"Stargazer" is a song by the British-American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

supergroup

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

, released as fifth track from the band's second studio album '' Rising'' (1976). It is an epic song narrating the story of a powerful wizard whose attempt to fly by constructing a mystical tower to the stars leads to the enslavement of vast numbers of people. "Stargazer" is notable for its musical complexity, with the guitar, lyrics, and drum solo cited as significant examples of the talents of guitarist

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...

, singer

Ronnie James Dio Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted and founded numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and H ...

, and drummer

Cozy Powell Cozy Powell (born Colin Trevor Flooks; 29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English rock drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Robert Plant, ...

Description

The epic-length rock track with symphonic influences starts with a short

drum solo A drum solo is an instrumental solo played on a drum kit. A drum solo may be set or improvised, and of any length, up to being the main performance. In rock, drum solos are unique in that traditionally they are minimally or never accompanied, wher ...

, a "great drumming moment" frequently cited as an example of his skills. It features the

Munich Philharmonic Orchestra The Munich Philharmonic (german: Münchner Philharmoniker, links=no) is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's four principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Rad ...

, a Vako Orchestron, and what

called "a string thing all playing this half-Turkish Scale". Blackmore's solo, after the second verse, is in ''B'' Phrygian dominant scale, and is cited as "one of his best". The song has been called a "morality tale", and its lyrics are written from the standpoint of a "slave in Egyptian times", according to lyricist

. They relate the story of the Wizard, an astronomer who becomes "obsessed with the idea of flying" and enslaves a vast army of people to build him a tower from which he can take off and fly. The people hope for the day when their misery comes to an end, building the tower in harsh conditions ("In the heat and rain, with whips and chains; /just to see him fly, too many died"). In the end, the wizard climbs to the top of the tower but, instead of flying, falls down and dies: "no sound as he falls instead of rising. / Time standing still, then there's blood on the sand". The next song, "A Light in the Black", continues the story of the people who have lost all purpose after the Wizard's death "until they see the Light in the Dark", according to Dio.

Critical legacy

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

and MusicHound describe the song as one of Rainbow's classics, AllMusic calling it a "bombastic, strings-enriched epic". Vincent DeMasi, transcribing part of Blackmore's solo as an example of his taste for "classical drama" with a "Middle Eastern flavor", calls the song an "operatic blockbuster". Jeff Perkins argues that the "incredible epic", one of the band's highlights, derives its strength from Blackmore's guitar playing, Dio's lyrics and vocals, and Powell's drumming. Andy DiGelsomina, composer for the neo-operatic metal project Lyraka, argued for both Wagnerian and existentialist interpretations of the lyrics. A poll held by Gibson ranked the song the 17th greatest heavy metal song of all time.

Alternate versions

"Stargazer (Rough Mix)", an early mix from the 2011 Deluxe Edition of ''Rising'', starts with a keyboard intro played by Tony Carey and has a length of 9:08.

Personnel

Rainbow

– lead guitar *

– lead vocals *

– drums, percussion *

Jimmy Bain James Stewart Bain (19 December 1947 – 23 January 2016) was a Scottish musician, best known for playing bass guitar in the bands Rainbow and Dio. He also worked with Kate Bush and Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, co-writing on his solo alb ...

– bass *

Tony Carey Anthony Lawrence Carey (born October 16, 1953, Watsonville, California) is an American-born, European-based musician, composer, producer, and singer/songwriter. One of his earliest musical experiences was as a keyboardist for Rainbow. After his d ...

– keyboards

Additional personnel

– strings section,

french horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

*Fritz Sonnleitner – concert master *Rainer Pietsch – conductor

References

External links

Lyrics for the entire album
{{Authority control 1976 songs Fantasy music Rainbow (rock band) songs Songs about wizards Songs written by Ritchie Blackmore Songs written by Ronnie James Dio