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, would be a hard rock fan's dream. ~ Bret Adams