This is the last of (what I call) the classic Rainbow and Blackmore albums before he went in a more commercial direction. Depending who you believe (Richie or Ronnie), this was Dio’s last involvement with Rainbow. Richie said Ronnie was becoming lazy and disillusioned, and he didn’t like the fact that the band were Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow, so he decided to remove Ronnie and get another singer in. Dio says he left the band because he did not want to go in a commercial direction and wanted to carry on the way things were. ‘m sure the real reason is somewhere between the two, and we will never know for sure.
Even though this is the weakest album with Dio, it still has some kick as moments. The title track is a killer opening and is just classic Blackmore with that trademark simple riff. Gates Of Babylon is just an epic piece of rock and one of my favourite Rainbow tunes. Kill The King, which opens Side 2, is another beast of a song. There is some great playing by Blackmore on this record, in fact, some of his best.
Dio must have loved this record as he was playing Kill The King and Gates of Babylon in his live shows. It’s an end of an era album for sure, as Rainbow were never the same after this as Blackmore wanted to explore different things.
8.5/10 from The Grooveman.
