Rainbow
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll


Tracks:

1. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
2. Lady of the Lake
3. L.A. Connection
4. Gates of Babylon
5. Kill the King
6. The Shed (Subtle)
7. Sensitive to Light
8. Rainbow Eyes

Line up:

Ritchie Blackmore – Guitar
Ronnie James Dio – Vocals
David Stone – Keyboards
Bob Daisley – Bass
Cozy Powell – Drums

Bavarian String Ensemble Conducted by Rainer Pietsch - Strings (track 4)
Ferenc Kiss - Violin (track 8)
Nico Nicolic - Violin (track 8)
Karl Heinz Feit - Cello (track 8)
Rudi Risavy - Flute (track 8)
Max Hecker - Recorder (track 8)
Ottmar Machan - Viola (track 8)

Record Label / Year of Release:

Polydor 1978

Notes:

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll is the third studio album released by Rainbow, released in 1978.

Although Bob Daisley and David Stone are listed on the album credits for their contributions they joined the band part way through the recording sessions and only appear on a couple of tracks. (Stone part wrote "Gates of Babylon" but was never credited). Blackmore played most of the bass parts himself for the album.

"Kill the King" was already a staple part of the tour setlists, opening Rainbow concerts since mid-1976. It first appeared on the live album On Stage in 1977.

The original vinyl release was in a gatefold-sleeve, with a lyric-sheet insert. The crowd picture is actually from a Rush concert, with the wording on the banner the fans were actually holding replaced by the Rainbow album title and the visible Rush t-shirts airbrushed to black.

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll was remastered on CD for the US market in April 1999, with the European version following later. The US version had a matte booklet/ insert, which matched the original vinyl sleeve for all markets, whereas the European issue was the standard glossy type.

In the 1977-78 live concerts the title track and "Kill the King" were the only songs performed, although "LA Connection" did get a few airings on the US tour before being dropped from the set.

This was Rainbow's last album to feature Ronnie James Dio on vocals. He left, later to join Black Sabbath, and was replaced by Graham Bonnet.

In June 2009 a CD size book about the making of album was released in the series "Rock Landmarks" called "Long Live Rock N' Roll Story". It was written by Rainbow and Blackmore expert Jerry Bloom.