If bigger is better, then Live in Germany 1976 trumps On Stage in that respect as well. With a running time of over ninety minutes, ’76 eclipses On Stage in length by more than fifty percent. With only eight tracks on the album, that equals an average of twelve minutes per song, which can only mean one thing: excessive jamming. Keyboard solo? Check. Drum solo? Check. Vocal/guitar duel? Check. Blues jam? Check, check, check. Extended guitar solo? Check, check, check, check, check, check, check. If that sounds bloated and overblown, well, it is. It was the Seventies, and as Rick James once said: "Cocaine is a hell of a drug". While the jamming might be excessive, in the hands of this extremely talented group, it is rarely less than entertaining and frequently exhilarating. In the period between the death of Jimi Hendrix and the debut of Eddie Van Halen, Ritchie Blackmore was, arguably, the biggest guitar hero in rock, and Live in Germany 1976 finds him at the height of his powers, delivering an impassioned, multi-faceted performance. Dio’s performance is every bit the equal of Blackmore’s. Ronnie’s voice remained amazingly strong throughout his life, but ’76 showcases Dio in his early thirties, a seasoned veteran,but still in his prime, and at this juncture the strength of his voice seems almost limitless. The rest of the band - drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Jimmy Bain, and keyboardist Tony Carey - makes up the strongest supporting cast that Ronnie and Ritchie had in Rainbow, and each one shines in his respective role.
The highlight of Live in Germany 1976 is, of course, the seventeen minute rendition of "Stargazer". The song begins with a lengthy keyboard intro - into which Tony Carey works some licks from "Tarot Woman" - but once the song-proper starts, the band sticks fairly close to the studio arrangement of the song until the guitar solo, at which time Ritchie Blackmore uses his slide and some slap-back echo to take his leave of planet Earth. Also of note is the band’s blazing stomp through "Sixteenth Century Green Sleeves", and the delicately beautiful "Catch the Rainbow", showcasing some sublime, Hendrix-inspired playing from Blackmore. As did On Stage, ’76 features a rendition of Deep Purple’s "Mistreated". Dio cannot quite match the anguish David Coverdale captures in his renditions of this gut-wrenching blues tune, but what Dio’s voice might lack in vulnerability, it more than makes up for in power, matching Blackmore’s deep-cutting licks slash for slash.
There is no getting around the fact that Live in Germany 1976 is a behemoth of a recording. An hour and a half of arena rock bombast is by no means casual listening, and so it is unlikely to appeal to the casual fan. For the die-hard Rainbow fan, however, Live in Germany 1976 is an all-too-rare opportunity to indulge in the fruit of Dio and Blackmore’s fleeting union, to hear these titans wield their might in their true element: on the stage, where legends are made.
(full version: yourlastrites.com/2011/09/18/15292/)