The Rainbow legacy lives on!
Released by Minstrel Hall Music on 9 March 2018 and reviewed by Angelina Pelova
After Stranger In Us All (1995), it felt like the iconic Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow was gone forever. While Doogie White continued with his own career, Blackmore’s medieval projects with wife Candice Knight seemed to reaffirm my impression that the band had chosen to stop there and become an untouchable bright star in the sky of rock history. For Rainbow fans like me who weren’t old enough when the band was in its full glory, the hope to ever see them live became utopic.
This is why their unexpected 2015 reunion somehow seemed too good to be true. While enjoying the news, I didn’t dare believe that Rainbow had any future. After all, Blackmore continued with his solo projects, and hope still seemed lost. A couple of weeks ago, the impossible happened: Rainbow released a brand new single… after 13 long years. Does this mark a new era, Ronnie Romero’s? Only time will tell. For now, all we have is this one single: ‘Waiting For A Sign’.
And what a single it is! This is a typical, classical Rainbow track. Hadn’t you known who performed it, you would have guessed. Blackmore has shown us all that first class rock’n’roll still runs in his veins. Simple, yet brilliant, this track is the perfect teaser: reminds you how quietly unique Rainbow are, takes you down Memory Lane (by simply being themselves) to show you they are still as amazing as ever, and makes you want more.
A slow, steady, rhythmical song, with a catchy tune, lyrics not too elaborate, it gives Romero the opportunity to claim his space as Rainbow’s new vocalist and frontman. Those who have seen him in action will agree with me: he is a truly perfect match for the band, fully capable of vocally covering and revisiting the heritage of all Rainbow singers before him. In this song, his voice sounds hoarse, restrained, and emotional: as if to enact the exasperation of a man waiting out there in the cold for hours and driven to insanity, waiting for a sign.
The vocalist is not the only main character in this song. He duets with the familiar genius of Blackmore’s guitar. It has its own role, emotional and expressive, as amazing as ever. He makes it all sound like a piece of cake, and his talent makes the flow of the song seem effortless. The guitar solos are ample and become more intricate as the track goes on. Towards the end, when the music gradually fades away, the guitar sounds more and more delicious; with that instantly recognisable signature Rainbow sound… but the song has finished, and it makes you shout: “Encore! More! More!”
It doesn’t seem fair that all we got is only one song. But it gives us hope that there might be more to come.
This track will feature in Rainbow’s forthcoming new album based on their 2017 UK concerts, Memories In Rock II Live 2 CD/DVD out on 6th April (and can be ordered here). It will contain unique backstage videos: interviews and impromptu footage with the whole band and the crew behind the gigs. The producers promise this will be the most unique Rainbow package ever released with the set-list chosen by the fans.
What the promotional materials claim is true: The Rainbow legacy lives on! And this is our chance to become part of Rainbow’s history – past and present…
