LONG LIVE ROCK & ROLL

With this, their third album, Rainbow reverted a little bit to the sound of their debut album after having introduced some more progressive sounds on the previous album, the classic Rising. Like on that debut, there are several generic Rock 'N' Roll numbers here that are rather unimaginative and not up to par with anything the band had done up to that point.

However, there are three excellent moments here; the Far Eastern influenced Metal song Gates Of Babylon, the energetic and powerful Kill The King as well as the beautiful, folky/symphonic ballad Rainbow Eyes. The two former tracks have very much the sound of Rainbow Rising while Rainbow Eyes reminds of Catch The Rainbow from the debut album. Rainbow Eyes is a great ballad featuring flute and a string section and an amazing vocal performance (once again!) from Ronnie James Dio. Sadly, this was to be the last Rainbow album featuring Dio on vocals (he later turned up in Black Sabbath for two albums) and they would never again produce something that can be considered great by any means. We are here at Rainbow's end, at least the classic Rainbow.

Overall, Long Live Rock 'N' Roll is a somewhat uneven album with some great moments and some not so great moments. Still, if you enjoyed the two first albums you will definitely like this one as well. But make sure you get Rising and the debut (in that order) before you buy this one.

Good, but non-essential.

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