LONG LIVE ROCK & ROLL

After the highly successful Rising Blackmore's Rainbow created an almost equally great Long Live Rock 'n' Roll. There wasn't much change in style or direction except probably the track Gates Of Babylon which is a definite improvement over the themes explored on Stargazer and is worth the album price on its own!

In a way, one may argue that there wasn't much more this Rainbow lineup could have done after these two consecutive Hard Rock classics. That's why I'm actually happy that Ronnie James Dio and Bob Daisley quit in order to pursue other equally successful projects. The interesting thing is that Dio moved on to become the replacement for Ozzy in Black Sabbath while Bob Daisley worked with Ozzy on his first couple of solo albums!

Besides the album's sole masterpiece there are quite a few solid rock compositions like the excellent album title-track, Lady Of The Lake and who can forget Kill The King! Unfortunately the lesser tracks drive this album towards the good, but non-essential rating for me. It might be considered unjust to rate this album on the same level as their debut album but let me assure you that Long Live Rock 'n' Roll gets a definite upper hand in my collection.

This release is a perfect follow-up for everyone who have already played their copies of Rising to death and want to get a bit more excellent material from the Rainbow vaults. Dio/Blackmore/Powell give a worthy performance that will make you want to revisit this album time and time again!

***** star songs: Gates Of Babylon (6:46)

**** star songs: Long Live Rock & Roll (4:19) Lady Of The Lake (3:37) Kill The King (4:28) The Shed (Subtle) (4:45) Rainbow Eyes (7:11)

*** star songs: L.A. Connection (4:58) Sensitive To Light (3:04)