RITCHIE BLACKMORE’S RAINBOW – Memories In Rock II (2018)

In 2017 Ritchie Blackmore returned with RAINBOW and his harder rock hat on to a series of arena shows in the UK. An album titled ‘Memories In Rock’ was released, now comes part 2 “Memories In Rock II” in a handsome CD/DVD package.

As fans are no doubt aware, “Memories in Rock II” follows 2016’s Memories in Rock, which collected performances from Blackmore’s highly touted “return to rock” for a handful of shows with a rejiggered Rainbow lineup that year.
The set-list, combining classic tracks from both Deep Purple and Rainbow, was exactly what the fans have requested most and will be found in this double CD package.

It also includes a brand new Rainbow song, ‘Waiting For A Sign’. This is the first new Rainbow single released since 1996, featuring Ritchie Blackmore on guitar and Ronnie Romero on vocals.

Among the highlights, we do get re-arranged versions of the hits ‘I Surrender’ and ‘All Night Long’ which were omitted from the early setlists. The Jon Lord-tribute ‘Carry On Jon’ and ‘Temple Of the King’ are also added.
As you might expect there’s a fair amount of noodling – ‘Mistreated’ for example breaks down half way through with Blackmore’s reflective touches.
Ditto ‘Difficult To Cure’, a showcase for Johansson keyboards, and ‘Black Night’ drummer David Keith’s spotlight. 

With more gigs lined up for 2018 perhaps Ritchie will dig deeper into the back catalogue.
This “Memories In Rock II”, as the previous one, showcases Ritchie’s rock side again, and I love it.
The Rainbow legacy lives on.

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 (new studio track)

Ronnie Romero Vocals
Ritchie Blackmore – Guitar
Jens Johanssen – Keyboards
Bob Nouveau – Bass
David Keith – Drums
Candice Night, Lady Lynn – Backing vocals

Pre Order:
www.amazon.co.uk/Memories-Rock-II-2CD-DVD/dp/B079JPNZ6X
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