Catch the Rainbow

A Tribute to Rainbow



Ah yes, it's time to ride the rainbow all over again.

There aren't many who should be bold enough to try to reinterpret one of the all-time greats as Rainbow once were and continue to be to this day, but this latest assembly of fine German musicians have brought forth a spirited attempt that goes beyond doing justice to the original.

Banded together from already known classic lineups featuring members of Helloween, Gamma Ray, Gravedigger, Primal Fear. though I don't quite get why bassist Jens Becker's connection to Kingdom Come should take precedence over his stellar years with Running Wild, but nonetheless, he's here to lend the lines to opener "Kill the King."

The core of the contributing artists feature such "freelancers" as Markus Glossner doing the keyboard work-no small task considering-Guido Bungenstock and Frank Hellmuth on guitar and bass respectively and current Helloween drummer Uli Kusch-a busy man fresh off his recent ShockMachine stint with Marcus Grosskopf, filling the role of producer and mixer quite admirably.

The biggest moment early on would be how they'd handle the majestic "Stargazer," with its Zeppelin-esque aura and musical posture that makes it a handful all its own. Proudly, the performers come through with. shining colors!

The brunt of the vocal chores fall upon Henne Basse, another of the less prominent featured here who happens to sound nothing like Dio or any of those who followed.

On "I Surrender" imagine Graham Bonnet having held on to the notes just a tad longer, not to mention his voice and this one's a real showstopper made out of a relatively basic song.

Their version of the classic "Man on the Silver Mountain" is drum heavy while for some reason Basse's vocals get lost somewhere in the mix but overall, a decent job on another of those songs that take a great deal of care and concern to make it sound right. The guys bring it home with the Ralf Scheepers led closure "Still I'm Sad" which boasts some brilliant guitar work that even Blackmore himself might have to step back and nod his head in agreement.

The finest in melodic power metal who have long entertained listeners with their own dignified artistry for a number of years now have really captured the power and brilliance of one of the true rock and roll supergroups-in this case, one to another!

Released by Sanctuary Records.

Review by Vinnie Apicella & Mr__Ego Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.