Rainbow-Down To Earth (1979)

After the album "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll", Ronnie James Dio left Rainbow due to disagreements with Ritchie Blackmore (Dio would soon join the reformed Black Sabbath), so the guitarist had to hurry to find another vocalist to continue with his band. The chosen one was Graham Bonnet, an odd choice since he was a very different singer from Dio, with a less diabolical and heavy metal look than the little elf. At this point, Blackmore wanted to enter the new decade with a lighter, less baroque, and more American sound, hence his controversial choice, and Dio's epic voice didn't quite fit that direction. Along with Roger Glover, Don Airey, and Cozy Powell, this lineup recorded the album "Down to Earth", considered by many to be the group's last great work, without in any way diminishing the magnificent "Bent Out of Shape" with Joe Lynn Turner on vocals, released years later. The Glover-Blackmore duo composed all the songs except the hit "Since You've Been Gone", a Russ Ballard composition. The set list includes great tracks such as the superb "All Night Long" with its frenetic riff, making it a lively song and a classic for the band. It is followed by the dense "Eyes Of The World", the spectacular "Makin' Love", the bluesy "Love's No Friend", the addictive "Since You've Been Gone", the commercial hard rock "Danger Zone", and the accelerated "Lost in Hollywood", which close a spectacular album by Ritchie Blackmore and his band.