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.
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. 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 "Kill the King", "Gates of Babylon", and the title track.
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.
Release and reception
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."
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 mixes of the album tracks from July 1977, with the exception of "Gates of Babylon" which was written later.
In 2016 "Lady of the Lake" was recorded by a metal band Lords of Black fronted by Rainbow singer Ronnie Romero. The song was released as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their album II.
In 2014 "Kill the King" was covered by Metallica as one of the four Rainbow songs covered in the "Ronnie Rising Medley", released on the Ronnie James Dio tribute album "This Is Your Life". It was later featured as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of Metallica's album "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct".
All songs written by Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio except where noted. All lyrics by Dio.
Disc one contains the original album with no bonus tracks
Rainbow
Ronnie James Dio – lead vocals
Ritchie Blackmore – guitars, bass (also bass on rough mix tracks 1–6, 2012 Deluxe Edition)
Cozy Powell – drums, percussion
Bob Daisley – bass on "Gates of Babylon", "Kill the King", and "Sensitive to Light"
David Stone – keyboards on "Gates of Babylon", "Kill the King", "The Shed". Piano outro on "L.A. Connection"
Tony Carey – keyboards on "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll", "Lady of the Lake", and "Rainbow Eyes" (2012 Deluxe Edition rough mix only)
Additional musicians
Bavarian String Ensemble conducted by Rainer Pietsch on "Gates of Babylon"
Ferenc Kiss, Nico Nicolic – violins on "Rainbow Eyes"
Ottmar Machan - viola on "Rainbow Eyes"
Karl Heinz Feit – cello on "Rainbow Eyes"
Rudi Risavy – flute on "Rainbow Eyes"
Production
Martin Birch - producer and engineer
Max Hecker - classical instruments recording engineer
Bruce Payne - direction
Recorded at The Strawberry Studio at Château d'Hérouville, France, May–July and December 1977
1978 – "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll / Sensitive to Light"
1978 – "L.A. Connection / Lady of the Lake"
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.
Dream Theater when known as Majesty played "Gates of Babylon" in their earliest live shows in 1986.
American band Heathen covered "Kill the King" on their album Victims of Deception (1991), as did bands Stratovarius, Liege Lord, Primal Fear, Grave Digger and others.
Finnish band Tarot covered "Kill the King" on their first live album To Live Again (1994).
Swedish band Tad Morose covered "Gates of Babylon" on their album Sender of Thoughts (1995).
Yngwie J. Malmsteen covered "Gates of Babylon" on his album Inspiration (1996).
Serbian heavy metal band Kraljevski Apartman recorded a cover version of the song "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" with lyrics in Serbian on their 1997 debut album Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1997).
Serbian band Osvajači recorded a cover version of the song "Rainbow Eyes" entitled "Tragovi" on their 1999 album Vrelina.
Fictitious band Steel Dragon also covered the song "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" for the 2001 movie Rock Star.
Finnish band Stratovarius did a cover of "Kill the King" as a B-Side to the "Father Time" Single/EP, as well as being released on their compilation album Intermission (2001).
German band Gamma Ray did a cover of "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" on the 2002 reissue of their album Power Plant.
Spanish folk metal band Mägo de Oz recorded a cover version of "Rainbow Eyes" on their album Finisterra (2000) entitled "Es hora de marchar" (It's Time To Go) with lyrics in Spanish.
Spanish folk metal band Mägo de Oz recorded a cover version of "Gates of Babylon" on their album Gaia II: La Voz Dormida (2005) entitled "En Nombre de Dios" (In God's Name).
Blackmore's Night did a folk rock arrangement of "Rainbow Eyes" for their 2008 album Secret Voyage.
American band Twisted Sister covered "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" during their 2010 summer concerts in memory of Ronnie James Dio.
Candlemass, an epic-doom metal band from Sweden, performed a cover of "Kill the King" in recent shows and live albums like Ashes to Ashes (2010).
Adrenaline Mob, the band featuring Mike Portnoy (ex Dream Theater) Russel Allen (Symphony X) and John Moyer (Disturbed) covered "Kill the King" on their 2013 release Covertà.
United States Heavy Metal Band Liege Lord recorded a cover of "Kill the King" on their 1988 release Master Control.
American Thrash Metal band Metallica covered the song "Kill the King", along with the other Rainbow songs "Tarot Woman" and "Stargazer" under the name "Ronnie Rising" for the Ronnie James Dio Tribute album, This is Your Life
Spanish metal band Lords of Black featuring Rainbow singer Ronnie Romero recorded "Lady of the Lake" as a Japanese bonus track for their second album in 2016.
