1.    "Stranded" – 4:25
2.    "Can't Let You Go" (Blackmore, Turner, Intro - David Rosenthal) – 4:18
3.    "Fool for the Night" – 4:04
4.    "Fire Dance" (Blackmore, Turner, Roger Glover, Rosenthal) – 4:30
5.    "Anybody There" (Blackmore) – 2:36
6.    "Desperate Heart" – 4:00
7.    "Street of Dreams" – 4:23
8.    "Drinking with the Devil" – 3:41
9.    "Snowman" (Howard Blake, arr. by Blackmore) – 4:33
10.   "Make Your Move" – 3:55

Personnel:
    Ritchie Blackmore - guitar
    David Rosenthal - keyboard
    Roger Glover - bass, percussion
    Chuck Burgi - drums
    Joe Lynn Turner – vocals

With Joe Lynn Turner on board, Rainbow tried one crossover record and one no-frills hard rock record -- which meant that Bent out of Shape, their third album with Turner, provided a fine opportunity to get a little arty. Not that the band has turned into Genesis or even returned to the mystical pretensions of its early work; they have merely broadened their horizons. Ironically, that means that they've retreated, at least partially, to the radio-ready sound of Difficult to Cure, but this time, they aren't just trying for a crossover hit. As producer, Roger Glover has widened their sonic horizon without losing sonic muscle, making sure that the album is, at its core, hard rock. His production works, since the record hits pretty hard even when it gets a little fruity, which it does quite often -- the stately, silly church organs that "Can't Let You Go," the fugue-like cadences of "Fire Dance," the mock-classical instrumental "Anybody There." Those instrumental flourishes highlight Bent out of Shape's true strength, which is its sonics -- the record sounds good and the music flows well. However, beneath that surface, there's not much there -- the songs don't have strong hooks, or are memorable in and of themselves. With that in mind, it's not entirely surprising that this is the last studio record Rainbow cut (although they would later reunite in the '90s), but it's not a bad way to go out. It sounds good and has some prime Ritchie Blackmore performances, plus it rocks pretty hard -- all essential ingredients for a good Rainbow record, even if this time it adds up to a record that's merely solid, not remarkable. --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

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01. I Surrender (Russ Ballard) – 4:01
02. Spotlight Kid (Ritchie Blackmore/Roger Glover) – 4:53
03. No Release (Blackmore/Glover/Don Airey) – 5:32
04. Magic (Brian Moran) – 4:06
05. Vielleicht Das Nachste Mal (Maybe Next Time) (Blackmore/Airey) – 3:17
06. Can't Happen Here (Blackmore/Glover) – 4:57
07. Freedom Fighter (Blackmore/Glover/Joe Lynn Turner) – 4:21
08. Midtown Tunnel Vision (Blackmore/Glover/Turner) – 4:30
09. Difficult To Cure (Beethoven's Ninth) (Beethoven, arr.by Blackmore/Glover/Airey) – 5:57

- Joe Lynn Turner - vocals
- Ritchie Blackmore - guitar
- Don Airey - keyboards
- Roger Glover - bass
- Bob Rondinelli – drums

Rainbow ditched vocalist Graham Bonnet after Down to Earth, hiring former Fandango singer Joe Lynn Turner as their frontman. As it turns out, Turner is less hyperbolic than his predecessor, which fits the focused polish of Difficult to Cure. Where Down to Earth was a streamlined version of early Rainbow, Difficult to Cure is a shot at crossover. Problem is, the band never comes up with the right crossover songs. Russ Ballard's "I Surrender" comes close, but much of the record is fairly undistinguished, riding on strident melodies and big riffs that are never quite memorable. It's all given a contemporary sheen, with plenty of studio gloss that now instantly evokes the early '80s. On that level, it's somewhat of an entertaining artifact -- anyone pining for an example of what album-oriented radio sounded like in the pre-MTV years should check this out -- but it's never more than that, since the bids at chart success are only occasionally memorable ("I Surrender," "Magic"). Perhaps Ritchie Blackmore felt stifled by the exacting nature of Difficult to Cure's attempt at crossover -- witness how "Spotlight Kid" veers from a dexterous Blackmore solo to a ridiculous keyboard run, then just verges on collapse -- and that's the reason why each side ends with a pretentious pseudo-classical instrumental that functions as nothing more than a guitar showcase. Certainly, his playing is impeccable, but both numbers are really awkward (particularly the title track, based on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and with a weirdly synthesized pulse as a rhythmic underpinning) and just highlight the fact that Difficult to Cure would have been better if Blackmore had channeled that energy into the rest of the album. --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

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CD1
01. Catch The Rainbow
02. The Temple Of The King
03. Self Portrait
04. Stargazer
05. Rainbow Eyes
06. Love's No Friend
07. Maybe Next Time
08. Stone Cold
09. Tearlin' Out My Heart
10. Anybody There
11. Snowman
12. Weiss Heim
13. Ariel
14. Mistreated (Live)

CD2
01. Wolf To The Moon
02. Black Masquerade
03. Can't Let You Go
04. Street Of Dreams
05. Power
06. Jealous Lover
07. I Surrender
08. Can't Happen Here
09. Since You Been Gone
10. All Night Long
11. Kill The King
12. Long Live Rock'n'Roll
13. Gates Of Babylon
14. Starstruck
15. Light In The Black
16. If You Don't Like Rock'n'Roll

Rainbow (also known as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow or Blackmore's Rainbow) were an English rock band, controlled by former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with former Elf members, though over the years Rainbow went through many lineup changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up. In addition to lead singers Ronnie James Dio, Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner and Doogie White, the project consisted of numerous backing musicians. The band started out combining mystical lyric themes with neo-classical metal, but went in a more streamlined commercial style following Dio's departure from the group.

Rainbow was ranked #90 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. ---metalriot.com

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01. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll – 4:19
02. Lady Of The Lake – 3:36
03. L.A. Connection – 4:57
04. Gates Of Babylon – 6:45
05. Kill The King (Blackmore/Dio/Cozy Powell) – 4:26
06. The Shed (Subtle) (Blackmore/Dio/Powell) – 4:43
07. Sensitive To Light – 3:02
08. Rainbow Eyes – 7:24

Personnel:
- Ritchie Blackmore – guitar and additional bass
- Ronnie James Dio – vocals
- David Stone – keyboards
- Bob Daisley – bass
- Cozy Powell – drums
+
- "Bavarian String Ensemble" conducted by Rainer Pietsch on "Gates Of Babylon" and "Rainbow Eyes"
- String Quartet on "Rainbow Eyes": Ferenc Kiss & Nico Nicolic – violin; Ottmar Machan - viola; Karl Heinz Feit – cello; Rudi Risavy – flute; Max Hecker – recorder

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. ---allmusic.com

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1.    "Death Alley Driver" (Blackmore, Turner) – 4:42
2.    "Stone Cold" – 5:17
3.    "Bring on the Night (Dream Chaser)" – 4:06
4.    "Tite Squeeze" – 3:15
5.    "Tearin' Out My Heart" – 4:03
6.    "Power" – 4:26
7.    "MISS Mistreated" (Blackmore, Turner, David Rosenthal) – 4:27
8.    "Rock Fever" (Blackmore, Turner) – 3:50
9.    "Eyes of Fire" (Blackmore, Turner, Bobby Rondinelli) – 6:37

Personnel:
    Ritchie Blackmore - guitar (Fender Strat, Marshall)
    Joe Lynn Turner - vocals
    Roger Glover - bass (Hondo Longhorn 4 & 8 string)
    David Rosenthal - keyboards (Oberheim, Moog, Roland, Hammond & Hohner)
    Bobby Rondinelli - drums (Yamaha, Sonor & Paiste)

Straight Between the Eyes undoubtedly has one of the worst album covers in rock history, but the record is an unexpected return to form from the journeyman hard rockers. Just a record before, Rainbow sounded as if they were verging on Billy Squier territory, but here, they reverse course and deliver a solid, no-frills hard rock record. It isn't just that the material is stronger, though it certainly is, it's that Roger Glover abandoned his smoothed-out, radio-ready production that marred Difficult to Cure. That's not to say that Straight Between the Eyes doesn't sound dated -- Rainbow was a band that was forever tied to its era -- but the album does have a harder-hitting, muscular sound that is more appropriate for the band. Similarly, vocalist Joe Lynn Turner sounds more comfortable with the group, and the entire band just seems to gel, turning even the generic numbers on the album into enjoyable, straight-ahead hard rock. There may not be any specific showcases for Ritchie Blackmore, but his playing is better heard in this setting, where he's not only soloing, he's propelling the band with his powerful riffs. As always, he's the driving force behind the band, but this is truly a band effort, which is one of the reasons why Straight Between the Eyes is one of the strongest albums the group ever cut. --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

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1 	Wolf To The Moon 	4:17
2 	Cold Hearted Woman 	4:30
3 	Hunting Humans (Insatiable) 	5:45
4 	Stand And Fight 	5:21
5 	Ariel 	5:40
6 	Too Late For Tears	4:54
7 	Black Masquerade	5:36
8 	Silence 	4:04
9 	Hall Of The Mountain King 	5:32
10 	Still I'm Sad	5:24

Bass – Greg Smith
Drums – John O. Reilly
Guitar – Ritchie Blackmore
Keyboards – Paul Morris
Vocals – Doogie White 

Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore resurrected the beloved hard rock band Rainbow in 1995 for the album Stranger in Us All. The new lineup -- technically named Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow -- was not an all-star who's who of hard rock like the groundbreaking original version with vocalist Ronnie James Dio or the radio-targeted AOR version with vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. All incarnations of Rainbow, even the mid-period lineup fronted by bellower Graham Bonnet, are generally revered in hard rock circles. In its own way, Rainbow's music was just as influential as the music Blackmore made during his years in Deep Purple. Stranger in Us All feels like Blackmore's shot-in-the-dark, semi-inspired effort to reconnect with his hard rock fan base. Around this same time, he was gearing up his Renaissance-flavored new age project, Blackmore's Night. For Stranger in Us All, Blackmore recruited vocalist Doogie White, keyboardist Paul Morris, bass guitarist Greg Smith, and drummer John O'Reilly. Many songs, such as "Wolf to the Moon," "Cold Hearted Woman," and "Stand and Fight," are decent enough. The two standout tracks, "Hunting Humans (Insatiable)" and "Black Masquerade," are the best at recapturing classic Rainbow's energy, drama, and dynamics. Blackmore also proffers another cover of the Yardbirds' "Still I'm Sad." He clearly loves this song since it has appeared in studio and live versions on previous Rainbow albums. Does Stranger in Us All live up to the Rainbow name and reputation? Not really. White is a decent, fully capable hard rock vocalist, but he is not as distinctive as Dio, Bonnet, or Turner. Then again, few vocalists are. (On tour, White did do a fine job of singing all of the old Deep Purple and Rainbow favorites in the set.) Rainbow soon fell by the wayside as Blackmore concentrated on Blackmore's Night. Perhaps some variation of the classic lineup will reunite eventually; even without the late, great Cozy Powell on drums; something like Yes' 1991 Union tour, which gathered multiple members to celebrate its overall legacy, could be a hard rock fan's dream. ---Bret Adams, AllMusic Review

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