Ritchie Blackmore's post Deep Purple project continued to roll on in 1979; ever after the departure of the late banshee of a singer, "Ronnie James Dio". Rainbow instead recruited English singer of "The Marbles" fame Graham Bonnet. I truly believe that Bonnet is one of rock's most underrated vocalists and that this is one of hard rock's most truly underrated albums. Let's take a look a "Down to Earth" in depth......
The instrumentation of Bonnet era Rainbow is not very different from that of the Dio era; albeit slightly brighter and more poppy in nature. The first track, "All Night Long" is one of the catchiest songs on the album about. The sordid tale of longing and lust is driven along by Blackmore's searing guitar and Rainbow's excellent rhythm/keyboard section. Bonnet's vocals have an almost American like quality, much like contemporary Paul Rodgers of Bad Company fame. The track is great; and extremely catchy and infectious.
The album then takes a more contemporary turn and makes liberal use of synthesizers on "Eyes of the World", a spacey and spooky number about what I could only ascertain to be "Evil". The song has killers backup vocals; as does most of the album and I believe that the extra vocals support Bonnet's voice, which lacks the range of Dio, Halford, etc. The guitar and keyboard solos make the song feel a little bloated; but if you are opposed to copious amounts of solo, Rainbow is probably not a band you would enjoy. The hot rocker "No Time To Lose" is a ferocious boogie and showcases the fact that although he loves mandolins and castles; Blackmore is best when just plain rocking out. The guitar solo felt a little subdued sonically ; and I would say that the guitar tone on this album is a little murky in the mix. Otherwise, a nice little song with Bonnet peacocking his way around the sultry vocal with the great Rainbow rhythm section (especially the late Cozy Powell) again in tow.
The album continues with "Makin Love", a song about well....... just that. The album has a cool almost classical inintroduction; and includes a Harpsichord sound from master keyboard session musician "Don Airey". The song is very much like Bad Company; and it really sounds dated considering the date of release of this album. A very standard 1970s classic rocker; with very little to set it apart from the pack. The most famous song from the album is "Since You Been Gone", a catchy Russ Ballard written song that has continued to dominate classic rock radio to this day. The song is very out of character for the band; and it lacks the stomp and rollicking jam like character of most Rainbow songs. Not bad, but honestly not a great song in my opinion. "Love's No Friend" ventures into Deep Purple territory and shows Bonnet slightly out of his element with this lazy riff driven number. Bonnet is much better at singing at faster tempos; and probably not the right vocalist for this track. The song annoyingly cuts the keyboard solo prematurely to kick into Blackmore's solo; something I really did not enjoy. Overall, not a bad song at all. "Danger Zone" is very similar to "Eyes of the World"; the song has a kind of spacey/jam feel. Bonnet warns of the dangers of the "Danger Zone"; which I can only assume to be about sex. The song has a cheesy keyboard solo; but the guitar in this song really shows off Blackmore's wide range of scales from a variety of cultures, changing scales seamlessly. The song is ok, but slightly cliche and boring. The album closes with "Lost in Hollywood". "Lost in Hollywood" is the strongest track on the album telling the story of lost times in Hollywood; drinking, partying, and doing whatever else rich English rock bands do on the Sunset Strip. The song breaks into a very regal classic section midway through; and then goes on to a dueling solo between Blackmore and Airey. Finally, the songs kicks back into the main riff. The song is somewhat unconventional, but then again so was Rainbow. Great song.
"Down to Earth" is by no means a masterpiece. But, I believe it has something for everyone and is definitely underrated in the history of hard rock. If you are a fan 1970s hard rock, you could do a lot worse than pick up the best non-Dio Rainbow album out there.
Rating-7.5/10
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