Monsters Of Rock: Live At Donington 1980 (CD + DVD)

Rainbow

Eagle Rock Entertainment, 2016

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_(rock_band)

REVIEW BY: David Bowling

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 04/28/2016

Ritchie Blackmore has had three distinct periods to his career. First, he was the lead guitarist for Deep Purple, which made him a member of The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Since 1997, he has found peace and happiness as part of the renaissance rock outfit Blackmore’s Night with partner Candace Night. In between, he was the lead guitarist extraordinaire and frontman for his own band Rainbow (save for a pit stop that found him reuniting with Deep Purple for a short time).my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

During its existence, Rainbow went through a number of personnel changes. When they performed at Donington on August 16, 1980, Blackmore was joined by vocalist Graham Bonnet, keyboardist Don Airey, bassist Roger Glover, and drummer Cozy Powell.

Vocalist Bonnet was only with the band for a short time and was in the unenviable position of replacing Ronnie James Dio. In retrospect, the rest of the band is more like a hard rock all-star band.

The music from their Donington performance has been around in bits and pieces for a number of years. Now, all the available music and footage from the concert has been issued as a CD + DVD set under the title Monsters Of Rock: Live At Donington 1980. This is the first time the concert has been released as a full length CD. The DVD is shorter, which probably means there is video footage that is lost.

Blackmore steals the show as he has rarely played better, which is quite a statement. The solos featured on “Catch The Rainbow” and “Stargazer” are rediscovered classics.

The concert is a combination of the band’s songs of the day, two covers (including their hit “Since You Been Gone”), a surprisingly creative version of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” plus a couple of Rainbow staples, notably a crunching take on “Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll.”

Live At Donington: 1980 fills a hole in the Rainbow legacy with a document of a short-lived lineup. This is a nice addition for fans of the band, Blackmore, and Deep Purple.

Rating: B

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


Comments

 








© 2016 David Bowling and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and is used for informational purposes only.