LONG LIVE ROCK & ROLL

With Long Live Rock 'N' Roll,Rainbow moved into a more heavy-oriented direction,wich resulted in the loss of the charisma found in the previous albums.It all seems less melodic and charming here.The album is still consisted by a series of well structured,strong rockers,but what was once an original and creative melodic direction to hard rock music,here is simply replaced by a much heavier sounding.This by itself could hardly do any harm to music,but it all seems too generic.The feeling of songs that came-close-but never-made-it is all over the album.Had it been released 7 years earlier,it would be amazing.It's undeniable,however,that the band still manages to pull off a nice lot of good old-fashioned rockers. The title track opens the album,with the classic structure of hard rock compositions that Ritchie Blackmore helped to build in his Deep Purple days.A nice riff,catchy lines and a very strong guitar solo make this one of the best tracks in the album.The folowing,Lady of the lake,is also a highlight,and it manages to sound a bit more original than the opening track.It also follows the riff-verse-chorus-solo structure,but it manages to draw the listener's atention is a vey nice way.Gates of Babylon is clearly a prententious song(specially considering that punk rock was now mainstream),but it will be able to catch the attention of the more open minded listeners.Otherwise,you will just hate it.Sensitive to Light is another decent track,not at all original,but if you like early seventies hard rock,this is it.Rainbow Eyes starts as a beautifull song,and it comes as a surprise just when you loose all the hope for originality in the album.It goes all the way as a charming ballad,but it sometimes gets boring halfway through due to the insistent verse and chorus.It has a very nice arrangement,in the shapes of Stairway to Heaven,and even though it is not a masterpiece,it's still welcome as a relief in the album.Some passages are not that lucky.Wether they sound TOO repetitive and generic(what eventually leads to boredom),or frustated attempts to do....something else(particulary L.A. Connection),as some may face Gates of Babylon.If you're not too demanding,you'll find in this album a nice hard rock statement.Skepctical listeners,however,may find a frustrating album wich lacks originality,made by a weary band in a dark period for rock music.