RISING

One of the best power metal records ever made. I remember when it was released: I was 16 at the time and a big fan of Deep Purple. I was still recovering from the sadness of Blackmore´s leaving from that band. Ok, the first Rainbow album was great, but nothing that really compares to Blackmore´s best work with his former group. Rising changed all that. He fired all the Elf members (except Ronnie James Dio, of course) and hired what is now generally accepted as their best ever line up: the legendary Cozy Powell on drums, the excellent and creative Tony Carey on keyboards and bassist Jimmy Bain.

What they delivered at the time was quite unique and if Rising does sound too familiar today this is because too many artists tried to copy the formula in the following years. The record starts with one of the best things Blackmore ever wrote: Tarot Woman. This track alone is worth the price of the CD in my opinion: great atmospheric keyboards, thundering drums, excellent double tracked Dio vocals and the amazing guitar solo in the middle that simply showed why Blackmore is a genius. It is emotional, unpredictable, melodic, amazing. You have to hear to believe. The following 3 tracks are not as groundbreaking, but they are still very good (specially Starstruck, with a lyric telling the true story of a stalker that was following Blackmore for a long time. That song has a very fine slide guitar solo).

Side two of the LP is where progheads should pay atention: Stargazer is a 8+ minutes epic that really defines the future symphonic power metal genre. It´s bombastic, it´s heavy, it´s melodic and sure as hell it´s one of their best moments (including a very good orchestral arrangement in the last part). Light In The Black is all about virtuosity with a terrific duel between Blackmore´s guitar and Carey´s synthesizer, while Powell and Bain keep the rhythm at breakneck pace. Above all, Dio proves he was the right choice for the frontman.

It is a pity that this would be the only studio album done by this line up (the live On Stage is another classic). But they did left their mark on the music scene. Ritchie Blackmore showed anyone that heavy music could be progressive, as he had done before with Deep Purple. And, one more time, paved the way to so many great artists that would follow into the 80´s and 90´s.

A classic, 5 star CD. Highly recommended.