''Bent Out of Shape'' is the seventh studio album released by English

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

. It was originally released in September 1983 as an LP and cassette. The cassette featured several longer edits compared to the vinyl version. It was recorded at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen.

History

''Bent Out of Shape'' would be Rainbow's final studio album before their 12-year hiatus from the studio. It also proved to be the band's final studio album with vocalist

Joe Lynn Turner Joe Lynn Turner (born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito, August 2, 1951) is an American singer best known for his work with Rainbow (rock band), Rainbow, Deep Purple, and Yngwie Malmsteen. Turner joined Rainbow (rock band), Rainbow in the early 1980 ...

, bassist

Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and Roll ...

and keyboardist David Rosenthal, and their only one to feature drummer Chuck Burgi, who replaced

Bobby Rondinelli Robert Rondinelli (born July 27, 1955) is an American rock drummer best known for his work with the hard rock/ heavy metal bands Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow, Quiet Riot, Black Sabbath, The Lizards, The Handful, and Rondinelli. In July 2013, Rond ...

just prior to the album's recording sessions. The instrumental "Snowman" is based upon " Walking in the Air," a song written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film '' The Snowman'', which was based on

Raymond Briggs Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story ...

' 1978 children's book of the same name.

Release and legacy

The album's cover was designed by

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...

, and alongside

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

's '' Coda'', the artwork was amongst the last to be created by the studio before disbanding in 1983. This album is generally referred to by critics and fans as a commercial effort, with the band attempting to repeat the success of the song "Stone Cold" from the previous album '' Straight Between the Eyes''. As a result, some of the songs, like the first single released from this album, " Street of Dreams", are usually considered to be more in the album-oriented rock style, instead of the

sound of earlier Rainbow albums. The album was particularly aimed at the US market: the title is an American

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...

rather than a British one. However, the album received positive reviews in the U.K. Howard Johnson of Kerrang! magazine (No.51 – Sept 22-Oct 5, 1983) praised the album as "possibly Rainbow's most complete work to date" and called "Desperate Heart" and "Street of Dreams" "two of this year's finest tunes". In 1984, "Anybody There" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. A remastered CD reissue was released in May 1999, which restored the artwork of the original release. This has two tracks of a longer duration than on the first US CD issue. The song "Street of Dreams" has been re-recorded in two versions by

Blackmore's Night Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore (acoustic guitar, hurdy gurdy, mandola, mandolin, nyckelharpa, and electric guitar) and Candice Night (lead vocals, lyr ...

in 2006 for their fifth studio album, '' The Village Lanterne''. The version featured on a regular album was sung by Candice Night. The other version, a bonus track on a special edition of the album, was performed in a duet by Night and Turner.

Promotion

The 1983 music video for "Street of Dreams" was directed by

Storm Thorgerson Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English art director and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other art f ...

from the Hipgnosis design team. The video was banned by

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

for its supposedly controversial scene of a person being hypnotized. The 1984 music video for "Can't Let You Go" was directed by Dominic Orlando. It was filmed in New York City and inspired by the 1920 silent b/w film ''

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' () is a 1920 German silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. The quintessential work of early German Expressionist cinema, it tells the story of an insane hypno ...

''. Both videos were included on Rainbow's home video collection ''The Final Cut'' in 1985.

Track listing

The LP has "Desperate Heart" at 4:00, whilst cassette and remastered CD have this track at 4:36, repeating the verse after the guitar solo. Similarly, "Make Your Move" is 3:56 on the LP, yet 5:25 on cassette and remastered CD, due to a reprise of a bridge section and a much longer playout. The first US CD edition (Polydor - 815 305-2) uses the LP version.

Personnel

;Rainbow *

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English lead guitarist. He was a founding member and the guitarist of Deep Purple, one of the pioneering bands of hard rock. After leaving Deep Purple in 1975, Blackmore formed the band Rainbow ...

– guitars *

– bass, percussion, producer *

– vocals * David Rosenthal – keyboards * Chuck Burgi – drums ;Production *

Flemming Rasmussen Flemming Rasmussen (born 1 January 1958) is a Danish sound engineer, record producer, and owner and founder of Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen. He is chief sound engineer at Sweet Silence Studios. Biography Throughout his career, Rasmussen ...

– engineer * Thomas Breckling – assistant engineer * Nick Blagona – mixing at BearTracks Studios, New York * Greg Calbi – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York

Singles

* 1983 – "Street of Dreams"/"Anybody There" * 1983 – "Street of Dreams"/"Anybody There"/"Power" (live) – 12" release * 1983 – "Can't Let You Go"/"All Night Long" (live) * 1983 – "Can't Let You Go"/"All Night Long" (live)/"Stranded" (live) – 12" release * 1983 – "Can't Let You Go"/"Drinking with the Devil" – Spain

Charts

References

{{Authority control Rainbow (rock band) albums 1983 albums Albums produced by Roger Glover Polydor Records albums Albums with cover art by Storm Thorgerson Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis