"Tarot Woman" is first. A very cool Minimoog synthesizer solo provides the introduction. Drummer "Cozy" Powell then kicks in with a monster drum beat. The dearly departed Cozy was an absolute revelation behind the kit, easily one of the best rock drummers of his era. Very Deep Purple-sounding, the song stands out from Purple by the massive presence of Ronnie Dio on vocals. Dio's vocals are superb, and it's hard to imagine a better fit for Richie Blackmore's rollicking classical-metal riffs. The lyrics are a nice change from the somewhat vapid lyrics of Ian Gillan and even David Coverdale, very poetic and heartfelt. Next is "Run with the Wolf". Blackmore explores familiar blues-metal riffage, but again Dio's vocals prove that this is not your mother's rock band. This song, more than any other by Rainbow, shows the sound that Dio would adopt for his solo career. A heavy amount of organ fattens the sound, but I could live with or without keyboards on this song. With sounds as big as Blackmore and Dio, "beefing up" of sounds in hardly needed.
"Starstruck" provides the basic foundation for Iron Maiden. A classical/Celtic-esque intro shows Blackmore exploring the more ancient forms of music, blending them seamlessly in 1970s hard rock. The chorus is very catchy and makes you sing-along. However, the song is somewhat swollen and long for me. Rainbow frequently made songs that were too long in my opinion, by the 3-minute mark, the song starts to lose some of its appeal. "Do You Close Your Eyes" is one of my favorite Rainbow songs. Despite a somewhat pop-like chorus, the verses are very masculine and lean, heavy with sexual intent. Not as bad as some say, the choruses do take away something from the song. The lyrics just seem out of place with Dio's schtick at that point, more romantic than cautionary. "Stargazer" is a metal/hard-rock staple. Covered by countless bands, this song is the stuff of legend. Cozy's drums are phenomenal, Dio soars vocally, and Blackmore smokes. Backed up by an orchestra, I hate to use this cliche word, but the song is truly epic-sounding. Stargazer does overstay its welcome somewhat at over eight-minutes long, but with musicianship this good, who really cares.
Last up is "A Light in the Black". Later Dio bassist "Jimmy Bain" really shows off his chops here. Amazing bass playing. Approaching new limits of his technicality, Blackmore really comes into his own here. A very versatile and influential guitarist, I believe that this album was the highlight of his playing, at least in the rock context. The keyboard solos are also quite enjoyable, and American keyboardist "Tony Carey" does his best Jon Lord imitation, albeit with a more synthesized flavor, before heading into a classical keyboard solo that blows away almost anything done by Lord by 1976. Blackmore's solo comes next, and is positively electric atop a machine-like beat from Cozy. Amazing stuff.
Rising is an amazing album. Is it the best hard-rock/metal album of all time, certainly not, But is it f-ing amazing, it certainly is. Rainbow in 1976 had all the aces, and were at the top of their game.
Rating-9/10
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