from the Mark III Deep Purple era that weren't in the German shows.

Tracklisting:

Disc One

Over The Rainbow / Highway Star
Spotlight Kid
Mistreated
Since You Been Gone
Man On The Silver Mountain
Soldier Of Fortune
Difficult To Cure / Drum Solo / Bass Solo / Band Jam / Keyboard Solo
Catch The Rainbow

Disc Two

Perfect Strangers
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Child In Time
Stargazer
Medley: Black Night / Woman From Tokyo / Black Night
Burn
Smoke On The Water

source: Brave Words





Expanded re-issue of "Stranger In Us All" by Cherry Red Records out on May 19th



Cherry Red Records will release on May 19th, 2017 an expanded re-issue of "Stranger In Us All" by Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. The extensive liner notes also feature a personal account from singer Doogie White, plus plenty of artwork and memorabilia from Doogie's own Rainbow collection.

Cherry Red Records stated in the press notes: "we are lucky enough to have a unique live recording from a 1995 Swedish concert of 'The Temple Of The King', a song that originally appeared on the band's first record, in 1975. Also featured are a "radio edit" of the single 'Arial', plus the song 'Emotional Crime' that has previously only been released in Japan."

Tracklist:

  1. Wolf To The Moon
  2. Cold Hearted Woman
  3. Hunting Humans (Insatiable)
  4. Stand And Fight
  5. Ariel
  6. Too Late For Tears
  7. Black Masquerade
  8. Silence
  9. Hall Of The Mountain King
10. Still I'm Sad

Bonus Tracks:

11. Emotional Crime (Japan Bonus Track)
12. Ariel (Radio Edit)
13. The Temple Of The King (Live)

source: Cherry Red Records





New book: Rainbow "The Other Side of Rainbow" by Greg Prato



Greg Prato is a Long Island, New York-based journalist, who has written for Rolling Stone, Classic Rock and Vintage Guitar, and has authored books as German Metal Machine, Scorpions in the 70's, Iron Maiden: '80, '81, MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Videos, and Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story. The Other side of Rainbow is his 20th book overall.

When Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple in 1975, many a rock n' roll fan was left befuddled. Why would one of rock's top guitarists leave one of the world's most popular bands? Regardless of the reason, listeners would ultimately be thankful, as Blackmore soon launched Rainbow - a band that rocked just as ferociously as Purple, whose music has proven to be timeless and incredibly influential on subsequent heavy metal bands.

And along the way, Blackmore proved to be extremely adept at spotting largely-unknown talent, and introducing them to the world - including vocalists Ronnie James Dio, Graham Bonnet, and Joe Lynn Turner. However, with Blackmore as the group's leader, band members came and went on a regular basis - preventing the band from possibly reaching their full potential. 'The Other Side of Rainbow' features nearly 30 all-new interviews conducted exclusively for this book, including former band members, those who worked closely with the band, were friends, or admirers of their music.

'The Other Side of Rainbow', a 276 pages paperback is published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. It has been in the shops since November 4th, 2016.

Classic Rock published an excerpt titled "The story of when Rainbow tried to conquer MTV, by those who were there" from this new book.




Rainbow "Memories in Rock - Live in Germany" to be released on November 18



Eagle Rock Entertainment/Edel will release Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow "Memories in Rock - Live in Germany" on November 18, 2016. The first release will include DVD, Blu Ray , 2 CD, DVD + 2 CD and Blu Ray + 2 CD.

Then on December 2 it also will be released as a deluxe box with DVD, Blu-ray and 2 CD in a 48-page hardback photobook, along with the 3 LP version (180-gram vinyl). As a bonus all formats (barring the 3 LP) also boast a quartet of tracks recorded on an alternative night: "Spotlight Kid", "Man On The Silver Mountain", "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll", and "Stargazer".

"Memories In Rock - Live In Germany" Track Listing:

CD Disc 1

01. Highway Star
02. Spotlight Kid
03. Mistreated
04. 16th Century Greensleeves
05. Since You Been Gone
06. Man On The Silver Mountain
07. Catch The Rainbow
08. Difficult To Cure (Beethoven's Ninth)
09. Perfect Strangers
10. Stargazer

CD Disc 2

11. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll
12. Child In Time / Woman From Tokyo
13. Black Night
14. Smoke On The Water

Bonus Tracks

15. Spotlight Kid
16. Man On The Silver Mountain
17. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll
18. Stargazer



UPDATE:

Japanese shops now advertise it as well with details of where the songs are recorded.
Besides the Japanese versions have extra two bonus tracks.

DISC 1 (DVD/BluRay):

1 Pomp and Circumstance (Opening)
2 Over The Rainbow - Highway Star (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
3 Spotlight Kid (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim=Bissingen)
4 Mistreated (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
5 Sixteenth Century Greensleeves (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
6 Since You Been Gone (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
7 Man on the Silver Mountain (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
8 Catch the Rainbow (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
9 Difficult to Cure (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
10 Perfect Strangers (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
11 Stargazer (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
12 Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
13 Child in Time (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
14 Black Night (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
15 Smoke on the Water (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
16 [Bonus Track] Spotlight Kid (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
17 [Bonus Track] Man on the Silver Mountain (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
18 [Bonus Track] Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
19 [Bonus Track] Stargazer (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
20 [Japan Only Bonus Track] Since You Been Gone (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
21 [Japan Only Bonus Track] Catch the Rainbow (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)

DISC 2 (Audio):

1 Over The Rainbow - Highway Star (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
2 Spotlight Kid (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
3 Mistreated (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
4 Sixteenth Century Greensleeves (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
5 Since You Been Gone (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
6 Man on the Silver Mountain (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
7 Catch the Rainbow (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
8 Difficult to Cure (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
9 Perfect Strangers (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
10 Stargazer (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)

DISC 3 (Audio):

1 Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
2 Child in Time (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
3 Black Night (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
4 Smoke on the Water (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
5 [Bonus Track] Spotlight Kid (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
6 [Bonus Track] Man on the Silver Mountain (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
7 [Bonus Track] Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
8 [Bonus Track] Stargazer (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)
9 [Japan Only Bonus Track] Since You Been Gone (June 17, 2016 / Loreley)
10 [Japan Only Bonus Track] Catch the Rainbow (June 18, 2016 / Bietigheim-Bissingen)





Another Rainbow live album to be released: "Boston 1981"



Cleopatra Records will release on their Purple Pyramid label another Rainbow live album titled "Boston 1981" om May 13th, 2016. It will be available in a limited edition mini-LP wallet for the CD as well as a gatefold double LP set featuring a stitched-in 20-page booklet and 3 different colored vinyl options (red, blue, and green).

The album with a live concert that was recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour Radio Show on May 7th in 1981 will have the following 10 tracks:

1. Spotlight Kid
2. Love's No Friend
3. I Surrender
4. Man On The Silver Mountain
5. Catch The Rainbow
6. Can't Happen Here
7. Lost In Hollywood
8. Difficult To Cure
9. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
10. Smoke On The Water

source: Cleopatra Records / Thanks to: dmme.net





Rainbow's 'Monsters Of Rock - Live At Donington 1980' DVD + CD Due In April



On April 22, Eagle Rock Entertainment release "Monsters Of Rock - Live At Donington 1980" by Rainbow on DVD + CD format. The DVD contains all the surviving footage from the show and this release marks the first time that the audio from the show has been available as a full-length standalone CD. "Monsters Of Rock - Live At Donington 1980" includes "Since You Been Gone", "All Night Long", "Stargazer", "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll", "Catch The Rainbow", "Eyes Of The World" and more.

On Saturday, August 16, 1980, Rainbow took to the stage to headline the first rock festival to be held at Castle Donington. It was the culmination of the band's tour in support of the hugely successful "Down To Earth" album, released in 1979, and would prove to be the last live show featuring this particular lineup of the band: Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Don Airey (keyboards), Graham Bonnet (vocals), Roger Glover (bass) and Cozy Powell (drums). The set featured tracks from the then-new album alongside classics from earlier in their career. There are virtuoso solo spots for Blackmore, Airey and Powell which serve to highlight the sheer musical prowess in the band.

"Monsters Of Rock - Live At Donington 1980" track listing:

DVD:

01. Lazy
02. All Night Long
03. Catch The Rainbow
04. Eyes Of The World
05. Guitar Solo
06. Difficult To Cure
07. Will You Love Me Tomorrow
08. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll

CD:

01. Intro / Eyes Of The World
02. Since You Been Gone
03. Stargazer
04. Catch The Rainbow
05. Lost In Hollywood / Guitar Solo
06. Difficult To Cure / Keyboard Solo
07. Drum Solo / Lost In Hollywood (reprise)
08. Lazy
09. All Night Long
10. Blues
11. Will You Love Me Tomorrow
12. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll

"Monsters Of Rock - Live At Donington 1980" captures an incendiary performance from the truly legendary Rainbow in every sense of the word. The show climaxes with Ritchie Blackmore destroying his guitar and thrusting it into an amp which promptly bursts into flames before fireworks burst overhead at the conclusion of an explosive show.

Unfortunately 'Love's No Friend' and 'Man on the Silver Mountain' are missing from the CD. On the European version also the end of the show (Kill The King / Guitar Crash / Long Rive rock 'n' roll (Reprise)) is missing. The Japanese version by Ward Records comes as a 2 CD set and has the end of the show, although here also 'Love's No Friend'/'MOTSM' are missing. The release in Japan is on April 15th, 2016 and has also a deluxe package with DVD and a T-shirt.

source: Eagle Rock / HMV Japan





Cause Of Death Revealed For Former Rainbow/DIO Bassist Jimmy Bain



The surviving members of Last In Line have released a statement saying that the official cause of death of their bassist, Jimmy Bain, is lung cancer. Bain died on January 23 aboard Def Leppard's inaugural "Hysteria On The High Seas" cruise. He was 68 years old. Bain, along with drummer Vinny Appice and guitarist Vivian Campbell, was part of the original DIO lineup, which reunited in 2012 alongside singer Andrew Freeman to form Last In Line.

Said Vinny: "Jimmy didn't know he had lung cancer, but he did know he had pneumonia and was receiving treatment for it. This didn't stop him or slow him down. We had four rehearsals four hours a day, then a flight to Miami for the Def Leppard rock cruise. A pre-sail gig and soundcheck was scheduled for the following day. At the gig, Jimmy played great and even sang that night while holding a heavy bass guitar on his back, never complaining or asking for help. Next day, we preceded to board the cruise ship for a five-day voyage of which we were scheduled to play Sunday, the fourth day. That gig never happened, as Jimmy passed away in his cabin the night before. We were devastated.

"Jimmy was a trooper. He gave his all to the band he loved, the music he loved and the fans. He didn't want to let anyone down. I don't know anyone that would have attempted this schedule while being this sick and not feeling well. A trooper. He was so happy and proud of the new album we recorded. It so unfortunate and sad he didn't live to see it released. We were all looking forward to being on the road and playing together again. There was such a magic between us. Our prayers go out to his family and so many friends and fans who will miss the amazing person that was Jimmy Bain."

Last In Line's debut album, "Heavy Crown", will be released on February 19 via Frontiers Music Srl. The CD was recorded at a Southern California studio with producer Jeff Pilson, a veteran bassist who has played with DIO, Foreigner, Dokken and T&N, among others.

Born in Scotland on December 19, 1947, Bain joined Rainbow in time to appear on the band's second album, 1976's "Rising". He was fired a year later and went on to guest with Thin Lizzy and work in Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott's solo band, before forming Wild Horses with ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson. He appeared on Gary Moore's 1983 album "Dirty Fingers" before joining DIO and playing on seven DIO albums with vocalist Ronnie James Dio, from 1983 debut "Holy Diver" to 2002's "Killing The Dragon".

source: Blabbermouth





Bassist Jimmy Bain Past Away at the Age of 68



Former Rainbow/Dio bassist Jimmy Bain reportedly has died. Simon Wright broke the news on Facebook.

The former Dio/Rainbow bassist died while on the Def Leppard Cruise following a performance by his new band, Last In Line. He was 68. No word on the cause of death yet.

A message from Vivian Campbell...

It's with the heaviest of hearts that I must confirm the news of the passing of our dear friend and Last In Line band-mate, Jimmy Bain. It was Jimmy who gave me my first big break in the music industry and for that I am forever indebted.

Jimmy's struggles with his demons were well documented through the years, but over the last 18 months he had finally won that battle and he was bright and lucid and motivated throughout the writing and recording of the new record. He leaves behind him a rich legacy of work from Rainbow, through Wild Horses, Dio, and finally, Last In Line. Jimmy was immensely proud of our new album and his input to it was immeasurable.

He was a very kind and gentle and generous soul and our lives were greatly enriched for having known him. We will continue to celebrate his life through his music.

On behalf of Vinny and Andrew, our thoughts and condolences are with his family at this most difficult of times.
Rest in peace, dear friend.

Vinnie Appice:

Yes it's true our brother Jimmy Bain has passed and we are very sad about the news and in shock. We the band are also saddened that the news leaked out before we were able to contact Jimmy's family. Within an hour and a half it was all over the internet and confirmed by people that have no business confirming anything about this and not knowing the facts of the situation. We apologize to Jimmy's family and Jimmy's memory about this nonsense that seems to prevail on the Internet to be the first one to post something and attach themselves to a tragedy like the loss of our brother Jimmy.

source: Twitter/Facebook





New book "Visions of Rainbow" to be released on June 3rd, 2016



From cult hard rock band to singles chart success, Rainbow was the vision of one man- Ritchie Blackmore. Created following Blackmore's departure from seventies rock giants Deep Purple he produced a spectrum of musical colour that fully reflected the band's name. With an ever changing personnel, Blackmore's freedom from having his own band enabled him to control and steer the group in various directions that ultimately resulted in a string of successful hit singles.

Amongst them 'Since You Been Gone', 'All Night Long' and 'I Surrender'. Visions of Rainbow celebrates the colourful lifespan with loads of rare and previously unseen photos of the band, on stage, in the studio, as well as close up and personal, including a section on the often overlooked period in the nineties when Blackmore briefly rejuvenated the band with new personnel, complete with narrative. Beautifully presented as a large format hardback with slipcase, this book is an ideal addition to any true Rainbow fan's collection.

Although this is largely a photographic book, it does contain words on various aspects of Rainbow's career, as well as photo captions by Andy Francis, who wrote the sleeve notes for the official releases, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, On Stage (remasters), Singles Box Set and A Light in the Black. The Foreword is by Colin Hart (Rainbow's tour manager).

Releasedate is June 3rd, 2016. You can Pre Order it now at the Wymer UK Online Store.

Also to be released by the Wymer UK Online Store is the new "The Deep Purple Family: Vol 1: Year by Year (to 1979)" book which will also be released on June 3rd, 2016.

source: Wymer UK Online Store





Touring line-up for Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow concerts in 2016 revealed



Ritchie Blackmore's touring lineup for his upcoming shows has been revealed. The guitar icon will hit the road with his new version of Rainbow for two German Monsters Of Rock festivals in June, and an appearance at Birmingham's Genting Arena the same month.

Promoter Alan Day confirmed the lineup will consist of Blackmore, Lords Of Black singer Ronnie Romero, Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson, Blackmore's Night drummer David Keith and bassist Bob Nouveau.

They'll play music from Rainbow and Deep Purple's back catalogue at the shows. Blackmore recently said his chosen vocalist was "a cross between Dio and Freddie Mercury." He added: This will mean exposing a new singer to the masses, and I'm sure he'll become pretty famous because of his voice."

source: Classic Rock





DVD release "The Ritchie Blackmore Story" with Live in Tokyo 1984 as bonus



On November 6th, 2015 Eagle Rock Entertainment will release "The Ritchie Blackmore Story". This is a simultaneous release on DVD, Blu-ray and digital formats and Deluxe Edition. Without doubt one of the all-time great guitar players, Ritchie Blackmore hardly ever does interviews but has granted extraordinary access for the creation of this truly revealing programme and talks in great depth about his life and career.

From his pop roots with The Outlaws and his many session recordings in the sixties, through defining hard rock with Deep Purple and Rainbow in the seventies and eighties and on to the renaissance rock of Blackmore's Night, Ritchie has proved that he is a master of the guitar across a multitude of styles. For the first time "The Ritchie Blackmore Story" tells the story of his remarkable career through extensive specially recorded new interviews with Ritchie himself plus contributions from many of his colleagues and admirers including: Brian May, Glenn Hughes, Lars Ulrich, Steve Lukather, Joe Satriani, the late Jon Lord, David Coverdale, Gene Simmons, Joe Lynn Turner, Steve Vai, Graham Bonnet, Roger Glover, Ian Anderson and more... The Bonus Features on this release offer up over 40 minutes of additional interviews with Ritchie Blackmore and his peers.

The amazing Deluxe Edition contains the DVD of "The Ritchie Blackmore Story", the DVD of "Live In Tokyo" and 2CDs of "Live In Tokyo" all contained in a 60 page 12" x 12" hardback photobook with a black and silver front cover. "Live In Tokyo" is the first official DVD & CD release of the 1984 concert by Rainbow from Tokyo's famous Budokan. It was to be the last Rainbow concert before Ritchie Blackmore & Roger Glover went on to reform Deep Purple.

Update: The release has been postponed till November 20th, 2015.




Petition for the release of Rainbow's Monsters of Rock concert at Donington 1980



After almost 35 years have passed since this concert took place, and Rainbow fans everywhere have been asking why there has not been an official release?

The concert was recorded in stereo and filmed by a small private company authorized by Polygram Records.The BBC then bought 30 minute highlights, and have been showing them periodically. Sadly, the video tapes of this COMPLETE concert have been lost and possibly erased. So Rainbow fans have had to 'make do' with the BBC highlights, and a few very poor bootlegs. That have originated from audience recordings.

Read more about this petition on this link. SIGN IT!

[source: Graham Macdonald]





Rainbow 'Down To Earth Tour 1979' 3CD Deluxe Box Set to be released



After the announcement of the release of the Rainbow 'Denver 1979' live album on coloured vinyl there now is more news about the follow up. A 3CD Deluxe Box Set is set for a release on August 21st, 2015 with 3 live concert from the 1979 Tour in the US. The live soundboard recordings are from Denver (October 16th), Chicago (October 12th) and Long Island (November 30th).

They are all well known recordings from various bootlegs which are now getting an official release in a box set packaging with paraphernalia including a button, an embroidered fabric patch, a signature guitar pick and a bottle opener/keychain. With this attention to packaging, one may only wonder why Blackmore's photo on the cover of 'Denver 1979' comes from 1972.

Denver – October 16th, 1979

1. Eyes Of The World
2. Love's No Friend
3. Since You Been Gone
4. All Night Long
5. Lost In Hollywood
6. Man On The Silver Mountain
7. Long Live Rock'n'Roll

Chicago – October 12th, 1979

1. Eyes Of The World
2. Love's No Friend
3. All Night Long
4. Lost In Hollywood
5. Long Live Rock'n'Roll – Kill The King – Long Live Rock 'n' Roll

Long Island – November 30th, 1979

1. Eyes Of The World
2. Love's No Friend
3. Since You Been Gone
4. All Night Long
5. Lost In Hollywood
6. Lazy
7. Man On The Silver Mountain
8. Blues
9. Long Live Rock'n'Roll

[thanks to: DMME.net]





Original Rainbow Bassist Craig Gruber Dies After Battle With Prostate Cancer



Craig Gruber, bass player on Rainbow's first album 'Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow', died on Tuesday (May 5) at the age of 63 after a battle with prostate cancer.

Craig Gruber's career in music took off in 1974 when he joined Elf, the band fronted by Ronnie James Dio. With them he performed on the albums 'Carolina Country Ball' from 1974 and 'Trying To Burn The Sun' a year later. Elf supported Deep Purple on tour and vocalist Ronnie James Dio came to the attention of Ritchie Blackmore who was growing tired of life in Deep Purple. After recording a cover of the Quatermass song 'Black Sheep Of The Family' together it was decided that Blackmore would form Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, absorbing the Elf line-up including Gruber, to record the eponymous debut album.

Although the album, which included the classics 'Man On A Silver Mountain', 'Catch The Rainbow' and 'Temple Of The King', proved to be highly popular this line up never performed live with Blackmore sacking the entire band before touring the album with only Ronnie James Dio remaining.

A few years later Gruber worked on the pre-production demos on Black Sabbath's 'Heaven And Hell' album but did did not become a member as Geezer Butler returned upon hearing the quality of the tracks and the progress being made. Gruber recorded some tracks on the album 'No Prisoners' with the band Ozz before briefly joining the short lived Ninja along with Ozz guitarist Gregg Parker.

Gruber then formed Bible Black along with former Elf/Rainbow drummer Gary Driscoll and recorded the demo recordings 'Bible Black' in 1981 and 'Ground Zero' two years later. In 1984 Craig Gruber joined the touring line-up of the Gary Moore Band who also featured Ian Paice and Neil Carter. Promoting the 'Victims Of The Future' album the live results were captured on the live album 'We Want Moore'. Two years later Gruber appeared with an expanded version of The Rods playing on the album 'Heavier Than Thou'.

In more recent times Gruber formed "ED3N" (early 2010 - a metal band in the classic rock genre). Later he joined Raven Lord (2013) and looked set to form another group with their vocalist Csaba Zvekan.






Rainbow 'Denver 1979' live album on coloured vinyl to be released



Cleopatra Records announces a Rainbow live album titled 'Denver 1979'. The album was recorded at the 1979 US 'Down To Earth' Tour on November 16th in the Rainbow Music Hall in Denver Colorado.

The release will vinyl only release as a deluxe vinyl pressing of this never before officially released live album with a gatefold holographic foil jacket with 3 different coloured vinyl options - red, green or blue (limited 1000 copies each).

The releasedate is May 12th, 2015.

Update:

This will be the first of the three releases, followed by the show from Long Island, November 30, 1979, and Chicago, October 12.

The Long Island vinyl release is pencilled in for September. A 3CD box containing all three shows should come out around the same time. Chicago vinyl will appear later on.

These soundboard recordings were widely bootlegged, but Cleopatra Records releases are the first ones properly licensed from Blackmore. Unfortunately, they could not obtain the master tapes, so the audio is "remastered from the best sources that we could find".

[source: The Highyway Star]




Photos of Rainbow wanted for 40th anniversary book



Jose Galván wrote four years ago a book on Deep Purple and right now he's trying to work out a Rainbow illustrated biography to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band created by Ritchie Blackmore. Jose is lookin' for photographers who are willing to give him permission to use their pictures of any line-up of Rainbow for his future book. Especially the photographers who have been sending their photos in the past to the fanclan and have not yet been contacted.

If you can help him out please contact Jose via e-mail





Rainbow 'A Light In The Black' 5 CD + DVD Box Set out on January 26th, 2015





Universal Music will release on January 26th, 2015 a new compilation box on the Polydor label titled 'A Light In The Black'. The press releases says: The first of its kind, this career box set covers the entire Polydor career of Rainbow, featuring rare and unheard tracks as well as fan favourites as well as the band in concert at Monsters of Rock in 1980, compiled by Blackmore expert Andy Francis it presents the story of the band though words, pictures and music. The extensive booklet features many rare photos (by Ross Halfin) as well as memorabilia, picture covers and the story of the band.

• 5-CD'S – A Career over view with many rare tracks
• DVD – Monsters of Rock from 1980 with Graham Bonnet
• 60 Page Booklet with many rare pictures and a new essay
• Housed in a book style package

CD1

Black Sheep Of The Family 3:22
Sixteenth Century Greensleeves 7:33
Snake Charmer 4:33
The Temple Of The King 4:45
Tarot Woman (Rough Mix) 6:06
Stargazer (Rough Mix) 9:09
Run With The Wolf (Rough Mix) 3:49
Mistreated (Live In Osaka, Japan / 1976) 11:10
Purple Haze / White Christmas / Lazy / Man On The Silver Mountain / Blues / Starstruck (Live In Osaka, Japan / 1976) 16:18

CD2

Sensitive To Light (Rough Mix) 3:04
The Shed 4:46
Rainbow Eyes (Rough Mix) 7:06
Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring (Bob Daisley Rehearsal Tape) 1:41
Long Live Rock N Roll (L.A. Rehearsal / 1977) 6:57
Do You Close Your Eyes (Bob Daisley Rehearsal Tape) 6:19
Still I'm Sad (with Organ Intro / Bob Daisley Rehearsal Tape) 10:07
Gates Of Babylon 6:48
Catch The Rainbow (Live/1976 / With Applause) 22:02
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (Live In Munich, Germany / 1977) 3:32
L.A. Connection (Live In Munich, Germany / 1977) 5:13

CD3

Eyes Of The World (Instrumental Outtake) 6:51
Ain't A Lot Of Love In The Heart Of Me 5:00
Lost In Hollywood 4:52
Danger Zone 4:30
Since You Been Gone (Album Version) 3:21
Bad Girl 4:52
Over The Rainbow / Eyes Of The World (King Biscuit Flower Hour Radio Broadcast / Live At Calderone, New York / 1979) 9:23
Love's No Friend (King Biscuit Flower Hour Radio Broadcast / Live At Calderone, New York / 1979) 8:10
Ode To Joy (King Biscuit Flower Hour Radio Broadcast / Live At Calderone, New York / 1979) 5:42
All Night Long (Single Remix Version) 3:50
Weiss Heim 5:19
Stargazer (Live At Donnington/1980) 8:33

CD4

Midtown Tunnel Vision 4:33
I Surrender (album Version) 4:03
Magic 4:08
Vielleicht Das Nachster Mal 3:20
Jealous Lover 3:13
Spotlight Kid (Live At Hammersmith Odeon, London / 1981) 5:07
Rule Britannia / Fire (Live At Hammersmith Odeon, London / 1981) 2:50
Death Alley Driver 4:45
Bring On The Night (Dream Chaser) 4:06
Stone Cold (album Version) 5:18
Power (Live In San Antonio, Tx/1982) 4:39
Miss Mistreated (Live In San Antonio, Tx/1982) 4:26
Tearin' Out My Heart (Live In San Antonio, Tx/1982) 8:20

CD5

Can't Let You Go (album Version) 4:21
Desperate Heart (album Version) 4:35
Anybody There (Outtake / Polar Mix) 2:51
Drinking With The Devil (Outtake / Different Guitar Solo) 3:43
Make Your Move 5:26
Snowman 4:32
Street Of Dreams (Album Version) 4:27
Stranded (Live At St. David's Hall, Cardiff/1983 / With Applause) 5:51
Power (Live In Cardiff/1984) 4:30
Fire Dance (Live In Cardiff/1984) 4:26
Fool For The Night (Live At The Tokyo Budokan/1984) 3:59
Difficult To Cure (Live At The Tokyo Budokan) 11:17
Smoke On The Water (Live At The Tokyo Budokan/1984) 4:42

DVD

All Night Long (Live At Monsters Of Rock, Donington Park, UK / 1980) 7:56
Catch The Rainbow (Live At Monsters Of Rock, Donington Park, UK / 1980) 5:06
Eyes Of The World (Live At Monsters Of Rock, Donington Park, UK / 1980) 1:23
Lost In Hollywood (guitar Solo / Live At Monsters Of Rock, Donington Park, UK / 1980) 3:32
Will You Love Me Tomorrow? (Live At Monsters Of Rock, Donington Park, UK / 1980) 3:15
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (Live At Monsters Of Rock, Donington Park, UK / 1980 / Pt. 1) 2:29
Kill The King (Live At Monsters Of Rock, Donington Park, UK / 1980) 3:29
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (Live At Monsters Of Rock, Donington Park, UK / 1980 / Pt. 2) 2:20






Rainbow 'The Polydor Years' Vinyl LP Boxed Set out on 24th November 2014



A new Rainbow release is due in November. Universal Music are pleased to announce the release of 'The Polydor Years' a vinyl LP boxed set containing all eight albums on 24th November 2014

The box will contains the following albums:

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
Rising
On Stage
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Down To Earth
Difficult To Cure
Straight Between The Eyes
Bent Out Of Shape










Another Rainbow compilation to be released: "Rainbow Essential"



Universal will release another Rainbow compilation album on April 18th, 2014.
It is titled Rainbow Essential, the catalog number is 5348106.

Tracklist:

1.Since You Been Gone
2.All Night Long
3.I Surrender
4.Long Live Rock 'N' Roll
5.Man On The Silver Mountain
6.Kill The King
7.Gates Of Babylon
8.Stargazer
9.Tarot Woman
10.L.A. Connection
11.Eyes Of The World
12.Spotlight Kid (Live At The Tokyo Budokan 1984)
13.Jealous Lover
14.Stone Cold
15.Death Alley Driver






Rainbow on vinyl re-issue releases by Wax Cathedral Records



Wax Cathedral Records has re-issues, pressed at RTI, of Rainbow's first 3 albums; Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Rainbow Rising and Rainbow On Stage.

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (WAXLP008) comes in Yellow/Gold Vinyl, Rainbow Rising (WAXLP009) is in Red Vinyl and Rainbow On Stage (WAXLP010) on Green Vinyl as a double LP.

[source: Elusive Disc]





Rainbow's live album Black Masquerade 3 LP vinyl release on April 19th



Rainbow's live album Black Masquerade, recorded in 1995 and released on CD and DVD last year will get the vinyl treatment. Independent label Back on Black has announced that it will release the 3LP album on April 19, 2014 on red vinyl (catalogue number RCV142LP).

SIDE A
1. Introduction
2. Spotlight Kid
3. Too Late For Tears

SIDE B
4. Long Live Rock'n'Roll/Black Night
5. Hunting Humans

SIDE C
6. Wolf To The Moon/Difficult To Cure
7. Keyboard solo
8. Still I'm Sad

SIDE D
9. Man On The Silver Mountain
10. Temple Of The King
11. Black Masquerade

SIDE E
12. Ariel
13. Since You've Been Gone
14. Perfect Strangers
15. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves

SIDE F
16. Hall Of The Mountain King
17. Burn
18. Smoke On The Water

The label's releases can be ordered through Plastic Head online store.

[thanks to: Alex Chornyy & The Highway Star]





Rainbow "The Singles Box Set 1975-1986" To Be Released On November 25th





The UMGD/Polydor label will release Rainbow "The Singles Box Set 1975-1986" on November 25th, 2013. The CD box will contain 19 remastered singles in replica walletsleeves with a 32 pages booklet with detailed notes about every release written by Andy Francis.

CD 1
1 Man On The Silver Mountain (7" Edit) 03:57
2 Snake Charmer 04:28

CD 2
1 Still I'm Sad 03:53
2 The Temple Of The King 04:43

CD 3
1 Man On The Silver Mountain (7" Edit) 03:57
2 Snake Charmer 04:28
3 If You Don't Like Rock N Roll 02:35
4 Sixteenth Century Greensleeves 03:35

CD 4
1 Starstruck (New York Mix) 04:06
2 Run With The Wolf 03:48

CD 5
1 Kill The King (Live / Edit) 04:41
2 Man On The Silver Mountain (Live) 05:08
3 Mistreated (Live / 7" Edit) 07:15

CD 6
1 Long Live Rock 'N' Roll 04:25
2 Sensitive To Light 03:08

CD 7
1 L.A. Connection (7" Edit) 03:41
2 Lady Of The Lake 03:38

CD 8
1 Since You Been Gone 03:16
2 Bad Girl 04:48

CD 9
1 Since You Been Gone 03:16
2 No Time To Lose 03:41

CD 10
1 All Night Long 03:49
2 Weiss Heim 05:10

CD 11
1 I Surrender 03:22
2 Vielleicht Das Nachster Mal 03:20

CD 12
1 Difficult To Cure 05:55
2 Can't Happen Here (7" Edit) 04:05
3 Jealous Lover 03:09

CD 13
1 Magic 04:05
2 Freedom Fighter 04:20

CD 14
1 Can't Happen Here (7" Edit) 04:05
2 Jealous Lover 03:09

CD 15
1 Stone Cold (Album Version) 05:17
2 Rock Fever 03:46

CD 16
1 Death Alley Driver 04:36
2 Tite Squeeze 03:15

CD 17
1 Street Of Dreams 04:24
2 Anybody There 02:37
3 Power (Live At The Convention Center, San Antonio, Tx) 04:27

CD 18
1 Can't Let You Go (7" Edit) 03:27
2 All Night Long (Live at David's Hall, Cardiff/1983) 05:24
3 Stranded (Live at St. David's Hall,Cardiff/1983) 04:16

CD 19
1 Bad Girl 04:48
2 Spotlight Kid (Live) 06:07
3 Man On The Silver Mountain 08:18

Update:
This CD Box has been postponed and has a new releasedate now of February 7th, 2014.





Rainbow's 1995 Rockpalast Show To Be Released On CD and DVD





Amazon UK has listed Rainbow's 1995 Rockpalast Show for releases on 2CD and DVD. Both will be titled "Black Masquerade". They will be released by Eagle Rock Entertainment who already also released the 1977 Rockpalast show titled "Live In Munich 1977". Release date for both titles will be August 26th, 2013.

Amazon Japan also has both the 2CD and DVD listed as well as a third release which has the CD's & DVD together as a limited package. For Japan the release will be by Word Records on July 31st, 2013.

Track list:

1) Introduction
2) Spotlight Kid
3) Too Late For Tears
4) Long Live Rock n Roll / Black Night
5) Hunting Humans
6) Wolf To The Moon / Difficult To Cure
7) Keyboard Solo
8) Still I m Sad
9) Man On The Silver Mountain
10) Temple Of The King
11) Black Masquerade
12) Ariel
13) Since You Been Gone
14) Perfect Strangers
15) Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
16) Hall Of The Mountain King
17) Burn
18) Smoke On The Water

[thanks to: Luke Hatton]





Rainbow's 'Live In Munich 1977' To Be (Re)Released On CD, DVD, LP In April



On April 30, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release Rainbow's "Live In Munich 1977" on 2CD, DVD, and 2LP.

Captured during the band's 1977 European tour, "Live In Munich" is the only full live concert ever filmed with the classic Ritchie Blackmore/Ronnie James Dio/Cozy Powell classic lineup. With newly remastered sound, this is also the first time this complete concert is available on vinyl.

Rainbow was the brainchild of legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, created in 1975 after his departure fromDeep Purple. A string of hit albums ignited immediate success, which persevered until 1983, when Blackmore disbanded the group (and rejoinedDeep Purple). Featuring the line-up of Blackmore, Cozy Powell (drums), Bob Daisley (bass), David Stone (keyboards), and premiere rock and roll vocalist Ronnie James Dio, the excitement in the air during this night was electric. This might be due, in part, to Blackmore's late arrival to Munich just before the concert, after being smuggled out of Austria after trouble with the police at a gig two nights earlier. This seemed to inspire both the band and the audience to create a truly remarkable gig.

The DVD includes original promo videos for "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll", "Gates Of Babylon" and "L.A. Connection", a photo gallery, slideshow with audio commentary, interviews, and the "Rainbow Over Texas '76" feature, which includes additional interviews and performance footage. Truly, "Live In Munich 1977" is a brilliant showcase of the primal electricity of Rainbow.

[Source: Blabbermouth]





More limited Rainbow LP re-issues on coloured vinyl to be released



Just For Kicks Music in Germany releases three new rainbow LP re-issues on coloured vinyl. The titles are "Rainbow Rising" (on red/yellow vinyl), Long Live Rock'n'Roll (on orange/black vinyl) and Live in Germany (on splatter vinyl).

Releasedate is April 20th. 2013. More info on this link



[Thanks to: Frank]





Rainbow's Long Live Rock'n'Roll 180 gram LP re-issue



A completely new blend of colorless virgin vinyl weighing 180 grams has been specially developed for Pure 180g LP. Pressed directly from metal masters. Features SHM-SACD spec flat DSD transfer from the analog masters. All Pure 180g LP jackets feature the original LP designs.

One of the titles in this new series is a re-issue of Long Live Rock'n'Roll. It has been released by Universal Japan (catalog no UIJY-75006 ) on December 12th.

More info can be found here.

[Thanks to: Frank]





Polydor product manager Dennis Munday tells about his job with Rainbow in 1978



Zani Online Optimism published an interesting article titled "Ritchie Blackmore - The Prince of Darkness". It's the story of Dennis Munday, product manager at Polydor in 1978 who had to handle beside the likes of The Who, The Jam, Siouxsie and Sham 69, also Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow.

Dennis commented: When you work for a record company as big as Polydor, you can't choose which bands you want to work with; you are told. Not being a fan of this kind of music, but having a large mortgage, I had to be professional. I started working with Rainbow in 1978, and they were in throes of finishing their latest album, with the prophetic and tedious title of, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll. Their press officer Chris Bohn had arranged for a front cover, and an exclusive to appear in the 'pop' paper, Record Mirror. Sheila Prophet, a journalist at the mag would accompany him to the States, to see the band perform at a festival in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

This article tells the experience of Dennis Munday with the moody man in black. Dennis ends his story with some ironic humour "As for Ritchie, these days he plays medieval music, dressed up like pixie, auditioning for a gig in Santa's grotto".

Click here for the infamous Record Mirror article by Sheila Prophet.

[Thanks to: Matteo Sedazzari]





"On Stage" and "Long Live Rock'n'Roll" Deluxe 2CD Editions out in November



The long awaited deluxe 2CD versions of both "On Stage" and "Long Live Rock'n'Roll" are due for November 5th, 2012.

"On Stage" contains a remastered version of the original album. The second disc comes with live tracks from Osaka 1976 according to the booklet.

"Long Live Rock'n'Roll" has besides a remastered version of the original album a second disc with a rough mix where Ritchie Blackmore plays bass on all tracks while Tony Carey was still on keyboards. There are also 2 tracks of rehearsals in Shepperton FIlm Studios, Los Angeles 1977 plus the 3 tracks of Don Kirschners Rock Concert (known from the bonus on the Live in Munich 1977 DVD) plus two outtakes of this US TV show.

Tracklist "On Stage"

Disc: 1

1. Intro: Over The Rainbow / Kill The King - Munich Sept 29th/Tokyo Dec 16th, 1976
2. Medley: Man On The Silver Mountain / Blues / Starstruck - Tokyo Dec 16th, 1976
3. Catch The Rainbow - Osaka Dec 9th/Tokyo Dec 16th, 1976
4. Mistreated - Cologne Sept 25th
5. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves - Tokyo Dec 16th, 1976
6. Still I'm Sad - Nuremberg Sept 28th, 1976

Disc: 2 (Osaka - December 9th, 1976) *

1. Kill The King
2. Mistreated
3. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
4. Catch The Rainbow
5. Medley: Man On The Silver Mountain / Blues / Starstruck
6. Do You Close Your Eyes

* Note: After comparing the 2nd disc with some bootlegs it looks like the info in the booklet is not correct.
The tracks are definitely the same as on many bootlegs from the Tokyo December 16th evening show......


Tracklist "Long Live Rock'n'Roll"

Disc 1

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
7. Sensitive To Light
8. Rainbow Eyes

Disc 2

1. Lady Of The Lake - Rough Mix
2. Sensitive To Light - Rough Mix
3. L.A. Connection - Rough Mix
4. Kill The King - Rough Mix
5. The Shed (Subtle) - Rough Mix
6. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll - Rough Mix
7. Rainbow Eyes - Rough Mix
8. Rock'n'Roll - Rehearsal, Shepperton Film Studios L.A 1977
9. Kill The King - Rehearsal, Shepperton Film Studios L.A 1977
10. Rock'n'Roll - Live On The Don Kirschner Concert 1978
11. L.A. Connection - Live On The Don Kirschner Concert 1978
12. Gates Of Babylon - Live On The Don Kirschner Concert 1978
13. L.A. Connection - Live On The Don Kirschner Concert 1978 (Outtake)
14. Gates Of Babylon - Live On The Don Kirschner Concert 1978 (Outtake)






Candice Night tells her version for the demise of Rainbow in 1997



Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night recently did an interview with Fireworks magazine. Ritchie and Candice talk about their new DVD 'A Knight In York', chat about ghostly encounters, classic practical jokes, how Blackmore's Night came to be... and they also add a little detail of the real reason why Rainbow disbanded, a tale never before told. An excerpt of the interview can be found on this link. However the most interesting part can be found below.

Candice Night: "But, in all honesty, what happened with the demise of Rainbow was the band had been booked to headline a Swedish rock festival. The day before they got on the plane, and Ritchie had paid these guys for the week, he was basically funding everything - it all came from the Blackmore fund, he called himself Major Funding... before they got on the plane, Ritchie was packing, getting ready to go and he got a call from two of the members of the band, saying unless he doubled their money they weren't getting on the plane.

You can imagine how that would be, the advertising had been done saying they would headline the festival, you can't pull out or you get sued, you can't just not show up and it all comes back to Ritchie's name. It was a very difficult and awkward situation to be in, made everyone very uncomfortable, so a lot of back and forth went on, Ritchie got on the plane, went there and after that show, he distributed a contract.

The American agent had flown over to see that show too, the American agent had so many tour dates in place, including Europe, the UK, he had a list of tour dates that would have kept these guys on the road doing Rainbow. Ritchie said he wasn't going to be put in this position again, he wrote up a new contract, distributed it to each band member and said "You're either in or you're not. You're not going to do this to me again, I'm not going to be blackmailed. If you sign this contract, basically saying I'll be here on such-and-such a date for this much money", which was good money, "then we can move ahead with Rainbow. I need it back before we get back on the plane and if I don't receive it from you, then I'll go ahead with other projects."

Two of the band members signed it and gave it back immediately. Two did not. That's what happened to Rainbow." Ironically, two weeks later, those two band members were like "Great, what's going on, are we touring?" They were floored when we said "Er, noooo." They made that decision and what a shame, I think people would liked to have seen Ritchie and Rainbow - but it was a fork in the road and he left it up to those two band members and they unfortunately put Ritchie in a very awkward situation. They made that decision and we moved forward with Blackmore's Night. At this point, fifteen years later we're loving what we're doing so in that respect it was a good decision."

Blackmore added "That was the main thing that happened. I've heard other stuff that was wrong or is just lies", while Candice ended with "I don't think we've ever told that story."

[© Fireworks Issue 53 - Sept/Oct 2012]



Greg Smith responds on Facebook: There's a recent interview with a certain wife of a certain famous guitarist I played with that paints the band in a very bad light... Those of you who may know what and who I'm talking about, please know that the things she says in this interview are completely false and WAY out of line.. I've NEVER gone public with what ACTUALLY went down... The fact that they have gone there with 1/2 truths and lies makes me want to go public... I'm on the fence... More to come...





MBTP Issue 39 - Ronnie James Dio 1942-2010 Tribute Special



After a long break More Black than Purple is back! Issue 39 is a special tribute to Ronnie James Dio, Blackmore's musical partner in the early years of Rainbow.

The centrepiece is a previously unpublished and revealing interview with Dio from 2001, following the release of 'Magica'. In it he talks about his close encounters with UFOs, and the spiritual world as well as his life on stage with Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio.

This issue also includes From Padavona to Dio: The Early Years, by Jeremy Whitted who runs the Padavona.com website, with a fascinating glimpse into Dio's pre-Rainbow career that stretched back to the late fifties, complete with a discography of his rare, early recordings.

There are tributes to Dio from his fellow musicians and fans alike; details on the early Long Live Rock 'n' Roll studio mixes that are soon to be released, and a personal appraisal of Dio's solo work.

Issue 39 also includes an extract from 'A Hart Life', the recently published book by former Purple and Rainbow tour manager Colin Hart. Naturally this extract covers the Dio era of Rainbow.

In addition there is all the usual Blackmore related news including Deep Purple, Rainbow and Blackmore's Night album reviews, further updates on Blackmore's legendary cherry red Gibson, and an intriguing story of when Ian Paice and Rod Evans's pre-purple band the Maze was supported by Deep Purple!

More Black than Purple is now orderable directly from the publisher's online store at: www.wymeruk.co.uk/Store.

[source: More Black Than Purple]





Long Live Rock 'N' Roll Picture Disc To Be Made Available For Record Store Day



For this year's Record Store Day (April 21), Niji Entertainment Group, the record label Wendy Dio and her late husband Ronnie James Dio (DIO, BLACK SABBATH, HEAVEN & HELL, Rainbow, ELF) formed before his untimely passing, will release a deluxe picture disc of Rainbow's "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll". Each picture disc is numbered and only 2,500 were made. 250 units will be held back for fans that live outside the USA and will be made available via the Niji webstore.

About Record Store Day: Record Store Day is managed by the Music Monitor Network and is organized in partnership with the Alliance Of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), the Coalition Of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) and celebrates the culture of independent record stores by playing host to in-store events/performances, signings and special product releases on a global scale.

Record Store Day takes place annually on the third Saturday of April.

[source: Blabbermouth]





Rainbow Rising: The Story of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow Back in Print



The book "Rainbow Rising: The Story of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" by athor Roy Davies is now back in print and (on this moment) only available through Helter Skelter Publishing. Read a review here.

Guitar legend Blackmore quit Deep Purple in 1975 to form Rainbow. Hit albums like Rising and Long Live Rock'n'Roll, singles like 'All Night Long' and 'Since You've Been Gone', and legendary live shows put them at the top of rock's premier league while Blackmore's legendary bad temper helped maintain a high press profile. Rainbow Rising will appeal to fans of Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath and hard rock in general, as well as the legions of fans of virtuoso guitar playing. Price: £14.99. You can order it here.

[source: Helter Skelter Publishing]





Rainbow's "Bent Out Of Shape" 180 grams Green Vinyl Re-Issue



Just For Kicks Records in Germany has released in 2010 most of the Rainbow 70's/80's releases on 180 grams vinyls. They started with the 2LP version of "Live in Munich". Followed later that year by "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow", "Rising", "On Stage" (2LP), "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll", "Down To Earth", "Difficult To Cure", "Straight Between The Eyes" and "Final Vinyl" (2LP). So far only "Bent Out Of Shape" was missing (not counting the 1995 release "Stranger In Us All").

But Just For Kicks Records now has revealed a release date for the "Bent Out Of Shape" 180 grams Vinyl Re-Issue and this will be pressed on Green Vinyl. The album will be released on April 18, 2011.

"Bent Out Of Shape" was the seventh and last studio album released by Rainbow before Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover took part in the Deep Purple reformation. It was originally released in 1983 as an LP and cassette. This album is generally referred to in reviews as a commercial effort by the band, attempting to repeat the success of the song Stone Cold" and the album Straight Between the Eyes. As a result, some of the songs, like the first single released from this album, "Street of Dreams", are usually considered to be more in the album-oriented rock style, instead of the hard rock sound of earlier Rainbow albums.

SIDE A
1. Stranded (4:30) 2. Can't Let You Go (4:22) 3. Fool For The Night (4:05) 4. Fire Dance (4:31) 5. Anybody There (2:41)

SIDE B
6. Desperate Heart (4:37) 7. Street Of Dreams (4:27) 8. Drinking With The Devil (3:45) 9. Snowman (4:33) 10. Make Your Move (5:25)

[thanks to: Wolfgang Falkenstein]

Update:

Apparently the releases date for the green vinyl issue of 'Bent Out Of Shape' has been pushed back till August 2011.

[thanks to: Frank]

Update:

The green 180 grams vinyl edition has been released. You can order it from Just For Kicks Music at € 19,99.

They also sell 180 grams vinyl limited editions of all the other pre 1984 Rainbow albums as well as Final Vinyl and Live in Munich 1977.

[thanks to: Wolfgang Falkenstein]





Rainbow's "Long Live Rock'n'Roll" Deluxe 2 CD Remaster announced



After the release of the "Down To Earth" and "Rising" Deluxe 2 CD Editions a third Rainbow album is going to follow in this series.

Rainbow's Long Live Rock'n'Roll album is due to get the 2CD Remaster treatment from Universal this Autumn. The first two albums in this series have been well received, so it'll be good if they can keep up the musical standard. More details to be announced.

Update (June 2011):

Further away, it looks as if the next two special edition Rainbow reissues will be Long Live Rock n Roll (previously announced) and the live album from 1976, Rainbow On-Stage. Plans for the bonus disc have been put together and will be announced as soon as we are able.

Update (April 2012):

The Rainbow On Stage two disc edition in the ongoing Rainbow reissue series will include a full remaster of the original album together with a bonus disc of live material from a show in Tokyo on the tour, most of which have not been released officially before. Due July 2012. The other Rainbow albums are also issued in these new deluxe 2CD sets.

[source: DPAS]





Stargazers: Another Documentary DVD Box with the same footage



Another DVD Box with Rainbow documentaries is announced to get released on February 28th.

It's nothing else than a re-packaging of the "Inside Rainbow" DVD's, this time split into 3 discs plus "Rainbow In Their Own Words". Amazon UK is offering this on the moment als pre-order for 15 Pounds, but we've also seen adverts by other shops who ask 50 - 60 quid for it.

The release info says: "He is not paying me anymore, so I can say what I like. Ritchie is the greatest guitarist in the world." Bobby Rondinelli – Rainbow

This is the independent and uncensored guide to the music of Rainbow. Written by Jeff Perkins, this amazing book and DVD collection is the ultimate commemoration of one of the greatest rock bands on the planet. The DVDs feature rare and previously unreleased interviews with Ritchie Blackmore and the late great Ronnie James Dio. The views of the two founders are complemented by new in-depth and totally candid interviews with the key members including Don Airey, Bob Daisley, Bobby Rondinelli, Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner and Doogie White. Essential reading and viewing for Rainbow fans of every era.

DVD 1 - Inside Rainbow: Part 1 1975 - 1978
DVD 2 - Inside Rainbow: Part 2 1978 - 1981
DVD 3 - Inside Rainbow: Part 3 1981 - 1997
DVD 4 - Inside Rainbow: Part 4 In Their Own Words





Rainbow's "Down To Earth" Deluxe 2 CD Edition finally out



The long awaited "Down To Earth" Deluxe 2 CD Edition has finally been released in Europe on January 31st, 2011.
It will be out on the 8th of March in the U.S.A.

The tracklist - as previously announced - is:

Disc 1: Original Album

  1. All Night Long (3:52)
  2. Eyes Of The World (6:39)
  3. No Time To Lose (3:42)
  4. Makin' Love (4:36)
  5. Since You Been Gone (3:17)
  6. Love's No Friend (4:52)
  7. Danger Zone (4:28)
  8. Lost In Hollywood (4:51)
  9. Bad Girl (7 Inch Single B-Side, POSP 70) (4:50)
10. Weiss Heim (7 Inch Single B-Side, POSP 104) (5:14)

Disc 2: Down To Earth – A Work In Progress (Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks)

  1. All Night Long (Instrumental Outtake) (4:41)
  2. Eyes Of The World (Instrumental Outtake) (6:50)
  3. Spark Don't Mean A Fire (3:50)
  4. Makin' Love (Instrumental Outtake) (4:44)
  5. Since You Been Gone (Instrumental Outtake) (4:00)
  6. Ain't A Lot Of Love In The Heart Of Me (4:58)
  7. Danger Zone (Instrumental Outtake) (5:29)
  8. Lost In Hollywood (Instrumental Outtake) (4:01)
  9. Bad Girl (Instrumental Outtake) (5:02)
10. Ain't A Lot Of Love In The Heart Of Me (Alternative Outtake – Take 2 with mixed down vocal) (5:22)
11. Eyes Of The World (Instrumental Outtake – Take 2) (6:09)
12. All Night Long (Cozy Powell Mix) (3:54)

The announced 2cd Deluxe Version of Rainbow's "Rising" is set to get released on February 28th, 2011 in Europe.





Tracklist revealed for Deluxe "Rainbow Rising" and "Down To Earth" Editions



The tracklists for the long awaited Remastered Deluxe Editions of "Rainbow Rising" and "Down To Earth" are revealed. "Rainbow Rising" contains two mixes of the original album on disc one. Disc two has what are being called 'rough mixes' of the album, and two tracks from the early rehearsals.

"Down To Earth" has the original album with the two 7 Inch Single B-Sides "Bad Girl" and "Weiss Heim". Disc two has 'rough instrumental mixes' plus "Spark Don't Mean A Fire" (which became later "No Time To Lose") and "Ain't A Lot Of Love In The Heart Of Me".

The Deluxe Editions are expected to get released late July/early August. CD Japan was giving August 4th as the release date for Japan but it got postponed again. New release date is now October 6th. In Europe they are due to be released on October 25th, 2010.

Update:

It seems that these releases are cancelled in Japan. In Europe they are at least postponed till early next year.
More news when we get it....

The deluxe edition of "Down To Earth" is now mentioned for a late January 2011 release in Europe. Not confirmed though!




Down To Earth

Disc 1: Original Album

  1. All Night Long (3:52)
  2. Eyes Of The World (6:39)
  3. No Time To Lose (3:42)
  4. Makin' Love (4:36)
  5. Since You Been Gone (3:17)
  6. Love's No Friend (4:52)
  7. Danger Zone (4:28)
  8. Lost In Hollywood (4:51)
  9. Bad Girl (7 Inch Single B-Side, POSP 70) (4:50)
10. Weiss Heim (7 Inch Single B-Side, POSP 104) (5:14)

Disc 2: Down To Earth – A Work In Progress (Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks)

  1. All Night Long (Instrumental Outtake) (4:41)
  2. Eyes Of The World (Instrumental Outtake) (6:50)
  3. Spark Don't Mean A Fire (3:50)
  4. Makin' Love (Instrumental Outtake) (4:44)
  5. Since You Been Gone (Instrumental Outtake) (4:00)
  6. Ain't A Lot Of Love In The Heart Of Me (4:58)
  7. Danger Zone (Instrumental Outtake) (5:29)
  8. Lost In Hollywood (Instrumental Outtake) (4:01)
  9. Bad Girl (Instrumental Outtake) (5:02)
10. Ain't A Lot Of Love In The Heart Of Me (Alternative Outtake – Take 2 with mixed down vocal) (5:22)
11. Eyes Of The World (Instrumental Outtake – Take 2) (6:09)
12. All Night Long (Cozy Powell Mix) (3:54)

Rainbow Rising

Disc 1: (New York Mix)

1. Tarot Woman (6:05)
2. Run With The Wolf (3:43)
3. Starstruck (4:08)
4. Do You Close Your Eyes (3:00)
5. Stargazer (8:31)
6. A Light In The Black (8:11)

(Los Angeles Mix):

1. Tarot Woman (6:04)
2. Run With The Wolf (3:45)
3. Starstruck (4:04)
4. Do You Close Your Eyes (2:58)
5. Stargazer (8:22)
6. A Light In The Black (8:11)

Disc 2: Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks

1. Tarot Woman (Rough Mix) (6:06)
2. Run With The Wolf (Rough Mix) (3:49)
3. Starstruck (Rough Mix) (4:04)
4. Do You Close Your Eyes (Rough Mix) (3:04)
5. Stargazer (Rough Mix) (9:08)
6. A Light In The Black (Rough Mix) (8:12)
7. Stargazer (Pirate Sound Tour Rehearsal) (11:29)
8. A Light In The Black (Pirate Sound Tour Rehearsal) (9:49)





Rainbow Albums To Be Reissued On Vinyl by Back on Black Records



Back On Black, which specializes in vinyl editions of classic metal albums and is dedicated to providing top-quality releases for record collectors and metal fans worldwide, has announced that 2010 will see the release of the original classic Rainbow albums on vinyl. All records will be 180-gram heavyweight vinyl and packaged in deluxe gatefold sleeves. The first 1,000 copies of each title will come in limited-edition colored vinyl.

Rainbow was an English rock band formed in 1975 by formerDeep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. In addition to Blackmore, the group originally consisted of former ELF members; lead singer Ronnie James Dio (who later joined Black Sabbath), keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule, bassist Craig Gruber, and drummer Gary Driscoll. Over the years Rainbow went through many lineup changes.

Rainbow was ranked #90 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock."

More info: www.backonblack.com

[Source: Blabbermouth]






Limited 2 LP Vinyl Release of Rainbow's "Live in Munich 1977" out on April 26



Just for Kicks Music in Germany announces a double 180 gram limited edition gatefold vinyl reissue of "Live in Munich 1977".
Releasedate is April 26, 2010.

The concert was recorded in Munich on October 20, 1977, originally filmed to air on the German TV Rockpalast show. Repeated airings have led to numerous bootleg video and audio tapes of the show being available through the 80's and 90's. Although some fans believed that this set came from the same tour as the previously released On Stage (which was mostly culled from their 1976 Japanese tour), the performance on this release is actually from their 1977 European tour, a few months prior to the release of "Long Live Rock n' Roll", and thus features a different bass-player and keyboardist.

Side A
1. Kill The King 2. Mistreated 3. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves (Running Time: 24:03)

Side B
4. Catch The Rainbow 5. Long Live Rock'n'roll (Running Time: 25:04)

Side C
6. Man On The Silver Mountain 7. Do You Close Your Eyes (Running Time: 24:14)

Side D
8. Still I'm Sad(Running Time: 25:16)

Format: LP | Order Nr.:10543 | Price: € 19,99


[Thanks to: Frank Johow]






Japanese Release of "Rainbow Rising" and "Long Live Rock'n'Roll" Deluxe 2 CD Editions



Japanese recordstores announce the release of both "Rainbow Rising" and "Long Live Rock'n'Roll" as a Deluxe 2 CD Edition. No details on the tracks that will be on the CD's yet. The release date is set for March 24 in Japan only so far.

Description: Cardboard sleeve reissue from Rainbow featuring the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (fully compatible with standard CD players). This edition includes a bonus disc. Two-album Rainbow SHM-CD cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue series featuring the albums "Rainbow Rising" and "Long live Rock'n'Roll."

Update February 15:

Unfortunately it seems these releases are cancelled.

Update March 18:

New info from CD Japan:

Description: Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue release from Rainbow featuring the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD players). Part of a two-album Rainbow cardboard sleeve reissue series featuring "Rainbow Rising" and "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll." Features Japanese obi. Includes a bonus disc featuring the latest remastering. Also includes a label-card with serial number (subject to change).

Release date: June 23, 2010
Links: "Rainbow Rising" and "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"



Update June 24:

The two announced re-releases are again postponed. Although now there is no longer a release of a 2 CD version of "Long Live Rock'n'Roll" planned. Instead we get an (as expected) release of a deluxe 2 CD version of "Down To Earth". New release date now is August 4th in Japan. Finally some more details got out.

Rainbow Rising

Contains two mixes of the original album on disc one. If any of you remember back to the original CDs of this album, the UK and US versions sounded very different, and it may be that these are the two mixes concerned.

Disc two has what are being called 'rough mixes' of the album, and two tracks from the early rehearsals. Let's hope they've gone back to originals sources on this lot.

Rainbow/Rainbow Rising [Cardboard sleeve (mini LP)] Deluxe Edition [SHM-CD] [Limited Edition] CDA
Release Date:2010/08/04

Description: Deluxe edition of "Rainbow Rising" release from Rainbow including outtakes, rehearsal tracks, and more. Features the cardboard sleeve (mini LP) which replicates UK LP artwork and the UK 2010 remastering. Includes a serial numbered label card, a 16-page booklet, and a Japanese Obi. Description and lyrics are also included. Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format.

Down To Earth

Another double, this has the album and single on CD1, and a load of instrumental version on CD2. This is a bit of a worry, as previous Universal 'instrumental bonus tracks' by other artists have just been the original track with the vocal faded down. Hopefully in this case they've found something more interesting.

Rainbow/Down To Earth [Cardboard sleeve (mini LP)] Deluxe Edition [SHM-CD] [Limited Edition] CDA
Release Date:2010/08/04

Description: Deluxe edition of "Down To Earth" release from Rainbow including outtakes. Features the cardboard sleeve (mini LP) which replicates UK LP artwork and the UK 2010 remastering. Includes a serial numbered label card, a 16-page booklet, and a Japanese Obi. Description and lyrics are also included. Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format.

[Thanks to: John Derry / deep.purple.net & CD Japan]






More Black than Purple - Issue 37



Issue 37 of the Ritchie Blackmore magazine More Black than Purple is now available.

- Included is the latest news on the Rainbow remastering project, and a detailed look at Stormbringer: "Glenn played it to David Bowie. He loved it. I don't know if that's a good sign or what". Was it really Deep Purple's black sheep of the family?

- Interviews with Over The Rainbow's Joe Lynn Turner, Blackmore's favourite minstrel; Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson and DVD producer Drew Thompson, who talks about the Deep Purple History, Hits & Highlights DVD.

- "I learnt Ritchie's guitar parts by ear and was struck by how brilliant he was at that young age, and how original". We take a look at Telstar, the new film about Joe Meek that features Ritchie Blackmore, and talk to Matthew Baynton who plays Blackmore in the film.

- Also included is the usual array of CD, DVD and book reviews; gig reports on Blackmore's Night and on Jon Lord and Glenn Hughes reuniting after 33 years at the Childline Rocks charity gig, plus news on the first man to replace Blackmore in Deep Purple in 1970!

- More Black than Purple can be ordered online at www.wymeruk.co.uk/Store or by calling Wymer UK on +44 (0) 1234 326691

More Black than Purple for Deep Purple, Rainbow & Blackmore's Night fans everywhere!
Wymer Publishing
ISSN: 1478-2499
Format: A4 magazine (297 x 210 mm)
Pages: 32, full colour
Price: £5
Publication date: November 2009
Category: International Ritchie Blackmore magazine

[Source: Wymer Publishing Press Release November 2009]






"Heart of the Purple Rainbow" by Colin Hart released early 2010



WP Wymer Publishing is pleased to announce it's next title will be the life story of Colin Hart, the former Deep Purple and Rainbow tour manager.

Hart devoted over thirty years of his life to these great rock musicians. This is his story and indeed theirs. A tale of excess in terms of greed, petulance, anger and devotion. It is counter balanced by extremes of pure talent, showmanship and, of course musicianship. He was the constant 'man in the middle' through all of the break ups, make-ups and revolving door line-up changes.

Joining them at twenty-four years old and leaving with a curt email dismissal thirty years later, he was there every step of their rock 'n' roll way. A story of two of the most innovative, often copied, rock bands; seen through the eyes, ears and emotions of their 'mother hen' (as Jon Lord described him). He was their minder, chauffeur, carer, provider, protector, father confessor & confidant.

In truth he is the only one who can tell this tale of both bands as he was the only one there on the road throughout the life of, not one, but both gigantic bands. Colin Hart joined Deep Purple following their 1971 tour of America with Rod Stewart and the Faces, and Matthew's Southern Comfort, for whom Colin was a roadie for at the time. He then endured a roller coaster ride, working for Purple, during the band's most successful period. Colin was there when the casino burnt down in Montreux, for the historical concerts in Japan, during the break-up of the Gillan / Glover line-up, the auditions that saw David Coverdale join the band, and the huge CalJam concert in front of 400,000.

When Blackmore left in early 1975 to set up Rainbow, Colin teamed up with him at the outset and continued as Rainbow's tour manager through the ever-revolving line-ups. He was invariably the man who had to break the news to many of the hopefuls that auditioned for the band: "We'll get back to you" being the stock reply! Once again Colin was in the thick of it during Rainbow's 9 year tenure; The classic Rainbow Rising period "the best lineup" in his eyes, the dramas during the making of Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, the departure of kingpin Ronnie James Dio, the Graham Bonnet era, culminating in the first Monsters Of Rock Festival at Donington, and the successful period with frontman Joe Lynn Turner.

In 1984 when Blackmore disbanded Rainbow for the Deep Purple reunion, Colin naturally resumed his role with these rock giants as they embarked on a world tour that included the hugely successful 1985 US leg- the second biggest grossing American tour that year after Bruce Springsteen. A déjà vu situation occurred as Colin was in the middle of yet more band break-ups as first, Gillan departed, Turner joined, Gillan, returned and Blackmore departed while Steve Morse emerged to take the band into the new millennium, although for Colin his thirty years on the road with two of the biggest bands in rock history came to an end in 2001.

Provisionally titled Hart of The Purple Rainbow, and written with life long friend Dick Allix, former drummer with sixties band Vanity Fare, Hart tells the story of his life from humble beginnings in the English North East costal town of South Shields, to setting up home in California with Rainbow, and eventually settling in Florida, where he still lives today. Of touring the world several times over, including adventures, not just with Deep Purple and Rainbow, but also encounters with Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Def Leppard, The Beatles' George Harrison, and many more from the world of rock 'n' roll. A truly fascinating read and insight from the other side of the stage.

Includes: Foreword by Paul Mann
Published in Japan in 2008 under the title 'Between A Rock & A Hard Place', Wymer Publishing has the rights for all other territories and languages.

Hart Of The Purple Rainbow
by Colin Hart & Dick Allix
Wymer Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9557542-4-1
Format: Paperback (234 x 156 mm)
Pages: TBC
Price: TBC
Publication date: Early 2010, to be confirmed
Category: Non-fiction, music biography


[Source: Wymer Publishing Press Release November 2009]








New Rainbow T-shirts announced



The Deep Purple Appreciation Society reports:

A new set of Rainbow t-shirts are to be released shortly.

There are three designs, based on the cover art for the first album "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow", "Rainbow On Stage" and "Rainbow Rising".

The shirts are officially licensed.

They come in small, medium, large, XL and XXL.

You can pre-order these at DPAS Mailorder and delivery is expected for early November.

[Source: Wymer Publishing]






Rainbow "Star Club Präsentiert Rainbow" Compilation CD



Universal Music has released on August 11th another compilation titled "Star Club Präsentiert Rainbow".

It seems the live version of "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" has been taken off the "On Stage" album.

Tracklisting:

1. All Night Long
2. Catch The Rainbow
3. Since You Been Gone
4. I Surrender
5. Stone Cold
6. Kill The King
7. Stargazer
8. Starstruck
9. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves (Live)
10. Man On The Silver Mountain
11. Long Live Rock N Roll
12. Run With the Wolf
13. Lost In Hollywood
14. If you don't like rock n roll
15. Miss Mistreated
16. Death Alley Driver



In other news:

Deep-Purple.net reports "Universal are now listing Deluxe Editions of Rainbow Rising and Down to Earth as 'Coming Soon'. All Universal's previous Deluxe Editions have been 2-disc sets, though they're keeping quiet about what will be on disc 2 here if so".






Rainbow "Anthology 1975 - 1984" Compilation 2CD



It's time for another compilation album. Universal Music will release on September 7th a double CD titled "Anthology 1975 - 1984". Most striking on this compilation is the previously unreleased live rendition of 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' from 1980's Monsters Of Rock Festival and the two live tracks from St. David's Hall in Cardiff 1983 that were released originally as a B-side for "Can't Let You Go".

Full description from eil.com:

Rainbow Anthology 1975 - 1984 (2009 UK 28-track 2-CD album set - As the title explains thoroughly the content of this 2-disc set spans almost the entire career of Rainbow and is a celebration of all that was great and then greater still with the Anglo-American Heavy Rock giant. From their first incarnation with vocalist Ronnie James Dio whose fantasy sword n' sorcery lyrics shaped the early image of the band and whose significant presence takes-up the entire first disc, through to thechart scaling heights enjoyed with the Graham Bonnet line-up and the likes of 'Since You Been Gone' and then finally ending with the smooth-throated delivery and U.S. AOR styling's brought by Joe Lynn Turner, all the hits and more are crammed into this attractive package.

With a nod also to Blackmore's curious sense of humour and the addition of tracks such as, 'Snowman' [the title theme to the cartoon Xmas favourite] and a previously unreleased live rendition of 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' from 1980's Monsters Of Rock Festival, this release stands-out significantly from previous would-be hits collections in both content and execution. Complete with a picture booklet containing extensive sleevenotes from Jerry Bloom, and a 16-page booklet chronicling the career of Rainbow with a complete album discography and comprehensive personnel chart).

Tracklisting:

CD1:

1. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
2. The Temple Of The King
3. Man On The Silver Mountain
4. Still I'm Sad
5. Tarot Woman
6. A Light In The Black
7. Stargazer
8. Catch The Rainbow
9. Intro: Over The Rainbow / Kill The King - Live
10. Gates Of Babylon
11. Lady Of The Lake
12. L.A. Connection


CD2:

1. Eyes Of The World
2. Since You've Been Gone - Album Version
3. Lost In Hollywood
4. Weiss Heim
5. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow - Live from Donnington
6. I Surrender - Album Version
7. Vielleicht Das Nachster Mal
8. Jealous Lover
9. Stone Cold - Album Version
10. Death Alley Driver
11. Eyes Of Fire
12. Can't Let You Go - Album Version
13. Street Of Dreams - Album Version
14. Snowman
15. Stranded - Live at St. David's Hall,Cardiff, 1983
16. All Night Long - Live at David's Hall, Cardiff, 1983

[Thanks to: Rik1]






Rainbow "Since You've Been Gone" DVD + Book



Another Rainbow Documentary DVD has been released by Archive Media on August 24th.
No details yet other than the description on some online-shop sites.


Description from play.com:

Rainbow produced some of the finest hard rock music ever recorded, under the creative leadership of Ritchie Blackmore. The film gives a rare insight into the workings of the band which endured countless line-up changes, from the early Ronnie James Dio years and how the band was able to overcome the loss of its singer and lyricist to reach a new level of commercial success.

This documentary DVD and book will delight long term fans, collectors and new comers discovering Rainbow for the first time.

Special features:

- Image Gallery
- Includes 72 page colour illustrated book where the band retell their experiences



Description from hmv.com:

Ritchie Blackmore's combustible guitar riffs in the seminal band Deep Purple were the sparks that fed the conflagration of a whole new genre: heavy metal.

Blackmore's musical ambition led him away from the band in 1975, after which he poached members of the band Elf --including vocalist Ronnie James Dio-- to record the solo project that would evolve into the band Rainbow.

Dio's lyrics were a castles-and-kings affair and Blackmore's classical-derived music suited them well. The pair --with an ever-rotating line-up behind them-- recorded several popular albums, until Dio was lured away by Black Sabbath in '79.

Blackmore reunited with Deep Purple in 1984, revisiting Rainbow briefly in the mid-'90s before finally pulling the plug on both bands and moving on to the medieval folk act Blackmore's Night.









Rainbow's "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll Story" by Jerry Bloom out on June 5th



Rainbow's Long Live Rock 'n' Roll Story by Jerry Bloom
Wymer Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9557542-2-7
Format: paperback (125x140mm), 64 pp
Price: £7.99
Publication date: 5th June 2009
Category: Non-fiction

This book, the first in a planned series on 'landmark' rock albums focuses on Rainbow's 1978 release Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, a pivotal album within the band's roster.

Upon its release in April 1978 Long Live Rock 'n' Roll fans considered it a more commercial album than the previous two releases with indications that band leader Ritchie Blackmore was trying to steer the music towards obtaining greater commercial recognition within the world's biggest record market; America.

Having recorded the previous two albums in a combined period of barely over a month, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow's third studio album took almost a year to make. Recorded at the Strawberry Studios in the haunted Chateau d'Herouville near Paris, it was the last album to feature singer Ronnie James Dio, and saw the band struggle to cope with in-wranglings, sackings, sudden departures and intervention from the spiritual world!

Along with recollections from the band and crew, Ritchie Blackmore biographer Jerry Bloom details the full story behind the making of this 'landmark' album that included the classic songs Kill The King, Gates Of Babylon and Long Live Rock 'n' Roll.

With Blackmore steering Rainbow towards a much more commercial approach with the albums that followed, to many fans Long Live Rock 'n' Roll was the last Rainbow record to truly represent the style that the band originally set out to produce, with its blend of renaissance inspired chord progressions, and mystical, and medieval inspired lyrics.

Includes a track by track analysis, selected discography & 8-page colour section, all combined in a 'CD size' book designed to sit on your shelf, alongside the album as its perfect companion.

An essential read for all fans of Rainbow and classic rock music in general.

Available to order directly from the publisher's website at www.wymeruk.co.uk/Store by calling +44 (0) 1234 326691 or from any book store by quoting the ISBN.

Distributed by Wymer UK, P O Box 155, Bedford, MK40 2YX, United Kingdom
E-mail: admin@wymerpublishing.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1234 326691

Trade enquiries: enquiries@wymerpublishing.co.uk

[Thanks to: Jerry Bloom / More Black Than Purple]






Classic Rainbow Artwork Featured On New Giclée Print



StormStudios have created a new giclée fine art print featuring artwork from Rainbow's Difficult To Cure, PINK FLOYD's Pulse, THE NICE's Elegy and PETER GABRIEL's debut album, Peter Gabriel (aka Car) among others.

Printed on 16.75" x 26.5", only 125 are available. Each are signed, titled and numbered by legendary LED ZEPPELIN/Pink Floyd artist Storm Thorgerson.

For a limited period, this will be on offer at a special introductory price of £350.

For more info visit www.stormsight.co.uk.

According to Wikipedia, giclée (pronounced zhee-clay), is an invented name for the process of making fine art prints from a digital source using ink-jet printing. The word 'giclée' is derived from the French language word 'le gicleur' meaning 'nozzle', or more specifically 'gicler' meaning 'to squirt, spurt, or spray.' The name was originally applied to fine art prints created on Iris printers in a process invented in the early 1990s but has since come to mean any high quality ink-jet print and is often used in galleries and print shops to denote such prints.

[Source: BraveWords.com - Thanks to: Metal Tim]






Another DVD out: Ritchie Blackmore And Rainbow - Collector's Box Set



And one more for the die-hard collectors.

The ultimate axe-man companion! This is the best moments of Ritchie Blackmore partnered by the Rainbow Audiobiography. Guitar Gods looks at the pioneering technique of Ritchie Blackmore that combined virtuosity with flamboyant showmanship. Showcasing Blackmore's axe-work with highlights from over 40 years at the top, this film also presents the sometimes brutally candid words of a host of ex-band mates. Amongst others, Nicky Simper and Glenn Hughes give their honest appraisal of an ego as undeniable as the talent.

This is the true story of hard rock legends Rainbow, as told by those who toured and recorded with the band. The CD draws on material of Rainbow in concert from film, TV and radio archives, along with in-depth interviews with former band members from almost the entire 30 years of Rainbow. Lead vocalists Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner and Dougie White, plus bass player Bob Daisley and drummer Bobby Rondinelli all offer intimate insights into the music of one of the most worshipped and maligned front-men in rock history, Ritchie Blackmore!

This set got released on August 11 by Classic Rock Legends Ltd.
The catalogue number is CBX2863.






NEW DVD TITLED "PURPLE Rainbows" ANNOUNCED FOR RELEASE



And yet another Rainbow Documentary DVD has been announced to get a release in the near future. No release date has been given yet. This one is a 3 DVD box with two books. There is one dvd on Rainbow, the others are about Deep Purple and Whitesnake. From the description it looks like it's the "In Their Own Words" DVD. By the way this is by far the most interesting DVD of these kinda documentaries as we see & hear the Rainbow members themselves tell their story.

Full description of the "Purple Rainbows" DVD:

The very best of Deep Purple in all their guises!

Deep Purple: Featuring candid reflections then and now from Nick Simper, Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Ian Gillan, David Coverdale and one of the very last interviews ever recorded with the late Tommy Bolin, this is the ultimate reappraisal of Deep Purple, alongside great live sets from 1968 to 1974! 72 page book; Deep Purple vs. the Press!

Rainbow: Frank interviews with Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner, Bob Daisley, Bobby Rondinelli and Doogie White plus archive interviews with Ronnie James Dio and of course Ritchie Blackmore, plus great live footage makes this the most honest and candid inside appraisal of Rainbow to date! 72 page book; full transcripts of the best Rainbow interviews!

Whitesnake: With the best David Coverdale interviews and anchored by bassman Neil Murray, this independent review of Whitesnake draws on the best archive performances of the Snake on stage to present a complete chronology of the band, from zeroes to guitar heroes!

[Source: Play.com]






BOOK WITH PHOTOGRAPHS OF RITCHIE BLACKMORE'S Rainbow IN THE PIPELINE



The Deep Purple Appreciation Society (DPAS) has announced that they have several books in the pipeline. The (working) Titles are "Photographs of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow", "Deep Purple - The Psychedelic Years", "Deep Purple - The Poster Collection", "Deep Purple - Day By Night", "Deep Purple Illustrated Discography Vol One - 1968 / 1976", "Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water" and "The Art Of The Concert Flyer".

They report about the "Photographs of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" book:

As this one has been drawn primarily from Simon's own collection, we'll let him explain: "I had our Japanese business contact over recently to discuss a book of Ramones photographs (!) and he spotted some of my old Blackmore prints. He suggested do something with the material; time marches on and this stuff is already over thirty years old. So the concept of a book of photographs came together.

The stuff has been filed away and most of the negatives (and just about all the slides) have never been published. I had no official access, everything was done off the cuff, but there was much less aggro back then and when I dug out the shots they seemed full of the atmosphere of the time.

As I understand it the emphasis will be on the 1976 and 1977 tours, although the Japanese may want later tours covered as well." We will have links through to the European publisher shortly, and some trial pages. In the meantime we are able to show the proposed cover.

More info on the other book can be found on www.deep-purple.net.

[Source: DeepPurple.net]






Rainbow COMPILATION 'CATCH THE Rainbow' RE-ISSUE ON SHM-CD IN JAPAN



The Rainbow 'Catch The Rainbow: The Anthology' Compilation CD gets a re-issue on the SHM-CD format. This will be a limited release in Japan. It will be out on June 25. Catalog no is UICY-90892.

Description: SHM-CD reissue featuring the 2003 edit of this release. The high quality SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) format features enhanced audio quality through the use of a special polycarbonate plastic. Using a process developed by JVC and Universal Music Japan discovered through the joint companies' research into LCD display manufacturing, SHM-CDs feature improved transparency on the data side of the disc, allowing for more accurate reading of CD data by the CD player laser head. SHM-CD format CDs are fully compatible with standard CD players. This release is also part of the 200-album SHM-CD Series Campaign from Universal Music Japan.

Tracks: Man On The Silver Mountain, Sixteenth Century Greensleeves, Catch The Rainbow, Tarot Woman, Starstruck, Stargazer, Light In The Black, Mistreated (Live), Long Live Rock'n'Roll, Gates Of Babylon, Kill The King, Rainbow Eyes, Eyes Of The World, Since You Been Gone, All Night Long, Weiss Heim, I Surrender, Spotlight Kid, Can't Happen Here, Jealous Lover, Death Valley Driver, Stone Cold, Tearin' Out My Heart, Power, Can't Let You Go, Desperate Heart, Street Of Dreams, Difficult To Cure (Live).

Other Rainbow SHM-CD are "Rainbow Rising" and "Long Live Rock'n'Roll", both released on January 23, 2008 in Japan.

[Source: CDJapan]






BOOK ABOUT THE Rainbow RISING ALBUM & TOUR IN THE WORKS



Jerry Bloom of More Black Than Purple informs us that he's working on a book documenting about the Rainbow Rising album and 76 tour with as many reviews, anecdotes, photos etc as possible. Anyone who wants to contribute can contact Jerry by e-mail.

Other MBTP plans considering include a book documenting all the bootlegs from Purple, Rainbow etc.

Jerry Bloom started the More Black Than Purple magazine together with Mark Welch in 1996. The magazine is in A4 format on glossy art paper. It reports on the current exploits of the highly creative and fresh musical output of the 'Man In Black'. But MBTP also looks in detail at all facets of Blackmore's wonderful career. Each issue include a cross section of items from various eras of Blackmore's career, including interviews, either with the man himself or those who have at some point been associated with him. For more info and subscriptions on MBTP check this website.






RITCHIE BLACKMORE 'GUITAR GODS' DVD OUT ON SEPTEMBER 24



Classic Rock Legends releases again a DVD with the spotlight on Ritchie Blackmore. The description for this DVD is: A critical analysis of guitar hero Ritchie Blackmore, featuring the participation of Nicky Simper and Glen Hughes. Running time: 65 minutes

Guitar Gods looks at the pioneering technique of Blackmore that combined virtuosity with flamboyant showmanship, talking to those who knew and played with one of the most controversial frontmen in the history of Rock.

Including: Nicky Simper and Glenn Hughes give their honest opinions of a man with an ego as undeniable as his god-like talent.

Fascinating insights from former band members of Rainbow, from almost the entire 30 years of the bands multi-faceted history.

We also hear the views of Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Ian Paice and Ronnie James Dio! Jaw-dropping footage spanning virtually Blackmore's entire career!

It can be ordered at Amazon UK.






Rainbow 'LIVE IN NÜRNBERG' 2CD WILL BE RELEASED THIS AUTUMN



The last of three shows from Rainbow's September 1976 tour of Germany (Dusseldorf and Cologne are already available), newly mixed from the multi-tracks, and issued to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band's first world tour is finally released in Europe. As before the 2xCD set features the regular set-list from that tour:

Kill The King / Mistreated / Sixteenth Century Greensleeves / Catch The Rainbow / Man On The Silver Mountain / Stargazer / Still I'm Sad / Do You Close Your Eyes.

The 2CD comes with an 8 page colour booklet with notes and pictures. The releasedate has been put back several weeks. The releasedate is November 29. Although for some area's it's early December. The 2CD can be ordered at Amazon UK.

In Japan this 2CD was already released in May 2006 as part of a 6CD Box containing all 3 concerts. In Europe 'Live in Köln (Cologne)' was released in July 2006, 'Live in Düsseldorf 1976' in February 2007.

Note: Although the CD is supposed to be recorded in the Messzentrum Halle in Nürnberg, there are still sources that claim Rainbow played that night in the Mannheim Multihalle and never did Nürnberg that tour. Even the booklets of 'Live in Germany 1976' (released in 1990) and 'Live in Koln 1976' name Mannheim for September 28th.

Update: Advance press notices for the 1976 German tour listed a concert in Mannheim for September 28th. This was later changed to Nurnberg on the 28th, Mannheim being played on Sept 30th (with Munich on the 29th). The original notes on the CD Live in Germany had the dates wrong, due in part to one of the master reels for Nurnberg being dated 27th in error, and an engineer wrongly dating Nurnberg to the 29th on monitor mixes. Now all the tape boxes have been fully examined, and with confirmation from fans in Germany (one has a poster for the Nurnberg show, the other a ticket for Mannheim), we are now confident this is the correct date.
[source: CD booklet]

From the DPAS site: Some copies of this disc have a mastering error on CD2 which may cause the between song chat at the end of track two - Still I'm Sad - to repeat the last few seconds before moving into the following song. The error has been rectified but some copies may have reached the shops. If you have a copy which has this error it can be replaced free of charge. (So... Nothing is lost, and the music is not affected. Only a short clip of chat is repeated)

We have arranged for Darker Than Blue to handle this exchange for us in Europe. Send Disc 2 only (keep CD1 and the rest of the package) to: Darker Than Blue (Rainbow exchange) 74 Nethergate, Sheffield S6 6DJ, Great Britain.

Include a piece of paper with your FULL NAME and ADDRESS. A correct replacement Disc 2 will be sent out. This exchange only affects this disc, no other product is affected.






INDUCT RITCHIE BLACKMORE INTO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME PETITION



Gary M. Entler and Brent A. Soileau created a petition named "The Induct Ritchie Blackmore into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". They wrote the following text for this petition:

To: Fans of Ritchie Blackmore

Ritchie Blackmore is one of the most influential guitarists in the history of rock music. He has inspired generations of musicians who exist today and those yet to be born with the classic riff from " Smoke on the Water."

Ritchie has played guitar for such legends as Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Screaming Lord Sutch and was a founding member and guitarist for two of Rock and Roll's most dynamic bands, Deep Purple and Rainbow. Those two bands exhibited the finest musicianship that Rock has to offer while selling out major venues and millions upon miilions of records worldwide. Deep Purple alone, led by Ritchie's blazing guitar style, is credited with record saless of over 100 million albums. Rainbow continued Ritchie's Deep Purple tradition in sales, musical virtuosity, and lasting musical influence.

Blackmore is listed in Rolling Stone's " 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time " and was one of the first guitarists to combine blues scales and phrases with minor scales and ideas from European classical music. His resulting style has been referred to as ' neo-classical ' and has been emulated by many modern guitarists. Many prominent musicians of today credit Ritchie Blackmore as a main influence. Just read an interview ! Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Jon Petrucci, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen as well as bands like Iro Maiden, Saxon, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, The Scorpions...the list goes on and on !

Today, Ritchie explores his cultural roots in a band called Blackmore's Night, a medieval-inspired effort that calls Ritchie back to his love of Renaissance music and exposes rock fans to exciting new music that successfully integrates his signature guitar style into traditional Western music. Ritchie has and continues to inspire and entertain millions worldwide for over forty years.

Ritchie deserves a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If you agree, and feel as motivated, please sign this Petition to be sent to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation to demand the inclusion of this innovative and unique rock artist in its ranks.

You can sign the petition here.

[Thanks to: Rainer Klos]






Rainbow AUDIOBIOGRAPHY OUT ON AUGUST 20



On August 20 Regeneration will release a CD and Book set called the Rainbow Audiobiography. It looks like another product out of the company that is known as Classic Rock Productions but also uses a handfull other names as it seems. Expect a CD with most likely an edited version of the audio track of the "Inside The Rainbow" DVD's. The cover says: "In the words of the band and their critics", just like those DVD's. It can be ordered at Amazon UK.

It will be released on August 28 by Classic Rock Legends in the US and can be ordered at Amazon USA.






ANOTHER Rainbow EXCLUSIVE COMPILATION IN 10 CD BOX



Another compilation! Rainbow The Polydor Years 1975-1986. This time an exclusive limited edition box set comprised of 8 CD albums and 1 2-CD set for the Japanese market.

It includes the following albums: 'Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow', 'Rising', 'On Stage', 'Long Live Rock 'n Roll', 'Down to Earth', 'Difficult to Cure', 'Straight Between the Eyes', 'Bent Out of Shape', and 'Finyl Vinyl' - a total of 80 tracks! Each disc is presented in a mini LP-style card sleeve with obi strip, with the set housed inside a deluxe make-up style box, which is itself housed inside a sealed hardback slipcase + obi strip for the Japan release. In the mean time also for sale at Amazon UK and Amazon USA.






NEW Rainbow COMPILATION DVD OUT CALLED 'UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL'



Here we go again. This time under the monniker Total Rock Music (but it's the same company who used the name Classic Rock Production and some others) another dodgy compilation. Possible the same crappy footage as they used for other obscure releases in the past named "Inside Rainbow" and "Total Rock Review". The new release is called "Up Close And Personal". More than likely the same old interviews with people from the music business (who had nothing to do with Rainbow), some excerpts from old interviews plus heavily edited video and liveclips. We already spotted two different covers to make it more complicated....

The Total Rock Music website says: "Sometimes I feel like I own the stage completely… I'm just going crazy. The adrenalin is so much that all my musical upbringing is thrown into intensity onstage, rather than being a musician." - Ritchie Blackmore

This is the true story of Hard Rock Legends Rainbow, as told by the insiders who toured and recorded with the band! Few would dispute the genius of Blackmore, or the fact that behind the chaos of their carousel line-ups Rainbow produced some of the finest hard-rock music ever recorded.

Sit in on in-depth interviews with band members from almost the entire 30 plus years of Rainbow, in one incarnation or another. Lead vocalists Graham Bonnet ('79-'80) Joe Lynn Turner ('81-'84) and Dougie White ('94-'97), plus bass player Bob Daisley and drummer Bobby Rondinelli all offer intimate insight into the music of one of the most controversial of frontmen and the breathtaking band he created.

The 72-page book features a biography of Rainbow, with an analysis of every studio album Rainbow recorded, and is illustrated with many rare colour photographs from the early days.

Featured tracks include Man On The Silver Mountain, Since You Been Gone, All Night Long, Hall Of The Mountain King, Catch The Rainbow and many more!

English audio with subtitles in: French, Italian, German, Spanish, Swedish Approx running time 66 minutes.






Rainbow VINYL REPLICA BOX SET TO BE ISSUED IN JAPAN IN MAY



The following classic Rainbow albums will be repackaged into a deluxe box set due for release on May 23 in Japan via Universal International. Each disc comes as a paper sleeve replicating the original vinyl package. The box includes: Ritchie Blackmores Rainbow (1975), Rainbow Rising (1976), On Stage (1977), Long Live Rock N Roll (1978), Down To Earth (1979), Difficult To Cure (1981), Straight Between The Eyes (1982), Bent Out Of Shape (1983) and Final Vinyl (1986).

[source: Bravewords.net]






Rainbow IN THEIR OWN WORDS & TOTAL ROCK REVIEW UNOFFICIAL COMPILATION DVDS



Edgehill Publishing has released on October 9 an unofficial compilation DVD called "Rainbow In Their Own Words".

The DVD Description says: "There are no harsher critics of Rainbow's work than the group themselves. This unique book and film review draws on rare documentary footage of Rainbow in performance, alongside the candid reflections of former Rainbow front man Doogie White, from television and radio archives around the world. We also hear the first hand accounts of insiders from the Rainbow plus the incisive views of a leading team of music critics and working musician to discover the influences which shaped some of the greatest hard rock music ever recorded. The book accompanying this unique film is the 96-page book 'Rainbow and the Press' featuring a comprehensive review of the relationship between the band and its critics. The book features extensive reflections on life inside the Rainbow touring machine drawing upon press interviews made during the band's heyday.

This totally independent film and book review was made with complete editorial freedom. The recollections expressed have not been censored or reviewed by the interviewees making this the ultimate hard hitting independent review on film and in print of the career of Rainbow from the inside in the words of those who really matter; the musicians themselves".

However as we seen more compilation like this before remarks like this should be noticed as well: This is series of interviews with a lot of the band members covering the whole history of the band interspersed with short video clips taken from various live performances but no complete songs. A lot of the interviews (especially those with Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio) are not face to camera, only a poor quality audio tape with pictures of album covers etc. on screen. Only worth looking at if you are a serious fan of the band and better to rent rather than buy as you will only look at it once. [John R. Murdoch on Amazon.co.uk]

There's ANOTHER of those unofficial compilation DVDs out, this one titled Rainbow IN THEIR OWN WORDS (though as the sleeve warns that neither Rainbow nor Blackmore were involved...), with a book attached, and issued by Tamanoir Ltd. The sleeve carries a warning about the quality of the clips, which carry on in the grand tradition of all previous releases from companies like Classic Rock Productions (and could well be the same people for all we know) using stuff taken from fans' VHS copies. Take our advice and avoid it like the plague. [DeepPurple.net]

For those who still want to buy it, it's on sale at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

And if it's not enough also announced for a release is another DVD unofficial compilation called "Rainbow: Total Rock Review" on November 17. We spotted it in 2 diferent covers already. According to the description it looks like a re-release of the poorly "Inside Rainbow Part II 79-97" DVD:

This is the critical review of the music of Rainbow during the crucial period from 1979-1997, which saw the arrival of Graham Bonnet through to the final Stranger In Us All tour...

Features rare footage of Rainbow with Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner and Dougie White. Dougie also gives us an insight into the workings of the band and explains what its like to tour and record with the man he calls 'the finest guitarist of his generation'.

This unique film uses rare footage of Rainbow on stage coupled with the incisive views of a leading team of music critics, working musicians and former Rainbow front man Dougie White to discover the influences that shaped some of the greatest hard rock music ever recorded.

On sale at Amazon.co.uk






Rainbow "LIVE IN DUSSELDORF 1976" AUDIO CD EUROPEAN RELEASE IN NOVEMBER



The second of three shows from Rainbow's September 1976 tour of Germany, newly mixed from the multi-tracks, is nearing release, and follows the pattern set by Cologne. From our research we believe only one track from this particular gig has ever been issued before (Catch The Rainbow on the old Connoisseur title Live In Germany).

The show dates from September 27th 1976, and features the regular set-list from that tour: Kill The King / Mistreated / Sixteenth Century Greensleeves / Catch The Rainbow / Man On The Silver Mountain / Stargazer / Still I'm Sad. There was no encore for this particular night. The CD can be pre-ordered now via dpas mail order and release is expected in November. On that schedule the last release will not now be out until the new year. Sleeve details haven't yet been supplied to us.

[source: Deep Purple.net]






TWO NEW EUROPEAN Rainbow DVD'S TO BE RELEASED SOON



According to CDon.com there will be two European Rainbow DVD releases this month. First there's "Live At Budokan Tokyo 1984", released by SHO Masterplan (Catalog number: SHO-MP-42073). Releasedate is September 15.

Tracklist: Spotlight Kid, Miss Mistreated, I Surrender, Can't Happen Here, Catch The Rainbow, Power / Keyboard Solo, Street Of Dreams, Fool For The Night, Difficult To Cure, Guitar Improvisation, Drum Solo / Blues, Stranded, Death Alley Driver, Fire Dance, Maybe Next Time, All Night Long, Lazy, Since You've Been Gone, Smoke On The Water.

Update: In some forums are stories that SHO Masterplan would be a bootleg company. More details later.

The 2nd release in Europe is "Live Between The Eyes - Final Cut". This DVD with two previously released videos has been already released in Japan on May 10. In Europe it now will be released on September 25 by Universal Music (Catalog number: UNI-984241-2) according to CDon. Amazon gives October 9 as releasedate.

Tracklists:

Final Cut: Spotlight Kid, Death Alley Driver, I Surrender, All Night Long, Can't Happen Here, Difficult To Cure, Can't Let You Go, Power, Since You Been Gone, Stone Cold, Street Of Dreams.

Live Between The Eyes: Over The Rainbow, Spotlight Kid, Miss Mistreated, Can`t Happen Here, Tearin' Out My Heart, All Night Long, Stone Cold, Power, Blues, Difficult To Cure, Long Live Rock'n'Roll, Kill The King, Maybe Next Time, Smoke On The Water.






RITCHIE BLACKMORE BOOKS: THE NEXT STAGE & BLACK KNIGHT



According to a posting on BLACKMORE'S NIGHT's official web site, Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night have decided to share with their fans some real band experiences — past and present. "The Next Stage" will be out soon and is the only authorized book containing stories that Candice and Ritchie have personally told. Rumor has it even some stories from past bands will be included here. Don't bother with imitations when you can have the real item — first-time ever stories told by Ritchie and Candice for you to share. The Next Stage will be here soon and available through the BLACKMORE'S NIGHT merchandise page.

Black Knight - the unauthorised Ritchie Blackmore Biography Omnibus (ISBN: 1846092663)

Written and researched by Jerry Bloom who first met Ritchie more than twenty years ago; has followed his career since the seventies, and since 1996 has published and edited the International Ritchie Blackmore magazine 'More Black than Purple.'

The first ever Ritchie Blackmore biography by Jerry Bloom is published by Omnibus Press on 4th September. It is in hardback only and runs to 400 pages. All copies bought from MBTP will be signed by the author. Price:- £19.95, Add postage per book as follows: UK- £5.00 / Europe- £7.50 / Rest- £12.50 Release Date: 4th September 2006

Apart from "The Next Stage" and "Black Knight", former Deep Purple and Rainbow tour manager Colin Hart has written a book and is currently negotiating publishing deals.






JAPANESE RE-RELEASES FOR ALL Rainbow ALBUMS



All the Rainbow Albums will be re-released in 2 different versions in Japan in August & September. First there is the re-release of the ordinary CD's on August 30 featuring: Ritchie Blackmores Rainbow (catalog number UICY-6368), Rainbow Rising (UICY-6369), On Stage (UICY-6370), Long Live Rock N Roll (UICY-6371), Down To Earth (UICY-6372), Difficult To Cure (UICY-6373), Straight Between The Eyes (UICY-6374), Bent Out Of Shape (UICY-6375) and Final Vinyl (UICY-6376).

On September 20 The Very Best Of Rainbow (catalog numer UICY-9749) will also be re-released.

On September 27 there is then re-releases of the same CD's as Limited Edition with Cardboard Sleeves: Ritchie Blackmores Rainbow (catalog number UICY-9190), Rainbow Rising (UICY-9191), On Stage (UICY-9192), Long Live Rock N Roll (UICY-9193), Down To Earth (UICY-9194), Difficult To Cure (UICY-9195), Straight Between The Eyes (UICY-9196), Bent Out Of Shape (UICY-9197) and Final Vinyl (UICY-9198).

Last April saw already the re-release of Stranger In Us All (BMG BVCM37696) in a Cardboard Sleeve.






Rainbow LIVE IN MUNICH 1977 ALSO TO BE RELEASED ON AUDIO CD IN JUNE




After the DVD which was released last December in Japan and is expected to be out on August 21 in Europe, there will be now also a release of the same concert as double audio CD in the US & Japan. The releasedate is set for June 13 in Europe & the US (Eagle Records) and for June 21 in Japan (Catalogue Number: VICP63478).

The concert was recorded in Munich, Germany on October 20, 1977 with the following line-up: Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Cozy Powell (drums), Bob Daisley (bass) & David Stone (keyboards).

CD1:
Kill The King, Mistreated, Sixteenth Century Greensleeves, Catch The Rainbow, Long Live Rock 'N' Roll

CD2:
Man On The Silver Mountain, Still I'm Sad, Do You Close Your Eyes






Rainbow "DEUTSCHLAND TOURNEE 1976" 6 CD BOX OUT IN JAPAN ON MAY 24




VAP Japan will release the previously announced Rainbow "Deutschland Tournee 1976 / Live in Germany 1976" as a 6 CD Box (Catalogue Number: VPCK85354). Instead of 3 seperate releases as previously reported, it will be released in Japan as a box with 6 cds.

The cds will cover 3 complete concerts: Cologne 25th September 1976, Dusseldorf 27th September 1976 & Nurnberg 28th September 1976.

Setlist for these concerts: "Kill The King", "Mistreated", "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves", "Catch The Rainbow", "Man On The Silver Mountain", "Stargazer", "Still I'm Sad", "Do You Close Your Eyes".

No news or releasedate for Europe and the USA on the moment.







MORE VINTAGE Rainbow VIDEOS TO BE RELEASED ON DVD IN JAPAN



Universal Music will be releasing a single DVD (Universal International UIBO1093) in Japan on May 10 with two Rainbow titles that only have been available on VHS video in the past: "Final Cut" and "Live Between The Eyes".

Tracklists:

Final Cut: Spotlight Kid, Death Alley Driver, I Surrender, All Night Long, Can't Happen Here, Difficult To Cure, Can't Let You Go, Power, Since You Been Gone, Stone Cold, Street Of Dreams.

Live Between The Eyes: Over The Rainbow, Spotlight Kid, Miss Mistreated, Can`t Happen Here, Tearin' Out My Heart, All Night Long, Stone Cold, Power, Blues, Difficult To Cure, Long Live Rock'n'Roll, Kill The King, Maybe Next Time, Smoke On The Water.

The DVD is already advertised by HMV Japan. No news if this DVD also will be released in Europe and the USA on the moment.






JAPANESE RE-RELEASE FOR "STRANGER IN US ALL" IN LIMITED PAPER SLEEVE



RCA Japan will reissue Rainbow's 1995 release Stranger In Us All in a limited paper sleeve edition on April 26th. Only 2,200 copies of the reissue will be manufactured.

Tracks on the album include: 'Wolf To The Moon', 'Cold Hearted Woman', 'Hunting Humans', 'Stand And Fight', 'Ariel', 'Too Late For Tears', 'Black Masquerade', 'Silence', 'Hall Of The Mountain King', 'Still I'm Sad'.
[source: Brave Words.com]






THREE Rainbow LIVE IN GERMANY 1976 CONCERTS TO BE RELEASED THIS YEAR



Darker Than Blue (The Deep Purple Collectors Service) has announced the release of 3 complete concerts from Rainbow 1976 European Tour in Germany on CD. The first release will be Live in Cologne 1976. Tracklist: "Kill The King", "Mistreated", "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves", "Catch The Rainbow", "Man On The Silver Mountain", "Stargazer", "Still I'm Sad", "Do You Close Your Eyes".

Three of Rainbow's German shows from 1976 have been remixed to form special collectors releases to mark the 30th anniversary of the first world tour. These have been produced primarily for Japan but will also be issued in Europe via AFN in Germany. The first release is Sept 25. 1976 Cologne issued as a 2CD in jewel case. Dusseldorf and Nurnberg will follow. Keep an eye on the deep-purple.net site for progress reports.
[source: deep-purple.net]

Update:
This first CD, Cologne 1976, is now out in Germany, releasedate May 26. It seems to be scheduled to be released in the rest of Europe on June 2.






Rainbow LIVE IN MUNICH 1977 RELEASED ON DVD IN JAPAN


The Rockpalast 1977, Live in Munich October 20, is finally going to be released in Japan. The DVD will be released as a 2 DVD set on December 21. The first DVD will have the entire Munich liveshow. It's not clear what will be on the second DVD exactly but there's mention of interviews & clips. The DVD will have DTS 5.1 Ch Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Ch Surround and Dolby Digital 2.0ch Surround audio. The catalogue release no is VPBR-12464.

More info in Japanese on these links: CD/DVD Journal and HMV Japan.

Update: The second DVD will feature new interviews with Colin Hart (Rainbow's Tour Manager) and Bob Daisley plus the videoclips of L.A. Connection, Gates Of Babylon & Long Live Rock'N'Roll.

The European edition will contain an extra commentary, written by Rainbow biographer Roy Davies, extra packaging, etc. As well as the full concert (including guitar demolition and some great shots of the famous electronic rainbow), there are interviews, extra Rainbow promos etc. This show has been bootlegged extensively in a number of formats, but this new release will be pristine quality with remastered audio etc. Those who have seen the test copy say its excellent. For those who never saw Rainbow in their early days, a real treat. For those who did, a reminder of what an awesome band they were at the time. The European DVD has been reschedued for August 21, 2006.

[source: Deep Purple.net]