Long Live Rock 'n' Roll

For the Kraljevski Apartman album, see Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (Kraljevski Apartman album).
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Studio album by Rainbow
Released 9 April 1978
Recorded The Strawberry Studio, Château d'Hérouville, France, May–July & December 1977
Genre Heavy metal, hard rock
Length 39:27
Label Polydor
Producer Martin Birch
Rainbow chronology
Rising
(1976)		 Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
(1978)		 Down to Earth
(1979)
Singles from Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
  1. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" / "Sensitive to Light"
    Released: March 1978
  2. "L.A. Connection" / "Lady of the Lake"
    Released: September 1978

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll is the third studio album released by the British hard rock band Rainbow, released in 1978, and the last to feature original lead vocalist Ronnie James Dio.

History

Recording of the album commenced in April 1977 at a studio in Château d'Hérouville, France, featuring Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio and Cozy Powell. Keyboards were initially played on a session basis by former Rainbow member Tony Carey, while bass parts were started by Mark Clarke.[1] Clarke was soon dismissed, however, and the bass parts were recorded by Blackmore himself. By July 1977 seven tracks that ended on the album were in demo form. Recording was suspended while the band recruited Bob Daisley and David Stone and thereafter commenced extensive touring of Europe in the summer and fall of 1977. A return to the Château d'Hérouville studio in December saw the band finish the album and also yielded a final track, "Gates of Babylon."

Although Daisley and Stone are listed on the album credits for their contributions, they joined the band partway through the recording sessions and only appear on three and four songs, respectively. Stone wrote parts of "Gates of Babylon" but was never credited. Blackmore played most of the bass parts on the album.

"Kill the King" was already a staple part of the tour setlists, opening Rainbow concerts since mid-1976. It first appeared on the live album On Stage in 1977. In the 1977–78 concerts the title track and "Kill the King" were the only songs performed, although "L.A. Connection" did get a few airings on the US tour before being dropped from the set. From 2004 to his death in 2010, Dio's solo shows featured a live version of "Gates of Babylon."

Artwork

The original vinyl release was in a gatefold-sleeve, with a lyric-sheet insert. The crowd picture is actually from a Rush concert, with the wording on the banner the fans were actually holding replaced by the Rainbow album title and the visible Rush T-shirts airbrushed to black. [2]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Sputnikmusic[4]

Geoff Ginsberg of AllMusic wrote that Long Live Rock 'n' Roll "would turn out to be the last great album Rainbow would ever make, although they did enjoy a great deal of chart success in the post-Dio era."[3]

Notable reissues

1999
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll was remastered on CD for the US market in April 1999, with the European version following later. The US version had a matte booklet/insert, which matched the original vinyl sleeve for all markets, whereas the European issue was the standard glossy type.
2009
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll Story, an album and a book about the making of the LP was released in June 2009 in the "Rock Landmarks" series. The inlay story was written by Jerry Bloom, author of Black Knight, a Ritchie Blackmore's biography.
2012
On 12 April 2012 a picture disc album version of Long Live Rock 'n' Roll was released in the US as part of Record Store Day 2012.
A deluxe edition version was released on 13 November in Europe, featuring rough demos of the album tracks from July 1977, with the exception of "Gates of Babylon" which was written later.

Cover versions

Track listings

All songs written by Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio except where noted. All lyrics by Dio.[5]

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"   4:21
2. "Lady of the Lake"   3:39
3. "L.A. Connection"   5:02
4. "Gates of Babylon"   6:49
Side two
No. TitleMusic Length
5. "Kill the King"  Blackmore, Dio, Cozy Powell 4:29
6. "The Shed (Subtle)"  Blackmore, Dio, Powell 4:47
7. "Sensitive to Light"    3:07
8. "Rainbow Eyes"    7:11

2012 Deluxe Edition

Disc one contains the original album with no bonus tracks

Disc two
No. TitleOriginal source Length
1. "Lady of the Lake"  Rough mix, 4 July 1977 3:50
2. "Sensitive to Light"  Rough mix, 4 July 1977 3:03
3. "L.A. Connection"  Rough mix, 4 July 1977 5:33
4. "Kill the King"  Rough mix, 4 July 1977 4:27
5. "The Shed (Subtle)"  Rough mix, 4 July 1977 3:36
6. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"  Rough mix, 4 July 1977 4:19
7. "Rainbow Eyes"  Rough mix, 4 July 1977 6:55
8. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"  Shepperton Film Studios rehearsal, August 1977 6:56
9. "Kill the King"  Shepperton Film Studios rehearsal, August 1977 4:42
10. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll"  Live on the Don Kirschner Show, May 1978 3:31
11. "L.A. Connection"  Live on the Don Kirschner Show, May 1978 5:10
12. "Gates of Babylon"  Live on the Don Kirschner Show, May 1978 6:35
13. "L.A. Connection"  Outtake from the Don Kirschner Show, May 1978 5:11
14. "Gates of Babylon"  Outtake from the Don Kirschner Show, May 1978 6:43

Personnel

Rainbow
Additional musicians
Production

Singles

These two singles were also re-released in the UK in July 1981. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" was also used for many years as a jingle by the British radio DJ Alan Freeman.

Charts

Album
Year Chart Position
1978 UK Albums Chart[6] 7
GfK Dutch Charts[7] 11
Norwegian Albums Charts[8] 12
Swedish Albums Chart[9] 18
German Albums Chart[10] 26
Billboard 200 (USA)[11] 89
RPM100 Albums (Canada)[12] 94
2013 Oricon Japanese Albums Charts[13] 72

Singles
Year Title Chart Position
1978 "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" UK Singles Chart[6] 33
"L.A. Connection" 40

Certifications

Country Organization Year Sales
UK BPI 1978 Silver (+ 60,000)[14]

Covers

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Record Collector United Kingdom "Classic Albums from 21 Genres for the 21st Century"[16] 2000 No order
Classic Rock United Kingdom "The 100 Greatest Rock Albums of All Times"[17] 2001 29
Rock Hard Germany "Top 300 Albums"[17] 2001 105

References

  1. ↑ Saulnier, Jason (1 June 2010). "Tony Carey Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  2. ↑ Classic Rock magazine, September 2002.
  3. 1 2 Ginsberg, Geoff. "Rainbow Long Live Rock 'n' Roll review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  4. ↑ Diver, Holy. "Rainbow Long Live Rock 'n' Roll review". Sputnikmusic. Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  5. ↑ Ritchie Blackmore Book Review
  6. 1 2 "Rainbow Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  7. ↑ "Rainbow – Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (album)". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  8. ↑ "Rainbow – Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (album)". Norwegiancharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  9. ↑ "Rainbow – Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  10. ↑ "Album – Rainbow, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  11. ↑ "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  12. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 29, No. 16, July 15, 1978". Library and Archives Canada. 15 July 1978. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  13. ↑ レインボー レインボーのアルバム売り上げランキング (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  14. ↑ "Search for Artist Rainbow". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  15. ↑ Secret Voyage @ SPV
  16. ↑ "Classic Albums from 21 Genres for the 21st Century.". Record Collector (245). January 2000. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  17. 1 2 "Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll". Acclaimed Music.net. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
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