Difficult to Cure

Difficult to Cure is the fifth album released by Rainbow, in 1981, and marked a further commercialisation of the band's sound. In an interview in Sounds (July 25th 1981), a UK music paper, Blackmore openly stated his liking for Foreigner and erstwhile vocalist Ronnie James Dio has referred to this period of Rainbow as "Foreigner Junior".

The album material was started with Graham Bonnet still in the band, getting as far as recording I Surrender. Joe Lynn Turner was recruited and sang over backings already completed. In a 1982 interview with British Rock magazine 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!

A remastered CD reissue was released in May 1999, with packaging duplicating the original vinyl release.

Jealous Lover, the first track written by Turner and Blackmore, was the non-album B-side to Can't Happen Here. Spotlight Kid was covered by German power metal band Angel Dust for the album Border of Reality.

This is the only Rainbow album to feature a line-up containing 4 past or future Deep Purple members. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore was a founding member of Deep Purple, Roger Glover joined as bassist in 1969, Joe Lynn Turner later became lead singer in 1989, and Don Airey replaced Jon Lord as keyboardist in 2002. However, the four were never all in Deep Purple at the same time.

Track listing

"I Surrender" (Russ Ballard) – 4:10
"Spotlight Kid" (Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover) – 5:04
"No Release" (Blackmore, Glover, Don Airey) – 5:42
"Magic" (Brian Moran) – 4:15
"Vielleicht Das Nachste Mal (Maybe Next Time)" (Blackmore, Airey) – 3:23
"Can't Happen Here" (Blackmore, Glover) – 5:09
"Freedom Fighter" (Joe Lynn Turner, Blackmore, Glover) – 4:28
"Midtown Tunnel Vision" (Turner, Blackmore, Glover) – 4:44
"Difficult To Cure (Beethoven's Ninth)" (Beethoven, arr. by Blackmore, Glover, Airey) – 5:58

This track listing is as it appears on the 1999 CD release. The original 1981 LP and cassette releases had the title of the fifth track as "Vielleicht Das Nachster Zeit (Maybe Next Time)". This was a mis-translation from the German, which was corrected on later releases. However, the "corrected" version still contains multiple spelling errors.

Additionally the final track, Difficult to Cure, was originally credited as arranged by Blackmore/Glover/Airey. The laughter at the end of this track is unmistakably that of Oliver Hardy. On the original LP, the laughter is an endless loop in the last groove, while on the CD it loops a few times before stopping.

I Surrender would be the band's highest charting single in the UK, reaching #3.

Personnel

Singles

1981 - "I Surrender/Vielleicht Das Nachste Mal (Maybe Next Time)"
1981 - "Can't Happen Here/Jealous Lover"
1981 - "Magic/Freedom Fighter" (Japan)

References