Founded by Deep Purple's founding guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and originally called Blackmore's Rainbow, Rainbow was a revolving-door supergroup, in which artists like Ronnie James Dio, Cozy Powell, Joe Lynn Turner, and Tony Carey entered just long enough to establish themselves and bolster their resumes.

Considering the band's instability, Rainbow created a number of surprisingly strong tunes over its 10-year career. The first half of The Best of Rainbow features Dio's inimitable vocals on such Deep Purple-styled stormers as "Man on the Silver Mountain," "Stargazer," and "Kill the King."