“There’s no sun in the shadow of the wizard, See how he glides, Why he’s lighter than air”
RAINBOW – Rising (2011 deluxe edition)
I believe I’m well on record for being a connoisseur of deluxe editions. I love to collect all the extra music, check out the liner notes, and feast on unreleased tracks. The problem with Rainbow Rising is that no extra unreleased songs or demos survived. So, what you’ll get is three different and complete versions of Rainbow Rising, plus a tour rehearsal version of the quintessential Rainbow song, “Stargazer”. If you don’t want to hear the whole album three times in a row, plus a fourth version of “Stargazer”, then don’t buy this disc. Just stick with the regular CD.
The three versions of the album inside include a previously unreleased rough mix. This one is especially interesting because a lot of these song versions run slightly longer than the original album versions. Therefore, you will hear some valuable performance stuff that you haven’t heard before. The other two versions of the album include the “LA Mix” and “New York Mix”. The liner notes don’t go into detail here, but the original LP and CD versions of Rising had different mixes, and now they’re both here in one place. The differences are subtle, but those intimate with the album will recognize slightly different keyboard, vocal, and guitar parts. Previous to this, I had only owned the original CD edition, which was the “LA Mix”. Later CD editions had the “New York Mix” which I haven’t heard until now.
Lastly there is a tour rehearsal version of “Stargazer” from Pirate Sound, where Deep Purple rehearsed Come Taste the Band. It is surprisingly lo-fi considering where it was recorded. It sounds like somebody taped it on a hand held cassette deck. Not very listenable unfortunately, and kind of baffling why something this lo-fi would have been included at all. You can barely hear Dio at all at some points. Still, there was room for it and why waste plastic, right?
This album itself is probably Rainbow’s best. That’s just my opinion. The renowned Martin Popoff ranked Down to Earth higher, but he did rank Rising highest of the Dio-era. I think five of these six songs are incredible. The only one I’m not especially fond of is “Do You Close Your Eyes”, which I just find doesn’t fit the overall darker direction of the album. It would have sounded better on Blackmore’s Rainbow. “Tarot Woman”, the album opener, is one of the most incredible songs Dio’s ever done. It’s absolutely a highlight of his storied career. Cozy’s drum pounding is monumental throughout. “Light In The Black” is just furious jamming throughout. Incredible playing. And of course “Stargazer” is purely epic. The lyrics are cool and the keyboards just take the whole thing to another level. If I could only play one Rainbow song for the rest of my life, it would be “Stargazer”.
The liner notes don’t the mention any sources or history about the three different mixes at all, and I don’t really know anything about it. There is, however, a great interview with keyboardist Tony Carey, supplemented by an old one with Cozy Powell. The packaging, including cover art from Ken Kelly (Kiss Destroyer), looks amazing in digipack form.
While normally Rainbow Rising would be a 5 star winner, hands down, I left this deluxe edition feeling slightly disappointed. It is what it is, but I think I would have preferred some different bonus material. Maybe some live stuff. If no outtakes or extra songs exist in the vaults, there’s only so much you can include I guess.
5/5 stars for Rising
4/5 stars for Deluxe Edition
mikeladano.com 
I’ve still not bought any of the Rainbow deluxes but they’re on my wish-list. Hopefully I’ll snag them cheap at some point. The packaging for this does look very nice!
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I’m hoping to recruit my highschool buddy Andy, who is the biggest Dio fan in the WORLD!!! to help me review the last two deluxes. Knock wood.
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Knock knock knock. PENNY knock knock knock PENNY knock knock knock PENNY.
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Ummm. You made a mistake. You forgot to add 2nd in front of biggest.
I happen to know the biggest Dio fan in the world very well.
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I’d love to get some of my rock friends together, like you and Andy. You could fight over who is the biggest Dio fan.
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Popoff loves Bonnett wasn’t he the singer on Down To Earth???
Check out MSG Assault Attack for some real good rock Mike!
Man after reading this review I’m gonna buy the cd(regular one) I have never owned it and well it’s time!!!
Thanks Mike for once again the early am read with the coffee!
Ps-also liked the layout of your reviews this one and the Sabbath …
Good work chap!
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Glad you liked it Deke. What specifically did you like about the layout? I always aim to please.
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You know Mike I do buy most of my stuff off of iTunes and it’s basically the download and occasionally the booklet etc. So it’s always cool to see you take the time with pics,credits etc to scan it etc so guys like me so I can see the full deal.
I’m sure when I buy the regular copy of Rising it will be a no frills deal in regards to the packaging…..
Keep doing it brother!
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Oh totally, Mike goes all out for us. It’s yet ANOTHER reason to swing by Lebrain’s on a daily basis.
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Awww thanks man. That makes me happy. And then every once in a while you guys let me post something about Transformers or science fiction and let me get away with it!
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I get what you mean, cool dude! Yeah I always find it frustrating when I’m reading a review and it doesn’t tell me what I wanna know. Does it have liner notes? Are they any good? Is it a basic package or elaborate? I like to know these things ahead of time so I know how much money I’m willing to spend.
The flipside is it’s also fun to look at the pretty pictures!
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Assault Attack is a killer. Down To Earth is awesome. But Bonnett couldn’t hold a candle to Dio.
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I prefer Dio, always.
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“I believe I’m well on record for being a connoisseur of deluxe editions. ” Haha man, I’ve seen the lengths to which you will go. Deep Purple Montreux 2006 Japanese, anyone? I still often wonder the ratio of deluxe vs regular edition CDs in your collection. It’d be an interesting (and enlightening) scientific study!
I loved the Rainbow you sent me. Pretty sure, from your description though, that I’d be content with the regular old CD of this. I don’t need all the different versions.
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I wonder if I passed my old copy of this on to you? I may have given it to Peter while he was still collecting CDs…
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Must’ve been Peter. You gave me On Stage and Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll, both superb records (reviewed recently at the KMA). Hey, tell Peter if he’s still sick of his CDs, I know a warm and loving home for them!
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I will definitely!
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Confession time: I have still never listened to this album. Heinous crime, I know, but it never appealed. Perhaps it is time to right that wrong…
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It’s time! Grab the first 3 with Dio singing!
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Why? Who sings the rest?
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They’ve had 4 singers. Dio was the first. He was replaced by Graham Bonnet on one album, and then Joe Lynn Turner came in to sing on the last 3.
In 1995 Blackmore reformed Rainbow with new singer Doogie White.
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Oh, I see what you mean!. I thought you meant the first three songs on the album…
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Ahhh gotcha! No, get all the songs on the album :)
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This is a masterpiece. This album is like a cornerstone in your record collection. It’s like you really don’t have a real record collection if you don’t own Rainbow Rising. There are a few albums like this, albums you simply must have, in order to call yourself a rock fan.
Yeah, I know I might be a bit off the rails here, but this is a really important album.
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Especially if you like Dio or Blackmore. Absolutely essential to fans of either.
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*Dutifully adds album to my Search List…*
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I hate that Tarot Woman always gets ignored in hits collections and on the Memories in Rock shows.
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Hi, could I ask you a question? Is the remastered version of Rising found in this deluxe edition, exclusive to it, or I could find it in any regular CD? Because I heard some songs of the album in YouTube claiming they are from this edition, and I think I prefer it, but I don’t think I will grab the deluxe version.
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That’s a good question. As far as I know this remastered version hasn’t been issued on its own on CD. As far as I am aware.
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So every CD is the initial 1999 (if I am right) version, or is there any remastering happened (after they restored the LP mix)?
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I believe that you are correct, it is the 1999 version.
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The reason there are multiple mixes (according to Jimmy Bain when I asked) was that the record company didn’t care for the original mixing. I believe they said it had “too much bass” which is very weird because there is hardly any bass!Blackmore recently confirmed this when he said “there’s like one DB of bass on the album” He seemed frustrated by it and indicated he may re-record the song with Romero.
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Hi man, since you have the original CD (with the LA mix) as well, could you tell me if the LA mix of the deluxe edition is remastered compered to the original LA mix? Because I would like to buy the original CD, and based on youtube videos of Stargazer, I prefer this version over the NY mix, since I don’t like the distortion that appears a few times on this song. These videos claim to be from the deluxe edition, thus I don’t have a clear image of the original CD. So, is there any distortion in Stargazer (in the first CD issue) or any other differences?
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I’ve owned every CD release of Rising, and the only mix that had been released on CD previously was the New York Mix (the one with the bass lower in the mix, and an EQ job with very little bass, overall). The Los Angeles Mix is bigger, beefier, and smoother. That’s new to CD. The Rough Mixes are pretty cool, too.
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If I am not wrong, I think the original CD release had a different mix (probably the LA one), and the NY mix was added in a later, 1999 remaster (according to wikipedia).
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I think the best way to have gone about reissuing this album would have been to go back to the multitracks for bonus track source material. Who wouldn’t love to hear Dio’s vocals or the orchestral sections of Stargazer in isolation?
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Absolutely brilliant idea Bob. And who’s to say it won’t happen in some kind of future box set!
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“A Light in the Black” is SO proto-Maiden
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