Rainbow: Discography (1975 - 1986) [Vinyl Rip 16/44 & mp3-320] Re-up

Rainbow (also known as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow or Blackmore's Rainbow) are a British rock band led by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Estabilished in 1975.

By 1973, Blackmore had steered Deep Purple through a significant personnel change, with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover being replaced by David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes. However, the new members were keen to add new musical styles and Blackmore found his request to record the Steve Hammond-penned "Black Sheep of the Family" with "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" turned down by the band. He decided to record the song with Ronnie James Dio instead, using Dio's band ELF (3) as additional musicians. He enjoyed the results, and a full album, billed as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow was recorded between February and March 1975 at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany. The band name was inspired by the Rainbow Bar and Grill in Hollywood.

After the release of three studio albums and an extensive world tour in 1977–78, Blackmore decided that he wanted to take the band in a new commercial direction away from the "sword and sorcery" theme. Dio did not agree with this change and left Rainbow. Together with then new vocalist Graham Bonnet, Blackmore scored a hit single with “Since You Been Gone”.

After more lineup changes and albums, Ritchie disbanded Rainbow in early 1984 to rejoin the reunited Deep Purple.

He resurrected Rainbow once again in early 1994, just after leaving Deep Purple for good. However, Blackmore turned his attention to his long-time musical passion, Renaissance and medieval music. Rainbow was put on hold once again after playing its final concert in Esbjerg, Denmark in 1997. Blackmore, together with his partner Candice Night as vocalist then formed the Renaissance-influenced Blackmore's Night.

Against all expectations, Blackmore reformed Rainbow, with an all-new line-up, in late 2015. Blackmore announced that he would play "all rock" concerts in the summer of 2016 under the banner of 'Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow', his first rock shows since 1997. The new Rainbow line-up was announced on November 6, 2015. It featured Lords Of Black singer Ronnie Romero, Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson, Blackmore’s Night drummer David Keith and bassist Bob Nouveau (Bob Curiano).

~ discogs

Tracklist VNL01 - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow:
US LP 1975 Polydor Records Inc., PD 6049

01. A1. Man On The Silver Mountain [04:43]
02. A2. Self Portrait [03:17]
03. A3. Black Sheep Of The Family [03:22]
04. A4. Catch The Rainbow [06:40]
05. B1. Snake Charmer [04:33]
06. B2. The Temple Of The King [04:45]
07. B3. If You Don't Like Rock N' Roll [02:38]
08. B4. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves [03:31]
09. B5. Still I'm Sad [03:56]



Tracklist VNL02 - Rainbow Rising:
JP LP 1976 Polydor K.K., Tokyo, MWF 1004

01. A1. Tarot Woman [06:07]
02. A2. Run With The Wolf [03:44]
03. A3. Starstruck [04:09]
04. A4. Do You Close Your Eyes [03:01]
05. B1. Stargazer [08:32]
06. B2. A Light In The Black [08:16]



Tracklist VNL03 - On Stage:
JP 2 x LP 1977 Polydor K.K., MWZ 8103-4

01. A1. Kill The King [05:27]
02. A2. Man On The Silver Mountain / Blues / Starstruck [11:16]
03. B1. Catch The Rainbow [15:33]
04. C1. Mistreated [13:02]
05. D1. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves [07:35]
06. D2. Still I'm Sad [11:01]



Tracklist VNL04 - Long Live Rock 'N' Roll:
JP LP 1978 Polydor K.K., MPF 1156

01. A1. Long Live Rock'n'Roll [04:25]
02. A2. Lady Of The Lake [03:38]
03. A3. L.A. Connection [05:01]
04. A4. Gates Of Babylon [06:49]
05. B1. Kill The King [04:30]
06. B2. The Shed (Subtle) [04:48]
07. B3. Sensitive To Light [03:08]
08. B4. Rainbow Eyes [07:23]



Tracklist VNL05 - Down To Earth (1979):
JP LP 1982 Polydor K.K., 20MM 9230

01. A1. All Night Long [03:54]
02. A2. Eyes Of The World [06:43]
03. A3. No Time To Lose [03:46]
04. A4. Makin' Love [04:38]
05. B1. Since You Been Gone [03:21]
06. B2. Love's No Friend [04:56]
07. B3. Danger Zone [04:32]
08. B4. Lost In Hollywood [04:56]



Tracklist VNL06 - Difficult To Cure:
US LP 1981 Polydor Records Inc., PD-1-6316

01. A1. I Surrender [04:06]
02. A2. Spotlight Kid [04:57]
03. A3. No Release [05:37]
04. A4. Magic [04:09]
05. A5. Vielleicht Das Nachster Zeit (Maybe Next Time) [03:18]
06. B1. Can't Happen Here [05:01]
07. B2. Freedom Fighter [04:22]
08. B3. Midtown Tunnel Vision [04:34]
09. B4. Difficult To Cure (Beethoven's Ninth) [05:50]



Tracklist VNL07 - Straight Between The Eyes:
JP LP 1982 Polydor K.K., 28MM 0152

01. A1. Death Alley Driver [04:46]
02. A2. Stone Cold [05:20]
03. A3. Bring On The Night (Dream Chaser) [04:08]
04. A4. Tite Squeeze [03:16]
05. A5. Tearin' Out My Heart [04:04]
06. B1. Power [04:28]
07. B2. Miss Mistreated [04:31]
08. B3. Rock Fever [03:53]
09. B4. Eyes Of Fire [06:42]



Tracklist VNL08 - Bent Out Of Shape:
JP LP 1983 Polydor K.K., 28MM 0300 Promo

01. A1. Stranded [04:31]
02. A2. Can't Let You Go [04:21]
03. A3. Fool For The Night [04:05]
04. A4. Fire Dance [04:31]
05. A5. Anybody There [02:41]
06. B1. Desperate Heart [04:03]
07. B2. Street Of Dreams [04:27]
08. B3. Drinking With The Devil [03:48]
09. B4. Snowman [04:29]
10. B5. Make Your Move [03:57]



Tracklist VNL09 - Finyl Vinyl:
DE 2 x LP 1986 PolyGram Records GmbH, 827 987-1Y

01. A1. Spotlight Kid [06:05]
02. A2. I Surrender [05:44]
03. A3. Miss Mistreated [04:22]
04. B1. Jealous Lover [03:14]
05. B2. Can't Happen Here [04:16]
06. B3. Tearin' Out My Heart [08:08]
07. B4. Since You Been Gone [03:48]
08. B5. Bad Girl [04:51]
09. C1. Difficult To Cure [11:18]
10. C2. I Stone Cold [04:28]
11. C3. Power [04:25]
12. D1. Man On The Silver Mountain [08:19]
13. D2. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll [07:13]
14. D3. Weiss Heim [05:12]


All thanks go to bazar, Oleg-Leshiy, roma ltd, alvaedis, JonnyB, o-jack & KoGGaN