It is simply Uwe grasping at straws attempting to justify his negative attitude to Rainbow and to make him feel better. Man oh man Ritchie certainly did cast a ‘nasty’ spell on poor ole Uwe back in the day. Or maybe it was Ronnie with his lyrics, all that fantasy, magic and folklore etc. Too much for ole mr straight and narrow, he he he. That thorn in Uwe’s side, the one with the poisonous barb on it, it gets deeper and deeper as the years pass. A few years ago I made a cd of the Dio era Rainbow for a younger musician I know, he had never heard it before. He was astounded by how different it was to what he knew of ‘classic Deep Purple’ as in MKII. He much prefers the Rainbow songs. I don’t need to mention that to prop up my knowledge of the difference between those two bands. I simply mention that because it goes to show that someone, who has no axe to grind and is not privy to one side of the coin, can say something like that. I wasn’t surprised at all. It is ole grumpy Uwe simply being grumpy. We wonder why he didn’t use that moniker here at the new forum. Cheers.
A quick reply into your collecting of all musical things from Ritchie. Uwe, what I am perplexed with is that you appear to be really pissed off with what Blackmore has done outside of Deep Purple. So my querying as to why you purchase any of his music just makes me wonder, that is all it is. A strange feeling of a paradox going on. You don’t like him or his bands, but as a ‘historian’ you just have to have it. I get the collecting thing that you do, also with other artists that you have mentioned that you are NOT into at all. Personally I could never do that, Anyway, I just think that if something or someone really annoys you, why support them. Two different scenarios. Anyway onwards and upwards as they say. Cheers.
I don’t believe in echo chambers, Herr MacGregor, capisce? I’m a lefty liberal, yet a subscriber to Germany’s largest arch-conservative newspaper. Much of their commentaries annoy the hell out of me, but I like to have my finger on the pulse of what the other half thinks.
It’s not like I have to leave the room when someone puts on Rainbow. I find most of it mildly amusing, the mock-earnestness of it all, Ritchie repeating himself, the lyrics I cannot relate to, the stiff, very Teutonic groove that makes the Scorpions sound like Bob Marley & the Wailers. I consider Rainbow neither emotionally deep nor musically really interesting, a few tracks such as GoB excepted. The faux drama and grandeur in their music quickly tires me as pretentious. I tried vainly for nine years from 1975 to 1984 to like Rainbow better, but cannot help it if IGB, GILLAN, Gillanobath, Hughes & Thrall, PAL, Butterfly Ball, early Whitesnake, Sarabande and the Tommy solo albums all showed greater appeal to me. I even found Nick Simper’s Fandango more charming, slightly pedestrian as they were. What the hell is so unusual about that?
To me a piece of music like this here is more intimate, timeless, original, grooving and, yes, even danceable than anything Rainbow ever put out.
It might be that Rainbow held more appeal for 16-year-old boys in 1976, but I was happy to be the odd man out even back then.
Wizards, tarot wimmin and distressed damsels locked in towers didn’t play much of a role in my life back then. I never signed up for World of Warcraft either.
What about Ritchie’s playing in Rainbow? Not a fan either? After all, it’s a big part.
Oh, you mean Blackmore played in Rainbow too? 
Ritchie can entertain, and even if the toilet is flushing in the background. He is one of the great British rock guitarists with an immediately identifiable style.
I know, conventional wisdom has it that he peaked with early Rainbow as a guitarist. He honed his style to perfection there, but also limited it. His playing became more mannered and premeditated to the point of becoming a little stilted, it lost some of the freshness and derring-do, everything now had to be dark, dramatic and deliberate. But what do I know, I admit to preferring his solo in Hold On to the one in Stargazer, maybe I should change my handle to Hold On? 
But yes, in his career with Rainbow he played some great live and studio solos, I‘m not denying that. Maybe, had he continued with DP, he would have been forced out of his comfort zone/musical rabbit hole more often, that could have yielded very interesting and inspiring results too.
And for the avoidance of doubt: The real Rainbow, any line-up, were always shit-tight and well-rehearsed. Unlike the imposters of later decades.
Okay, anyway, I think we get the POINT. Fair enough.
But this thread started out about Rainbow’s latest tour and ended up like a psychiatric consultation on why people do or don’t like them. Enough already! It’s ALL SO REPETITIVE!
Per favore: bastaaaaa!!
True, but I didn‘t start it!