The first 3 RAINBOW albums are definitely classics

Difficult To Cure fuckin' ROCKS! It might've a bunch of catchy choruses, but the performance is frantic high energy throughout.

1. Rising 2. Long live Rock 'n' Roll 3. Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow 4. Stranger in us all 5. Down to Earth 6. Straight Between the Eyes 7. Bent Out of Shape 8. Difficult to Cure

Rainbow Rising is a Masterpiece and Stargazer is my absolute favourite song of all time!.. Dio was at the pinnacle of his vocal prowess on this record, nobody could touch him.

The first 3 RAINBOW albums with DIO on vocals is the absolute greatest albums they've ever released in my opinion. And they are truly my most favorites of all times. BENT OUT OF SHAPE and STRAIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES are verygood albums that I really like alot and Joe Lynn Turner is also a really great vocalist. Verygood rankings video.\m/

RIP Cozy Powell -- one of the best, if not *the* best, drummers of 70s/80s hard rock

The song Street of Dreams doesn't get enough love. Glad to hear you mention it.

Ah, Rainbow, the band that got me into hard rock and metal and music in general, back when I was 11. Long live rock and roll! \m/

When I was a kid I'd hear man on the silver mountain and it stirred something in me that no other song had until that point. It was a long time before I found out who rainbow was. That song made me a rocker. A little later when I got into metal I found out who Dio was and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was the guy from silver mountain. I had to find everything on it with this guy singing. Metallica's master of puppets was the metal album that pulled me in and made me a metal head but rainbow's rising was what cemented me as a metal head. That was 6th grade, it was 1987....thanks for all the great tunes! P.s. I agree that rising is the best rainbow album.

Rainbow is an awesome hard rock band of all time. Here is my ranking of their albums: 1. Rising 2. Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow 3. Long Live Rock n Roll 4. Down to Earth 5. Straight Between the Eyes 6. Difficult to Cure 7. Bent out of Shape 8. Stranger in us All

Its amazing Rainbow can take about four different singers and make amazing music with each singer. A lot of bands couldn't do that

Cozy Powell's drumming on Rising is everything. That album is such a banger

Rising is one of the best metal albums of all time hands down! now that you’re branching out from thrash on the rank em all’s you should do dream theater!

My brother is completely obsessed with Rainbow, because (as he puts it) they were basically a super group with Blackmore, Daisley, Bain, and of course Dio. And honestly, I really don't blame him.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for putting out this amazing content. Maybe I am just extremely lucky to have a very similar musical taste to yours, or maybe the bands and songs you cover are as close to objectively good as it gets for metal fans, but I see myself amazed by the band selection of Rank'em All, by the topics of your longer documentaries, by the things you choose to emphasize on the "Who invented X" videos. Ever since I started following this channel a few months ago, I completely changed my relation with music, for the best, and I feel much more passionate now than I used to be. It's really hard to put this feeling of gratitude in words, but the closest I can get to is a solid "THANK YOU". Cheers from São Paulo, Brazil! 🤘

A great list. One song you did not mention from Down to Earth was All Night Long, which is one of my all time favorite songs. Another killer track off of the extended version of DtE is Bad Girl. But totally with you on the Dio era being far superior. Stargazer and Gates of Babylon are absolutely epic! Cheers, brother!

I am a huge Blackmore fan and have seen him live with DP, Rainbow w/Dio and JL Turner many times. By the time he recorded Stranger in us all, I had forgotten all about Rainbow. This album is excellent and is Ritchie Blackmore in top form! Pretty much unknown to most, this album is a hidden gem and for me personally, is rated 3rd best Rainbow ever behind Rising and the 1st album. Every song is good, and Ritchies playing is some of his best since Made in Japan.

After a lifetime listening to those awesome Dio albums, I've found out the one Rainbow record I return to most is not one of those, incredibly, rather "Down to Earth". My ranking nowadays is: 1. Down to Earth, 2. Long live Rock n Roll, 3. Rising, 4. RB's Rainbow, 5-... The same as yours.

My list: 1. Rainbow with Dio 2. Rainbow without Dio

Great video as usual. Rising is my favorite also. Regarding Stargazer, "they just don't make songs like that anymore", well you couldn't have said that any better.

Now this is the real dio!!

Number 1 is obvious to me: Rainbow Rising is a monumental milestone of hard rock and metal.

8) Stranger in us All ( My least favorite ) 7) Difficult to cure (I love the AOR flavor but it has a lot of filler) 6) Straight Between the eyes ( Much better Rock songs that DTC) 5) Long Live Rock N Roll (Its a great album , Gates of Babylon is just epic) 4) Down to Earth (Nice Rock andmelodic songs in there, it took me a while to actually apreciate it) 3) Bent Out of Shape (A perfect recrod, the best from the Joe Lynn Turner era) 2) Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (The mix of blues, Rock, Folk and Classical is outstanding, I cant believe Ricthie doesnt actually like it) 1) Rising ( Not enough words to describe it, perfect album cover, and magical songs, Stargazer is without a doubt one of the best rock songs ever)

The exercise of ranking the albums of Rainbow provides a good overview of the band's story: Two distinct three-album eras separated by a transitional album and followed much later with an attempt to revive/honour the first era. For decades, I have always considered Rainbow as one of my favourite bands, but in the end, it comes down to those first three albums. Ronnie James Dio was able to keep the legacy of early Rainbow alive in the '80s and '90s with his band Dio. Another well-presented video from Ruthless Metal. Keep it Up!

The live in Munich concert is one of the gems in my collection :) 2 cds of perfect hard rock/heavy metal!

1. Rising 2. Debut 3. Long Live Rock and Roll 4. Down To Earth 5. Stranger In Us All 6. Never heard an album with Joe Lynn Turner on it that I would want to listen to again.

Can't fault your logic here. My list would be much the same, except I wouldn't know which order to put the JLT albums in. The songs you've highlighted from the Bonnet and JLT eras are also some of my playlist go-to tracks. As for the Dio era, I can't begin to describe the chills I had hearing his Rainbow albums for the first time while driving through North Wales and passing ancient castles - very atmospheric. Some of the other top tracks from his era are "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves", "Lady of the Lake" and "Rainbow Eyes". The live version of 'Catch the Rainbow' from the "On Stage" album is better than the original, which is a hard thing to achieve. Anyway, excellent work dude!

I’m loving all your Rank em All vids, Jim! Hope you’re having a great week!

My personal list is as follows: 1. Rising and Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. I can't decide which one I like the most. 2. Straight between the eyes 3. Bent out of shape 4. Long live Rock'n'roll 5. Difficult to cure 6. Down to earth 7. Stranger in us all It it true that Down to earth was a change in direction. Ritchie Blackmore wanted to go more commercial, get more radio play and reach a bigger audience. According to him the Dio records didn't sell all that well at the time. That is why he chose the title "Down to earth", as he wanted to get the whole act more accessible for more people. Stranger in us all wasn't really supposed to be a Rainbow record. It started as a solo project for Mr. Blackmore, but the record company would rather have the Rainbow name on it to attract more buyers.

When I heard Rising for the first time I was already into deathrash metal..That universal sound of every song on that album transfored my way of looking at the music in general. Albums=conceptual projects! Rising and Long Live Rock n' Roll are THE two projects which reflected time that is about to come-time of a great love story in which hard rock wonderfully seduce progressive rock!

Sixteenth century greensleeves is an underrated track

I bought their first three records 'cause I just needed more music with Ronnie James Dio, he was such an amazing singer. 🤟🤟🤟

Man! I'm not lying!!! A few days ago i was imagined that you make a video about Rainbow ¡And here it is! And it's awesome🔥🤘🏻

Great Rank 'em All 🤘🔥🤘Dio Top 3 of Course Ritchie Blackmore Rainbow was my introduction to Rainbow But Long Live is my #1 !!! Thanks Brother ☀️

I prefer to rank them from least awesome to most awesome. Worst is not a word I associate with the almighty Rainbow.

Rising and Long live Rock and Roll are my favorite Rainbow albums. Love Stargazer and Man on the silver mountain. Classics!!!

Good stuff. Hard to rank, all i know is that Catch the rainbow is my jam. I like heavy but that song is just killer, very dreamy, supberb vocals and the guitar is to die for.

I like these classic band rank ems. Im not huge on this stuff, yet, but getting into it more but never know where to start. Always been a theash guy but im getting old and slowing down haha no more like appreciating the classics finally. I trust your judgement, knew you on fb, we seem to have very similar tastes too being thrashers. My friends try too but were usually drinking and i forget what they told me lol. At least i can come back here and watch again when i think "man i should jam more rainbow" or whatever band and dont know what to look for

My first concert was Rainbow on their Long Live Rock N Roll tour in 78. Rising is the first power metal album.

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and the music is so timeless and I grew up listening to them for fun and my favorite album by them is Straight between the eyes (1982) I love the song stone cold by them

Great work, man. Stay heavy!

Weekend coming up and top 2 will be priority. Thank you for the video 🤘

Pretty accurate list. Mine is pretty much the same though I would put Straight Between the Eyes last and Difficult to Cure ahead of that. Bent out of Shape is probably the one I like most of the 81-83 period cuz it has Stranded which is a cool song. It’s by no means Metal and totally mainstream sounding for 1983 but good for what it is I guess.

Totalmente de acuerdo con el orden, para mi Rainbow Rising, es una auténtica obra maestra, uno de los mejores discos de rock duro de la historia. Discazo!!! Un saludo.

8. "Stranger in Us All" 7. "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" 6. "Down to Earth" 5. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" 4. "Difficult to Cure" 3. "Straight Between the Eyes" 2. "Bent out of Shape" 1. "Rising"

Very cool. This is EXACTLY how I would rank the Rainbow albums.

Excellent - and I agree with your list down to the record (for once!). Rising and LLRR are so fricking good. My eyes are bleeding.

Was going to post my rankings but in this case it's the same as yours. The Dio albums are timeless and the rest are all solid.

Amazing band to experience for the first time... remember that well.. I heard Sorcerers cover of star gazer and never looked back!

I didn't expect this ranking, good one. Next Kreator or Sepultura please.

Rest In Peace Dio 😭

1. Rising 2. Blackmore's Rainbow 3. Long live rock n' roll 4. Down to Earth 5. Difficult to Cure 6. ...all the others

Rising is No.1. Okay I'll watch your video now.

For once, I agree with your ranking, or at least the top 4 because I stopped listening to Rainbow after Down To Earth, mainly because NWOBHM had kicked off by then, so I have no proper opinion of the JLT era, other than I never liked it.

Obviously Dio's albums are the best (Rising is the clear #1), but I really like Difficult to Cure, it has some fillers and some meh songs but some are just amazing, like "Spotlight Kid" "I Surrender" or "Can't Happen Here" and because of that I tend to prefer it to most of the other Rainbow's 80s albums

My rankings: 1. Down to Earth 2. Rising 3. Difficult to Cure 4. Long Live Rock and Roll 5. debut album 6. Straight Between the Eyes 7. Bent Out of Shape

Interesting fact: cozy powell was i think the first celebrity to die back in 98' due to mobile phone usage while driving. He was driving to meet his mistress,when she rang him to ask how long he would be, he replied "ill be as quick as possible" then she heard a loud bang.......r.i.p. cozy. Also not forgetting the mighty Dio 😎🤘

Difficult to Cure is BY FAR the best of the Joe Lynn Turner albums... it's excellent

A lot of the credit for early Rainbow actually goes to Martin Birch who created the Rainbow and Maiden sounds. With Rising few albums today can match the production quality let alone stuff from the 70s.

1 - Rising 2 - Long Live Rock 'n Roll 3 - Bent Out of Shape

8. Straight Between the Eyes. 7. Bent out of Shape 6. Stranger in us All 5. Difficult to cure 4. Down to Earth 3. Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow 2. Rising 1. Long Live Rock N Roll

It’s taken me years, but after just accepting it as a melodic record, I really appreciate BENT OUT OF SHAPE a lot. For song consistency, I appreciate DOWN TO EARTH best, but as far as peaks, side two of RAINBOW RISING has never been topped by Rainbow or just about any other band who recorded music. Nothing terrible on side one, but “Run With the Wolf” and “Do You Close Your Eyes” are just slightly above average rock song to me.

Besides not knowing about the '95 release that list is dead on. I was just listening to them last night in the garage with a few beverages, of course the volume went to 11 with Stargazer.

Wow Rainbow Rank Em All is amazing. But can you Dio Rank Em All?

Great video! I rank them exactly the same. The Dio era is fantastic, can’t even compare them to the others! How about a Malmsteen ranking, it would be interesting!🤘

you got the top 4 spot on. idk the others well enough to comment.

I have watched a few of your 'worst to best' lists and this is the closest I have seen to what my own list would be. The albums at no. 7, 6 and 5 could really be in any order as there is little to choose between them but I would probably have had the top 5 in exactly this order. Rising is by far their best album and Stargazer is simply one of the best hard rock tracks ever recorded. Spot on, Mr. Ruthless!

My order exactly. Great minds think a like.☠

This is the first time I completely agree with someone on a list like this! And for my favourite band too! Bravo Sir! :)

3:50 - Ritchie Blackmore was not stuck in Medieval times between 1983 and 1995, he was in the reformed Deep Purple. He didn't do the Medieval music until after Stranger in Us All.

Couldn't agree more !..!

Other than not yet hearing the record with Doogie, I pretty much totally agree with your ranking. I like Stone Cold, but otherwise the JLT records are just too poppy/radio friendly. To me, Rainbow IS the Dio era.

The Dio albums here are the strongest overall, though I do like quite a few tracks from the GB and JLT era as well. It kinda depends on the mood I'm in musically on a given day. Rainbow is easily one of my all time favorite Hard Rock bands along with DLR era Van Halen. Ritchie never has gotten enough credit for his contribution to metal guitar overall since he inspired countless guitarists over the years.

Stargazer is such an epic song. “My eyes are bleeding!”

I really like Joe Lynn Turner. Haunting voice, back then.

Stargazer is one of my favorites songs ever! Nice list.

my ranked 8,straight between the eyes 7,1st album 6,strenger in us all 5,difficult to cure 4,bent out of shape 3,down to earth 2,rising 1,LONG LIVE ROCK`N'ROLL MY BEST SONG IS LADY OF THE LAKE RAINBOW EYES STREET OF DREAMS

I only like Rainbow with Dio. Totally agree with your rating.

1. Down to Earth 2. Long Live Rock & Roll 3. Rising 4. Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow 5. Stranger in us All 6. Straight Between the Eyes 7. Difficult to Cure 8. Bent out of Shape Not a bad one in the bunch, though!!

Never even heard of Stranger In Us All LP. Thanks for enlightening me. I'm not a Joe Lynn Turner fan either. But really liked Graham Bonnet hits like All Night Long too

I like Stranger in us all, but for the rest I would go ahead with the rankings.

I agree with this list completely, imo the Dio era was the 1st power metal band.

Your 3 is my 1. Your 1 is my 2 and your 2 is my 3. The top 3 are the top three though! Cheers🤘greatly enjoying your videos!

In the record, Gates of Babylon being followed by Kill the king is simply a killer duo for me! \m/

stargazer is the hero with the lyrics, but a light in the black is the best musically imo.

I think this the first time i'd rate the albuns just like you did 👍

DIO!!!!!!!

I can't wait for the Dio's ranked 🤘

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Joe Lynn Turner was my favorite Rainbow singer. I love Ronnie James Dio (Saw him for the "Sacred Heart" heart tour, and he was amazing. TKO and Rising Force opened for him. Yngwie J. Malmsteen annoyed me when he would stick to scales, but damn, was the guy fast.), but I think Dio was better with Black Sabbath and as a solo act. I've heard a few of Turner's covers of Dio's songs, and he did a great job. Of course he couldn't come close to Dio's power on tracks like "Man on the Silver Mountain". My first stadium concert was Deep Purple in 1985. I didn't see them again until 2014. Only Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, and Ian Paice were still there from the Mark IV lineup. Jon Lord had passed away two years earlier, and Ritchie Blackmore was feuding with the band. Again. The guy that I was next to had also seen them '85. I told him how Gillan forgot the words to "Smoke on the Water". They were such professionals that they were able to keep playing until Gillan was able to remember the words. I told the guy that Lord was bent over his organ laughing uncontrollably, Paice had a big smile plastered to his face, Glover just shook his head, and as I said "Ritchie Blackmore", he said with me, "was pissed!" Deep Purple and Rainbow were such awesome bands; thanks for posting this.

Great list! Only difference that I like Debut more than Long Live Rock And Roll

My list is almost identical to yours, only difference is I put Stranger In Us All (probably the best album of 1995) ahead of Down To Earth. Ariel and Black Masquerade are up there with the Dio era classics IMO.

First Black Sabbath now Rainbow? This is great, thanks :) I predicted 1, 2 and 3 correctly in order :)

my rainbow album ranked: 1 - rising 2 - ritchie blackmore's rainbow 3 - long live rock 'n' roll 4 - bent out of shape 5 - down to earth 6 - difficult to cure 7 - straight between the eyes 8 - stranger in us all

Nothing wrong with the JLT albums at all if you can consider them as a different band. Bent Out of Shape is a complete album, Straight is great and Difficult to Cure is also great but the track Magic is a room 101 shoe in. The 3 albums with Dio are the pinnacle, and the live performances with RJD and Cozy the best I have ever seen. Rising is a seminal album and rightly lauded as one of the greats, most inspirational albums of all time. Some of Ritchie's soloing across the 3 is some of his finest studio playing: Still I'm Sad, Stargazer, Gates of Babylon. Down to Earth is a classic album sitting nicely between the Dio and JLT eras. And again live the band were off the charts. Stranger in Us All is a fitting swansong, some brilliant Rainbow songs and Dougie's best performance on record.

Pretty much my order exactly. I might put Difficult to Cure a little higher simply because I love Ritchie's take on Beethoven's 9th.

Cool - I'm inspired to go back to the 1970s yet again

Great list

My ranking: 1. Long Live R&R 2. Rainbow 3. Rising 4. Down to Earth 5. Difficult to Cure 6. Straight Between the Eyes 7. Stranger in us All 8. Bent out of Shape Hard to choose from the 3 first albums, they're history of HR/HM music.

Ruthless, Great ranking of these albums. I recently just picked up the early albums to complete my collection. I became a fan of the 80's albums when "Straight Between The Eyes" was released. Regarding the shift in Blackmore's music, rumor is he wanted a more "radio friendly sound" and popularity. Dio did not want anything to do with it. He went on to sing with Black Sabbath for two albums, and look at what it did for that band! Later, he produced his own band to continue his talents. Bye,bye...