What do you think?
Rate this book
Sensitive To Light: The Rainbow Story
The Man in Black!
His name is Ritchie Blackmore and his reputation is legion. But is it warranted? Find out now, as we look at the man’s career as reigning lord over the constantly evolving consortium of monster talents known as Rainbow.
Ronnie James Dio, Craig Gruber, Jimmy Bain, Tony Carey, Joe Lynn Turner, Graham Bonnet, Roger Glover, Bobby Rondinelli, Bob Daisley, Jimmy Bain, Doogie White and of course Ritchie himself. they all get their say through pages and pages of previously unpublished interview footage, on what makes the Man in Black tick, his pranks, his sly hirings and swift firings.
And of course, there’s the music. From the raw and fiery Dio years, through the criminally under-rated Down to Earth album, the smooth crooning Joe Lynn Turner era and into one final somewhat forgotten record fronted by Doogie White, it’s all examined here, track by track, fascinating tale by trick.
And let’s not forget, Rainbow is the band that wrote “Man on the Silver Mountain,” “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves,” “Stargazer,” “A Light in the Black,” “Tarot Woman,” “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “Gates Of Babylon,” “All Night Long,” “Eyes of the World,” “Spotlight Kid,” “Can’t Happen Here,” “Stone Cold,” “Street of Dreams,” “Can’t Let You Go” and “Hunting Humans,” and this is the book you should read to find out why!
His name is Ritchie Blackmore and his reputation is legion. But is it warranted? Find out now, as we look at the man’s career as reigning lord over the constantly evolving consortium of monster talents known as Rainbow.
Ronnie James Dio, Craig Gruber, Jimmy Bain, Tony Carey, Joe Lynn Turner, Graham Bonnet, Roger Glover, Bobby Rondinelli, Bob Daisley, Jimmy Bain, Doogie White and of course Ritchie himself. they all get their say through pages and pages of previously unpublished interview footage, on what makes the Man in Black tick, his pranks, his sly hirings and swift firings.
And of course, there’s the music. From the raw and fiery Dio years, through the criminally under-rated Down to Earth album, the smooth crooning Joe Lynn Turner era and into one final somewhat forgotten record fronted by Doogie White, it’s all examined here, track by track, fascinating tale by trick.
And let’s not forget, Rainbow is the band that wrote “Man on the Silver Mountain,” “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves,” “Stargazer,” “A Light in the Black,” “Tarot Woman,” “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “Gates Of Babylon,” “All Night Long,” “Eyes of the World,” “Spotlight Kid,” “Can’t Happen Here,” “Stone Cold,” “Street of Dreams,” “Can’t Let You Go” and “Hunting Humans,” and this is the book you should read to find out why!
318 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2019
8 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Martin Popoff
224 books247 followersAt approximately 7900 (with over 7000 appearing in his books), Martin has unofficially written more record reviews than anybody in the history of music writing across all genres. Additionally, Martin has penned approximately 85 books on hard rock, heavy metal, classic rock and record collecting. He was Editor-In-Chief of the now retired Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, Canada’s foremost metal publication for 14 years, and has also contributed to Revolver, Guitar World, Goldmine, Record Collector, bravewords.com, lollipop.com and hardradio.com, with many record label band bios and liner notes to his credit as well. Additionally, Martin has been a regular contractor to Banger Films, having worked for two years as researcher on the award-winning documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, on the writing and research team for the 11-episode Metal Evolution and on the ten-episode Rock Icons, both for VH1 Classic. Additionally, Martin is the writer of the original metal genre chart used in Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey and throughout the Metal Evolution episodes. Martin currently resides in Toronto and can be reached through martinp@inforamp.net or www.martinpopoff.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Read
October 5, 2024I ❤️ Ritchie Blackmore. Superstizioso, scontroso, introverso, giocherellone, menestrello, talent scout, insicuro, medievalista
January 10, 2022
Why the author chose to write a book about a band he has little good to say about baffles me. As a fan back in the day Rainbow Rising was generally regarded to be one of the greatest metal albums of all time certainly the best that the band made. Not though according to the author, the live shows with the Dio line ups were the stuff of legend every night was difference depending on the improvisation of Blackmore and his band mates, no this was boring according to the author who has very little good to say about the live On stage album, which is actually a very good album , if a little short on running time!
Long Live rock and roll doesn't fare much better and Martin Birch has not done a good job on these albums! possibly the greatest metal producer of them all. Not that Roger Glover fares much better. Actually Glover is the man who stands out amongst the interviewers here citing the Dio line up from the rising era as the best and that album been the standout. His description of Joe Lyn Turner as not a rock singer is spot on, he was a cabaret singer who got lucky RB must be one of the few people who thought the awful fandango were a good band.
This is the problem with the book JLT extensive interview dominates the book he is a bitter man who blames Glover for his departure from Deep Purple, he should never have been in the band by the way, Also accuses him of been jealous of the attention he got from the female audience!!
The decision to chase radio hits with awful songs like stone cold and street of dreams led the band from metal legends to 2nd division pop rock trying unsuccessfully to compete with Journey and Foreigner etc..
Blackmore not only lost his metal edge in the early 80s, it never returned when Purple reformed he was a shadow of the man that was the greatest of them all in the 70s his decision to publicly ridicule Gillan's live performance during the 93 reunion tour was the pot calling the kettle black his live performances were nothing like those of the past. I love the story about him been the only person who did not know the band had hired Satriani for the Japanese shows, that he refused to do, and he could not understand why the band weren't bothered that he was quitting!!
|Back to the book its garbage JLT gets far more credit than he deserves Roger said that he could never come up with something that was original, instead just doing a new take on something someone else had written again spot on. I suggest the author stick to writing about bands he knows something about, or actually likes there are lots of better books out there.
Long Live rock and roll doesn't fare much better and Martin Birch has not done a good job on these albums! possibly the greatest metal producer of them all. Not that Roger Glover fares much better. Actually Glover is the man who stands out amongst the interviewers here citing the Dio line up from the rising era as the best and that album been the standout. His description of Joe Lyn Turner as not a rock singer is spot on, he was a cabaret singer who got lucky RB must be one of the few people who thought the awful fandango were a good band.
This is the problem with the book JLT extensive interview dominates the book he is a bitter man who blames Glover for his departure from Deep Purple, he should never have been in the band by the way, Also accuses him of been jealous of the attention he got from the female audience!!
The decision to chase radio hits with awful songs like stone cold and street of dreams led the band from metal legends to 2nd division pop rock trying unsuccessfully to compete with Journey and Foreigner etc..
Blackmore not only lost his metal edge in the early 80s, it never returned when Purple reformed he was a shadow of the man that was the greatest of them all in the 70s his decision to publicly ridicule Gillan's live performance during the 93 reunion tour was the pot calling the kettle black his live performances were nothing like those of the past. I love the story about him been the only person who did not know the band had hired Satriani for the Japanese shows, that he refused to do, and he could not understand why the band weren't bothered that he was quitting!!
|Back to the book its garbage JLT gets far more credit than he deserves Roger said that he could never come up with something that was original, instead just doing a new take on something someone else had written again spot on. I suggest the author stick to writing about bands he knows something about, or actually likes there are lots of better books out there.
September 5, 2023
This is the second Popoff 'group retrospective' that I've read, following 'Wind of Change: The Scorpions Story' earlier in the year. I listed most of my frustrations in that review, so I was more prepared for what was to come in this edition.
It's very similar to the Scorpions edition, even with the similarity in name, this being 'Sensitive To Light', rather than 'Wind Of Change'. It lacks cohesion and can sometimes be a tough follow, although not particularly the fault of the author, but rather a result of circumstance with interviews and quotes cobbled together from various parties, some of which are unfortunately no longer with us. The 'roundtable' Album by Album books ease this cohesion, however, read more like a podcast than a book.
Nevertheless, an entertaining look at the story of Rainbow, filled with interesting insights, albeit some that I wasn't interested in, including practical pranks, seances, and all the rest of it, which I just skipped over. Personal preference here, possible that some others would dig this sort of stuff.
Inspired a listen of 'Down To Earth' and 'Difficult To Cure' this evening, so some good definitely came from the read.
It's very similar to the Scorpions edition, even with the similarity in name, this being 'Sensitive To Light', rather than 'Wind Of Change'. It lacks cohesion and can sometimes be a tough follow, although not particularly the fault of the author, but rather a result of circumstance with interviews and quotes cobbled together from various parties, some of which are unfortunately no longer with us. The 'roundtable' Album by Album books ease this cohesion, however, read more like a podcast than a book.
Nevertheless, an entertaining look at the story of Rainbow, filled with interesting insights, albeit some that I wasn't interested in, including practical pranks, seances, and all the rest of it, which I just skipped over. Personal preference here, possible that some others would dig this sort of stuff.
Inspired a listen of 'Down To Earth' and 'Difficult To Cure' this evening, so some good definitely came from the read.
November 28, 2022
I bought the Rainbow Rising album the week it came out in 1976. It was a fortuitous purchase because Rising was the quintessential heavy metal album of my time. That was the only album I played for months. Yet, for all of that album’s glory, in subsequent years, a stream of questions arose about the band's lineup changes. Ritchie Blackmore kept firing musicians and created a revolving door of new Rainbow band members. Didn’t Ritchie know the Rising band was the best? So many questions.
This book answered all my questions and then some. Reading each musician’s explanation, in their own words, delivered more insight than I expected. Martin Popoff delivers exceptional care and attention-to-detail in writing such a complete Rainbow history. The Rainbow Rising and Long Live Rock n Roll timeframe is the most informative and fun reading.
This book answered all my questions and then some. Reading each musician’s explanation, in their own words, delivered more insight than I expected. Martin Popoff delivers exceptional care and attention-to-detail in writing such a complete Rainbow history. The Rainbow Rising and Long Live Rock n Roll timeframe is the most informative and fun reading.
July 5, 2021
Conozco el estilo de Martin Popoff a la hora de escribir libros sobre grupos: muchas citas de entrevistas, etc. Así que ya lo sabes cuando compras un libro suyo. Yo agradecería más comentarios críticos propios y de fechas, itinerarios, etc., pero es lo que hay. Bien es cierto que algunos comentarios propios están fuera de lugar. Por lo demás, se lee fácilmente y está bien escrito.
August 25, 2023
È un libro utile e completo, ma alcune valutazioni di Popoff (per esempio su Cozy Powell) sono piuttosto discutibili. Non è molto curato in fase di editing: alcune frasi che ripetono più e più volte gli stessi concetti sarebbero potute essere tagliate.
January 12, 2023
Great to get such an in-depth look at this terrific band.
August 24, 2025
Very good!!
I liked reading this book. I find it to be interesting to know about the band. If your a rainbow fans you should read this book.
I liked reading this book. I find it to be interesting to know about the band. If your a rainbow fans you should read this book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews