Rainbow Albums Ranked

When Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple, he took his guitar and passion for guitar-driven music with him. He founded a band named after the iconic bar in Los Angeles, the Rainbow. He decided to name the band Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow initially, but after one album, changed it to simply Rainbow. They were a successful hard rock band in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. But, with all the changes in lineup, many couldn't keep up with who was in the band. The people at Ultimate Classic Rock came up with a list, ranking worst to best, the albums of Rainbow

You might see me put my opinion on each one, as it would probably differ from the opinions of the people at Ultimate Classic Rock. I firmly believe that while some feel certain albums are good, others might think otherwise. It's all down to personal preference or opinion

1. Rising (1976)

-Their second album, it still featured vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Now there was drummer Cozy Powell and bassist Jimmy Bain. This album was recorded seemingly as quickly as possible, the band did not overthink the songs. They just went in and recorded them as is. This album is almost as close to Deep Purple as you can. It's a mix of hard rock, with softer songs. The lineup on this album didn't last long, as would be a trademark of the band Rainbow-constantly shifting lineups

-I personally like this album. "Starstruck" is my favorite. Sadly, I know all of the words. Every time it comes on in my car, I turn it up and sing it word for word. Overall, the album is very good

2. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978)

-Their third album and last one with vocalist Ronnie James Dio, there is not much difference between this and Rising. Bassist Bob Daisley came in along with keyboardist David Stone midway through recording. The things that make this album successful are the truly impressive yet symphonic guitar solos from Ritchie combined with Ronnie's powerful vocals

-This is another one of my favorites. "Kill the King" has a ridiculously good guitar solo. It shows just how good Ritchie is on his guitar. The whole album is good, every song good. This is one of my most favorite albums of the band. Not only that, but I love the artwork. I laugh a little when looking at it because, as usual, Ritchie has this annoyed look on his face, almost like he does not know how to smile

3. Down to Earth (1979) 

-This album reunited Ritchie with his former Deep Purple band mate Roger Glover on bass. On vocals is vocalist Graham Bonnet. This album was the fourth album for Rainbow and a move towards more streamlined rock, geared towards getting on the radio. This is considered to the only all British lineup for the band

-I like this one too. "All Night Long" has that really good hard rock sound to it. It starts off with an aggressive guitar sound that sure gets your attention. The video for it is a bit goofy, but then again, it's the 1970s. It's still a good video for a good song. The video is worth a look and you'll get a chuckle if you notice Ritchie's eyes are almost constantly diverting to where the blonde dancer is. Overall, I like this album too

4. Stranger in Us All (1995)

-This was the last album for the band. Instead of being a band record, it, more or less, turned into a Blackmore solo record. The lineup on this album were all new. This album failed to chart, and because of one song on the album, that had a slightly medieval sound to it, it planted the seed for the next major project for Blackmore. A medieval band called Blackmore's Night, with his wife Candace Isralow-Blackmore

-This album is okay. It's not really one of my favorites. There are a few good songs here, but not enough to warrant buying on a CD

5. Straight Between the Eyes (1982)

-This became the highest charting album for the band in the US. The single "Stone Cold" was the only US Top 40 hit for the band. David Rosenthal came in to play keyboards to replace Don Airey. This album provided the type of rock music that audiences wanted in the 1980s

-This is one of my favorites. "Death Alley Driver" is a good song. So is "Stone Cold." I like this album a lot

6. Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975)

-This was done while Ritchie was still part of Deep Purple. This debut album was initially created as a collaboration with Ronnie James Dio and the members of his band, a New York-based outfit called Elf. The lineup on this album didn't last long, as would be a consistent pattern with Blackmore. By the time this album was released nine months later, almost everyone was gone, except for Ronnie and Ritchie. The songs are good, but they sound as if they are unfocused, as if they are just trying things to see if they can or will stick. "Man on the Silver Mountain" is a good one

-I like this album. It has that iconic 1970s sound, kind of distorted sound, goofy lyrics and melodies, but overall good. It just sounds like something that was written in the 1970s. "Man on the Silver Mountain" is a good song. For laughs, there's "Black Sheep of the Family." "Catch the Rainbow" is absolutely gorgeous. It's such a beautiful song and allows Ronnie to show what he can truly do with those powerful vocals

7. Bent Out of Shape (1983)

-This is the seventh album released by Rainbow. It was also their final album with vocalist Joe Lynn Turner and bassist Roger Glover. It was said to be "unremarkable" and "another attempt to crack the elusive US market." Many feel more or less it's okay, but nothing to write home about

-I like this one. Not only are the songs good, but it's the album that introduced me to Rainbow. So it has that additional sentimentality to it for me. "Fire Dance" is a great song. I like "Street of Dreams." This song is really good. The video is almost stereotypically 80s, but still good. The album has a lot of good songs.

8. Difficult to Cure (1981)

-The fifth album for the band, this is Joe Lynn Turner's debut on vocals. They also gained a new drummer named Bobby Rondinelli after Cozy Powell left the band. Blackmore had one goal in mind-make the group accessible to charts, make music that will go on charts and get the attention of potential new fans. This inspired the single "I Surrender." This pop song was written by Russ Ballard. Many of the songs had that shiny 80s production sound and as a result, this album became their highest charting album in all of the UK

-This album is good. My favorite song is "Can't Happen Here." I love that song when it comes on in my car. The album has all good songs, but "Can't Happen Here" is my top favorite from this album

The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan

This book is a historical fiction novel set in WWII-era England. There are also real life recipes added in here, real WWII-era recipes from England. Some sound quite good, especially the dessert ones

Summary

-It's World War II and people are fighting all over the world. And right in England, rationing is the order of the day. Everyone is using ration coupons just to scrape by. When the BBC announces it's looking for a new co-host, a female cohost to help announce it's weekly radio program The Kitchen Front, four very different women enter, with the hopes they will win.

-For Audrey Landon, a widow whose husband died in combat, winning the competition would mean being able to pay all of her debts off and repair her house, so her and her three boys Alex, Ben and Christopher can live in a safe house

-For Zelda Dupont, a former haute cuisine chef, winning the competition would show the world a woman can be a chef instead of a lowly cook. It would also give her a life back after getting pregnant with an illegitimate child

-For Lady Gwendoline Strickland, a lady married to a wealthy aristocrat, winning the competition would show the world she can handle herself and carve her own path

-For Nell Brown, a house maid who also enjoys cooking, winning the competition would give her the chance to show the world her knowledge of cooking and allow her to escape her ungrateful employer, Lady Gwendoline

December Birthdays

Since it's December, time to say Happy Birthday

Dave Murray

-Birth name: David Michael Murray

-DOB: 12/23/1956

-Where: Edmonton, London, England

-He, his sisters and mother spent time in Salvation Army shelters to avoid their father's emotional outbursts

Stevie Young

-Birth name: Stephen Crawford Young Jr.

-DOB: 12/11/1956

-Where: Glasgow, Scotland

-He replaced Malcolm Young in AC/DC when Malcolm passed away

Rick Savage

-DOB: 12/2/1960

-Where: Sheffield, England

-He suffered with a bout of Bell's palsy and has started to regain feeling in part of his face

Richard Hammond

-Birth name: Richard Mark Hammond

-DOB: 12/19/1969

-Where: Solihull, West Midlands, England

-Unlike Jeremy Clarkson and James May, Richard's idea of a perfect vacation (holiday) is camping in rainy weather in the Lake District of England

Cliff Williams

-Birth name: Clifford Williams

-DOB: 12/14/1949

-Where: Romford, United Kingdom

-The first AC/DC album he played on was 1978's Powerage

Dame Maggie Smith

-Birth name: Margaret Natalie Smith

-DOB: 12/28/1934

-Where: Ilford, Essex, England

-DOD: 9/27/2024

-Where: Chelsea, London, England

-While filming the 2009 film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, she was undergoing radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer

Phil Collen

-Birth name: Philip Kenneth Collen

-DOB: 12/8/1957

-Where: Hackney, London, England

-He decided to get himself in shape after he became tired of blacking out due to alcoholism

Denzel Washington

-Birth name: Denzel Hayes Washington Jr.

-DOB: 12/18/1954

-Where: Mount Vernon, New York

-His son John David Washington signed on as a running back with the St. Louis Rams, now the LA Rams

Lemmy Kilmister

-Birth name: Ian Fraser Kilmister

-DOB: 12/24/1945

-Where: Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England

-DOD: 12/28/2015

-Where: Los Angeles, California

-He was fired from Hawkwind for possession of narcotics

Lucy Liu

-Birth name: Lucy Alexis Liu

-DOB: 12/2/1968

-Where: New York City, New York

-Her mother, Cecilia, was a Beijing-born biochemist and her father, Tom, is a Shanghai-born civil engineer

Keith Richards

-DOB: 12/18/1943

-Where: Dartford, Kent, England

-He met future Rolling Stones member Mick Jagger at a train station

Rockers with Hidden Talents

Everyone has something they are good at. Whether it be speaking a foreign language, drawing exceptionally well or something else. That also extends to rock / metal musicians. In addition to writing exceptionally good music, musicians have additional talents that not everyone knows about. These talents can also transition into passions they have outside of music. According to the people at Ultimate Classic Rock, here are some rockers with additional talents not everyone knows about

Joey Kramer

-Aerosmith

-Coffee creator

-He decided to indulge a passion of his during some down time from Aerosmith. He decided to open a coffee company that sells whole bean, organic coffee. He struck up a partnership with Comfort Foods, who would package, roast and distribute this type of coffee called Rockin' & Roastin' Coffee. This even inspired new coffee shops to be opened under this name as well

Alice Cooper

-Golfer

-After a stint in a healthcare facility for his alcoholism, Alice Cooper turned to golf to keep him from drinking again. He started playing up to 36 holes a day and even wrote a book called Golf Monster: My 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict

Dan Spitz

-Anthrax

-Master Watchmaker

-After two separate times with Anthrax, he joined his family's watchmaking business. He'd first become interested in this unique craft when he visited his grandfather's store in the Catskills region. Dan became a Swiss-certified master watchmaker, who also holds degrees in luxury mechanical watchmaking and micro-mechanical watchmaking. This led to him working as an instructor for the North American branch of the Swiss watch company Chopard

Bob Dylan

-Iron Worker

-In a Rolling Stone interview, Dylan once said "I've been around iron all my life, ever since I was a kid. I was born and raised in iron ore country, where you could breathe it and smell it every day." In his spare time, he makes artwork out of iron pieces

Bryan Adams

-Photographer

-Back in the early 2000s, Bryan Adams started pursuing a backup career of photographer. The images he takes, of actors, musicians and models have appeared in many places. Some of the best images he's photographed were put together for a 2012 book called Bryan Adams Exposed

Terry Chimes

-The Clash

-Chiropractor

-When Terry Chimes left The Clash, he became interested in the concept of healthy lifestyles. In the 1990s, the drummer then pursued a degree in chiropractic medicine and has, since then, opened a series of chiropractic clinics in and around London

Jeff "Skunk" Baxter

-The Doobie Brothers

-Missile Defense Expert

-Starting off as a quiet passion, Jeff Baxter has turned this passion into a serious thing. He is now a highly trusted Pentagon consultant. He even appeared on a Congressional Advisory Board regarding missile defense

Eddie Money

-Law Enforcement

-Prior to getting bitten by the music bug, Eddie Money (born Eddie Mahoney), followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by becoming a police officer. He served as a member of the New York Police Department for two years. After Eddie found fame as a musician, his dad never got over the idea of his police officer son becoming a musician. "Can you believe that s---? He thought rock 'n' roll was a fly-by-night job." said Money in a New Times interview

Creed Bratton

-The Grass Roots

-Actor

-This musician left the band during a period where the band would see many singles hitting the Billboard charts, such as "Let's Live for Today", "Midnight Confessions." He would later find fame playing a character named Creed on the US version of The Office

Bruce Dickinson

-Airline pilot, writer, radio show personality

-When Iron Maiden travels, they do it to the nines. They travel in a customized Boeing 747 they have dubbed Ed Force One, usually featuring their menacing, grinning mascot Eddie. At the controls is a pilot and the band's vocalist Bruce Dickinson. He's a fully registered commercial airline pilot who also owns Cardiff Aviation. He is also a highly skilled fencer, almost to the point of Olympic standards

Jack White

-The White Stripes

-Furniture Upholsterer

-He started out doing upholstery on furniture, and even did this while pursuing a musical career. Even his first band was called The Upholsterers

Ian Anderson

-Jethro Tull

-Food writer

-It can be said that Ian Anderson literally wrote the book on Indian food. He wrote a book called Guide to Choosing Indian Food. He noted that there are "around 8,000 Indian restaurants in the UK, making one such eatery for every 6,000, or so of our total population."

Paul Stanley

-Kiss

-Painter

-He started out painting as a way of dealing with stress when he divorced his first wife, with whom he had his son Evan. He quickly found he enjoyed painting and that it was calming. In one year alone, he raked in $2 million on his artwork. He stated his painting style is inspired by the Abstract Expressionists from the 1940s and 1950s

Leonard Cohen

-Author

-Long before he pursued music, Leonard Cohen was an established author. His first book was a book of poetry called Let Us Compare Mythologies. It dates as far back as 1956. After pursuing music, he returned to writing, publishing books all the way up to 2006's Book of Longing

Marilyn Manson

-Artist

-Who knew that Marilyn Manson could paint? The beautiful watercolors he creates have been seen in the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Center in 2002 as part of an exhibit and another series he called "Genealogies of Pain" hung in Vienna's Kunsthalle Gallery in 2010

Dave Mustaine

-Megadeth

-Taekwondo Master

-During a bad time, he turned to martial arts. He said that taekwondo "helped me to eliminate a bad lifestyle of drug and alcoholism. It helped me to believe inside of myself and find the strength inside of myself that I never knew I possessed." He's served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the World Taekwondo Federation

Jason Newsted

-Metallica

-Painter

-During a period where he was recovering from a shoulder injury, Jason Newsted took up painting. Ever since then, the paintings he comes up with have been part of an exhibition at the Art New York on Pier 94 in Manhattan. He also had an exhibition in Lake Worth, Florida called Rawk: The Art of Jason Newsted

Neil Young

-Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, solo artist

-Inventor

-Neil Young is, by all means, a highly intelligent man. He teamed up with Richard Kughn, a Detroit-based businessman who owns the Lionel Trains company. Together they created a remote control that made operating the model trains easier for those who were handicapped. Neil Young also invented an audio device that creates real train sounds and partnered with an investment firm to buy the Lionel Train Company, when they fell on hard times

Brian May

-Queen

-Astrophysicist

-He earned his PhD in astrophysics in 2007, after a huge break from his initial studies when his music career took off. He has since published books on astrophysics while serving as the Chancellor for the Liverpool John Moores University

Bill Berry

-R.E.M.

-Farmer

-He played drums for R.E.M. from 1980-1997. When he left the band, he bought a farm just outside of Athens, Georgia. He would later join R.E.M. on rare occasions, but he completely distanced himself from the world of music after suffering from a series of aneurysms on stages

Flea

-Red Hot Chili Peppers

-Expert chess player

-During slow periods on tour, Flea would play chess. After a time of playing it, his confidence rose enough to challenge a professional chess player at it. And it was said he was able to hold his own against this professional. This chess game happened during a period in Rio when the band was performing and world famous chess player Magnus Carlsen also happened to be in town

Rod Stewart

-The Young Faces, solo

-Model train enthusiast

-Trains are his thing. He decorated an entire room to look like post-war Manhattan. This room was first shown in Model Railroader Magazine and included intricate replicas of stations for the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads and the skyscrapers nearby. He constructed the majority of this display while on tour in hotel rooms around the world

-A cool side note. My stepdad and his brother Dave were out in L.A. once. They were on vacation and they went to a hobby shop that sold die cast cars of IMSA, Formula 1 and other race cars because they both collect them. The clerk behind the counter told them "You should have been in here yesterday. Rod Stewart was in here." My stepdad and his brother, both of whom are fans of Rod Stewart, had missed seeing him by a day

Sammy Hagar

-Montrose, Van Halen, solo

-Master Distiller

-Called Cabo Wabo Tequila, it was designed originally to be sold at his Cabo Wabo nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He unfortunately had to close that club due to pressures from the local cartels. It became the second biggest selling tequila in the US. Later on, Hagar announced the creation of Sammy's Beach Bar Rum, a small batch product made with Hawaii-grown sugar cane

Billy Corgan

-The Smashing Pumpkins

-Wrestling mogul

-His second career is in wrestling production and talent development. He is a co-founder of Resistance Pro Wrestling, founded in 2011. They run regular matches in Chicago. He left three years later to become a senior producer for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Steve Vai

-Beekeeper

-At his home in Hollywood, he noticed a nearby beehive was keeping his flower garden looking beautiful. That inspired him to take up caring for bees. In an interview, he once said "Honeybees have always seemed beautiful to me. If you look at their faces with those big almond eyes." Moving to the San Fernando Valley only strengthened his interest in beekeeping. He harvests honey and gives it as gifts and charity donations

James Williamson

-The Stooges

-Label executive

-In between gigs with Iggy Pop and The Stooges, guitarist James Williamson found things to keep him busy. He rose through the corporate ranks, quietly of course, to become the vice president of technology standards at Sony. Many people he worked with didn't even know about his days as a guitarist until he rejoined Iggy in 2009

Maynard James Keenan

-Tool

-Vintner (Wine maker)

-He's the owner of Arizona's Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars. Strangely, he comes from an Italian wine making family. This is one passion he very seriously. "Rather than making Metallica or Slayer wines, we're making Pink Floyd wines." He said in an interview

David Lee Roth

-Van Halen

-Fully licensed emergency medical technician

-From 1985-2006, if you needed a ride in an ambulance, and you were a Van Halen fan, you might have thought you died and went to heaven as you look up to see the face of David Lee Roth staring right back at you. No, you were not in heaven. From 1985-2006, David Lee Roth worked as an emergency medical technician. He passed the time working as an EMT during breaks from Van Halen. He took in more than 200 ambulance rides and earned high praise from his supervisors. He also felt wanted to give something back to people when they needed help

Roger Daltrey

-The Who

-Trout farmer

-He has owned the Lakedown Trout Fishery for years, indulging his passion for fishing. He is the designer of the four spring-fed lakes and the facility is 26 acres near the city of Heathfield in East Sussex. Even Trout Fisherman magazine took notice and ran an article about it

Joni Mitchell

-Artist

-Joni Mitchell didn't see herself as a singer-songwriter. In a 1998 interview, she stated "I'm a painter first and a musician second." Later on, she stated "I have always thought of myself as a painter, derailed by circumstance."