Rainbow - Memories in Rock.

Rainbow – Memories in Rock II. 7/10.

This was always going to be a difficult album to review, a childhood hero taking a backwards step, back to a time when he was the king of the world, this wasn’t going to be that journey.

No Judy Garland but the familiar strains of Over the Rainbow get the ball rolling and straight into Spotlight Kid, this sets the tone for the remaining 23 tracks (yes I got the Japanese version) the tone feels decidedly light weight, there’s no aggression, there’s no frenetic pace there’s’ no gasping for breath, this is not 1978, then the singles start, I’m sorry I don’t want to listen to the jukebox hits, I want to hear the real mastery, the gut wrenching riffs and the single high speed notes, it’s well played but it’s not what I expect or what I crave.

The main thing for me is the set list, a very similar set list to the previous tour, there are far too many Deep Purple tracks, yes, he plays them better than his old band, but there is something missing, instead of Mistreated, why couldn’t we have Love’s No Friend? Why Child in Time, I have loved just about everything I have heard with Deep Purple and Rainbow, but over the years, I hear the same tracks over and over, to be honest I feel slightly let down this time around. If you are going to do Deep Purple do a couple of medley’s not full tracks. Or is it simply easier to stick to what comes easy, the hits are not what everybody wants!

The band perform well, not great just well, it just doesn’t have the magic touch of previous line ups, maybe if they did a longer tour it would feel more like a band, I could imagine after 30 odd dates Ronnie Romero being locked in as tight as a nut, they never seem to hit the right groove, I don’t mean to sound hyper-critical, but I have followed this Guitar God since I was 7, I remember the gigs I have seen, or the bootlegs I have heard, You Tube has taken the shine off the apple, I have watched every gig since the band has reformed  and I mean every gig, Mr B seems to be having fun and at his age that’s all that matters, yes I did get the Japanese copy (old habits die hard) there are some additional tracks, Land of Hope and Glory and a new version of I Surrender, they sound like demo’s they make it seem as though, lets see what we have and stick them on, I would have preferred full blown proper recordings of them, the new song Waiting For a Sign saves the day, the potential is there, but its almost like he doesn’t want to like it too much just in case once he lets rip, that there is no way of putting the madness back in the bottle!

Why No Arial, Black Masquerade, Eyes of the World, Gates of Babylon and oh why no Jealous Lover? the band has so much potential but seems that they are happy to sit at the back and simply walk along a similar path, when they should be strutting and preening like the days of Yore. I have enjoyed this, I know you may not think it, I wanted to love it, I don’t, but I do like it, that’s not the same! but if I’m being honest I would like Mr B to go back to making the music he loves, I wait with baited breath for the next Blackmore’s Night Album!