Rainbow – Crush The King (Tarantura CDRAINBOW-10-1,2)

Crush The King (Tarantura CDRAINBOW-10-1,2)  

Budokan Dai Hall Tokyo Japan Thursday August 27, 1981  

Disc 1 (43:09) Sound Effects, Pomp And Circumstances, Over The Rainbow, Start, Spotlight Kid, Love’s No Friend, I Surrender, Lazy, Man On The Silver Mountain  

Disc 2 (62:46)MC, Can’t Happen Here, Don Airey Keyboard Solo, Lost In Hollywood, Guitar Solo, A Light In The Black, Difficult To Cure, jam / Ode To Joy, Bob Rondinelli Drum Solo, Long Live Rock And Roll, ENCORE / All Night Long, Woman From Tokyo, Since You’ve Been Gone, Kill The King, Long Live Rock and Roll, Over The Rainbow, Announcements  

Rainbow played an 8 concert tour of Japan to close out the Difficult To Cure record, this new release from Tarantura documents the second of three nights at the Budokan in Tokyo. The concert has been released before on Instrument Of Surrender -Power Gate-040 and Outrage -Darker Than Blue 090,This new release features an excellent audience recording from Mr. Peach. It sounds like it was recorded close to the stage with all instruments being well detailed and clear with good balance throughout. Rainbow in the 80’s was a different animal than the classic Dio era fronted group with the band going for a more radio friendly sound.

This newer sound was my first taste of Rainbow so this release is a joy to listen to. The band has an excellent open with Spotlight Kid, Blackmore;s fingers fly effortlessly on the fret board as he rips into the frenzied riff. As with most Peach recordings this one has that great mix of music versus audience ambiance as the crowd roars its approval.

There is nice interplay between Blackmore and and keyboard extraordinary Don Airey.The one thing that is the most drastic to my ears, after listening to so many Dio era recordings, is the addition of female back up singers, the work well on the newer tracks. Joe Lynn Turner does a fantastic job with the next song, Love’s No Friend from the previous Down To Earth record as he is clearly comfortable with blues based ballads, Blackmore nails the sorrowful solo. Don Airey plays a harpsichord style opening solo for the poppy I Surrender, the second of five new tracks played on this tour but what really lights up the crowds enthusiasm is the bands play on the Purple classic Lazy, played at a marshall tempo that leads directly into Man On The Silver Mountain.

The band changes the arraignment of the song slightly to give it a more up tempo feel that suits Turner vocal style. They do the same with the next song. Catch The Rainbow is a crowd favorite and you can hear a few crazy’s in the audience loosing it as the band plays the delicate intro. The opening of the song is the same but the addition of the back up singers give the song a full vocal sound but with a soft edge.

Blackmore’s solo spot in the middle is great, he plays a hint of Greensleeves and you can here some guy screaming followed by “shut up !” from someone, although his style has obviously morphed with the times and the ever changing line up’s he non the less has a clear vision and this song is no exception. While not as dramatic as older versions it is still grace full and beautiful as ever, the crowd agrees as they cheer through out.

The same crazy who was screaming during Catch the Rainbow can be heard screaming “You Know It” at the beginning of the second disc as JLT introduces Can’t Happen Here. Fast and aggressive it, along with Spotlight Kid, was made for the concert stage and does what it is supposed to, get the crowd moving, the song also features a great slide solo from Blackmore. Don Airey has his solo next, he plays a variety of themes, one of which is the Close Encounters theme that is popular with the crowd. His solo leads directly into Lost In Hollywood which also features some nice playing by Don.

Blackmore takes over for some soloing that consists of a lot of Hendrix style sounding feedback that is followed by a quick blast of A Light In The Black that leads directly into Difficult To Cure. Symphonic sounding the song fits Blackmore;s style to a tee, he effortlessly leads the band through the song and at times I am reminded of both Wring That Neck and Mandrake Root. After the drum solo the band finishes the set with Long Live Rock And Roll, by this time Blackmore is everywhere and the song has a real party time atmosphere. The song still has the clap along section in the middle with the Long Live Rock And Roll sing along for good measure.

The crowd goes crazy at the opening riff of All Night Long, they clap throughout the song and its obvious a party in going on. Vielleicht Das Nachster Zeit is played as is a brief snippet of Woman From Tokyo and the crowd do not miss a beat clapping and cheering along with the band. Since You’ve Been Gone and a intense instrumental version of Kill The King (with a Long Live Rock And Roll reprise) finish the audience off. It starts jam style with Blackmore unleashing a flurry of notes that leads into the song and the band quickly follow his lead with guitar acrobatics and destruction following, hence the title Crush The King.

As most of the Peach recordings we get the pre show details along with the post show announcements, a true record of the evening. The packaging is similar to the other Rainbow releases, Gatefold sleeve with a full color shot of Blackmore on the front with the interior pictures of all five band members along with the ticket stub and master cassettes.

The cd’s have a picture of Blacmore on 1 and Joe Lynn turner on 2, another great package from Tarantura. Their Rainbow releases have all been fantastic and the label should be commended for documenting Rainbows live history in Japan. With the devastating earthquake this past week I can send only hope and positive thoughts to the people of Japan in this harrowing time.