For those not in the know, Rainbow (also known as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow or Blackmore's Rainbow) is a British rock band led by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, active from 1975 to 1984, from 1993 to 1997, and from 2015 to the present.

They were originally established with Ronnie James Dio's American rock band Elf, but after their first album, Blackmore fired the backing members and continued with Dio until 1979.

Three British musicians joined in 1979 — singer Graham Bonnet, keyboardist Don Airey and then former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover — and this line-up gave the band their commercial breakthrough with the single "Since You Been Gone".

Over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up. Other lead singers Joe Lynn Turner and Doogie White would follow, and the project consisted of numerous backing musicians.

A pioneer to power metal, the band's early work primarily featured mystical lyrics with a neoclassical metal style, but went in a more streamlined, commercial direction following Dio's departure from the group.

Following the successful 2016 shows in Germany (Monsters Of Rock) and the UK, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow played three British shows in June 2017, which were recorded for this set, the highly impressive, and musically sonic from start to finish, Memories in Rock II (2CD+DVD).

Together with Ronnie Romero (vocals), Jens Johansson (keys), Bob Nouveau (bass), David Keith (drums), Candice Night and Lady Lynn (backing vocals), the legendary guitarist performed a first-class mixture of classic Rainbow and Deep Purple tracks, which was exactly what the fans had requested.

CD 1:
1. 'Over the Rainbow'
2. 'Spotlight Kid'
3. 'I Surrender'
4. 'Mistreated'
5. 'Since You've Been Gone'
6. 'Man on the Silver Mountain / Woman from Tokyo'
7. '16th Century Greensleeves'
8. 'Soldier of Fortune'
9. 'Perfect Strangers'
10. 'Difficult to Cure'
11. 'All Night Long'
12. 'Child in Time'

CD 2:
1. 'Stargazer'
2. 'Long Live Rock'n'roll / Lazy'
3. 'Catch the Rainbow'
4. 'Black Night'
5. 'Carry on Jon'
6. 'Temple of the King'
7. 'Smoke on the Water'
8. 'Waiting for a Sign (Brand New Song)'

Releasing April 6th, 2018 via Minstrel Hall Music, Ritchie Blackmore's brilliant guitar work can never be duplicated and is clearly a highlight of every track, but there will also be many Dio, Bonnet or Turner fans who will be very pleasantly surprised - nay, convinced - by Ronnie Romero's incredibly powerful vocal performance.

Complete with all the profoundly loved and adored Deep Purple hits lovingly wrapped within the old school Rainbow cuts and the chart hits they had with Bonnett at the vocal helm, listening to new boy Ronnie Romero on vocals and wow, you can close your eyes and be listening to a man who sounds like he's been part of the Rainbow set up for 50 odd years!

A name put in front of ringleader supreme Ritchie Blackmore by his wife Candice one night whilst she was surfing YouTube, the trouble was at the time that Rainbow had dissolved as a musical entity for Blackmore. It was now all about Blackmore's Night with his beloved Candice.

But then it crossed Blackmore's mind that perhaps if he could resurrect a new version of Rainbow that Romero might well slot in rather perfectly. And listening to Romero sing all these classic hits and album cuts on this new CD, and watching his energy and passion for the project seep through his pores on the DVD, and you know that Blackmore made the right choice - for us all!

This quite brilliant new live collection, that blends audio recordings with live footage, also provides an hour of backstage interviews and behind-the-scenes moments, let alone that aforementioned brand new studio recording 'Waiting for a Sign.'

DVD:
Ritchie Blackmore Interview
Ronnie Romero Interview
Jens Johansson Interview
Bob Nouveau Interview
David Keith Interview
Candice Night Interview
Lady Lynn Interview
Dave David Interview
Andreas Bock Interview
Michael Bockmühl Interview
Bonus Backstage Clip
'I Surrender' 2017 - Backstage Clip

2CD+DVD Purchase Link

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow @ Facebook