excelente , solo puedo decir que este debiera ser un doble cd para tener más horas de excelente musica de un grupo no tan reconocido pero que ha influenciado a miles de bandas , 100 % recomendable

This is my vote for one of the best greatest hits, best ofs, very best ofs (what EVER you want to call it) collections out there. Maybe some of the song choices here will raise questions (such as "jealous lover"- a short Clapton-like rocker) but the thing is, we're talking about a disc that has almost 80 minutes of music here, and I'm not let down at ALL by the choices. What a flawless collection!

"street of dreams" was the reason I wanted this CD in the first place. Little did I know at the time that Rainbow was capable of so much more. I had no idea they were almost a heavy metal band in the 70's, or more specifically, a SPEED rock band. Those early songs are fast and provide lots of satisfaction for people craving good old-fashioned rock music. The first half of this collection is dominated with songs like that.

However, the second half of the album is more like "street of dreams". It's early 80's rock with a much lighter tone and not NEARLY as rockin' and heavy as the first half of this album. What matters here is if these songs are actually good. Are they? Yes, I think so. You probably remember "I surrender". It was a big hit back in the day. You also probably remember "since you've been gone" which is another highlight.

I love every song here, and totally agree with the selection of songs. Get ready to rock out for the first half of the disc, and just enjoy melodic commercially-appealing songs for the second half.

This compilation album is a decent representation of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. As a greatest hits collection, it has all the standard tunes. I will start out with the best. "Man on the Silver Mountain" of course opens this disc and rightfully so because it is probably Rainbow's most known song. It is also a good solid tune to entice the listener to more of the world of Ritchie Blackmore. He is one of the countless performers who has influenced many people to pick up the guitar. "Man on the Silver Mountain" portrays just about everything that Rainbow is about. Myths, magic, wizards, and medieval themes. And, lest we forget, Ronnie James Dio provides the vocals on the first 7 tracks on this cd. Next up is "Catch the Rainbow" which is a decent soft song. Personally, I prefer a live recording of this tune over the studio version. Unfortunatley, those 2 songs are the only ones off the first album that made it to this comp. Where is "16th Century Greensleeves, Self Portrait, and Temple of the King". We next move onto songs from the seminal album "Rainbow Rising". "Starstruck" is a great track with a good hook and great guitar work. Next is "Stargazer". This is a truly monumental song complete with some of the greatest singing that Ronnie James has ever done. The guitar solo by Ritchie is awesome and truly one of his best. "Stargazer is one of the best heavy metal epics ever concieved. But, where is "Tarot Woman, Do You Close Your Eyes", and another legendary track called "A Light in the Black"? We then move onto songs from the album "Long Live Rock and Roll". The records title track is featured on this disc as well as "Babylon" and "Kill the King". Those are the last tunes that have Dio on the mic. Now, we move into the 1980's version of Rainbow which was wracked with numerous line-up changes which in my opinion, kills most bands or really hurts the quality of the group. Grahm Bonnett took over the microphone for one album and thank god for that. 2 songs from the album "Down to Earth" are offered. Gone are the renniasance themed songs. Instead, Rainbow moves into the 80's with sex soaked lyrics and modern topics that were barely touched in the band's previous incarnations. The music also makes a 360 degree turn into a more poppy style and radio friendly sound. Grahm Bonnett's vocals are flat and he has no range. You could compare it to when Bruce Dickison left Iron Maiden and Blaze Bayley stepped in. We then move onto the Joe Lynn Turner era of Ritchie's band. Turner is definitly a better singer than Bonnett was but, again the band strayed to far from it's roots as far as Rainbow goes. Also, Roger Glover of Deep Purple fame took over bass duties. This in turn made Rainbow, in my opinion sound a little like Deep Purple. Some of these songs are o.k. but again are too poppy for my tastes. These later songs also contain too much piano and keyboards. I'm more into bands that make the guitar, bass, and drums carry the tune. If keyboards are used sparingly I don't mind them too much. A little salt and pepper is good sometimes. When keyboards are served up as the main course, I get a bad taste in my mouth. As I mentioned earlier in my review, this is a good taste of all of Rainbow's material and is a good intoduction to thier work. You get all the aspects of Blackmore's post Deep Purple band. If you only own all the Dio era stuff like I do, with the exception of this greatest hits comp, you will see that the Dio era was the best version of Rainbow. But, don't take my word for it. Some of you may like the stuff after Ronnie James left. If you do, then god help you.

Anybody who has been into HR/HM for more than five minutes has heard about the progenitors of the genre such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. And once you know of them you start hearing of Dio, Judas Priest and Rainbow, as bands in the second wave, so to speak. So because of his salient role in the building of the hard rock beast over the years there is more than just corporate cash in reasons for a release such as this look back at the career of Mr Blackmores solo vehicle as it allows subsequent generations of heavy rockers to explore the finest that Rainbow marque has given us over the years.

As far as the overall package is concerned this getns marks even before the disc hits your stereo. A neat band family tree, band history blurb and discography helps put the listener in the right grame of mind. Also the notations as to what album each track came from and the songs being in chronological order is a big plus.

You also get to see how the very 70's rock concerns of early albums (D'n'D imagery etc) gave way to the more everyman lyrical interests of the later tracks. Both parts of the bands career are worthy additions to your collection and the vocalists here are all top drawer.

Now with all these type of projects there will always be those that quibble over the inclusion of this track or that song, but whoever compiled this has done a decent enough job. In fact the casual fan may choose to just buy this and be done with it. After all it has stuff like Man on the Silver Mountain, Starstruck, Kill the King, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, Gates of Babylon and the big radio hits of Since You've Been Gone and All Night Long. Really, what more do you want?

My advice is that this is a very good buy. I'm not a huge fan of 70's rock/metal but have certainly never regretted picking this up. Blackmore and assorted vox masters are in full flight, blazing away from a place in time when a stack of marshalls and talent were the main consideration. And this disc deserves yours.

Ex-Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore recorded the 1st self title Rainbow album in 1975 while he was still (unhappily) at that time in Deep Purple. His backing band on this album was the American band Elf which happened to be fronted by a then unknown Ronnie James Dio.

Dio and Blackmore hit it off great and in 1976 Blackmore had quit Deep Purple and released their 2nd album (Rainbow Rising)followed by more Dio helmed album in 1978 (Long Live Rock 'n' Roll) before Dio would quit to join Black Sabbath.

1979 saw Rainbow with a new singer in the form of Graham Bonnet and a new album called Down to Earth that was a total 180 for the most part from the sound that Ritchie had cultivated with Dio. The new Rainbow sound was much more commercial and more in line with late 70's rock like Bad Company and Foreigner(!) but with Ritchie's trademark guitar bringing the sound forth.

In 1981 through 1983, Rainbow would have another singer in the form of Joe Lynn Turner before Ritchie disbanded the group and he re-formed Deep Purple in 1984.

From 1979 to 1983, the band would experience more commercial/mainstream success in the form of the top 40 singles like I Surrender and Stone Cold.

There are many hard rock fans that only swear by the 1st 3 albums with Dio at the helm. and there are the other group of people that swear by the more commercial stuff, especially from 1981 to 1983. You won't be likely to find people who like both equally.

So, this split makes this 16 track compilation that covers 1976 to 1983 kind of jarring to listen to, even though it's all great music.

The 1st 7 tracks have Dio at the helm and the remaining 9 tracks are the much more commercial/mainstream stuff.

I'll have to admit that I prefer the Dio stuff as I'm a huge fan of him as a vocalist/songwriter, especially his stuff with Rainbow and Sabbath. The 79 to 83 stuff is good music, but there's not much there to differentiate it from other similar type rock that was being churned out in droves at that point.

There's a later 2 disc anthology that came out a few years back that devotes an entire 1st disc to just the Dio stuff and the 2nd disc to the 79 to 83 stuff. Some people might be more inclined to pick that one up instead, but I recommend that collection for only the super hardcore fans.

This single disc compilation from 1997 is perfect for the most passive or inquisitive fan wanting to see what Rainbow was all about. The liner notes feature a great brief biography of the group as well as individual credits for each track and a great rock family tree that covers all of the members in both Deep Purple and Rainbow, past and present.
All of the tracks have also been remastered to crystal clear clarity.

While I can't give this a full 5 star rating due to how jarring it is going from track 7 (Dio) to 8 (post Dio), I guess that the band really can't be faulted.

but overall, this is a great deal for people wanting to get a quick Rainbow fix without buying all of the individual albums or paying double for the more pricey 2 disc anthology.