Rainbow: 30 Years Since the Release of "Difficult to Cure" (1981)

"Difficult to Cure" is the fifth studio album released by Rainbow in 1981. It marked a further commercialisation of the band's sound. Blackmore openly stated his liking for Foreigner  and erstwhile vocalist Ronnie James Dio has referred to this period of Rainbow as "Foreigner Junior". Anyway, the album is a killer meldoic anthem.

The album material was started with Graham Bonnet still in the band, getting as far as recording an early version of "I Surrender", before Bonnet left the band due to his dissatisfaction over the material. American singer Joe Lynn Turner, formerly of Fandango was recruited and sang over backings already completed. In a 1982 interview with Kerrang! Turner stated that, because of this, he was singing in higher keys than he would do normally (and would do subsequently).

The cover design is by Hipgnosis though it was not specifically for this album. It had previously been put forward as a cover for Black Sabbath's 1978 album,"Never Say Die!"

"Difficult to Cure" was produced by Roger Glover.

The three clips below was recorded live in San Antonio, 1982, and relesed as "Live Between the Eyes" to support their next album "Straight Between the Eyes". Enjoy!.

Personel:

Ritchie Blackmore; guitar

Joe Lynn Turner; vocals

Roger Glover; Bass, percussion

Don Airey; keyboard

Bobby Rondinelli; drums