1. A British rock band.<… Read Full Bio ↴Rainbow is the name of at least four bands:
1. A British rock band.
2. A K-Pop group (레인보우).
3. A U.S. psychedelic rock band.
4. Mid-80's Hi-NRG project.
1. Rainbow was a British rock band formed by Deep Purple founder and former guitarist Ritchie Blackmore in 1975. In addition to Blackmore, the band originally consisted of former Elf lead singer Ronnie James Dio, bassist Craig Gruber, drummer Gary Driscoll, and keyboardist Micky Lee Soule. Over the years, Rainbow went through many lineup changes. including bringing in other vocalists Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner, before it folded in 1999.
The name of the band was inspired by the Rainbow Bar and Grill, a Los Angeles, California eatery which catered to rock stars, groupies, and rock enthusiasts. It was here that Ritchie spent some of his off time from Deep Purple and met Dio, whose band Elf had toured regularly as an opening act for Deep Purple. Blackmore originally got together with Dio to record "Black Sheep of the Family" as a single, and it turned out so well they needed a B side; when the B side was recorded, however, it turned out to be even better. This led to them recording an album, and that effort caused the formation of the entire band. Rainbow's debut album, 'Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow', was released in 1975; it featured the minor hit "Man on the Silver Mountain".
Blackmore fired everybody except Dio shortly after the album was recorded. He recruited drummer Cozy Powell (formerly of the Jeff Beck Group), bassist Jimmy Bain, and keyboard player Tony Carey. This lineup went on to record the album 'Rising', which was released in May 1976 and was a big success in the U.S. (hitting #48 on the Billboard 200 chart).
For the next album, 1978's 'Long Live Rock 'n' Roll', Blackmore kept Powell and Dio and replaced the rest of the band. Blackmore had difficulty finding a bass player for this record, so he played bass himself on all but three songs ("Gates of Babylon", "Kill the King", and "Sensitive to Light"). After the release and supporting tour, Dio left Rainbow.
Blackmore continued with Rainbow, replacing Dio with ex-Marbles vocalist Graham Bonnet. Powell stayed and was joined by former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover and keyboardist Don Airey. The first album from the new lineup, 1979's 'Down to Earth', featured the band's first single successes: "All Night Long" and "Since You Been Gone". Bonnet possessed a powerful voice on stage, yet he struggled with the band's quieter numbers and lacked Dio's range. In 1980, the band headlined the inaugural Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington in England. This was Powell's final performance with Rainbow.
The next album saw yet another line-up change as Bonnet and Powell were replaced by Joe Lynn Turner and Bobby Rondinelli, respectively. The title track from their 1981 album, 'Difficult to Cure', notably was a version of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The album also contained the guitar-driven piece "Maybe Next Time". Although facing mixed success commercially, the Difficult to Cure tour was the first tour in which Rainbow headlined in the U.S.
Rainbow's next studio album was 'Straight between the Eyes'. The band added a new keyboardist, David Rosenthal. The album was more cohesive than 'Difficult to Cure' and had more success in the U.S. The band, however, was alienating some of its earlier fans with its more slick, arena rock based sound. The single "Stone Cold", a popular power ballad, had some chart success and has since been included in several multi-artist collaboration albums. The successful supporting tour skipped the U.K. completely and focused on the U.S. market.
1983's 'Bent Out of Shape' saw drummer Rondinelli fired in favour of Chuck Burgi. The album featured the single "Street of Dreams". The song's video was banned by MTV for its supposedly controversial hypnotic video clip. The resulting tour saw Rainbow return to the U.K. and also to Japan, where the band performed with a full orchestra. Though fans greatly enjoyed the band's lively touring, the band's material was getting mixed critical reviews, and its members had a sense of needing to find direction.
By the early to mid-80s, Blackmore and Glover had reformed the Deep Purple "Mark II" lineup, and Rainbow was disbanded in 1984. A final Rainbow album, 'Finyl Vinyl', was patched together from live tracks and B-sides of singles. This album contained the instrumental "Weiss Heim", made widely available for the first time.
After Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple for the final time in 1993, he put together a new version of Rainbow in 1994, this time named Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. This incarnation of the band included Doogie White (vocals), Paul Morris (keyboards), Greg Smith (bass), and John O'Reilly (drums).
The new band released Stranger in Us All in 1995 and embarked on an extensive world tour to promote it from late 1995 to late 1997. For the tour John O'Reilly was replaced by Chuck Burgi and then by John Micelli for the U.S. leg of the tour (as well as their final show in Esbjerg, Denmark).
The tour proved very successful, and a show in Germany was professionally filmed by Rockpalast. It has never officially been released, but has been heavily bootleged. The live shows featured frequent changes in set lists and musical improvisations that proved popular with bootleggers, and many shows are still traded over a decade later.
However, fed up with stadium rock, Blackmore turned his attention to rennaisance and mediaeval music, a lifelong interest of his. Rainbow was put on hold once again and played its final concert in Denmark in 1999. Blackmore, together with his partner Candice Night as vocalist, then formed the renaissance-influenced Blackmore's Night.
2. Rainbow, the tag for all releases by the K-Pop group 레인보우, responsible for tracks: "A", "Gossip Girl", "Mach", and about a dozen more.
3. One of any number of Los Angeles, U.S.A.groups of their time (1968), Rainbow's best-known LP was After the Storm The album's one cover is a take with saxophone of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You". The lineup was: Darrell Devlin (drums), Bob Gay (bass),
W. David Mohr (keyboards), and Harry Vavela (guitars).
4. Rainbow was a short-lived Hi-NRG project by Allan Coelho (of Tapps and more) that released only one single, Humpty Dumpty, in 1986.
Black Masquerade
Rainbow Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Feelings you hide never wanting me to find they've always been mine
Release all the madness within let it all begin
Now you'll see, the dark side of me
In our black masquerade
Let the moonlight surround you
The game that we play is
The black masquerade
And the cruel world takes its toll
The shadow is cast on who you used to be
Let me set you free
Come now, come take my hand, then you'll understand
We'll go to that forbidden land
Of our black masquerade
Let the darkness surround you
The game that we play is the black masquerade
Release all the madness within, let it all begin
We'll go to that forbidden land
Come let me take you there
Let the moonlight surround you
Don't be afraid, it's the black masquerade
The song "Black Masquerade" by Rainbow is a dark, mysterious and seductive song. The lyrics suggest that the singer knows the secrets that are hidden within the listener's soul, and wants to free them. The first verse talks about hidden feelings that the listener has been keeping locked within themselves, but the singer knows they are there and they have always belonged to him/her. This is followed by the chorus, which is the invitation to a game called "The Black Masquerade." The game is enticing because it surrounds the listeners with darkness, but also liberates them from the weight of their secrets.
Line by Line Meaning
I know the key to secrets never told, they're hidden in your soul
I am aware of the secrets that you keep hidden deep inside your soul.
Feelings you hide never wanting me to find they've always been mine
The feelings that you try to hide from me have always been known to me.
Release all the madness within let it all begin
Let go of all your fears and unleash your inner madness.
Now you'll see, the dark side of me
You will finally witness the hidden and darker side of me.
In our black masquerade
We will both be disguised and hidden in a secretive event.
Let the moonlight surround you
Feel the light of the moon shining and guiding you.
The game that we play is the black masquerade
We are playing a game of hidden identities and secrets.
The full moon unmasks the stranger in us all
The full moon reveals the stranger side of every individual.
And the cruel world takes its toll
The harsh reality of the world can be overwhelming and exhausting.
The shadow is cast on who you used to be
The shadow of the past can affect the person you have become.
Let me set you free
Let me help you break free from the chains of your past.
Come now, come take my hand, then you'll understand
Join me and take my hand to fully comprehend what lies ahead.
We'll go to that forbidden land
We will venture to the mysterious and undisclosed place.
Of our black masquerade
The event where we are both disguised and hidden.
Let the darkness surround you
The darkness will consume you and guide you forward.
Don't be afraid, it's the black masquerade
Do not be scared, embrace the secrets and the mystery of the event.
Release all the madness within, let it all begin
Allow yourself to let go of all the fears and let the madness begin.
We'll go to that forbidden land
We will both explore the mysterious and restricted place.
Come let me take you there
Allow me to lead and guide you to that place.
Let the moonlight surround you
Embrace the light and guidance of the moon.
Don't be afraid, it's the black masquerade
Do not let fear consume you, rather fully indulge in the mystery and secrets of the event.
Contributed by Anthony H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.