RAINBOW: 'The Temple Of The King: 1975-1976' Nine-CD Box Set To Be Released In March

Edsel Records has set a March 6, 2026 release date for RAINBOW's "The Temple Of The King: 1975-1976", the most comprehensive collection of the opening phase of RAINBOW's career to date, and is the first in a series of anthology sets covering the career of legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. The nine-CD set, newly mastered by Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham, is housed in deluxe seven-inch packaging featuring a 24-page booklet including memorabilia, photos and sleeve notes by music writer Rich Davenport.

The set spans RAINBOW's first two years and includes the band's debut album, "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow"; their breakthrough record "Rising" and the extended German concerts that were compiled as part of the double live album "On Stage". The final two discs comprise rare recordings, many of which are featured on CD for the first time, including band rehearsals, single edits, and rough mixes.

RAINBOW was initially formed as a Ritchie Blackmore solo project in the early months of 1975, after a DEEP PURPLE tour of the previous year. On that tour, they were supported by the American band ELF. The singer of ELF, Ronnie James Dio, left an impression on the already legendary guitarist Blackmore. Blackmore asked him to sing on a cover of the song "Black Sheep Of The Family". The sessions went so well that a full album began to take shape, with Blackmore and Dio collaborating on original songs. Blackmore had such foresight in this project, he solely financially funded the work and thus began the mystical musical world of RAINBOW. The resulting record, "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow", was recorded between February and March 1975 at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany. With Blackmore's composing prowess and Dio's mystical lyrics, the band was set to take fans to a new level.

The album's unusual stylistic blend of hard rock and classical music was partly inspired by Blackmore taking up the cello to help him break free of the confines of conventional guitar chord progressions. "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" was a top 15 hit in the U.K. and top 30 in the U.S., and was such a positive experience that in the summer of 1975, that Blackmore left DEEP PURPLE to commit himself fully to RAINBOW.

Recruiting bassist Jimmy Bain, keyboard player Tony Carey and ex-JEFF BECK GROUP drummer Cozy Powell, Ritchie Blackmore's RAINBOW undertook their first tour. By 1976, the band's name had been shortened to RAINBOW, and a second album, "Rising", was recorded in February of that year once again at Musicland. "Rising", with its iconic sleeve of a fist holding a rainbow in a mystical scene, only features six tracks, including two epic compositions on side two, one of which, "Stargazer", is widely regarded as a RAINBOW classic and a landmark in hard rock. The original musical stylings are often touted as the first neo-classical metal band. It was the perfect melding of Ritchie's guitar wizardry and Ronnie's soaring powerful vocals.

Taking the album on the road in 1976, the band added DEEP PURPLE's "Mistreated" to their setlist, and song lengths were stretched to include improvisational sections. The band recorded shows in Germany and Japan, which were edited and compiled as the live album "On Stage", released in the summer of 1977. Three of the German shows from Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Nürnberg are being released together for the first time outside of Japan on "The Temple Of The King: 1975-1976".

By the end of 1976, RAINBOW had established itself as one of the cornerstones of British rock, and, under the leadership of the never-predictable but ever-astonishing guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, would become synonymous with some of the most loved and popular rock songs of the '70s and '80s.