The departure of
Ronnie James Dio gave
Ritchie Blackmore a chance to reinvent
Rainbow, which he does to a certain extent on
Down to Earth. Adding former
Deep Purple colleague
Roger Glover as bassist and
Graham Bonnet as vocalist,
Blackmore tones down some of the excess of the
Dio years, particularly in terms of fantastical lyrics, and turns to straight-ahead hard rock, only occasionally adorned by prominent synthesizers. In general, their material is fairly solid, and "Since You Been Gone" easily ranks among the band's best songs, but overall the record is a little generic and sounds very much of its time -- namely, the late '70s, when album rock still ruled the arenas. Nevertheless,
Rainbow has a distinct idea, primarily through the guitar artistry and mystical sensibility of
Ritchie Blackmore. He sounds invigorated on the album, turning in muscular performances and strong solos on each cut; clearly, the reunion has revitalized him. Unfortunately,
Bonnet tends to oversell his vocals, screaming a little bit too often, but he doesn't distract from the fact that
Blackmore,
Glover, and drummer
Cozy Powell turn
Down to Earth into a fine hard rock platter. It might not offer anything unique, but it delivers the goods. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine