Straight Between the Eyes

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

Straight Between the Eyes
Cover art by Jeff Cummins and Hipgnosis
Studio album by
Rainbow
Released10 June 1982
RecordedLe Studio, Morin-Heights, Quebec, Canada, December 1981
GenreHard rock
Length40:58
LabelPolydor
Mercury (North America)
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" / "Rock Fever"
    Released: March 1982
  2. "Death Alley Driver" / "Power"
    Released: 1982 (Japan only)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[2]
Rolling Stone[3]

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.[4]

The sleeve-art is by British artist Jeff Cummins and Hipgnosis. 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'!"[4] 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, 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. The tour, although extensive, did not include the UK, which rankled with British fans.

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
  • François Dompierre - orchestra conductor
  • Raymond Dessaint - orchestra lead
Production
  • Engineered by Nick Blagona (assisted by Robbie Whelan)
  • Recorded at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Canada
  • Digital mixing by Roger Glover and Nick Blagona
  • Digital mastering by Greg Calbi, Sterling Sound, New York

Charts

Certifications
Country Organization Year Sales
UK BPI 1982 Silver (+ 60,000)[15]
Finland Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland 1982 Gold (+ 25,000)[16]

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. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Rainbow Straight Between the Eyes review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  2. Popoff, Martin (November 1, 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.
  3. Considine, J. D. (24 June 1982). "Album Reviews: Rainbow - Straight Between the Eyes". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 May 2009. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  4. Bonutto, Dante (22 April 1982). "The Rainbow Story". Kerrang! (14): 21–23. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  5. "Rainbow Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  6. "Rainbow – Straight Between the Eyes (album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  7. "Rainbow – Straight Between the Eyes (album)". Norwegiancharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  8. "Rainbow – Straight Between the Eyes (album)". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  9. "Album – Rainbow, Straight Between the Eyes". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  10. "Straight Between the Eyes Billboard Albums". Allmusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  11. "RPM Weekly". RPM magazine. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  12. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 245. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. "Straight Between the Eyes Billboard Singles". Allmusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  14. "RPM Weekly". RPM magazine. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  15. "Search for Artist Rainbow". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  16. "Search for Artist Rainbow" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
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