ON STAGE

I had a cassette version of this album and it was lost somewhere - I think someone borrowed my cassette and he forgot to return it back to me. The problem was .. I forgot who borrowed from me. So, I was sad. I tried to re-purchase this live album but I had other rock albums to purchase while I had a very very limited budget as a kid to buy rock albums. So kept delaying to repurchase. During my time of getting back this album I kept singing "Still I'm Sad" from this live version which I thought was very powerful and much much better than the original studio version. Couple of years later I repurchased the cassette and another long years after that I purchased the CD version.

For me personally, Rainbow is a great band with its own sound. This live album strats wonderfully with the intro and kid's voice ... and the music suddenly BLASTS off through "Kill The King". WOW! What a great opening track that is well positioned for a live performance. It's so powerful in terms of live vibes as well as energy. Musically, there is a great combination of Ritchie guitr riffs, Tony Carey's keyboard, and jaw dropping drum work by Cozy Powell (RIP). As far as bet concern, I think, this song has then inspired other musicians in the sub genre of pwer metal. The drum beat is so fast and it's very energetic, Ronnie James Dio vocal quality is unique and so powerful. This is a masterpiece track and it's well positioned to open the live album.

The meddley of "Man on the Silver Mountain" followed with Ritchie's blues interpretation and closed with "Starstruck" is another great live record. It's so rocking and so powerful. The ballad "Catch The Rainbow" has become very different in terms of duration and style where there is a long musical interlude in the middle of the track. What a surprise was the inclusion of Deep Purple's (Burn album) "Mistreated" in which Dio sings it beautifully.

Overall, this is truly an excellent and very memorable live record I have ever heard even though this album came out way after Uriah Heep "Live 73" or Deep Purple's "Made In Japan" or Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains The Same". It's a pity if you claim yourself as a true rocker but you don't own this copy. It's a legendary live record!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

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