Rainbow - Long Live Rock and Roll (1978)

Rainbow's third studio album and the last one with Ronnie James Dio. In retrospect, it's the end of an era: Blackmore, who usually changed almost the whole band lineup between albums anyway, would continue with almost completely new personnel into a much more radio-friendly direction, before eventually disbanding the band in favour of a (quite successful, yet ultimately doomed) reunion of Deep Purple. He would never again release as bold, aggressive and progressive music as he did in the second half of the 70s. What a pity!

Where Rainbow initially not that much liked, and didn't really drew large crowds to their concerts, in retrospect they are one of the defining bands of the emerging heavy-metal genre. Speed, precision, epic lyrics and operatic vocals underlining the classically inspired melodies - Rainbow got it all.

However, compared to their 1976 masterpiece Rising, Long Live Rock and Roll is often seen as the lesser record. I disagree. Rising might been more complex and longer, or more progressive, as one might argue^^ but its successor is just that bit more accessible and compact, has more memorable riffs and - thanks to its more diverse songwriting - feels more engaging. Rising might been a relentless full throttle-trip from start to finish, but Long Live... gives you that little breather from time to time that makes its punches hit you even harder when they come.

And gods, punches it gives. From its cheerfully kickass opening track to the mystical and oriental Gates of Babylon, to the speedmetal powertrip Kill the King, the album has some of the best songs and riffs the band (or Blackmore himself actually) has ever written. Just blisteringly played (and I'm sure some actual blisters were involved), with a vocal performance by Dio, that once again can only be compared to singers like Robert Plant, Rob Halford and Ro... Ian Gillan on top of their game.

It's a shame that this should be the last Rainbow album with Dio's involvement and the band's last straightforward hard-rock album, until 1995's Stranger in Us All. The albums after him were not bad, but too often too streamlined for chart-appeal and too restrained even in their wilder-moments. Luckily for us, Dio stayed true to his style, went straight to Black Sabbath, recorded two stunning albums there, before starting his own project in 1982.

Rainbow - Rising (1976)

Compared to its predecessor Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Rising cranks it all up to eleven: the sword and sorcery, the heaviness, the complexity and length of the songs, the instrumental performances - it is basically the quintessential record of the Dio-era. Did the first album sound like the band was dipping their toe into a new world of hard guitar-centered music, in Rising they jumped fully into it.

Probably the best example is the epic Stargazer. Everything is larger than life in this song. A miniature-opera about the rise and (quite literal) fall of a wizard who enslaved the people to build him a tower to the stars. The way guitar and vocals are dramatizing the story here works so well and expressive and organic, with both being at the peak of their abilities, that its a pure, uplifting joy listening to.

Might the rest of the album not quite have the same epic dimension, with predominantly fast-paced songs, it is nevertheless spectacular. A good part of this is due to Cozy Powell's dense and varied drumming, which ties the songs together and works as a perfect counterpoint to the stunning performances of the albums main actors, Blackmore and Dio.

I think in hindsight you can see how influential Rising was to 80's metal: The breakneck guitar shredding, the fantasy-centered cover artwork and lyrics, delivered by an almost operatic vocalist and the occasional keyboard flavouring - all these bits became commonplaces in the decade after.
Its just a shame that the band initially wasn't too successful. About five years later, when the world was finally ready for this type of music and bands like Iron Maiden and Manowar filled the venues playing quite similar material, Blackmore had pushed Rainbow into radio-friendly territories instead. Luckily for us, Dio kept on waving the heavy-metal banner high. First with Black Sabbath and later as solo-artist with his own band.
All in all, Rising is definitely a milestone in the evolution of metal and an underrated masterpiece. And even the cover is less eye-watering than the first one!

Dio - Holy Diver (1983)

His stints at Rainbow and Black Sabbath catapulted the unknown singer Ronnie James Dio (born Ronald James Padavona), of the unknown rockband Elf up at the Mount Olympus of hardrock and heavy metal. After leaving Sabbath in 1982, he formed his own group the following year. Conveniently named Dio, after himself. And probably to ensure this time there are no doubts about who is its leader.

The new band basically picked up where he stopped. With straightforward fantasy-inspired heavy metal as it would become archetypical for the 1980s. Unlike the guitar-dominated sound of Sabbath or Rainbow though, with more emphasis on the vocals. And rightly so: Ronnie James Dio's voice is as distinctive as it is powerful. Together with Judas Priest's Rob Halford, he probably was the metal vocalist of the 80s. A singer you would recognize amongst thousands. So dynamic and yes, almost operatic in its range and power. Always giving that little extra emphasis, that is needed for proper heavy metal theatrics. He could sing your shopping list and make it sound like an tolkienesque-epic.

As brilliant as his voice was though, it would have been a waste if the other musicians weren't up to their task. And hell, they are. Guitarist Vivian Campbell's playing is in every sense a proper substitute for Ritchie Blackmore or Toni Iommi, without the danger of mimicry, and the rhythm-section, including Jimmy Bain on bass and drummer Vinnie Appice, who he snatched from Black Sabbath (where they recorded Mob Rules together), delivers a seemingly effortlessly brilliant performance. The whole album just marches ahead with straightforward classic heavy metal. Every fill, every riff and every solo spot on. Holy Diver feels like the band is playing together for a long time already. No surprise that quite a number of songs, like Holy Diver, Don't Talk to Strangers, Straight Through Your Heart and Rainbow in the Dark, became live-staples and are now regarded as heavy metal classics.

Musically, Holy Diver is of course not the most diverse of all records. It pretty much does what its cover-art promises. Well. not literally. Though, that would be quite something... Anyway. if you expect introvert subtlety, then you might have misunderstood the whole concept of heavy metal in the first place!

All in all, Holy Diver is epic 80's heavy metal at its finest and truly a must-know-album, that helped defining the genre. The band in this line-up would record two more albums, The Last in Line (1984) and Sacred Heart (1985), before descending into power struggles and instability. To me, these three albums mark the highlight of the band. Later albums still have their moments, but won't offer such an abundance of consistently strong material.