Down to Earth by Rainbow

Down to Earth, Rainbow's fourth studio album, came out on Polydor in 1979, and it's the sound of Ritchie Blackmore tearing the band down to the studs and rebuilding it for the radio. Ronnie James Dio had gone off to Black Sabbath, so Blackmore and drummer Cozy Powell brought in three new faces: singer Graham Bonnet, keyboardist Don Airey and fellow Deep Purple alumnus Roger Glover on bass, who also produced. For the only time, Rainbow was an entirely British line-up.

Gone are the mystical epics of the Dio days; in their place come tight, punchy hard rock songs with choruses built for the car stereo, and Bonnet belting them out like a man trying to be heard over a jet engine. "Since You Been Gone" gave the band its first hit single, "All Night Long" swaggers, and "Lost in Hollywood" gallops. It was Bonnet's only Rainbow album, and Powell's last.

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