A friend at school was into Deep Purple, and over time I borrowed all of the albums to listen to. I didn't like them much apart from the honourable exception of the live "Made In Japan" double album, and the title track on "Burn".
I was aware of guitar player Ritchie Blackmore but didn't pay too much notice when he split from Purple to form his own band.
Rainbow had made two studio albums before deciding to release a live double album. At this point I wouldn't have been able to name any Rainbow song, but "Kill The King" and "Man On The Silver Mountain" got some late night airplay on Capital Radio and I quite liked both songs.
Sometime later, despite not a big fan of "heavy" rock music I purchased the album and thought it to be pretty good, and I thought singer Ronnie James Dio had a great voice alongside Blackmore's masterful guitar playing.
The double album contains just 6 tracks, and was criticised in some quarters for its short run time despite the padding out of most songs.. Four of the songs were taken from the eponymous first album Rainbow, "Man On The Silver Mountain", "Catch The Rainbow", "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" and "Still I'm Sad". However, the versions here were all extended, usually twice the length, and the cover of The Yardbirds' "Still I'm Sad" was an instrumental, but live included the lyrics.
The only song from "Rainbow Rising", the second album was a shortened version of "Starstruck", as part of the medley, whilst the studio version of "Kill The King" only subsequently appeared on their third album "Long Live Rock N' Roll". "Mistreated" was an extended version of the song on Deep Purple's "Burn" album.
The album begins with a spoken intro of "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. We must be over the rainbow" from the Wizard Of Oz song "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", before the band play the opening chords of the song leading into pounding drums and organ to kick start the fast paced "Kill The King" . Despite all the mystical lyrics and violent imagery, it is apparently about a game of chess, well, queen and pawn do get a mention somewhere in there ! Ignoring the individual components of the medley, at 5.32 it is the shortest track on the album but has a mazy guitar solo.
Side One concludes with a medley of three pieces. "Man On The Silver Mountain" has a toe-tapping riff and is my favourite song on the album. "Get down with fire, lift my spirit higher, someone screaming my name, come and make me holy again",
The instrumental "Blues" has a slow, standard blues riff and starts with the guitar and organ and drums in the background before drifting off into what sounds like improved jam before the guitar and keyboards attempt to mimic each other, similar to the guitar and Ian Gillan's vocal from Deep Purple's "Child In Time" on the "Made In Japan" album.
"Starstuck" is a standard boogie until the annoying "you're the man" vocal solo in the middle, which leads into a reprise of "Man On The Silver Mountain".
Side Two consists of just "Catch The Rainbow", at 15 and a half minutes long, whereas the studio version is only 6.40. It has a gentle plucked guitar to begin with, then a tender vocal and a melodic chorus. The pace hots up around the 6 minute mark as Cozy Powell's heavy drums and a screeching guitar start but it all slows down after 8 minutes to just the gentle guitar. The drums come back around 10 minutes to restart the heavy riff. There's some shouty, but thankful brief, vocals near the end before the gentle guitar drifts to the conclusion. I had forgotten how good this song was. "We believed, we'd catch the rainbow, ride the wind to the sun. Sail away on ships of wonder but life's not a wheel, with chains made of steel. So bless me, come the dawn".
There is also just one song on Side Three, the cover of Deep Purple's "Mistreated" at 13 minutes long, compared to 7.28 by Purple. Again the extended song commences with a soft guitar for a minute until some screeching guitar eventually leads into the main riff and a forceful vocal comes in a 2:13. The extended instrumentalisation starts around 4.30, being mostly just guitar and handclaps from the crowd. It was probably great if you were there, but it's all a bit tedious in the comfort of your living room. The main riff returns after around 9 minutes.
Side Four has two songs, beginning with "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves", which probably should have been titled "Twentieth Century Greensleeves" ! It begins with some of the notes from Henry VIII's composition but with some frilly jazz variations. The main riff comes in at 2:34 and the guitar solo in the middle is great. ! "Meet me when the sun is in the western skies. The fighting must begin before another someone dies. Crossbows in the firelight, Greensleeves waving, madmen raving, through the shattered night".
"Still I'm Sad" is fairly faithful cover, albeit must faster, for 3 minutes, before the instrumentalisation starts, with the keyboards reminiscent of the ELP's "Pictures At An Exhibition" era. The guitar riff and the verse come back at 5.52 and the Gregorian style chant from the original is introduced after 7 minutes. It ends with a foot stomping final two minutes.
In summary, it was nice to replay "On Stage" and most of it still sounds good, although I could have done with some editing of the over long extended instrumental sections.
Track Listing :
Side One :
1. Kill The King
2. Man On The Silver Mountain/Blues/Starstruck Medley
Side Two :
Side Three :
Side Four :
2. Still I'm Sad
Released 1977
UK Chart Position : 7
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