Rising (Rainbow album)

Rising
Studio album by Rainbow
Released	May 17, 1976
Recorded	February 1976 Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany
Genre	Heavy metal, hard rock
Length	33:28
Label	Polydor Oyster
Producer	Martin Birch
Rainbow chronology
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975) Rising (1976) On Stage (1977)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Rolling Stone	(mixed)
Sputnik Music

Rising (also known as Rainbow Rising) is the second hard rock/heavy metal album by Rainbow, released in 1976 (see 1976 in music). With Ritchie Blackmore retaining only Ronnie James Dio from the previous album, he recruited drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Jimmy Bain and keyboard player Tony Carey to complete the new line-up. Recorded in Munich in less than a month, the album was overseen by rock producer and engineer Martin Birch. The record was originally billed as Blackmore's Rainbow in the US.

Background

The album showpiece is the 8 minute and 26 second piece "Stargazer", which features the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.

Few of the album tracks made it into the band's live set: "Stargazer" and "Do You Close Your Eyes", written prior to the inaugural US tour in late 1975, featured in all the 1975 and 1976 shows, while "A Light in the Black" was dropped early in the 1976 tour, although it was reintroduced into the set during the Japanese dates. "Starstruck" was played in shortened form usually as part of "Man On The Silver Mountain".

Rising peaked at #48 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. In the UK it would peak at #6. In issue 1 of 'Kerrang!' magazine, Rising was voted as the #1 album of all time.

According to the All Music Guide, Rising captured "Blackmore and Dio at the peak of their creative powers...(it) chronicled both the guitarist's neo-classical metal compositions at their most ambitious, and the singer's growing fixation with fantasy lyrical themes — a blueprint he would adopt for his entire career thereafter".

The original vinyl release was a gatefold sleeve, with a generic Polydor inner-bag.

The first CD issue had a slightly different mix to that of the original LP, including, for example, a longer delay before the band entered after Carey's opening solo in "Tarot Woman", a longer play-out on "Run With The Wolf" and the track "Stargazer" had the vocals mixed without the delay, the extra synthesizer deleted and some of the phased sounds deleted. When remastered in 1999 the original vinyl mix was restored.

After several reschedulings, the album was finally released in Japan on April 5, 2011 as a 2 SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) Deluxe Remastered Edition. This limited edition reissue will only be released in a cardboard gatefold sleeve (mini LP-style paper jacket) featuring the "high-fidelity" SHM-CD manufacturing process (compatible with standard CD players) and is part of a two-album Rainbow cardboard sleeve reissue series featuring Rainbow Rising and Down to Earth. Both feature the unique-to-Japan obi strip and an additional insert.

Also the song "A Light In The Black" was featured in the 1994 movie S.F.W. The song is played when Cliff 1st enters his bedroom after he comes home for the first time in 36 days.

Track listing

All songs written by Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio.

Side one

1. "Tarot Woman" – 5:58
2. "Run with the Wolf" – 3:48
3. "Starstruck" – 4:06
4. "Do You Close Your Eyes" – 2:58

Side two

1. "Stargazer" – 8:26
2. "A Light in the Black" – 8:12

2011 Deluxe Edition

Disc 1

1. "Tarot Woman" (New York Mix)
2. "Run With The Wolf" (New York Mix)
3. "Starstruck" (New York Mix)
4. "Do You Close Your Eyes" (New York Mix)
5. "Stargazer" (New York Mix)
6. "A Light In The Black" (New York Mix)
7. "Tarot Woman" (Los Angeles Mix)
8. "Run With The Wolf" (Los Angeles Mix)
9. "Starstruck" (Los Angeles Mix)
10. "Do You Close Your Eyes" (Los Angeles Mix)
11. "Stargazer" (Los Angeles Mix)
12. "A Light In The Black" (Los Angeles Mix)

Disc 2

1. "Tarot Woman" (Rough Mix)
2. "Run With The Wolf" (Rough Mix)
3. "Starstruck" (Rough Mix)
4. "Do You Close Your Eyes" (Rough Mix)
5. "Stargazer" (Rough Mix)
6. "A Light In The Black" (Rough Mix)
7. "Stargazer" (Pirate Sound Tour Rehearsal)

Covers

• Progressive metal band Dream Theater covered "Stargazer" on the special edition of their 2009 album Black Clouds & Silver Linings.
• Viking/folk metal band Týr covered "Stargazer" on the 2011 album The Lay of Thrym.
• Argentine singer Adrián Barilari covered "Stargazer" (in Spanish) with his band Barilari on their self-titled debut album.
• Mundanus Imperium (feat. Jorn Lande) covered "Stargazer" on The Spectral Spheres Coronation (1998).

Personnel

Rainbow

• Ritchie Blackmore – guitar
• Ronnie James Dio – vocals
• Tony Carey – keyboards
• Jimmy Bain – bass
• Cozy Powell – drums

with

• Munich Philharmonic Orchestra – Strings, Horn
• Fritz Sonnleitner – Concert Master
• Rainer Pietsch – Conductor