Straight Between the Eyes
Cover art by Jeff Cummins and Hipgnosis
Studio album by
Rainbow
Released14 April 1982 (US)[1]
StudioLe Studio (Morin-Heights, Quebec)
GenreHard rock[2]
Length40:58
LabelPolydor
ProducerRoger Glover
Rainbow chronology
Jealous Lover
(1981) 		Straight Between the Eyes
(1982) 		Bent Out of Shape
(1983)
Singles from Straight Between the Eyes
  1. "Stone Cold"
    Released: 26 March 1982[3]
  2. "Death Alley Driver"
    Released: 1982 (Japan)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[4]
Rolling Stone[5]

Straight Between the Eyes is the sixth studio album by English hard rock band Rainbow, released in 1982. A remastered CD reissue, with packaging duplicating the original vinyl release, was released in May 1999.

History

The band line-up was the same as had recorded the previous year's Difficult to Cure album, with the exception of David Rosenthal, who replaced Don Airey on keyboards.

The title allegedly came from a phrase from Jeff Beck, describing Jimi Hendrix to Blackmore.[6]

The sleeve-art is by British artist Jeff Cummins and Hipgnosis, though has been described as "one of [Hipgnosis]' very worst; in fact, so bad, it taints the music."[7] The original vinyl issue had the lyrics printed on the inner sleeve.

In an April 1982 interview with British rock magazine Kerrang!, Blackmore stated of "MISS Mistreated", "Well it's to avoid confusion that the 'Miss' is written three times bigger than the 'mistreated' but I expect we'll have someone who shall remain nameless coming up to us saying 'I wrote that song'!"[6] That someone being David Coverdale, with whom Blackmore had co-written "Mistreated" for the 1974 Deep Purple album Burn. Blackmore had this issue with Coverdale previously when a rendition of "Mistreated" was included on the Rainbow live album On Stage.

Videos were shot for the songs "Stone Cold" and "Death Alley Driver", which featured Sega's video game Turbo. They were occasionally still aired on VH1's Metal Mania program, but have not been aired since 2005. However, they can be found on YouTube or on the band's "Final Cut" 1985 home video.

Tour

The tour featured a giant pair of moving mechanical eyes as part of the stageset, with spotlights shining from the pupils. This is captured on the video release Live Between the Eyes recorded at the Hemisfair Arena in San Antonio, Texas on August 18, 1982. The tour, although extensive, did not include the UK, which rankled with British fans.

Accolades

In 2022, Straight Between the Eyes was named #5 of 'The 25 greatest rock guitar albums of 1982' list in Guitar World.[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ritchie Blackmore, Joe Lynn Turner, and Roger Glover except where indicated

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Death Alley Driver"Blackmore, Turner4:42
2."Stone Cold" 5:17
3."Bring On the Night (Dream Chaser)" 4:06
4."Tite Squeeze" 3:15
5."Tearin' Out My Heart" 4:03
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Power" 4:26
7."MISS Mistreated"Blackmore, Turner, David Rosenthal4:27
8."Rock Fever"Blackmore, Turner3:50
9."Eyes of Fire"Blackmore, Turner, Bobby Rondinelli6:37

Personnel

Rainbow
Additional musicians
Production

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[22] Gold 25,000[22]
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Silver 60,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

In other media

The song "Stone Cold" was featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on the radio station Emotion 98.3.

References

  1. ^ "New Releases" (PDF). FMQB. 9 April 1982. p. 30. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Rainbow Straight Between the Eyes review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Merchandising" (PDF). Record Business. 22 March 1982. p. 4. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  4. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 280. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  5. ^ Considine, J. D. (24 June 1982). "Album Reviews: Rainbow - Straight Between the Eyes". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 May 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  6. ^ a b Bonutto, Dante (22 April 1982). "The Rainbow Story". Kerrang! (14): 21–23. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  7. ^ "Top 20 album covers by celebrated design group Hipgnosis - Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia".
  8. ^ Prato, Greg (2 March 2022). "The 25 greatest rock guitar albums of 1982". Guitar World. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6536". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  11. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Rainbow – Straight Between the Eyes" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  12. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  13. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Rainbow – Straight Between the Eyes" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  14. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  15. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Rainbow – Straight Between the Eyes". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  16. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Rainbow – Straight Between the Eyes". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  17. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  18. ^ "Rainbow Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  19. ^ "Rainbow Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  20. ^ a b c "Straight Between the Eyes Billboard Singles". Allmusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  21. ^ "RPM Weekly". RPM magazine. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  22. ^ a b "Rainbow" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  23. ^ "British album certifications – Rainbow – Straight Between the Eyes". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
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