From: ritchfan@ix.netcom.com (Robert Gervais ) Newsgroups: alt.music.deep-purple Subject: *** RITCHFAN reviews new Rainbow CD-(DPAS Texas)*** Date: 25 Aug 1995 05:45:53 GMT Message-ID: <41jo2h$gj@ixnews2.ix.netcom.com>To all fans, friends and interested parties with nothing else to do but read amdp stuff: Here is the official biased review of the new Rainbow Cd from yours truly. This is all a matter of taste so get the album and decide for yourself.
RB is back and better than ever. Get ready for album of the year and a welcome relief from what's being played on the radio nowadays, I can assure you. You all probably know my bias for TMIB by now- he could make an album of ukelele favorites and I would be applauding for more (most of you would buy it too, admit it...). I hope to give a review from 2 perspectives: a guitarist perspective and a diehard RB fan view. With that in mind here goes..
RB's general sound is that of Down to Earth/Difficult to Cure era Rainbow. Production is good and RB has few effects-note: NO OCTAVER PEDALS!!!!! He definitely is playing with the band and plays songs. There are solos everywhere but this is not an Yngwie album. Listen for some killer solos. Guitarists out there will still learn a few things.
Doug White sounds like Turner a little bit, but I swear the way he approaches melodies sounds like Bonnet. I can hear Bonnet singing every one of these tunes. White makes the song "Hunting Humans". He carries the melody by his vocals until RB comes in on the chorus. WOW. You dont notice his Scottish accent until he says the word "Brazenly" on Hall of the Mountain King.
The rhythm section is pretty basic and TIGHT. They dont miss a beat and keep it simple. I never noticed the drummer sounding like a "Drum Machine" like Trond alleges. My thoughts were this is tight simple playing like Paice on Victims of the Future. The rhythm section makes the new version of Still I'm Sad. WOW.
The one thing that I noticed most is the lack of keyboards. This is a clean melodic guitar album with few effects and almost no keyboards.
The next song is Cold Hearted Woman. It starts with a basic RB-esque riff then goes into a very nice chorus sort of like Sail Away. Great solo also.
Following that is Hunting Humans- surprise song of the album. It is totally different from anything I have ever heard RB do. At first I wasnt sure if I liked it but now it is one of my faves on the album. It starts out with a simple bass and drum plodding type rhythym. There is no guitar for a while. RB enters with a few fill. The melody is carried totally by Doug. Amazing. The chorus has RB joining in and they play a bizarre chord change. It just comes out of nowhere. Unpredictable but it works. Check this song out.
STand and Fight is a standard good rocker, like the old Rainbow days. Good riff with the band in high energy. Sort of like "Power".
ARIEL!!!!! oh boy, OH boy. An instant classic. This has a riff with RB using the harmonic minor scale. DP tried to use it in Soon Forgotten. This is the way to use it properly. RB is the master of use of this scale. Great riff, classic riff. Nice legato slide solo. AT the end we have Candace Night singing "Ariel" over a super melodic chord change. RB is a lucky man if he has that to whisper in his ear every night. The out-tro solo is way too short. This is the song out-tro solos are dreant about. I hope they do 20 min versions of this in concert.
TOO LATE FOR TEARS is another good rocker like the old Rainbow stuff. Doug sounds more like Turner on this one. Good material though, I like it. The main riff is a rather long progession sort of like Knocking At Your Backdoor was. This is a cross between Cant Happen Here and Lost in Hollywood.
EMOTIONAL CRIME- I odnt have this one on my tape :( At least it gives me something to look forward to...
BLACK MASQUERADE- Another awesome track!!!!!! Very nice and heavy riff with a long solo and YES YES YES!!!!!! an acoustic classical solo that just smokes and leaves me gasping for air!!!!!! This is fantastic, wonderful stuff. The title tract BTW is mentioned in a line in this song.
SILENCE- This is a lively tune with a heavy solid riff and horns in the back ground. It really gets you going.
HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING- RB has always had a knack for taking classical pieces and making them fit in a rock context. This is another classic. Heavy hitting riffing with a solid rhythm section- no drum machine here. Doug has interesting vocal line adds a lot. RB's guitar sound on the out solo sounds like his effect on the CAtch the Rainbow live stuff from the 70's.
STILL I"M SAD- Hard to pin my fave but this is a close contender. I love the old versions. This is IMHO a new song. The chorus and vocal lines are the same but rhythm is heavy, super tight and sounds great. It reminds me of Freedom Fighter- kind of choppy muffled riffing. RB lets loose great filler licks throughout.
The best part is the intro. RB plays alone and plays gentle melodies like on the old Catch the Rainbow and Mistreated live solos. He plays super super licks. What is interesting to note is that this intro has no harmonic minor licks. In fact Rb plays some chromatic licks (jazzy sounding). This definitely shows growth on RB's part and a different sound in his playing. Refreshing, melodic and showing RB isn't resting on his laurels.
The solo on the track starts with a heart wrenchingly beautiful lick that you can almost sing to. It gets me right in the heart. The rest of the solo is just brilliant.
I dont know what the other reviewers were smoking (I still love you Trond!!!!) but this is a killer album with lots of guitar. I cant wait for the tour.
Long Live Rock n roll
Bobby "Baby Blackmore" G. DPAS TEXAS
Dave Hodgkinson 17 August 1995.