Bent Out of Shape [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Rainbow | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Umvd Special Markets
• ASIN: B00000J2SR
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,369 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blackmore's best songwriting, November 25, 2004

By 

Brad Penson (Fall River, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bent Out of Shape (Audio CD)

I was first introduced to Ritchie Blackmore through this CD, and it remains one of my favorites. This shows Ritchie and Joe Lynn Turner's songwriting skills at their height - a height, unfortunately, that Blackmore has sadly not surpassed since.

This is a dark album - almost all the songs here are written in minor keys, so there's a menacing atmosphere throughout the release. It starts off with the ominous, charging riff of "Stranded," in which Joe Lynn Turner's vocals are damn near operatic, a performance he repeats masterfully on the powerful "Can't Let You Go." This is a GREAT song - from the classical, horror-film organ intro to the sweeping chorus.

"Fool For the Night" is the closest the group treads to the pop-metal prevalent of this era (Loverboy, Def Leppard), but it's still enjoyable, if not a bit dated.

"Fire Dance" is a vicious guitar and organ duel that's not quite speed metal, but it is ferociously fast. Not sure what the hell the lyrics are about, but one doesn't buy Rainbow albums for the poetry. That's what U2's for.

"Anybody There" is a dark, dark instrumental that eventually gets lighter toard the end. Blackmore does some excellent soloing on the tune, and keeps it short, which is nice, 'cause it's one of the more depressing tracks on the CD.

"Desperate Heart" is good, melodic 80s pop metal, featuring a frantic, over-the-top guitar solo that ranks as one of Blackmore's best. Dave Rosenthal's keyboard flourishes are interesting, too - the closest the band ever comes to sounding like Prince (!)

"Street of Dreams" is a masterpiece, a moody song full of melody, great vocals from Turner and a killer chorus. One of the band's classics. If Rainbow could've stayed together and written more tunes like this, it would've ultimately been preferable to the damp squib the Purple reunion ended up being.

"Drinking With the Devil" has a nasty riff that sounds like it bubbled out of a New Orleans swamp, and Turner does the album's best screaming on this track. Blackmore's solo is nice and aggressive, and the guitar break at the very end of the song is downright evil. In a nice way, of course.

"Snowman" is a beautifully eerie instrumental written by Howard Blake for an animated children's cartoon, of all things. With the Rainbow treatment, one is more apt to think of haunted Transylvanian castles than snowmen. Rosenthal's keyboards are truly haunting, and Blackmore's tortured solo is one of the album's best. This might be Blackmore's best instrumental ever.

"Make Your Move" gets panned by many fans, but it's really the only uptempo song on the album, and one of the fastest. It's the closest the band comes to sounding like AC/DC, and the cassette version, for whatever reason, contains an extended ending that features some searing guitar runs.

This CD is the closest Rainbow sounds to being contemporary, whereas Blackmore and his Purple pals would release CDs in the 80s and 90s sounding hopelessly dated. History will hold "Bent Out of Shape" as an example of what could have been had Blackmore not succumbed to the lure of easy $$$ an ultimately futile Purple reunion would bring him.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Instantly became my favorite CD with either Blackmore or Turner, September 19, 2007

By 

PROBLEM CHILD (Henderson, NV) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bent Out of Shape (Audio CD)

It stays intense, song after song, but not by relying on sheer guitar power so much like you find with, say, Rainbow's previous Straight Between the Eyes album. Turner can't really scream it out as much as other vocalists Blackmore has recorded with, so Turner's screaming it out on some places in SBTE was pushing it a bit. The vocals and adjusted heavier sound there may have come as overcompensation for the distinctly pop-sounding "Difficult To Cure" album before it. But here, the vocals and intrumentals finally come together beautifully, and for the whole disk, not just a song or two. The creative use of keyboards rounds out the music really nicely and doesn't date it - no more than it dates Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers" - as overuse of keyboards has often done with music from the 80s (hence the term "80s Butt Rock"?!).
Not only is this much too intense to be written off as pop (and too awesome to be "written off" as anything) you get all the great style and influence that you've come to expect with Ritchie Blackmore and the great musicians he has worked with over the years. I usually go after staight forward hard rock and roll (AC/DC, VAN HALEN, UFO, etc.). While some might say this disk may have a "softer" approach in some ways, it definitely isn't missing anything for pace or intensity, and each song brings something new to the table: VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for anyone with even just a casual interest in Deep Purple, Rainbow, or Joe Lynn Turner.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An overlooked gem.., December 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Bent Out of Shape (Audio CD)

1983 proved to be an interesting year in music. As a junior in high school, Rainbow finally hit my ears on a metal compilation cassette I had purchased in a store. When 'Street of Dreams' moved through my headphones, my musical interests found a different direction from the new wave music that permeated the radio. Joe Lynn Turner and Ritchie Blackmore are inseperable on this album. Listen to the gritty yet melodic 'punch' of 'Stranded' and then ease into the classically tainted keyboard opening of 'Can't Let You Go'. The emotional intensity of Turner's vocals and Blackmore's guitar are complemented impressively by David Rosenthal's melodic and haunting keyboards.
I found myself lost in the emotion expressed in the album's two wonderful instrumentals 'Anybody There' and 'Snowman'. The rest of the songlist provides variety in a hard rock direction, mixing guitar-driven rhythms and keyboard interplay.
Don't let the other reviews mislead you..There is much to be admired here from the album as a whole and even though Rainbow no longer exists, this CD always finds its way into my player.