Essential Dragon Rock

DIO defined what Dragon rock became to be. In turn he defined the sounds of certain bands at different periods. The one contiguous thread, is that DIO's voice is there, and wow is it there in a Big way.

I first heard this remaster in a German import, where it seemed to have been done originally in the pressing.

I have a tape of a Munich concert done 1-2 months before the release of this album. The performance of LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL is absolutely note perfect in a live, late night concert. What you get in this album is the way the band performed live at the time( with the obvious benefit now of crystal clear sound). Dio's attire has improved with time, and improved with budget ( I guess :-), and this album is still a great album, from the rock of the key songs like LONG LIVE, and LADY OF THE LAKE, to the Ethereal Beauty of RAINBOW EYES, where DIO shows just how tonally amazing his work can be.

About the only thing that has gone down-hill is Ritchie who basically lost the plot somewhere in the 90's. Anyways, as they say, Genius and madness are separated by a thin line, and thankfully from 1970 to the 80s, Ritchie was in fine form, and has left a brilliant legacy.

ENJOY

Simultaneously the best Rainbow, Blackmore, and Dio album

Long Live Rock 'N' Roll (1978.) Rainbow's third album.



Long Live Rock 'N' Roll, Rainbow's third studio album, was released in 1978. This would be the end of an era, since it was the final release by Rainbow to feature the legendary Ronnie James Dio on vocals. The line-up for Rainbow was never a stable one, with Ritchie Blackmore being the one constant. The bass player on this album plays only on this album. Who is it, you ask? None other than future Ozzy Osbourne band bass player Bob Daisley! And yes, he's the one that recently sued Ozzy (read my Ozzy reviews if you want more information on this.) How does this, Dio's last album with the band, measure up? Read on for my review.



This is, at the same time, my favorite Rainbow album, my favorite Dio album, and my favorite Blackmore album. In my CD collection of over six hundred CDs, this is quite possibly my favorite one of all. The album kicks off with the title track. This was Rainbow's first album to feature a title track, and it's an excellent one. It's a shame this song never got the proper credit - it should have gone on to become a legendary rock anthem. Oh well, the song's still damn good. And as for Lady Of The Lake - Remember how I said this was my all-time favorite album from Rainbow, Blackmore, and/or Dio? Well, this is my favorite track on the album, making my favorite song of all time from all three of these three respective artists. Here the band goes for an ultra-melodic rock assault on the senses, which speaks of the devil being personified as a woman. The fact that this song is so underrated just makes my head spin... L.A. Connection, the third track on the album, is more of a straight-up kind of rock and roll song thant the last two. The lyrics here are excellent - as is everything else about this song. In a way, this song serves as a premonition to Dio's solo career - no less than one track on his Holy Diver album bore a striking resemblance to this one! Next up we get Gates Of Babylon - No matter how many reviews for this album you read, you're always going to hear praise about this song. And why the hell not? For this track, the band uses keyboard effects that simulate an "eastern world" sound. Combine that with an ultra-heavy yet ultra-melodic sound and Dio's unbeatable vocals, and what do you get? A MASTERPIECE. This is my second favorite song on the album, being outdone only slightly by Lady Of The Lake. And as for Kill The King - Although Rainbow actually premiered this song on their recent live release known as On Stage, this was the first time it was done in the studio. Here the band serves up an excellent mixture of power rock and heavy metal that stands as solid proof that heavy metal DID exist before the eighties! Blackmore's unrivaled guitar superiority makes this song another one of the masterpieces that composes one hell of an album. The next track is The Shed (Subtle.) Before I start reviewing this track, I need to clear up that I have NO IDEA where they got that title. With this track the band gives us a mid-fast hard rocker with a slightly more "raw" sound than the other tracks featured here. Once again, we have been blessed. Sensitive To Light is one of the most interesting tracks on the album because, while it is obviously a straight-up power rocker, Dio's vocal style hints back at the work he did in Elf (listen to L.A. 59 on that band's Carolina County Ball album, and you'll notice a striking resemblance.) It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this fusion of styles only makes this track better. And as for Rainbow Eyes - You may have notice something so far in my reviews of the album tracks - there haven't been any ballads! That is, until the very end. You may be thinking something like "I'm a metalhead! I hate ballads! There's no way I could like this track!" Well, you poor, demented soul, I've got news for you. This is a GOOD ballad. It's the slowest and softest track on the album (and arguably of Blackmore and Dio's careers), and even has a hint of a medieval sound (Blackmore was fascinated by music from this time period, and several years later his obsession with it would destroy his musical career (at least in my eyes.)) It may sound odd going from so many hard and heavy tracks to a soft one, but this one closes the album nicely, and gives it a nice, "finished" feeling.



A number of reviewers have mentioned a problem with this recording - the sound quality just isn't as up to par as it is on the other Rainbow remasters. That's a real shame, I was hoping they'd take advantage of this remasters series and use it to clean up the shoddy production. Oh well, that doesn't change my feelings about this album's greatness one bit.



Long Live Rock 'N' Roll is a very appropriate title for this masterpiece, since it's one of the greatest rock and roll albums ever recorded. If I could give this album an infinite number of stars, I would certainly do so, but Amazon only lets you give as high as five stars - so that's my rating. If you're a fan of classic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, power rock, or just a fan of Blackmore or Dio, DO NOT PASS THIS ALBUM BY. Maybe you won't agree with my calling this the greatest Blackmore/Rainbow/Dio album ever, but if you like any of these artists, you'll agree with one thing - it's more than worthy of a five-star rating.

You gotta have this one!

Another great Rainbow-album. My favorite rainbow album is 'Rising' came out before this one, so I was very excited to get this album. So I spend some of my money were I worked very hard for, and I was very happy I did it, cause this cd is just GREAT! It starts off with 'Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, that track is fantastic! Second song called 'Lady of the Lake' is good too, but not as good as the first track. That ofcours doesn't mean that it isen't a good song, cause it is a very good one. Just as the third song<'L.A. Connection'>, which is another very good song. And then a superb track: 'Gates of Babylon'. It's a little bit the style of 'Stargazer', but not as good. It is a highlight of this album, but 'Stargazer' is my favorite rainbow-song, so there's no other song that comes close to 'Stargazer'.



And then, my favorite song on this album: 'Kill The King'. A fast-rocker, and I always like fast-rockers, especially this one. This song has such a great guitarsolo and Ronnie's singing makes it superb. Ofcours, Ronnie sings very good with all songs.

And then track 6:'The Shed(subtle)', a very good metal song. Ronnie sings kinda agressive with this song, and I like that. He always sings with so much emotion, and here you can here that so well. 'Sensitive to light' is also a very good song, so far 7 great songs!



And then you get to hear 'Rainbow Eyes'. I didn't liked it when I heard it for the first time, and I've heard it so many times now, but I still don't really like the song, so if I now listen to the cd, I only listen to the first 7 tracks. 'Rainbow Eyes' is listenable, it is not a terrible song, it's just a bit boring. The song is also way to long. Lots of people like the song, I just don't, but that's my opinion. Everyone has a different taste.



So, as you've read, I really recommend this album.