On August 24, 1983, "Rainbow" released their seventh studio album, "Bent Out Of Shape".
The album's name and cover illustrate what the listener will find inside. A band whose shape has completely changed since its early days. Anyone who remembers Ronnie James Dio's era in "Rainbow" and listens to the album will have a hard time noticing that it's the same band, but still, it's a great one from Ritchie Blackmore & company.
On this album, Ritchie Blackmore continued with the line of commercialization that began on the album "Down to Earth" and only expanded from album to album.
Cozy Powell, who sensed that this was the direction the band was going to dedicate itself to in subsequent albums, abandoned ship immediately after releasing that album, and he was right about Ritchie Blackmore's intentions that the American market was very fascinated by.
This time Ritchie Blackmore also tried to ride on the back of the relative success of the previous album "Straight Between The Eyes" which came out a year earlier and the musical style is very similar in essence on both albums, with an extra special emphasis on keyboards that have become more dominant.
Before the release of the album, Ritchie Blackmore fired drummer Bobby Rondinelli and recruited Chuck Burgi to replace him, but the change is hardly noticeable. Since the departure of Cozy Powell, a huge hole has been created in the band's rhythm section that has greatly influenced its sound, despite the presence of Roger Glover.
The one who stands out, especially on this album is Joe Lynn Turner whose singing here is the best of the three Rainbow albums he has participated in. The improvement is especially noticeable in the highs and lows, even in the screams that sometimes even remind us of the greatest in the field, Ian Gillan.
Although this is the band's most commercialized album, you can still find here some memorable pieces that we really like. The opening track "Stranded", the almost poppy ballad "Can't Let You Go" and the catchy track "Street of Dreams" are great songs that are always fun to return to, but they completely do not resemble the "Rainbow" of the previous decade.
Those looking for songs closer to basic Hard Rock will find them in "Fire Dance" with the oriental touches that are a bit reminiscent of the Dio era, in "Drinking With The Devil" and in the song "Make Your Move". The last two songs were pushed towards the end of the album and probably not by chance, since they are a bit different in essence from the rest of the commercial tracks on the album.
It is interesting to note that the album includes two good instrumental pieces, the soft and melodic cover "Snowman" and "Anybody There" which was even nominated for a Grammy in the category of the best instrumental rock piece for 1984.
This album is Rainbow's Swan Song, after the release of the album Ritchie Blackmore will break up the band in favor of the excellent and successful reunion of "Deep Purple's" MKII lineup that will release its reunion album as early as 1984.
In the mid-1990s Ritchie Blackmore will again use the name "Rainbow" but it will already be a completely different lineup with which he released the album "Stranger in Us All"
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