Martin is one of the most prolific authors out there when it comes to rock and metal, he’s up to over 80 books and I believe I own about 70 of them. This one is a major overhaul on his last Rainbow book English Castle Magic and brings the story right up to date with the current incarnation featuring Ronnie Romero on vocals. You get a chapter on each album including the live releases with contributions from all the main musicians involved and in Rainbow there are many, a large proportion of quotes come from interviews done with the author over the years. If you like in depth analysis of an album then this is the book for you, there’s 50 pages on the Rainbow Rising album alone. Martin also throws in his two cents on each release, his favorite is the Graham Bonnet fronted Down To Earth and he is not a fan of On Stage.
After reading the book Blackmore comes across as a complex individual. A gifted guitarist who doesn’t like the studio. Someone more comfortable on the live stage yet refuses to do encores. A spiritual man who likes to perform childish pranks on fellow band members . Someone who craves commercial success yet denies chasing it. His disregard for the press is legendary and I’ve spoken to many writers who were at the wrong end in an interview. If you were good at football you got the gig but if you were a keyboard player don’t rent your property for too long, he really was a bully with some of them. What did surprise me was the mostly positive relationship he had with all the vocalists especially in the studio and many have great things to say about him, that’s if you accepted your role in HIS band. He’s a guitar hero, they are all complicated.
This really is a superb read and if you are a Rainbow fan, think you know it all think again and if you are looking for an introduction to the band this is the definitive book for you. It made me listen to the whole catalogue and some I appreciated more knowing the when, where, how and why of each. Martin self-publishes these so once they are gone they are gone. You can pick one up from his website and he does great deals if you order a couple at a time so what are you waiting for.
Richie.
