Rainbow - Japanese SHM-SACD Collection (4x SACD, 1975-1981) PS3 ISO + DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Rainbow (also known as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow or Blackmore's Rainbow) are a British rock band led by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, active from 1975 until 1984, 1993 until 1997, and 2015 until present. They were originally established with Ronnie James Dio's American rock band Elf, but after their first album, Blackmore fired the backing members and continued with Dio until 1979. The band's early work primarily featured mystical lyrics with a neoclassical metal style, then went in a more pop-rock oriented direction following Dio's departure from the group.

Perhaps the first example of "dragon rock" – a style perfected by bands like Iron Maiden and Dio in the early to mid-'80s – was Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, a rather pretentious 1975 collection from the guitarist's first post-Deep Purple project. Fittingly enough, a young Ronnie James Dio provides the goblin-like frontman presence required by the increasingly Baroque Blackmore. The young Dio is at his best when he fully gives in to his own and Blackmore's medieval fantasy leanings, in hard-rocking tracks like "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" and "Man on the Silver Mountain." The dark, trudging doom rock of "Self Portrait" most clearly showcases what they were capable of. The album's ponderous lyrics are occasionally punctuated by poetic phrases such as "crossbows in the firelight." Rainbow become a true embarrassment when they try to lighten up and boogie down. "If You Don't Like Rock ]n' Roll" is really an abomination, a pale imitation of second-rate radio-rockers like BTO. Although Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow provides a few listenable tracks, its primary value is historical. Look to Rainbow's next album, Rainbow Rising (1976), to grasp the heavy metal potential that is only hinted at here.

Tracklist:

01. Man On The Silver Mountain
02. Self Portrait
03. Black Sheep Of The Family
04. Catch The Rainbow
05. Snake Charmer
06. Temple Of The King
07. If You Don't Like Rock n' Roll
08. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
09. Still I'm Sad

DSD flat transferred from UK original analogue master tapes by Mick McKenna and Richard Whittaker at FX Copyroom, London, in 2014.
Edited in DSD by Masaru Takagi (SIProject) at Sunrise Studio, Tokyo in 2014.


Uncompressed SACD ISO size > 1,5 GB

On their second release, Rainbow not only avoid the sophomore jinx; they hit a home run. After replacing the entire band (except Ronnie James Dio) immediately following the recording of the first album, Ritchie Blackmore and the Rising lineup (Blackmore; Dio; Tony Carey, keys; Jimmy Bain, bass; and the late, great Cozy Powell, drums) had plenty of time on the road touring the first album to get the chops and material together for their second. In particular, "Stargazer" really came together on the 1975 tour and featured stunning keyboard work from Carey. The material is uniformly strong, with "Starstruck" and "A Light in the Black" standing out in particular. Ronnie Dio turns in a great vocal on the stunningly direct (under three minutes!) "Do You Close Your Eyes." All six songs on the album are up there with anything the band has done, before or since. The playing has a very tight, colorful feel to it, which was lacking a bit on the first record. This album can legitimately be mentioned in the same breath as classic Deep Purple.

Tracklist:

01 - Tarot Woman
02 - Run With The Wolf
03 - Starstruck
04 - Do You Close Your Eyes
05 - Stargazer
06 - Light In The Black

DSD Transferred from analogue master tapes by Manabu Matsumura (Universal Studio Mastering).


Uncompressed SACD ISO size > 1,37 GB


Features the 2010 DSD mastering based on Japanese original analog tape. Reissue features the high-fidelity SHM-SACD format (fully compatible with standard SACD player, but it does not play on standard CD players). DSD Transferred by Manabu Matsumura.

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll may be singer Ronnie James Dio's last album with Rainbow, but at least he went out on a high note. While the material is not quite as strong as on the previous studio effort, Rising, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll maintains the momentum the band had built up. "Kill the King" had been previously heard on the live On Stage record, but here it sounds more fully realized. Also, the title track from the album stands as one of the best songs the band did, not to mention a noble sentiment. The chugging "L.A. Connection" is another highlight. As with all of their first four albums, this one was produced by Martin Birch (who produced everyone from Blue Öyster Cult to Wayne County), and he really knows how to get the best out of the band by this point. The result is that the songs couldn't sound any better, so even if some of the material isn't quite up to their best, the album is still very cohesive, steady, and, ultimately, satisfying. This would turn out to be the last great album Rainbow would ever make, although they did enjoy a great deal of chart success in the post-Dio era.

Tracklist:

01 - Long Live Rock 'N' Roll
02 - Lady Of The Lake
03 - L.A. Connection
04 - Gates Of Babylon
05 - Kill The King
06 - The Shed (Subtle)
07 - Sensitive To Light

DSD Transferred from analogue master tapes by Manabu Matsumura (Universal Studio Mastering).


Uncompressed SACD ISO size > 1,6 GB

Rainbow ditched vocalist Graham Bonnet after Down to Earth, hiring former Fandango singer Joe Lynn Turner as their frontman. As it turns out, Turner is less hyperbolic than his predecessor, which fits the focused polish of Difficult to Cure. Where Down to Earth was a streamlined version of early Rainbow, Difficult to Cure is a shot at crossover. Problem is, the band never comes up with the right crossover songs. Russ Ballard's "I Surrender" comes close, but much of the record is fairly undistinguished, riding on strident melodies and big riffs that are never quite memorable. It's all given a contemporary sheen, with plenty of studio gloss that now instantly evokes the early '80s. On that level, it's somewhat of an entertaining artifact – anyone pining for an example of what album-oriented radio sounded like in the pre-MTV years should check this out – but it's never more than that, since the bids at chart success are only occasionally memorable ("I Surrender," "Magic"). Perhaps Ritchie Blackmore felt stifled by the exacting nature of Difficult to Cure's attempt at crossover – witness how "Spotlight Kid" veers from a dexterous Blackmore solo to a ridiculous keyboard run, then just verges on collapse – and that's the reason why each side ends with a pretentious pseudo-classical instrumental that functions as nothing more than a guitar showcase. Certainly, his playing is impeccable, but both numbers are really awkward (particularly the title track, based on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and with a weirdly synthesized pulse as a rhythmic underpinning) and just highlight the fact that Difficult to Cure would have been better if Blackmore had channeled that energy into the rest of the album.

Tracklist:

01. I Surrender
02. Spotlight Kid
03. No Release
04. Magic
05. Vielleicht Das Nachste Mal (Maybe Next Time)
06. Can't Happen Here
07. Freedom Fighter
08. Midtown Tunnel Vision
09. Difficult To Cure

DSD flat transferred from UK original analogue master tapes by Richard Whittaker at FX Copyroom, London, in 2013.
Edited in DSD by Manabu Matsumura at Universal Music Studios, Tokyo, in 2013.


Uncompressed SACD ISO size > 1,68 GB
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