Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow 20 Greatest Songs – Ranked!

I started getting into Heavy Metal in the mid ’80s, and by that time, Rainbow were sadly a former band. Ritchie Blackmore had moved back to Deep Purple, and my introduction to Rainbow was their posthumous compilation album, Finyl Vinyl. Coming to me as it did, right at the start of my developing Metal awareness, it had a big impact on me. Not only was it a brilliant collection of songs, it taught me that changing line-ups didn’t necessarily lead to a drop in musical quality, and it also taught me that former bands could absolutely be every bit as good as the current ones.

Rainbow pretty much changed their style with every singer that joined the band. Seismically so. There was never even a hint of one singer carrying the previous guy’s torch. No way. They were there to do their own thing and, of course, to follow Ritchie’s orders.

But the end result was always the same: a solid procession of excellent music, which is exactly what we wanted. Rainbow achieved that very rare goal, changing line-ups while remaining consistently entertaining. Every change in singer brought about a completely different change in direction, giving the band a whole new rebirth and arguably a whole new set of fans.

And in a world where fans stayed loyal to one, sometimes original line-up, that’s a rare thing to do, but Rainbow managed it.

So here are my favourite Rainbow songs, which, of course, are always a matter of opinion.

20. Stone Cold (Straight Between The Eyes)

This may have been the original prototype power ballad. Maybe. Maybe not, but it’s definitely a powerful, perfectly constructed ballad, with Blackmore’s soulful guitar play really bringing the song alive.

19. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves (Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow)

If there was ever one song on Rainbow’s debut album that really set the scene and told the whole world what Ronnie James Dio was all about, then it is this. Prototype Dio Metal backed up with Blackmore’s scything guitar riff, it might take a few listens to really get it, like it did with me, but when it does, it’ll hit you straight between the eyes, if you can see what I did there.

18. Cold Hearted Woman (Stranger In Us All)

Eleven years after the magic stopped, could it ever come back? That’s a resounding yes, and no more so evident than with this absolute killer of a song with a flame-file riff that follows the vocals like demonic carbon paper.

Proof positive that Ritchie Blackmore can return to Metal any time he wants to. He will rip it up like a bandit and has that innate talent for harvesting the best talent around to create a phenomenal band package. A condition that is difficult to cure.

17. Power (Straight Between The Eyes)

Power by name, and power by nature. This is a brilliant, rocking, up-tempo track that can’t help but lift you. The lyrics are the ultimate motivational experience, and the song itself moves at a pace that you can’t help but want to keep up with.

16. No Release (Difficult To Cure)

An absolute beast of a song, with a compelling riff that stalks you and haunts you, a solo that will electrify, and truly soaring vocals. Here is proof that a song doesn’t need to be heavy in order to be really heavy. If you know, you know.

15. Since You’ve Been Gone (Down To Earth)

Quite probably the first Rainbow song I ever heard, as it was released as a single in 1979. Massively catchy and hugely entertaining, with Graham Bonnet proving that you didn’t need to have long hair to cut it in a rock band.

14. Spotlight Kid (Difficult To Cure)

A introspective song about the downside of being a rock star, or any performer, and what life is there beyond the performance. As well as a really, really entertaining song, it’s also one that makes you think. A real ‘be careful what you wish for’ kind of warning.

13. Lost In Hollywood (Down To Earth)

A rolling drum intro leads you into a high speed rocker, crammed with a desolate set of lyrics every bit as deep as Dio’s but with a much more modern feel. This is the last song on the album, and it ends on the same high as it started.

12. Man On The Silver Mountain (Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow)

As much as I’ve seen and heard this song played live many, many times, the slower, haunting studio version always strikes much more of a chord with me. This song introduced the world to Rainbow, and to quote David St Hubbins legendary lyrics, “We looked, and we saw that it was good.”

11. Miss Mistreated (Straight Between The Eyes)

An utterly addictive, brilliant song. I’m still never sure entirely what it means, even when I read the lyrics as part of this assignment. At the end of the day though, it’s just a great song that can mean different things to you, depending what you’re feeling at the time. And that’s what great music can do to you every time.

10. Can’t Happen Here (Difficult To Cure)

Sure, the intro might make you think, but this song really doesn’t take long to launch itself as an absolute rock classic. It’s an insightful song about the tragic ways of the world that remains relevant even today while at the same time being addictively entertaining.

If you’ve ever seen them play live or heard Finyl Vinyl, you’ll know that the live version is even better. And really, Joe Lynn Turner’s voice is absolute perfection for this song.

9. Danger Zone (Down To Earth)

Talk about riffs. This song opens up with a machine-gun staccato guitar lick that really knocks all others for six. And coming from a list entirely made up of Ritchie Blackmore, that’s really saying something.

The whole of Down To Earth is a shattering exercise in Heavy Metal intensity, and this track is no exception. It’s dark, it’s brooding, it’s malevolent even, and yet it’s also immensely uplifting.

And that is the genius of Down To Earth.

8. L.A. Connection (Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll)

This riff-driven song is just so compelling, and Ronnie’s lyrics, while following his usual themes, are supposedly telling the story of how Tony Carey was treated by Ritchie Blackmore.

Despite the dark message, this remains a beautiful song to listen to.

7. Eyes Of The World (Down To Earth)

Ronnie James Dio may have gone, but the deep and meaningful lyrics remained with this one, and what a gem it is. Evil all around us, and nothing we can do about it.

Rainbow had that unique ability to make dark themes utterly entertaining and, at the same time, also uplifting. And the guitar solo on this song is, in my opinion, the best one on this album.

6. Tarot Woman (Rising)

The huge musical impact of Rising has been discussed ad infinitum. This song, the album’s opening track, has a fabulous intro and build-up. Gentle keyboards leading into a rich, addictive riff, and then the drums and vocals kick in and here is a total band experience.

5. Kill The King (Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll)

This is an absolute rolling powerhouse, riff-tastically served up slice of awesome Metal. But it’s not just the riff. It’s the solo, it’s the galloping beat, and it’s the absolute majestic lyrics as well.

Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll might have been Ronnie’s last hurrah with Rainbow, but he certainly went out in style.

4. I Surrender (Difficult To Cure)

This is the song that introduced Joe Lynn Turner as Rainbow’s third singer, and it knocked everyone sideways. It’s impossible to overstate the awesomeness of this song, and it’s one of those rare Metal songs that seamlessly crosses over to commercial.

You can see why it was the album’s first single, reaching number three in the UK, making it the Enter Sandman of its day.

3. Stargazer (Rising)

An epic song of awesome proportions that shows off perfectly the symbiosis between Dio and Blackmore. It’s been said that this album showcased the peak of both musicians. Sure, they had plenty of high points before and since, but there is definitely something very immensely special about this song.

2. All Night Long (Down To Earth)

Song number five from one album, a full quarter of this top twenty, and that’s no coincidence. This album’s mission was to move on from the best vocalist and lyricist in Metal in a way that showcased a new direction without a loss in quality and delivery.

That’s asking the impossible, but Down To Earth delivers the impossible.
This song has one of the most accessible, irresistible riffs ever, and once it was in your head, it would never leave you.

This song, and the album it’s from, really shows Blackmore’s talent and versatility from orchestrally intricate Metal to radio-friendly and commercial, but still with talent and integrity. This is a shamelessly brilliant song.

1. Still I’m Sad (Rainbow On Stage)

An absolute beast of a song. And let’s be clear, Rainbow On Stage remains as fresh, vital and utterly awesome now as it was when it was first unleashed. This, the final song on the album, takes the studio version of the track to untold levels of heaviness.

More than that, it adds lyrics to the music, with Ronnie James Dio’s voice in spectacular form. It leaves you breathless as a live album closer, and just when you think it’s all over, the drum-led finale is nothing short of genius.

If this song doesn’t get you on your feet and headbanging around your living room, nothing will.

Wow, if picking twenty songs from a total of sixty-eight (sixty-nine if you include the second studio recording of Still I’m Sad on Stranger In Us All) was hard, putting them in some kind of order of preference was even harder.

Because I’m not gonna lie, I love all of these songs, and the other forty-eight aren’t far behind either.

Of course, no list like this will ever be authoritative. We’ve all got our own valid opinions on what’s best, and long may that continue.

What’s always more important, though, is the music and that fabulously rich variety of each one of us just going out there and liking what we like.

Rock on!