| | Rainbow Down To Earth CD Rainbow Discography of CDs
 (7 Customer Reviews)
Rainbow: Graham Bonnet (vocals); Ritchie Blackmore (guitar); Don Airey (keyboards); Roger Glover (bass); Cozy Powell (drums).
Personnel: Graham Bonnet (vocals); Ritchie Blackmore (guitar); Don Airey (keyboards); Cozy Powell (drums); Roger Glover (percussion).
Audio Remasterer: Dennis Drake.
Recording information: Chateau Pelly De Cornfeld, France (1979); The Maison Rouge Mobile Studio (1979).
Director: Bruce Payne.
Illustrator: Ron Walotsky.
Unknown Contributor Role: Bob Adcock.
The departure of Ronnie James Dio gave Ritchie Blackmore a chance to reinvent Rainbow, which he does to a certain extent on Down to Earth. Adding former Deep Purple colleague Roger Glover as bassist and Graham Bonnet as vocalist, Blackmore tones down some of the excess of the Dio years, particularly in terms of fantastical lyrics, and turns to straight-ahead hard rock, only occasionally adorned by prominent synthesizers. In general, their material is fairly solid, and "Since You Been Gone" easily ranks among the band's best songs, but overall the record is a little generic and sounds very much of its time -- namely, the late '70s, when album rock still ruled the arenas. Nevertheless, Rainbow has a distinct idea, primarily through the guitar artistry and mystical sensibility of Ritchie Blackmore. He sounds invigorated on the album, turning in muscular performances and strong solos on each cut; clearly, the reunion has revitalized him. Unfortunately, Bonnet tends to oversell his vocals, screaming a little bit too often, but he doesn't distract from the fact that Blackmore, Glover, and drummer Cozy Powell turn Down to Earth into a fine hard rock platter. It might not offer anything unique, but it delivers the goods. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
With the departure of Ronnie James Dio from Rainbow in 1978, guitarist Richie Blackmore could have easily sought a Dio clone and continued the group's recognizable sound. He instead brought Graham Bonnet aboard, a dramatic belter with a completely different style. Blackmore would also recruit former Deep Purple mate Roger Glover on bass and the talented Don Airey on keyboards. The band's sound went from sword-and-sorcery epics to more straight-ahead rock.
"All Night Long" is one of the more popular tunes, a track on which Bonnet's makes his powerful presence immediately felt. Another equally accessible and handclap-filled effort is "Since You've Been Gone." Both songs received FM airplay and charted the commercial course that later albums would take. Don Airey's keyboards provide a haunting intro to "Eyes of the World." "No Time to Lose" is a '50s R&B number with a harder edge. Bonnet sings the blues on the downtrodden "Love's No Friend." Premier skinsman Cozy Powell's shuffle boosts "Lost in Hollywood." DOWN TO EARTH is tight all around, and shows the band's ability to progress. An excellent hard-rock album. Rainbow Down To Earth Songs Down To Earth Music Review Average Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)   List All Reviews Rainbow - Down To Forget! - 2 1/2 stars
Thank GOODNESS that guitar great Ritchie Blackmore and the rest of Rainbow had vocalist Graham Bonnet for JUST this one album. Only reason I'm giving this CD reissue a two and a half star rating is because "All Night Long" and "Since You've Been Gone" is SO stapled into the back of our minds, it somehow has a small place in hard rock history. Go figure.
Submitted by straight_man1975 (everywhere..)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 3 of 3 found this helpful.
Purple Rainbows? (Part II)
First thing first: My actual rating for this would be 4.5 stars, but since i can't put that... If you read my review of Deep Purple's two pack of "Burn/Stormbringer", then you already have an idea of what I'm going to say. This is a great CD, with awesome songs and great playing, but...is this still Rainbow? I mean... Ritchie Blackmore left DP in 1975 because he didn't like the funkier direction they were heading to, and formed Rainbow with singer Ronnie James Dio. Over the course of 3 records(4 if you count their live CD), THEY invented a new type of heavy rock: big, grandiose, symphonic inspired music, with medieval/renaissance/fantastic imagery in their lyrics, in turn inspiring the euro-metal wave led by Iron Maiden a couple of years later (Maiden founder/bassist Steve Harris is a major Rainbow fan). To this day, this type of music still lingers proudly in Europe. But then, in an inexplicable change of heart, Blackmore decided to once again change direction and forsake their trademark brand of music. Rainbow was always a "musical chairs" band, suffering major lineup changes from record to record, but the departure of Dio over this change in direction definitely marked the closing of an era. Kiss goodbye the dragons and dungeons lyrics, welcome the radio friendly, tender... ballads? Yes, you heard me, ballads!Enter Graham Bonnet. After failing to convince Ian Gillan to join Rainbow, Blackmore then recruited a newcomer, enlisted the help of former DP bandmate Roger Glover as bassist AND producer, and rounded up the lineup with survivor Cozy Powell on drums and Don Airey on keyboards. Yes, the faces are different, but listening to this CD, sometimes you could swear some of these songs were written for the Stormbringer sessions: "No time to Lose", "Love's No friend", "Danger Zone", etc... you got the idea... All that is missing here are the tandem vocals of David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes! And then the aforementioned ballads, 2 to be exact: "Making Love" & "Since you've been gone", that will remind you to Stormbringer's "Soldier of Fortune", not so much in their sound, but rather in their definite commercial appeal. I insist, this record is great for everyone: if you like DP, you will like it. If you like Dio era Rainbow(the best, if you ask me...), you will still like it. And if you simply like good music, you'll love it. The reason why I rate it 4.5 and not 5 stars is simply because I feel that the record sounds a little too much like Mk III Deep Purple. But if you don't care about this, you will enjoy this a great deal. Get it!
Submitted by ob1bertin (costa rica)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful.  They don't make'um like this anymore!
Classic! The power of Bonnet's voice over layers of Ritchie's rockin riffs, booming rythmn section. Every song is a winner. Pull down the top and crank up 'Eyes of the World'....BAM BABY!
Submitted by vino713 (Phoenix, AZ, USA)
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Incredible....
This is the first post-Dio Rainbow album...also gave Rainbow its first big hit with "Since You Been Gone" I prefer this album for songs like "Eyes Of The World" and "Danger Zone" I love Graham Bonnet's voice and while its quite different from Dio's...its also different then most other singers too. Something which Rainbow's next singer Joe Lynn Turner cant claim. A+
Submitted by Rob (NJ, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No In one word, "Ouch."
Hard to believe this album followed "Long Live Rock and Roll". Hard to believe that Blackmore's songwriting could deteriorate so quickly. "Down to Earth" is right. If you're a fan of Dio-era Rainbow chances are you'll be terribly disappointed by the shlock on this album. "Since You've Been Gone" is incredibly cheesy but does have a hook. Same with the rest of the material. That's why it's better than 1 star: even if you are irritated with it right away, it will infect you and make you listen to it again. If you're looking for some light fun, this is it, but don't expect to be blown away. All three Dio-era albums are FAR superior, as are the later albums with Joe Lynn Turner -- most notably the later material, which contains subtle hints at the brilliance that was to come when Blackmore reunited with the rest of Deep Purple Mk. II in 1984.
Submitted by a reviewer (Regina, SK, Canada)
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