Down to Earth

by

Rainbow

Edit

By the time Rainbow began in the mid-seventies, many of heavy metal's prime architects began to ape the habits of their progressive-rock brethren by becoming an institution of traveling, revolving-door musicians, all of whom have played on albums by other top-tier bands. As such, Rainbow could be considered the ultimate supergroup because it became a pit stop or even a launching pad for the careers of many of the most lauded names in heavy metal history. By the time Richie Blackmore and Company released "Down to Earth," Rainbow was at the pinnacle of its revolving-door policy and in a period of relative transition.

Exit Ronnie James Dio, the diminutive frontman who gave operatic voice to Blackmore's magically gothic and netherworld vision. Enter Graham Bonnett, former pop singer and neo-metal James Dean with flat top and shades to match. Fans expecting another Dio must have been quite surprised by the almost pop and r&b leanings of this street-tough posing with open shirt on the album sleeve. Gone were the stargazers and men on silver mountains. Blackmore, together with former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, incorporated some pop and r&b into their philosophies and provided a vehicle for Bonnett to front a leaner, meaner and more concise Rainbow.

And it is good. "All Nite Long" is the love song at its most anthemic with the kind of sing-along chorus Blackmore would never have dared before. "No Time To Lose" is a dirty, fast little rocker reminiscent of Deep Purple's "Speed King," while "Makin' Love" sounds like the kind of pop metal that became a chart topper less than a decade later. The surprise here is "Since You Been Gone," pure pop penned by Russ Ballard ("Into the Night" by Ace Frehley and "You Not Me" by Dream Theater among many others) with a Louie Louie-like riff and another sing-along chorus. "Love's No Friend" returns Blackmore to the blues, where Bonnett soars with heartfelt emotion and rage never before heard in a Rainbow song. In between is a Bach-like break that reminds you, yes, this is still Richie Blackmore's music.

The other three selections reflect more typical Rainbow fare. "Danger Zone" takes Bonnett's fast-talking fury into the kind of driving rocker that soon became Rainbow's trademark. "Lost in Hollywood," for which Cozy Powell received a co-writing credit, sounds like a pared-down, commercialized "Light in the Black" with its fast rhythms and a Bach-rock break courtesy of keyboardist Don Airey. Airey saved his best for the album's finest cut, "Eyes of the World." Perhaps the only cut that sounds closest to what Blackmore would have written in the old days, "Eyes of the World" takes Airey's eerie "Tarot Woman"-type keyboard introduction into a blistering riff and a Bonnett vocal piercing with intensity and urgency. Bonnett, the bluesy, pop-wailer, shines with power and conviction.

Unfortunately, behind all of this activity is a flat production with as much resonance as a shoebox. Roger Glover, skilled bassist and gifted songwriter, has proved time and again that for much of his career he could hardly produce himself out of a paper bag. Listen to the drums for instance. Powell could bash his drums like John Bonham, but Glover took the drums as well as every other element of the band's recording and stuffed it into a padded cell. Second only to Mike Stone (who has desecrated the sounds of Journey, Asia and Whitesnake), Glover for many years has underproduced what should have been many groups' finest efforts, like Judas Priest (Sin After Sin) and Nazareth (Razamanaz).

Sadly, the Airey-Blackmore-Bonnett-Glover-Powell lineup would last only one album. Airey left to play for the Michael Schenker Group's first album and Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz. Powell joined MSG for an album and a tour. Bonnett resurfaced with - alas - MSG a little while later. Blackmore - always prolific, always progressive - and Glover revealed a new Rainbow with at-the-time unknowns; however, because of their experience with Rainbow, these relative unknowns became revolving-door superstars in their own right with bands such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Yngwie Malmsteen. Blackmore, though he maintained his classical and baroque stylings, continued to mold the Rainbow style in search of commercial legitimacy. "Difficult to Cure" and "Straight Between the Eyes" offer incredible insights into the mind of Blackmore and the many facets of his vision, but never again has he, nor his bandmates, ever sounded so fresh and so wild as they did on "Down to Earth."

I was a big RAINBOW fan in the late 70's and I was quite dis-

appointed when I heard RONNIE JAMES DIO had left. Looking back,

I really think DIO was at his best with RAINBOW and he also did

a great job on BLACK SABBATH/HEAVEN AND HELL and KERRY LIVGRIN'S

solo album SEEDS OF CHANGE. I was not very pleased, at first,

when I heard DOWN TO EARTH.Even tho' he has a very powerful voice, GRAHAM BONNET seemed to be an odd choice as a replacement

for DIO, tho his voice perfectly suited BLACKMORE's more rock-n-

roll, commercial music. I was also saddened by the lyrics, which

mainly dealt with making love and missing yer woman. The lyrics

were penned by bassist ROGER GLOVER, who had recorded the wonder-

ful concept album ELEMENTS( which I highly recommend) the year

before.

In retrospect, getting rid of DIO and moving away from the

medieval lyrics was a smart move by BLACKMORE, as alot of metal

bands in the 80'S ( and DIO himself) would make these type of

lyrics seem cartoonish. The popularity of DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS,

which I never got into but my brothers loved, also didn't help.

As for the album itself, there are some catchy, likable songs

here and I now think DOWN TO EARTH is a very good, but not great

album. My favorite songs are EYES OF THE WORLD, which is the most

progressive song here, has the most dangerous lyrics and also

sports a wonderful synthesizer intro by DON AIREY, which is simi-

lar to DAVE STONE'S intro for GATES OF BABYLON and TONY CAREY's

synth intro for TAROT WOMAN; the RUSS BALLARD cover SINCE YOU'VE

BEEN GONE,which has some very typical sad guitar playing from

BLACKIE and LOST IN HOLLYWOOD, which has a very fast drum intro

from COZY POWELL and which, as a hand drummer, I've never been

able to do! LOST is also one of the album's most progressive

tunes here. Elsewhere, BONNET sings his powerful lungs out and

RAINBOW rock-n-roll their buns off and a good time is had by all.

NOT BAD....