Rainbow's "Rising" should be under power metal

First Post October 11, 2023 09:03 AM

Rainbow's second album Rising actually has epic-sounding power metal before Helloween. I'm not kidding about that in the songs that have it (3 out of 6 songs, altogether making two thirds of the album's length). They can range from mid-paced ("Tarot Woman") to slow and almost doomy ("Stargazer") and fast and speedy ("A Light in the Black"). The fantasy lyrics, long song length, dramatic keyboards, and blazing soloing say it all. And since this isn't an entirely American band, and there's more focus on epicness than speed, I can safely say that Rising is pretty much the first ever European-style power metal album right here! So I'd like to submit Rainbow's "Rising" to the Hall to be added to power metal while staying in heavy metal.

October 12, 2023 06:19 PM

Andi, by its very definition power metal is a combination of the melodicism of heavy metal & the fast tempos & techniques found in speed metal. Do you hear a speed metal component in “Rising”?

October 12, 2023 07:51 PM

I never got speed metal from that album myself, so while I agree there's a similar appeal in many other ways, the speed is really where the "power" comes from.  As much as I adore power metal, gonna vote against this one.

October 12, 2023 11:15 PM

Hmm... Only "A Light in the Black" comes close to the speed of power metal. I was thinking so much of the melodicism and fantasy lyrics. It's clear that this judgement submission isn't gonna win, so please cancel it.