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.

Motörhead (1977)

When I was listening to a Sex Pistols song on the radio the other day, I was utterly unimpressed and wondered for a moment, if there wasn't anything better that came out around that time. In the same moment I realized, it did: Motörhead's debut album!

I must confess that I came relatively late to Motörhead and I completely blame my own ignorance for that. I always thought it was something like a mix of AC/DC meets punk rock - neither of which can excite me. One of the first encounters I had with the band was on the Soundtrack to Hellraiser III (or was it IV?), which didn't really impress me either. Too polished and too off the shelf.

Luckily I gave them another chance, namely with some of their earlier stuff and holy shit, I was so wrong about them! They quickly turned into one of my favourite bands. So much about prejudices, huh?

As you might figure, I like their earlier material most, with No Sleep till Hammersmith being their peak. The sheer raw energy is just astonishing and really outstanding. Their first album, while overall not quite up there yet, shows the band already had together the right ingredients from the outset: lean and fast paced urban rock'n'roll, speed-freak paranoia - and a good dose of dirt, sex and violence. Especially the amazing song quartet Lost Johnny, Iron Horse/Born To Lose, White Line Fever and Keep us on the Road blend these things together perfectly (and they are even in sequence) - for me the absolute highlight of the album.

Yes, there are a couple of fillers, namely on its 2nd half, but it still transports enough energy to keep you entertained. And once it is finished - after a bit more than half an hour runtime - you definitely will crave for more!