Release Calendar

After leaving Deep Purple, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore found success with his new band Rainbow. The ever-changing line-up was notable in its early incarnation for featuring Elf vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who would of course become a towering figure in metal as a singer in Black Sabbath and his own eponymous band Dio. The Temple of the King is a 9CD box set collecting the early Dio years of Rainbow, including the remastered studio albums Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow and Rainbow Rising, three live sets from 1976 and a collection of rare tracks, including four unreleased tour rehearsals. It’s all mastered by Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham, housed in a 7″ package alongside 28 pages of original album artwork, rare photos, memorabilia, and new liner notes by writer Rich Davenport. It’s also slated to be the first in a series of Rainbow retrospectives at Edsel, with Blackmore’s full endorsement.