LONG LIVE ROCK & ROLL

Their third album in and still going strongly. Was this a great idea, or what? But really, this album, especially when you're hearing the title track, has traveled a distance from the wizard rock of a couple years prior. That, but 'Lady of the Lake' kicks Led Zeppelin to the curb, primarily because I always respected Blackmore's chops a little more than Page's; and Plant was always just a flighty airhead. 'L.A. Connectoin stomps along with a thick, head-banging riff'. They don't completely eschew dragons and monsters and sorceries, though. The album's highlight, 'Kill the King', which is a real ass-kicking monster of a song, rather makes Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin all look rather pale by rock 'attack' comparisons. It smashes, it crashes, the solo is ridiculous ? the guitar flurry beats you over the head and just doesn't let up. It's like a rapid-fire sequel to Man on the Silver Mountain sped up until it melts your face off. If anything, LLR&R is the most consistently pleasing album from Dio era Rainbow (and we'll happily ignore everything else). 'The Shed' is Ritchie's excuse to showcase what makes him so damn popular in the first place. 'Gates of Babylon' acts as a reformed counterpart to Rising's Stargazer, and is the first of two epics on the album. They outdo Zeppelin once again. The second epic, 'Rainbow eyes' is the band taking a shot at King Crimson's I Talk to Wind (and failing, but that's more than okay?because you can fail at shooting down KC and still have succeeded in your own right), but I'll tell you what ? when it comes to 1970's heavy metal, there's no stretch of albums I'd take by any band over the first three Rainbow albums, and out of those three, the debut is the most diverse, Rising is the most hard rocking, and Long Live is the most consistent, if it indeed lacks a true highlight like Silver Mountain or Stargazer. If you have any real interest in the birth of metal, then go ahead and get yourself all three.

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