Long Live Rock 'n' Roll

"Kill the King" redirects here. For the Megadeth song, see Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years.

For the Kraljevski Apartman album see Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (Kraljevski Apartman album)

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Studio album by Rainbow
Released	9 April 1978
Recorded	May–July & December 1977 Château d'Hérouville, Paris, France
Genre	Heavy metal, Hard rock
Length	39:27
Label	Polydor
Producer	Martin Birch
Rainbow chronology
On Stage (1977) Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978) Down to Earth (1979)

Professional ratings
Review scores
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Allmusic

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll is the third studio album released by Rainbow, released in 1978, and the last to feature Ronnie James Dio.

Although Bob Daisley & David Stone are listed on the album credits for their contributions they joined the band part way through the recording sessions and only appear on a couple of tracks. (Stone wrote parts of "Gates of Babylon" but was never credited). Blackmore played most of the bass parts himself for the album.

"Kill the King" was already a staple part of the tour setlists, opening Rainbow concerts since mid-1976. It first appeared on the live album On Stage in 1977.

The original vinyl release was in a gatefold-sleeve, with a lyric-sheet insert. The crowd picture is actually from a Rush concert, with the wording on the banner the fans were actually holding replaced by the Rainbow album title and the visible Rush t-shirts airbrushed to black.

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll was remastered on CD for the US market in April 1999, with the European version following later. The US version had a matte booklet/ insert, which matched the original vinyl sleeve for all markets, whereas the European issue was the standard glossy type.

In the 1977-78 live concerts the title track and "Kill the King" were the only songs performed, although "LA Connection" did get a few airings on the US tour before being dropped from the set.

This was Rainbow's last album to feature Ronnie James Dio on vocals. From 2004 to his death in 2010, Dio's solo shows featured a live version of "Gates of Babylon."

In June 2009 a CD size book about the making of album was released in the series "Rock Landmarks" called "Long Live Rock N' Roll Story", written by Rainbow and Blackmore expert Jerry Bloom.

Track listing

All songs written by Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio except where noted. All lyrics by Dio.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"	4:21
2.	"Lady of the Lake"	3:39
3.	"L.A. Connection"	5:02
4.	"Gates of Babylon"	6:49

Side two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Kill the King" (Blackmore, Dio, Cozy Powell)	4:29
2.	"The Shed (Subtle)" (Blackmore, Dio, Powell)	4:47
3.	"Sensitive to Light"	3:07
4.	"Rainbow Eyes"	7:11

Personnel

Rainbow

• Ritchie Blackmore – guitars, bass
• Ronnie James Dio – lead vocals
• Cozy Powell – drums, percussion
• David Stone – keyboards on "Gates of Babylon", "Kill the King", "The Shed". Piano outro on "L.A. Connection"
• Bob Daisley – bass on "Kill the King", "Sensitive to Light" and "Gates of Babylon"

with

• Tony Carey - keyboards on "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" and "Lady of the Lake" [uncredited]
• Bavarian String Ensemble conducted by Rainer Pietsch on "Gates of Babylon"
• Ferenc Kiss & Nico Nicolicv – viola on "Rainbow Eyes"
• Karl Heinz Feit – cello on "Rainbow Eyes"
• Rudi Risavy & Max Hecker – flute on "Rainbow Eyes"

Singles

• 1978 - "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll / Sensitive to Light"
• 1978 - "L.A. Connection / Lady of the Lake"

These two singles were also re-released in the UK in July 1981.

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1978	Pop Albums	89

Covers

• Yngwie J. Malmsteen covered "Gates of Babylon" on his album Inspiration.
• Dream Theater when known as Majesty played "Gates of Babylon" in their earliest live shows in 1986.
• Spanish folk metal band Mägo de Oz recorded a cover version of "Gates of Babylon" on their album Gaia II: La Voz Dormida entitled "En Nombre de Dios" (In God's Name).
• American band Heathen covered "Kill the King" on their album Victims of Deception, as did bands Stratovarius, Liege Lord, Primal Fear, Grave Digger and others.
• German band Gamma Ray did a cover of "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" on the 2002 reissue of their album Power Plant.
• Finnish band Stratovarius did a cover of "Kill the King" as a B-Side to the "Father Time" Single/EP, as well as being released on their Intermission album
• Fictitious band Blood Pollution also covered the song "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" for the 2001 movie Rock Star.
• Serbian heavy metal band Kraljevski Apartman recorded a cover version of the song "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" with lyrics in Serbian on their 1997 debut album Long Live Rock 'n' Roll.
• Serbian band Osvajači recorded a cover version of the song "Rainbow Eyes" entitled "Tragovi" on their 1999 album Vrelina.
• Blackmore's Night did a folk rock arrangement of "Rainbow Eyes" for their 2008 album Secret Voyage.
• Swedish band Tad Morose covered "Gates of Babylon" on their album Sender of Thoughts.
• American band Twisted Sister covered "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" during their 2010 summer concerts in the memory of Ronnie James Dio.