Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Studio album by
Rainbow
Released14 April 1978[1]
RecordedMay–July and December 1977
StudioThe Strawberry Studio,
Château d'Hérouville, France
Genre
Length39:48
LabelPolydor
ProducerMartin Birch
Rainbow chronology
Rising
(1976)		 Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
(1978)		 Down to Earth
(1979)
Singles from Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
  1. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" / "Sensitive to Light"
    Released: 24 March 1978[3]
  2. "L.A. Connection" / "Lady of the Lake"
    Released: 22 September 1978[4]

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll is the third studio album by the British heavy metal band Rainbow, released on 14 April 1978 and the last to feature original lead vocalist Ronnie James Dio.

Background

Recording of the album commenced in April 1977 at a studio in Château d'Hérouville, France, featuring Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio and Cozy Powell. Keyboards were initially played on a session basis by former Rainbow member Tony Carey, while bass parts were started by Mark Clarke.[5] Clarke was soon dismissed, however, and the bass parts were recorded by Blackmore himself. By July 1977 seven tracks that ended on the album were in demo form. Recording was suspended while the band recruited Bob Daisley and David Stone and thereafter commenced extensive touring of Europe in the summer and autumn of 1977. A return to the Château d'Hérouville studio in December saw the band finish the album and also yielded a final track, "Gates of Babylon".

Although Daisley and Stone are listed on the album credits for their contributions, they joined the band partway through the recording sessions and only appear on three and four songs, respectively. Stone wrote parts of "Gates of Babylon", the middle 8 section during the guitar solo. He was paid for the work, but not credited on the album.[6]

"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. In the 1977–78 concerts the title track and "Kill the King" were the only songs performed, although "L.A. Connection" did get a few airings on the US tour before being dropped from the set. From 2004 to his death in 2010, Dio's solo shows featured a live version of "Kill the King", "Gates of Babylon", and the title track.

"The Shed (Subtle)" is allegedly a reference to a stand that existed at Stamford Bridge in West London (home of football club Chelsea), accordingly referred to as "the Shed". Blackmore, who grew up in Heston in West London, has stated that he is a Chelsea fan.[7]

Artwork

The original vinyl release was in a gatefold-sleeve cover illustrated by Debbie Hall, with a lyric-sheet insert. The crowd picture is actually from a Rush concert, with the wording on the banner the fans were holding replaced by the Rainbow album title and the visible Rush T-shirts airbrushed to black.[8]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]

Geoff Ginsberg of AllMusic wrote that Long Live Rock 'n' Roll "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."[9]

The album, among other Rainbow releases, is often cited as a strong influence on formation of the power metal genre, especially on its fantasy-themed lyrics and aesthetics.[10]

Reissues

  • 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.
  • Long Live Rock 'n' Roll Story, an album and a book about the making of the LP was released in June 2009 in the "Rock Landmarks" series. The inlay story was written by Jerry Bloom, author of Black Knight, a Ritchie Blackmore's biography.
  • On 12 April 2012 a picture disc album version of Long Live Rock 'n' Roll was released in the US as part of Record Store Day 2012.
  • A deluxe edition version was released on 13 November in Europe, featuring rough mixes of the album tracks from July 1977 except "Gates of Babylon," which was written later.

Track listing

All songs written by Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio except where noted. All lyrics by Dio.[11]

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"4:24
2."Lady of the Lake"3:39
3."L.A. Connection"5:02[nb 1]
4."Gates of Babylon"6:49
Total length:19:54
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Kill the King"Blackmore, Dio, Cozy Powell4:29
6."The Shed (Subtle)"Blackmore, Dio, Powell4:47
7."Sensitive to Light" 3:07
8."Rainbow Eyes" 7:31
Total length:19:54

2012 Deluxe Edition

Disc one contains the original album with no bonus tracks.

Disc two
No.TitleOriginal sourceLength
1."Lady of the Lake"Rough mix, 4 July 19773:50
2."Sensitive to Light"Rough mix, 4 July 19773:03
3."L.A. Connection"Rough mix, 4 July 19775:33
4."Kill the King"Rough mix, 4 July 19774:27
5."The Shed (Subtle)"Rough mix, 4 July 19773:36
6."Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"Rough mix, 4 July 19774:19
7."Rainbow Eyes"Rough mix, 4 July 19776:55
8."Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"Shepperton Film Studios rehearsal, August 19776:56
9."Kill the King"Shepperton Film Studios rehearsal, August 19774:42
10."Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"Live on the Don Kirschner Show, May 19783:31
11."L.A. Connection"Live on the Don Kirschner Show, May 19785:10
12."Gates of Babylon"Live on the Don Kirschner Show, May 19786:35
13."L.A. Connection"Outtake from the Don Kirschner Show, May 19785:11
14."Gates of Babylon"Outtake from the Don Kirschner Show, May 19786:43
Total length:1:10:31
  • Track 7 "Rainbow Eyes" is an early version. Tracks 10–14 are prerecorded with live vocal by Dio.

Personnel

Credits taken from album liner notes.

Rainbow
Additional musicians
  • Rainer Pietsch - scoring and conducting on "Gates of Babylon" and "Rainbow Eyes"
  • Bavarian String Ensemble - strings on "Gates of Babylon"
  • Rudi Risavy – flute on "Rainbow Eyes"
  • Max Hecker – recorder on "Rainbow Eyes"

"'Rainbow Eyes' String Quartet":

  • Ferenc Kiss - first violin, concert master
  • Nico Nicolic – second violin
  • Ottmar Machan – viola
  • Karl Heinz Feit – cello
Production
  • Martin Birch – producer and engineer
  • Max Hecker – classical instruments recording engineer
  • Bruce Payne – direction
  • Recorded at The Strawberry Studio at Château d'Hérouville, France, May–July and December 1977

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. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" was also used for many years as a jingle by the British radio DJ Alan Freeman.

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Silver 60,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Record Collector United Kingdom "Classic Albums from 21 Genres for the 21st Century"[26] 2000 No order
Classic Rock United Kingdom "The 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All Times" 2001 29
Rock Hard Germany "Top 300 Albums" 2001 105

Notes

  1. ↑ Many vinyl copies label the song's length as 3:35.

References

  1. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2016). The Deep Purple Family (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 234. ISBN 978-1-908724-42-7.
  2. ↑ Prato, Greg (23 April 2020). "WENDY DIO Says RONNIE Never Spoke To RITCHIE BLACKMORE Again After Getting Fired From RAINBOW". Brave Words. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Rainbow singles".
  4. ↑ "Rainbow singles".
  5. ↑ Saulnier, Jason (1 June 2010). "Tony Carey Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  6. ↑ Jerry Bloom, The Long Live Rock and Roll Story, ISBN 9780955754227
  7. ↑ https://www.runboard.com/bdeeppurplefanforum.f1.t381
  8. ↑ Classic Rock magazine, September 2002
  9. 1 2 Ginsberg, Geoff. "Rainbow Long Live Rock 'n' Roll review". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  10. ↑ Dunn, Sam. "Metal Evolution, Episode 110: Power metal". VH1. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  11. ↑ Ritchie Blackmore Book Review
  12. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4598b". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Rainbow – Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  15. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  16. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Rainbow – Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  17. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  18. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Rainbow – Long Live Rock 'n' Roll". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Rainbow – Long Live Rock 'n' Roll". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Rainbow Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  23. ↑ レインボー レインボーのアルバム売り上げランキング (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  24. ↑ "Rainbow Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  25. ↑ "British album certifications – Rainbow – Long Live Rock 'n' Roll". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  26. ↑ "Classic Albums from 21 Genres for the 21st Century". Record Collector (245). January 2000. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
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