Down to Earth (Rainbow album)

The writing of Down to Earth began at Ritchie Blackmore's house in Connecticut in January 1979.{{cite AV media notes |title= Down to Earth (Deluxe Edition) |title-link=Down to Earth (Rainbow album) |others= Rainbow |year=2011 |first=Jerry |last=Bloom |type=CD booklet |publisher=Polydor Records |location=London, UK }} By that time, he had dismissed both bassist Bob Daisley and keyboardist David Stone before singer Ronnie James Dio quit the band.{{cite web | url = http://guitarinternational.com/2013/04/14/roger-glover-talks-about-deep-purple-ronnie-james-and-ritchie-blackmore/ | title = Roger Glover Talks About Deep Purple, Ronnie James Dio and Ritchie Blackmore | access-date = 2013-12-08 | last = Cavuoto | first = Robert | publisher = Guitar International.com}} Blackmore had already recruited his old Deep Purple bandmate Roger Glover as producer and started auditioning musicians for the vacant slots in the band, while songwriting progressed with Blackmore, Cozy Powell and session bassist Clive Chaman. The songs were largely written by Blackmore and Glover. "It was a great opportunity for me, and why should I bear a grudge? (about being dismissed from Purple in 1973) " recalled Glover. "I'm a huge Ritchie fan. Some of my biggest influences have come from him."{{cite magazine|first=Paul|last=Rees|title=To Infinity… and Beyond?|magazine=Classic Rock #234|date=April 2017|page=40}}

By early 1979, Blackmore had recruited keyboardist Don Airey – a suggestion from Powell – and considered Peter Goalby of Trapeze, as well as another old Deep Purple bandmate Ian Gillan, to replace Dio.{{Cite book |title=Black Knight – The Ritchie Blackmore Story |first=Jerry |last=Bloom |publisher=Omnibus Press |year=2006|pages=227–229 |isbn = 978-1846097577}} In April 1979, Jack Green of The Pretty Things was hired as new bass player for the recording sessions at Château Pelly de Cornfeld, in the countryside of Southern France, but he did not stay for long. Producer Glover ended up playing bass on the album and provided lyrics for all songs. While auditions for the new singer proceeded, Glover tracked down ex-Marbles singer Graham Bonnet, who auditioned in France and was immediately hired.

During song composition, Bonnet composed his vocal melodies although his contributions remained uncredited.{{cite news |title=GRAHAM BONNET Talks RAINBOW, MSG And ALCATRAZZ in New Interview |date=19 November 2010 |work=Blabbermouth.net |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=149691 |access-date=17 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121171435/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=149691 |archive-date=21 November 2010 |url-status=dead }} His vocals were not recorded with the other tracks in France, but later at Kingdom Sound Studios in Long Island, when all other recording sessions were completed. Down to Earth is the only Rainbow album to feature Bonnet, though he was still part of the band when writing for Difficult to Cure began.

Also recorded for the proposed next single, but unreleased due to Bonnet's departure, was "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". Bonnet had previously recorded this song for his first, eponymously titled, solo album in 1977. Rainbow's version was recorded in the studio in May 1980, during rehearsals for the Japanese leg of the Down to Earth tour. It was subsequently played live throughout that tour.

In 1980, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow headlined the inaugural Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington in England.{{cite web | url = http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/donington-1980.html | title = Monsters of Rock | access-date = 2013-12-08 | date = November 2009 |work=UK Rock Festivals.com }}

Songs from Down to Earth have been performed by Graham Bonnet at his solo shows, as well as at concerts performed with Don Airey (2001) and Joe Lynn Turner (2007).{{cn|date=April 2022}}

In the UK there was a limited edition clear vinyl LP release.

"Bad Girl", an outtake from the album sessions, was used as the B-side to the "Since You Been Gone" single. Similarly, "Weiss Heim", an instrumental recorded in Copenhagen in January 1980, was the B-side to "All Night Long".

A remastered CD reissue was released in May 1999, with packaging duplicating the original vinyl.

In 2011, a Deluxe Edition of the album was released, featuring a bonus disc with previously unreleased songs and instrumental versions of the basic tracks.

{{Album reviews

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/down-to-earth-mw0000196706 | title = Rainbow Down to Earth review | access-date = 2013-12-08 | last = Erlewine | first = Stephen Thomas | author-link = Stephen Thomas Erlewine | publisher = AllMusic }}

| rev2 = PopMatters

| rev2score = 7/10{{citation | url = http://www.popmatters.com/review/139066-down-to-earth-deluxe-edition/ | title = Rainbow: Down to Earth (Deluxe Edition) | access-date = 2013-12-08 | last = Begrand | first = Adrien | date = 28 April 2011 | publisher = PopMatters}}

| rev3 = Record Collector

| rev3score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite journal | title = Rainbow – Down to Earth: Deluxe Edition | journal = Record Collector | date = March 2011 | first = William | last = Pinfold | issue = 386| url = http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/down-to-earthdeluxe-edition | access-date = 2013-12-09}}

}}

AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine defines the album "a fine hard rock platter", which "might not offer anything unique, but it delivers the goods." He criticizes mostly Bonnet's vocals, but praises "the guitar artistry and mystical sensibility of Ritchie Blackmore", who "sounds invigorated on the album". PopMatters{{'}} Adrien Begrand, reviewing the 2011 Deluxe Edition, remarks how Down to Earth "is somewhat underrated compared to the towering Dio discography, but it remains a strong outing 31 years later", even with "the new material sounding so much more stripped-down compared to the overtly epic heavy metal arrangements of Dio-era Rainbow". The songs are "eight searing, hooky hard rockers", remarkably rendered by Bonnet's performance and energy. The album "is perhaps the most divisive record in Rainbow’s catalogue" according to Record Collector reviewer, because of "Blackmore's single-minded pursuit of mainstream success" and the departure from the sound of preceding albums. He adds that this is a "strong" album with many "classic radio" staples, but the second disc of the Deluxe Edition does not add anything essential to the listening experience.

In 2005, Down to Earth was ranked number 431 in Rock Hard{{'}}s book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.{{cite book|title=Best of Rock & Metal – Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten|year=2005|publisher=Rock Hard|language=de|isbn=3-89880-517-4|page=36}}

In an interview with Sounds in 1979,Sounds magazine, 15 December 1979 Blackmore said: "I have so much respect for classical musicians that when I listen to myself I think, oh, that's nonsense. I can put down other people's music because the fact is I put down my own music and say it's rubbish. A lot of it is- not all of it- "No Time to Lose" definitely is but "Eyes of the World" is OK. But a good deal of it is a waste of time."

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| all_writing = Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover, except where noted

| title1 = All Night Long

| length1 = 3:53

| title2 = Eyes of the World

| length2 = 6:42

| title3 = No Time to Lose

| length3 = 3:45

| title4 = Makin' Love

| length4 = 4:38

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title5 = Since You Been Gone

| writer5 = Russ Ballard

| length5 = 3:25

| title6 = Love's No Friend

| length6 = 4:55

| title7 = Danger Zone

| length7 = 4:31

| title8 = Lost in Hollywood

| writer8 = Blackmore, Glover, Cozy Powell

| length8 = 4:51

| total_length = 36:40

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Disc one

| title1 = All Night Long

| length1 = 3:53

| title2 = Eyes of the World

| length2 = 6:42

| title3 = No Time to Lose

| length3 = 3:45

| title4 = Makin' Love

| length4 = 4:38

| title5 = Since You Been Gone

| writer5 = Russ Ballard

| length5 = 3:25

| title6 = Love's No Friend

| length6 = 4:55

| title7 = Danger Zone

| length7 = 4:31

| title8 = Lost in Hollywood

| writer8 = Blackmore, Glover, Cozy Powell

| length8 = 4:51

| title9 = Bad Girl

| note9 = B-side of "Since You Been Gone", 1979

| length9 = 4:51

| title10 = Weiss Heim

| note10 = B-side of "All Night Long", 1980

| writer10 = Blackmore

| length10 = 5:15

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Disc two

| title1 = All Night Long

| note1 = instrumental outtake

| length1 = 4:43

| title2 = Eyes of the World

| note2 = instrumental outtake

| length2 = 6:52

| title3 = Spark Don't Mean a Fire

| length3 = 3:52

| title4 = Makin' Love

| note4 = instrumental outtake

| length4 = 4:46

| title5 = Since You Been Gone

| note5 = instrumental outtake

| length5 = 4:02

| title6 = Ain't a Lot of Love in the Heart of Me

| length6 = 5:00

| title7 = Danger Zone

| note7 = instrumental outtake

| length7 = 5:31

| title8 = Lost in Hollywood

| note8 = instrumental outtake

| length8 = 4:03

| title9 = Bad Girl

| note9 = instrumental outtake

| length9 = 5:04

| title10 = Ain't a Lot of Love in the Heart of Me

| note10 = alternative outtake

| length10 = 5:23

| title11 = Eyes of the World

| note11 = instrumental outtake

| length11 = 6:11

| title12 = All Night Long

| note12 = Cozy Powell mix

| length12 = 3:54

| total_length = 1:45:00

}}

;Rainbow

• Ritchie Blackmore – guitars
• Cozy Powell – drums, percussion
• Roger Glover – bass, backing vocals, producer
• Don Airey – keyboards, backing vocals
• Graham Bonnet – lead vocals

;Production

• Gary Edwards – engineer
• Michael Palmer, Leigh Mantle – assistant engineers
• Greg Calbi – mastering

{{certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|relyear=1979|region=United Kingdom|award=Gold|certyear=1979|artist=Rainbow|title= Down to Earth|id=1930-513-2|access-date=4 February 2021}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

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Category:1979 albums

Category:Rainbow (rock band) albums

Category:Albums produced by Roger Glover

Category:Polydor Records albums