# The Best of Rainbow

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Not to be confused with the band's 1997 compilation album [The Very Best of Rainbow](/source/The_Very_Best_of_Rainbow).

1981 greatest hits album by Rainbow

The Best of Rainbow Cover design by Hipgnosis Greatest hits album by Rainbow Released 13 November 1981[1] Recorded 1975–1981 Genre Hard rock, heavy metal Length 82:11 Label Polydor Producer Martin Birch, Roger Glover Rainbow compilation albums chronology The Best of Rainbow (1981) The Very Best of Rainbow (1997)

Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating AllMusic [2]

***The Best of Rainbow*** is the first compilation album from British [hard rock](/source/Hard_rock) group [Rainbow](/source/Rainbow_(rock_band)), released in 1981.

This compilation album is slightly different from the similarly titled album from 1980, which was released only in Japan,[3] and features mostly previously released studio cuts, taken from the five studio albums Rainbow had released at that point. However, "Jealous Lover", the first song written by Blackmore and Turner, had been available only as a B-side in Europe (to "Can't Happen Here") and on the *[Jealous Lover](/source/Jealous_Lover)* EP in the United States.

The original vinyl-release was a 2-LP set, in a gatefold-sleeve which contained photos of the band during its various incarnations, and reached No. 14 in the [UK Albums Chart](/source/UK_Albums_Chart) in 1981.[4] As of 2019, this compilation album has never been released in the United States.

The photograph on the cover was taken at [Zaanse Schans](/source/Zaanse_Schans).

## Track listing

Side one No. Title Writer(s) Original release Length 1. "All Night Long" Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover Down to Earth (1979) 3:53 2. "Man on the Silver Mountain" Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975) 4:39 3. "Lost in Hollywood" Blackmore, Glover, Cozy Powell Down to Earth 4:53 4. "Jealous Lover" Blackmore, Joe Lynn Turner B-side of the single "Can't Happen Here" (1981) 3:10 5. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" Blackmore, Dio Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978) 4:23

Side two No. Title Writer(s) Original release Length 6. "Stargazer" Blackmore, Dio Rising (1976) 8:26 7. "Kill the King" Blackmore, Dio, Powell Long Live Rock 'n' Roll 4:29 8. "A Light in the Black" Blackmore, Dio Rising 8:12

Side three No. Title Writer(s) Original release Length 9. "Since You Been Gone" Russ Ballard Down to Earth 3:20 10. "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" Blackmore, Dio Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow 3:31 11. "Catch the Rainbow" Blackmore, Dio Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow 6:36 12. "Eyes of the World" Blackmore, Glover Down to Earth 6:42

Side four No. Title Writer(s) Original release Length 13. "I Surrender" Ballard Difficult to Cure (1981) 4:03 14. "Gates of Babylon" Blackmore, Dio Long Live Rock 'n' Roll 6:49 15. "Can't Happen Here" Blackmore, Glover Difficult to Cure 4:59 16. "Starstruck" Blackmore, Dio Rising 4:06

## Personnel

- [Ritchie Blackmore](/source/Ritchie_Blackmore) – guitars, bass on track 5

- [Ronnie James Dio](/source/Ronnie_James_Dio) – vocals: tracks 2, 5–8, 10, 11, 14, 16

- [Graham Bonnet](/source/Graham_Bonnet) – vocals: tracks 1, 3, 9, 12

- [Joe Lynn Turner](/source/Joe_Lynn_Turner) - vocals: tracks 4, 13, 15

- [Micky Lee Soule](/source/Micky_Lee_Soule) – keyboards: tracks 2, 10, 11

- [Tony Carey](/source/Tony_Carey) – keyboards: tracks 6, 8, 16

- [David Stone](/source/David_Stone_(keyboardist)) – keyboards: tracks 7, 14

- [Don Airey](/source/Don_Airey) – keyboards: tracks 1, 3, 4, 9, 12, 13, 15

- [Craig Gruber](/source/Craig_Gruber) – bass: tracks 2, 10, 11

- [Jimmy Bain](/source/Jimmy_Bain) – bass: tracks 6, 8, 16

- [Bob Daisley](/source/Bob_Daisley) – bass: tracks 7, 14

- [Roger Glover](/source/Roger_Glover) – bass: tracks 1, 3, 4, 9, 12, 13, 15

- [Gary Driscoll](/source/Gary_Driscoll) – drums: tracks 2, 10, 11

- [Cozy Powell](/source/Cozy_Powell) – drums: tracks 1, 3, 5–9, 12, 14, 16

- [Bobby Rondinelli](/source/Bobby_Rondinelli) - drums: tracks 4, 13, 15

- [Roger Glover](/source/Roger_Glover) - producer: tracks 1, 3, 4, 9, 12, 13, 15

- [Blackmore](/source/Ritchie_Blackmore)/[Birch](/source/Martin_Birch)/[Dio](/source/Ronnie_James_Dio) - producers: tracks 2, 10, 11

- [Martin Birch](/source/Martin_Birch) - producer: tracks 5–8, 14, 16

## Charts

Chart (1981) Peak position Japanese Albums (Oricon)[5] 48 UK Albums (OCC)[6] 14

## Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales United Kingdom (BPI)[7] Gold 100,000^ ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** "News". *Record Mirror*. 7 November 1981. p. 3.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Rivadavia, Eduardo. ["The Best of Rainbow review"](http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-best-of-rainbow-mw0000422963). *[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)*. [All Media Network](/source/All_Media_Network). Retrieved 17 December 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Rainbow - The Best Of Rainbow"](https://www.discogs.com/Rainbow-The-Best-Of-Rainbow/master/40672). [Discogs](/source/Discogs). Retrieved 16 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Rainbow Official Charts"](http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/rainbow/). [Official Charts Company](/source/Official_Charts_Company). Retrieved 26 November 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-JPN_5-0)** *Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005* (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: [Oricon Entertainment](/source/Oricon). 2006. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [4-87131-077-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/4-87131-077-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ac_UK2_6-0)** "[Official Albums Chart on 22/11/1981 – Top 100](https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19811122/7502/)". [Official Charts Company](/source/Official_Charts_Company). Retrieved October 17, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-United_KingdomRainbowThe_Best_of_RainbowalbumCertRef_7-0)** ["British album certifications – Rainbow – The Best of Rainbow"](https://www.bpi.co.uk/page/certified-awards). [British Phonographic Industry](/source/British_Phonographic_Industry). Retrieved 4 February 2021. *Select*albums*in the Formats field.* *Type*The Best of Rainbow Rainbow*in the "Search:" field.*

## External links

- [The Best Of Rainbow](http://www.discogs.com/Rainbow-The-Best-Of-Rainbow/release/436654) at [Discogs](/source/Discogs)

v t e Rainbow Ritchie Blackmore Candice Night Jens Johansson David Keith Bob Nouveau Ronnie James Dio Gary Driscoll Craig Gruber Micky Lee Soule Cozy Powell Jimmy Bain Mark Clarke Tony Carey David Stone Bob Daisley Roger Glover Don Airey Graham Bonnet Joe Lynn Turner Bobby Rondinelli David Rosenthal Chuck Burgi Paul Morris Greg Smith Doogie White John O'Reilly John Miceli Ronnie Romero Studio albums Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow Rising Long Live Rock 'n' Roll Down to Earth Difficult to Cure Straight Between the Eyes Bent Out of Shape Stranger in Us All EPs Jealous Lover Live albums On Stage Finyl Vinyl Live in Germany 1976 / Live in Europe Deutschland Tournee 1976 Live in Munich 1977 Compilation albums The Best of Rainbow The Very Best of Rainbow Pot of Gold All Night Long: An Introduction Catch the Rainbow: The Anthology Video albums Live in Munich 1977 Songs "Man on the Silver Mountain" "Stargazer" "Since You Been Gone" "All Night Long" "I Surrender" "Stone Cold" "Street of Dreams" Related articles Discography Members Blackmore's Night Elf Deep Purple Black Sabbath Whitesnake Dio Heaven & Hell Yngwie Malmsteen Elegant Weapons

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Best of Rainbow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_of_Rainbow) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_of_Rainbow?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.