Straight Between the Eyes is the sixth studio album by English rock band Rainbow, released in 1982 by Polydor Records. A remastered CD reissue, with packaging duplicating the original vinyl release, was released in May 1999. It was released on 14 April 1982 in the US on Mercury Records.
History
The album was the band's first with keyboardist David Rosenthal replacing Don Airey. The remaining members were the same as on the previous year's Difficult to Cure album.
According to Blackmore, the title came from a meeting with Jeff Beck in 1967, when the two were discussing Jimi Hendrix. Beck told Blackmore that Hendrix's guitar playing hit him "straight between the eyes".
The sleeve-art is by British artist Jeff Cummins and Hipgnosis, though has been described as "one of [Hipgnosis]' very worst; in fact, so bad, it taints the music." The original vinyl issue had the lyrics printed on the inner sleeve.
In an April 1982 interview with British rock magazine Kerrang!, Blackmore stated of "MISS Mistreated", "Well it's to avoid confusion that the 'Miss' is written three times bigger than the 'mistreated' but I expect we'll have someone who shall remain nameless coming up to us saying 'I wrote that song'!"
Track listing
Personnel
;Rainbow
- Ritchie Blackmore – guitars
- Roger Glover – bass, producer
- Joe Lynn Turner – vocals
- Bobby Rondinelli – drums
- David Rosenthal – keyboards, orchestral arrangements
;Additional musicians
- François Dompierre – orchestra conductor
- Raymond Dessaint – orchestra lead
;Production
- Engineered by Nick Blagona (assisted by Robbie Whelan)
- Recorded at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Canada
- Digital mixing by Roger Glover and Nick Blagona
- Digital mastering by Greg Calbi, Sterling Sound, New York
Charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Chart (1982)
! Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| align="center"| 86
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)
| align="center"| 2
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| align="center"| 8
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Certifications
In other media
The song "Stone Cold" was featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on the radio station Emotion 98.3.