Perhaps the first example of "dragon rock" -- a style perfected by bands like
Iron Maiden and
Dio in the early to mid-'80s -- was
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, a 1975 collection from the guitarist's first post-
Deep Purple project. Fittingly enough, a young
Ronnie James Dio provides the goblin-like frontman presence required by the increasingly Baroque
Blackmore. The young
Dio is at his best when he fully gives in to his own and
Blackmore's medieval fantasy leanings in hard-rocking tracks like "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" and "Man on the Silver Mountain." The dark, trudging doom rock of "Self Portrait" most clearly showcases what they were capable of. The album's ponderous lyrics are occasionally punctuated by poetic phrases such as "crossbows in the firelight." Although
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow provides a few listenable tracks, its primary value is historical. Look to
Rainbow's next album,
Rainbow Rising (1976), to grasp the heavy metal potential that is only hinted at here. ~ David Kent-Abbott