Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
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Long Live Rock 'n' Roll is the third studio album released by Rainbow, released in 1978.
Although Bob Daisley & David Stone are listed on the album credits for their contributions they joined the band part way through the recording sessions and only appear on a couple of tracks. (Stone part wrote "Gates of Babylon" but was never credited). Blackmore played most of the bass parts himself for the album.
"Kill the King" was already a staple part of the tour setlists, opening Rainbow concerts since mid-1976. It first appeared on the live album On Stage in 1977.
The original vinyl release was in a gatefold-sleeve, with a lyric-sheet insert. The crowd picture is actually from a Rush concert, with the wording on the banner the fans were actually holding replaced by the Rainbow album title and the visible Rush t-shirts airbrushed to black.
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll was remastered on CD for the US market in April 1999, with the European version following later. The US version had a matte booklet/ insert, which matched the original vinyl sleeve for all markets, whereas the European issue was the standard glossy type.
In the 1977-78 live concerts the title track and "Kill the King" were the only songs performed, although "LA Connection" did get a few airings on the US tour before being dropped from the set.
This was Rainbow's last album to feature Ronnie James Dio on vocals. He left, later to join Black Sabbath, and was replaced by Graham Bonnet.
Since 2004 Dio's solo shows featured a live version of "Gates of Babylon."
The title song was covered by the fictitious heavy metal band Steel Dragon for the 2001 movie Rock Star.
In June 2009 a CD size book about the making of album was released in the series "Rock Landmarks" called "Long Live Rock N' Roll Story". It was written by Rainbow and Blackmore expert Jerry Bloom.
Track listing
All songs written by Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio, except where indicated.[2]
Side one
- "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" – 4:21
- "Lady of the Lake" – 3:39
- "L.A. Connection" – 5:02
- "Gates of Babylon" – 6:49
Side two
- "Kill the King" (Blackmore, Dio, Cozy Powell) – 4:29
- "The Shed (Subtle)" (Blackmore, Dio, Powell) – 4:47
- "Sensitive to Light" – 3:07
- "Rainbow Eyes" – 7:11
Personnel
- Ritchie Blackmore – guitars, bass
- Ronnie James Dio – lead vocals
- Cozy Powell – drums, percussion
- David Stone – keyboards
- Bob Daisley – bass on "Kill the King", "Sensitive to Light" and "Gates of Babylon"
with
- Bavarian String Ensemble conducted by Rainer Pietsch on "Gates of Babylon"
- Ferenc Kiss & Nico Nicolicv – viola on "Rainbow Eyes"
- Karl Heinz Feit – cello on "Rainbow Eyes"
- Rudi Risavy & Max Hecker – flute on "Rainbow Eyes"
Singles
- 1978 - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll / Sensitive to Light
- 1978 - L.A. Connection / Lady of the Lake
These two singles were also re-released in the UK in July 1981.
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Pop Albums | 89 |
Covers
- Neo-classical metal musician Yngwie J. Malmsteen covered "Gates of Babylon" on his album Inspiration.
- Dream Theater when known as Majesty played "Gates of Babylon" in their earliest live shows in 1986.
- Thrash metal band Heathen covered "Kill the King" on their album Victims of Deception, as did bands Stratovarius, Liege Lord, Primal Fear, Grave Digger and others.
- German power metal band Gamma Ray did a cover of "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" on the 2002 reissue of their album Power Plant.
- Finnish Power Metal band Stratovarius did a cover of "Kill the King" as a B-Side to the "Father Time" Single/EP, as well as being released on their Intermission album
- Fictitious metal band Steel Dragon also covered the song "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll".
- Serbian heavy metal band Kraljevski Apartman recorded a cover version of the song "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" with lyrics in Serbian on their 1997 debut album Long Live Rock 'n' Roll.
- Serbian hard rock/heavy metal band Osvajači recorded a cover version of the song "Rainbow Eyes" entitled "Tragovi" on their 1999 album Vrelina.
- Blackmore's Night, Ritchie Blackmore's most recent band, did a cover of "Rainbow Eyes" for their 2008 album Secret Voyage.[3]
- Swedish power metal band Tad Morose covered "Gates of Babylon" on their album Sender of Thoughts.