LONG LIVE ROCK & ROLL

Long Live Rock & Roll is the third full-length studio album by hard rock/ heavy rock act Rainbow. It´s also the last studio album by Rainbow to feature the considerable vocal talents of Ronnie James Dio. Dio didn´t agree with the new more commercial direction that Ritchie Blackmore wanted the band to pursue after Long Live Rock & Roll and as a consequence left Rainbow. There´s been a couple of replacements in the lineup since the previous album Rising (1976) but we´re fortunately still treated with the tight drumming by Cozy Powell. Bob Daisley is the new bassist and David Stone is new on keyboards.

The music is in now classic Rainbow hard rock/ heavy rock style. Blues based but with a neo-classical touch. While there are a couple of really great tracks on the album like Gates of Babylon and Kill the King I don´t think that Rainbow really comes across like the unstoppable rock´n´roll machine like they did on Rising. Don´t get my wrong though all tracks are good but only a few stand out as being exceptional IMO. The ballad Rainbow Eyes needs a mention for standing out as being a somewhat different song to the usual more hard hitting material from the band. It includes flutes and some emotional quiet singing by Dio.

The musicianship is excellent on the album. Hard hitting rythm section and some intense guitar playing by Ritchie Blackmore in addition to the raw and powerful vocals by Dio makes this another great performance by the band.

The production is good and powerful.

Long Live Rock & Roll is a good and powerful hard rock/ heavy rock album from the seventies but as a newcommer to the band I would definitely start with Rising before listening to this one. A great album though and deserving a BIG 3 star rating.