PORTRAITS OF RAINBOW THE DIO YEARS

THERMONUCLEAR ROCKNROLL Portraits of Rainbow The Dio Years book is a photographic celebration of Ritchie Blackmores supergroup, formed in 1975 by the guitarist as he left Deep Purple and recruited four members of the band Elf, including singer Ronnie James Dio. However, the band really took off when Blackmore recruited Cozy Powell, Jimmy Bain and Tony Carey and recorded the seminal album Rising in 1976. Sounds writer Geoff Barton remembers: I marvelled at the fistthunderin maelstrom depicted on the cover, a pulsepoundin paintin by Ken (Kiss, Manowar) Kelly. I also offered the following description of the albums musical content: THERMONUCLEAR ROCKNROLL Rainbow were underway and although this less commercial variant of the band that went on to conquer the rock world in the 1980s was relatively shortlived it remains, for most fans, the definitive sound and image of Rainbow with the combination of Blackmore, Dio and Powell creating a powerful, progressive rock band.