In Case You Missed It: Universal U.K. Unearths Two Rainbow Deluxe Albums
Looking for that perfect gift for a Ronnie James Dio fan this holiday season? If that Dio singles box isn’t up your alley, there’s always more deluxe editions of the Rainbow catalogue from Universal’s U.K. arm, released earlier this month. A complement to expanded presentations of Rainbow’s Rising and Down to Earth released back in 2010, Universal has now expanded 1977’s On Stage and 1978’s Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll as two-disc sets.
Recorded live in Germany and Japan over several tour dates in late 1976, On Stage was Rainbow’s third release, and the second to feature the revamped lineup introduced on sophomore album Rising. Erstwhile Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and vocalist Ronnie James Dio were the only holdovers from their 1974 debut, with keyboardist Tony Carey, bassist Jimmy Bain and drummer Cozy Powell filling the rest of the outfit. The four-sided On Stage was, in retrospect, not an ideal representation of Rainbow’s live show, being presented out of sequence and edited for time, but fans were enthusiastic, taking it to the Top 10 of the U.K. charts. The set, which featured the debut of “Kill the King,” a standout track on the band’s next album, has been expanded with a full version of the last stop on the Rising tour in Tokyo on December 16, 1976. (The package itself lists the show from Osaka; Deep Purple fan site Darker Than Blue reports the discrepancy as well as replication between the original album presentation and the bonus disc – “Greensleeves” and the “Blues” section of the “Man on the Silver Mountain” medley, namely.)
Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll would see more personnel change – namely, Carey and Bain were replaced by David Stone and future Ozzy Osbourne drummer Bob Daisley. It, too, was another U.K. Top 10, but it would be the last of the hard-rockin’ Rainbow LPs, with Blackmore moving the band into a more commercial niche and Dio taking over for Ozzy as the frontman for Black Sabbath. Extra material on the deluxe Long Live include nine rough mixes and rehearsal takes and five live performances from Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert in 1978 – two of which were unaired rehearsal performances!
Both sets are available now from Amazon U.K. (On Stage / Long Live) and Amazon U.S. (On Stage / Long Live); full specs are after the jump.
On Stage: Deluxe Edition (Universal (U.K.), 2012)
Disc 1: Original LP (released as Polydor 2657 016 (U.K.)/Oyster OY-2-1801 (U.S.), 1977)
- Intro: Over the Rainbow/Kill the King
- Medley: Man on the Silver Mountain/Blues/Starstruck
- Catch the Rainbow
- Mistreated
- Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
- Still I’m Sad
recorded live in Japan and Germany, 1976
Disc 2: Live in Tokyo, 12/16/1976
- Kill the King
- Mistreated
- Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
- Catch the Rainbow
- Medley: Man on the Silver Mountain/Blues/Starstruck
- Do You Close Your Eyes
Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll: Deluxe Edition (Universal (U.K.), 2012)
Disc 1: Original LP (released as Polydor POLD 5002 (U.K.)/PD-1-6143 (U.S.), 1978)
- Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll
- Lady of the Lake
- L.A. Connection
- Gates of Babylon
- Kill the King
- Sensitive to Light
- The Shed (Subtle)
- Rainbow Eyes
Disc 2: Bonus material
- Lady of the Lake (Rough Mix)
- Sensitive to Light (Rough Mix)
- L.A. Connection (Rough Mix)
- Kill the King (Rough Mix)
- The Shed (Subtle) (Rough Mix)
- Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll (Rough Mix)
- Rainbow Eyes (Rough Mix)
- Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll (L.A. Rehearsal, 1977)
- Kill the King (L.A. Rehearsal, 1977)
- Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll (Live on Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert, 1978)
- L.A. Connection (Live on Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert, 1978)
- Gates of Babylon (Live on Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert, 1978)
- L.A. Connection (Live on Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert, 1978) (Outtake)
- Gates of Babylon (Live on Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert, 1978) (Outtake)
The Second Disc 
I got the Long Live Rock N Roll Deluxe edition and it is great but I do have some questions about it. Disc one is fantastic and it sounds so much fuller than the remaster that came out in 1999. But some of the rough mixes like the title song, LA Connection, Lady Of The Lake (including a rare haunting keyboard intro from David Stone) and Sensitive To Light sound to me like they were used for the 1999 remaster.
George
November 28, 2012 at 17:33
So they’re messing up again by substituting (instead of adding) these alternate versions?!?
Do you have all previous versions to compare each one??
I’ve seen some criticism of various other Universal U.K. reissues on a few other forums.
Bill Janowski
November 28, 2012 at 21:04
I just wonder if the UK masters are different from the US masters. I do have the 1999 remaster of LLRNR and while it is my favorite Dio-era Rainbow album, it always sounded a little rough and not much different from the original CD release. But the first disc of the deluxe edition sounds very full and crisp and I like it a lot. Maybe it is the UK master?
I did compare the 1999 remaster with some of the rough mixes on disc 2 and to my ears they do sound alike. But the highlights of the rough mixes to me were Lady of the Lake and the bare version of Rainbow Eyes without the String Quartet.
Rainbow Rising had 2 mixes (NY and LA) which now both appear on that deluxe edition that was released about 2 years ago. When the album was first released on CD, it totally threw me off because it sounded very different from my vinyl copy. It turns out that the first CD edition was the LA mix and my vinyl copy was the NY mix which eventually was used for the 1999 remaster. It is nice that the deluxe remaster included both mixes and while both mixes have there merits, I do prefer the NY mix.
As for On Stage, I haven’t listened to the second disc of the deluxe edition yet. But disc one does sound fuller and crisper compared to the 1999 remaster.
But it has also been a terrific year for Dio Related stuff! As far as I am concerned the remasters of Holy Diver, Last In Line and Sacred Heart, the Record Store Day picture vinyl discs of Long Live Rock N Roll and the first ELF album as well as the Dio Singles Box set and the Very Beast Of Dio Vol. 2 are all the perfect gifts for the Dio fan this holiday season!
George
November 28, 2012 at 21:47