Bent Out of Shape [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Rainbow

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1983
• 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 (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,727 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rainbow delves full-out into AOR, November 7, 2001

By	Quinn Miller (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

The last Rainbow project prior to the Purple reunion in '84, Bent Out of Shape has taken some hard knocks over the years as the Rainbow album that finally degenerated the band to a second rate Journey-quality status (not saying that Journey is a bad band, mind you). It's easy to why; the once majestic, bombastic and medieval rock has been totally replaced with a radio friendly pop sound here. Ritchie had been pursuing this direction ever since late '78 when he hired Graham Bonnett on vocals for the Down to Earth project. And when he acquired Joe Lynn Turner the year after that, the AOR deal was signed, sealed and delivered!
The previous year's Straight Between the Eyes hinted at what was to lie ahead. Songs like "Stone Cold" and "Rock Fever" were definitely mainstream by any standards, let alone those of classic (Dio-era) Rainbow. Bent out of Shape starts off with the fairly lackluster "Stranded" which seems to be lacking muscle and breadth, although it does contain a slippery atmospheric solo by the Man in Black. The Rosenthal keyboard intro on "Can't Let You Go" is very cool, almost churchy, and reminds me a lot of Don Airey's on "Centre of the Universe" by Ozzy Osbourne's Bark at the Moon (also released in '83). But things generally go up in a cloud of smoke for the rest of side one as "Fool for the Night" is color-by-numbers AOR and "Fire Dance" shows Turner trying to pull off silly gothic imagery. The beautiful instrumental "Anybody There" closes side one, possibly even eclipsing the heights acheived on the superb "Weiss Heim" on Finyl Vinyl.
The only tracks worth a mention on side two would be the minor radio hit "Street of Dreams" featuring a classic Blackmore solo at the lead break and the Blackmore/Howard Blake penned instrumental "Snowman." The rest being rather unremarkable hard rock (Drinking with the Devil) or deflated attempts at Journey (Desperate Heart).
Many blame Turner for the lose of direction Rainbow fell into during the early '80s. This is not entirely accurate, as Ritchie simply found a vocalist to suit his new vision for the band. Admittedly, Turner did cough up some fairly mundane lyrics and some over-extensions in the vocal department. I believe Ritchie was well aware that this formula was over baked, hence realizing that it was time for a change which materialized in the reformation of Purple.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not metal, not even hard rock, but pop, July 16, 2000

By	Fredrik Bendz (Lund Sweden) - See all my reviews

OK, this is not a Heavy Metal album. It is pop done by one of the best guitarrists of all time and a very talented singer. Most fans will throw this record out of their record collection because it is too soft. But if you look through that, the guitarr playing is excellent and Joe Lynn Turner has a great emotional voice. The songs are pretty strong too, even though the production is too "poppy".

I hesitate to give this album a 4, because it was a disappointment to me back in the days, and probably will be to any fan of Rainbow, but it is too good for a 3. I rediscovered this record some time ago, and if you just look through your expectations I think you will find that it isn't really that bad after all.

6 of 7 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

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.