"Stargazer" is a song by the British-American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

supergroup

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 ...

, released as fifth track from the band's second studio album ''

Rising Rising or RISING may refer to: Film and TV * "Rising", 2001 television series episode, see list of ''Dark Angel'' episodes * "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), television series episode * ''Rising'' (web series), an American daily news and opini ...

'' (1976). It is an epic song narrating the story of a powerful wizard whose attempt to fly by constructing a mystical tower to the stars leads to the enslavement of vast numbers of people. "Stargazer" is notable for its musical complexity, with the guitar, lyrics, and drum intro cited as significant examples of the talents of guitarist

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 ...

, singer

Ronnie James Dio Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hel ...

, and drummer

Cozy Powell Cozy Powell (born Colin Trevor Flooks; 29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Graham Bonnet, B ...

Description

The epic-length rock track, with symphonic influences, starts with a short

drum solo A drum solo is an Solo (music), instrumental solo played on a drum kit. A drum solo may be set or improvised, and of any length, up to being the main performance. In Rock music, rock, drum solos are unique in that traditionally they are minimally ...

, a "great drumming moment" frequently cited as an example of his skills. It features the

Munich Philharmonic Orchestra The Munich Philharmonic () is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's four principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Radio Orchestra and the Bavarian State Orches ...

, a Vako Orchestron, and what

called "a string thing all playing this half-Turkish Scale". "We went into the studio with a 28-piece orchestra…" recalled Blackmore. "But the backing was too flowery, so we kept taking out parts and making it less and less complicated. The orchestra was getting angry for having to play it so many times. And there was a very fine

gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

violinist who decided to play after the orchestra had finished, but the tape spool ended. The poor guy was frantically playing and we weren't recording him, which was very frustrating for all involved." Blackmore's solo, after the second verse, is in ''B'' Phrygian dominant scale, and is cited as "one of his best". The song has been called a "morality tale", from – according to lyricist

– the standpoint of a "slave in Egyptian times". They relate the story of the Wizard, an astronomer who becomes "obsessed with the idea of flying" and enslaves a vast army to build a tower from which he can take off and fly. Building the tower in harsh conditions ("In the heat and rain, with whips and chains; /just to see him fly, so many die"), the people hope for the day when their misery ends. In the end, the wizard climbs to the top of the tower but, instead of flying, falls and dies: "No sound as he falls instead of rising / Time standing still, then there's blood on the sand." According to Dio, the next song, "A Light in the Black", continues the story of the people, who have lost all purpose after the Wizard's death "until they see the light in the dark". "Stargazer" was the first song to be played by different bands at the UK's

Monsters of Rock Monsters of Rock was a hard rock and heavy metal music festival. It was originally held annually in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as th ...

festival: by Rainbow in 1980 and – in abbreviated form – by Dio in 1983.

Critical legacy

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

and MusicHound describe the song as one of Rainbow's classics, AllMusic calling it a "bombastic, strings-enriched epic". Vincent DeMasi, transcribing part of Blackmore's solo as an example of his taste for "classical drama" with a "Middle Eastern flavor", calls the song an "operatic blockbuster". Jeff Perkins argues that the "incredible epic", one of the band's highlights, derives its strength from Blackmore's guitar playing, Dio's lyrics and vocals, and Powell's drumming.

Andy DiGelsomina Andy DiGelsomina is an American composer, lead guitarist, songwriter, orchestrator, arranger, blogger, and producer. Life and career DiGelsomina was born in Springfield, Ohio. His father was a fan of rock music, while his fraternal grandfathe ...

, composer for the neo-operatic metal project Lyraka, argued for both Wagnerian and existentialist interpretations of the lyrics. A poll held by Gibson ranked the song the 17th greatest heavy metal song of all time. In a 2023 article ranking "Stargazer" 14th among "The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time," ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' called Dio's performance on the song "the man’s finest vocal performance on record."https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-heavy-metal-songs-all-time-45771/stargazer-rainbow-45858/

Alternate versions

"Stargazer (Rough Mix)", an early mix from the 2011 Deluxe Edition of ''Rising'', starts with a keyboard intro played by Tony Carey and has a length of 9:08.

Personnel

Rainbow

– lead and rhythm guitars *

– lead vocals *

– drums, percussion *

Jimmy Bain James Stewart Bain (19 December 1947 – 23 January 2016) was a Scottish musician, best known for playing bass guitar in the bands Rainbow and Dio. He also worked with Kate Bush and Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, co-writing on his solo albu ...

– bass *

Tony Carey Anthony Lawrence Carey (born October 16, 1953, Watsonville, California, United States) is an American musician, composer, producer, and singer/songwriter. In his early career he was a keyboardist for Rainbow. After his departure in 1977, he bega ...

– keyboards ;Additional personnel *

– strings section,

french horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

*Fritz Sonnleitner – concert master *Rainer Pietsch – conductor

References

External links

Lyrics for the entire album
{{Authority control 1976 songs Fantasy music Rainbow (rock band) songs Songs about wizards Songs written by Ritchie Blackmore Songs written by Ronnie James Dio Munich Philharmonic