Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll

 
Album Review: Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Albums

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll

Buy Now

Similar Albums:

Mystica, Live in Munich 1977, Carnival of Sins: Live, Vols. 1-2 [Canada], Whitesnake, Van Halen, Stick It Live, Let the Music Do the Talking, Physical Graffiti, Alive!, Three Lock Box
  • Artist: Rainbow
  • Rating: StarStarStarStar
  • Release Date: 1978
  • Total Time: 39:27
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll may be singer Ronnie James Dio's last album with Rainbow, but at least he went out on a high note. While the material is not quite as strong as on the previous studio effort, Rising, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll maintains the momentum the band had built up. "Kill the King" had been previously heard on the live On Stage record, but here it sounds more fully realized. Also, the title track from the album stands as one of the best songs the band did, not to mention a noble sentiment. The chugging "L.A. Connection" is another highlight. As with all of their first four albums, this one was produced by Martin Birch (who produced everyone from Blue Öyster Cult to Wayne County), and he really knows how to get the best out of the band by this point. The result is that the songs couldn't sound any better, so even if some of the material isn't quite up to their best, the album is still very cohesive, steady, and, ultimately, satisfying. This would turn out to be the last great album Rainbow would ever make, although they did enjoy a great deal of chart success in the post-Dio era. ~ Geoff Ginsberg, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Long Live Rock 'N' Roll Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio Rainbow (4:20)
Lady of the Lake Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio Rainbow (3:37)
L.A. Connection Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio Rainbow (4:58)
Gates of Babylon Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio Rainbow (6:47)
Kill the King Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio, Cozy Powell Rainbow (4:27)
The Shed (Subtle) Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio, Cozy Powell Rainbow (4:45)
Sensitive to Light Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio Rainbow (3:02)
Rainbow Eyes Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio Rainbow (7:31)

Credits

Rainbow (Main Performer), Ritchie Blackmore (Bass), Ritchie Blackmore (Guitar), Barvarian String Ensemble (Strings), Martin Birch (Producer), Bob Daisley (Bass), Ronnie James Dio (Vocals), Karl Heinz Feit (Strings), Karl Heinz Feit (Cello), Debbie Hall (Illustrations), Max Hecker (Recorder), Max Hecker (Wind), Ferenc Kiss (Violin), Ferenc Kiss (Concert Master), Ottmer Machan (Strings), Ottmer Machan (Viola), Nico Nicoli (Violin), Bruce Payne (Director), Rainer Pietsch (Conductor), Rainer Pietsch (Score), Cozy Powell (Drums), Rudi Risavy (Flute), Dennis M. Drake (Mastering), David Stone (Keyboards)
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
For the Kraljevski Apartman album see Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (Kraljevski Apartman album)
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Studio album by Rainbow
Released April 9, 1978
Recorded May-July & December 1977
Genre Hard rock
Heavy metal[1]
Length 39:27
Label Polydor
Producer Martin Birch
Professional reviews
Rainbow chronology
On Stage
(1977)		 Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
(1978)		 Down to Earth
(1979)

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll is the third studio album released by Rainbow, released in 1978.

Although Bob Daisley & David Stone are listed on the album credits for their contributions they joined the band part way through the recording sessions and only appear on a couple of tracks. (Stone part wrote "Gates of Babylon" but was never credited). Blackmore played most of the bass parts himself for the album.

"Kill the King" was already a staple part of the tour setlists, opening Rainbow concerts since mid-1976. It first appeared on the live album On Stage in 1977.

The original vinyl release was in a gatefold-sleeve, with a lyric-sheet insert. The crowd picture is actually from a Rush concert, with the wording on the banner the fans were actually holding replaced by the Rainbow album title and the visible Rush t-shirts airbrushed to black.

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll was remastered on CD for the US market in April 1999, with the European version following later. The US version had a matte booklet/ insert, which matched the original vinyl sleeve for all markets, whereas the European issue was the standard glossy type.

In the 1977-78 live concerts the title track and "Kill the King" were the only songs performed, although "LA Connection" did get a few airings on the US tour before being dropped from the set.

This was Rainbow's last album to feature Ronnie James Dio on vocals. He left and would later join Black Sabbath, and was replaced by Graham Bonnet.

Since 2004 Dio's solo shows have featured a live version of "Gates of Babylon."

The title song was covered by the fictitious heavy metal band Steel Dragon for the 2001 movie Rock Star.

In June 2009 a CD size book about the making of album was released in the series "Rock Landmarks" called "Long Live Rock N' Roll Story". It was written by Rainbow and Blackmore expert Jerry Bloom.

Contents

Track listing

All songs written by Ronnie James Dio and Ritchie Blackmore except where indicated.[2]

Side one

  1. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" – 4:21
  2. "Lady of the Lake" – 3:39
  3. "L.A. Connection" – 5:02
  4. "Gates of Babylon" – 6:49

Side two

  1. "Kill the King" (Dio, Blackmore, Cozy Powell) – 4:29
  2. "The Shed (Subtle)" (Dio, Blackmore, Powell) – 4:47
  3. "Sensitive to Light" – 3:07
  4. "Rainbow Eyes" – 7:11

Personnel

with

  • Bavarian String Ensemble conducted by Rainer Pietsch on "Gates Of Babylon"
  • Ferenc Kiss & Nico Nicolicv – viola on "Rainbow Eyes"
  • Karl Heinz Feit – cello on "Rainbow Eyes"
  • Rudi Risavy & Max Hecker – flute on "Rainbow Eyes"

Singles

  • 1978 - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll / Sensitive to Light
  • 1978 - L.A. Connection / Lady of the Lake


These two singles were also re-released in the UK in July 1981.

Later editions

  • 1999 - Digitally remastered edition / No bonus tracks
  • 2009 - As part of "Rock Landmark" series / Long Live Rock 'n' Roll Story (book written by Jerry Bloom)

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1978 Pop Albums 89

Covers

  • Dream Theater when known as Majesty played "Gates of Babylon" in their earliest live shows in 1986.
  • Fictitious metal band Steel Dragon also covered the song "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll".
  • Serbian hard rock/heavy metal band Osvajači recorded a cover version of the song "Rainbow Eyes" entitled "Tragovi" on their 1999 album Vrelina.

References

  1. ^ http://www.metal-rules.com/polls/index.php?id=6
  2. ^ http://deep-purple.net/review-files/books/long-live-rock-n-roll.html
  3. ^ Secret Voyage @ SPV
v • d • e
Rainbow
Guitar : Ritchie Blackmore
Vocals : Ronnie James Dio · Graham Bonnet · Joe Lynn Turner · Doogie White
Bass  : Craig Gruber · Jimmy Bain · Mark Clarke · Bob Daisley · Roger Glover · Greg Smith
Drums : Gary Driscoll · Cozy Powell · Bobby Rondinelli · Chuck Burgi · John O'Reilly · John Miceli
Keyboards : Micky Lee Soule · Tony Carey · David Stone · Don Airey · David Rosenthal · Paul Morris
Studio albums
EPs
Live albums
On Stage · Finyl Vinyl · Live in Germany/Live in Europe · Live in Munich 1977 · Rainbow Live at Cologne SportsHalle · Rainbow Live at Dusseldorf Philipshalle · Rainbow Live at Nurnberg Messezentrum
Compilation albums
Video albums
Live Between the Eyes/The Final Cut · Live in Munich 1977
Related articles

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll".  Read more