Rainbow - Down To Earth (1979)

Question: how do you go about replacing Ronnie James Dio? Answer: recruit a short haired bit-part actor and ex-member of 1960s obscurities The Marbles, Graham Bonnet! What an inspired move that proved to be too with Graham Bonnet providing his considerable vocal talent to a ‘new’ commercial-edged Rainbow – gone were the dragons, rainbows and mythology of the Dio era and in came shorter, chart-friendly numbers enabling Rainbow to trouble the upper echelons of the UK chart for the first time with All Night Long and Since You’ve Been Gone reaching numbers 5 and 6 respectively.

Whilst Rainbow had previously been a reasonably well-kept secret of the rock fraternity, now they became more mainstream – a move that gathered apace following Down To Earth. Quite why Down To Earth was to be Bonnet’s debut and swansong (as well as signalling Cozy Powell’s departure) I’m not overly certain but the album contains some classic tracks – including the sublime Makin’ Love.

Bonnet sings his heart out giving full reign to his staggering range while the Airey-Powell-Glover backing was one of the strongest lineups Rainbow was to enjoy: Blackmore, as ever, is consistently good throughout.

This was also the first Rainbow album to reunite Richie Blackmore with ex-Deep Purple band-mate Roger Glover who undertook production duties and co-wrote the majority of the tracks which also helped the band transition from heavy rock to commercial melodic rock. Notable is the absence of writing credits for Graham Bonnet who, with his post-Rainbow band Alcatrazz, co-wrote all the tracks: even Cozy Powell gets a writing credit here on Lost In Hollywood – possibly for the drum roll at the beginning one wonders?

As with the follow-up, Difficult To Cure, this album represents Rainbow at the peak of their popularity.

• Graham Bonnet – Vocals
• Ritchie Blackmore – Guitar
• Don Airey – Keyboards
• Roger Glover – Bass
• Cozy Powell – Drums