Stranger in Us All
Studio album by
Rainbow
Released21 August 1995
Recorded1995
StudioLong View Farm (Brookfield, Mass.)
Cove City Sound (Long Island, N.Y.)
Sound on Sound; Unique; Soundtrack (New York City)
GenreHard rock
Length51:44
LabelRCA/BMG
ProducerPat Regan & Ritchie Blackmore
Rainbow chronology
Bent Out of Shape
(1983) 		Stranger in Us All
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[2]

Stranger in Us All is the eighth and most recent studio album by the British hard rock band Rainbow, released in 1995. This was the band's first studio album in twelve years, and originally intended to be a solo album by Blackmore, but due to pressures from BMG, it was billed as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, which saw him putting together a new line-up featuring himself and four then-unknown musicians: vocalist Doogie White, bassist Greg Smith, keyboardist Paul Morris and drummer John O'Reilly.

As Blackmore decided to pursue different musical styles (forming Blackmore's Night with his companion Candice Night), Stranger in Us All was his final recording as a rock artist for two decades, until he put together a reincarnation of Rainbow in 2016 and released a series of new singles. The album takes its name from a line in the song "Black Masquerade".

Released during the post-grunge scene of the mid-1990s, Stranger in Us All failed to measure up to the critical and commercial acclaim of previous releases and was not particularly well publicized. However, it achieved a modest success, particularly in Europe and Japan.

Promotion

Much of the album was featured in the live concert sets. Drummer John O'Reilly was replaced for the tour by the returning Chuck Burgi. John Miceli joined the band for the U.S. shows, from February to May 1997, plus one in Denmark. A live performance recorded at Philipshalle Düsseldorf for German TV show Rockpalast on October 9, 1995, was released on the DVD Black Masquerade in 2013.

A few songs off the album were played live by the band Over the Rainbow in 2008 and 2009, as the line-up featured Greg Smith and Paul Morris, who played in Rainbow in 1995.

The songs have been also performed occasionally by Doogie White, for example in 2004 with a band called White Noise, and 2010 presentations with Rata Blanca. An official DVD recording of White Noise titled In the Hall of the Mountain King was released in 2004. The song "Ariel" was performed live by Blackmore's Night on their 2007 Paris Moon tour.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Wolf to the Moon"Ritchie Blackmore, Doogie White, Candice Night4:16
2."Cold Hearted Woman"Blackmore, White4:31
3."Hunting Humans (Insatiable)"Blackmore, White5:45
4."Stand and Fight"Blackmore, White5:22
5."Ariel"Blackmore, Night5:39
6."Too Late for Tears"Blackmore, White, Pat Regan4:50
7."Black Masquerade"Blackmore, Paul Morris, White, Night5:35
8."Silence"Blackmore, White4:04
9."Hall of the Mountain King"Edvard Grieg, lyrics by Night, arrangement by Blackmore5:34
10."Still I'm Sad" (The Yardbirds cover)Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim McCarty5:22
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Emotional Crime"Blackmore, White, Regan3:49

Personnel

Rainbow

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Chart (1995) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[3][4] 102
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[5] 70
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[6] 6
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[7] 36
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[8] 7
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[9] 38
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[10] 8
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[11] 40

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[12] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Adams, Bret. "Rainbow Stranger in Us All review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  2. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 361. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  3. ^ "Rainbow". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  4. ^ Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK - Quick Guide (1994– )". The Zobbel Website. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  5. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Rainbow – Stranger in Us All" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Rainbow: Stranger in Us All" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Rainbow – Stranger in Us All" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  8. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  9. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Rainbow – Stranger in Us All". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  10. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Rainbow – Stranger in Us All". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Rainbow – Stranger in Us All". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Japanese album certifications – Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow – Stranger in Us All" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1995年9月 on the drop-down menu

External links

Rainbow
Authority control databases
Categories