| Difficult to Cure | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Rainbow |
| Cover: | Difficult to cure.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Caption: | Cover design by Hipgnosis |
| Released: | 9 February 1981[1] |
| Genre: | Hard rock |
| Length: | 42:53 |
| Label: | Polydor |
| Producer: | Roger Glover |
| Prev Title: | Down to Earth |
| Prev Year: | 1979 |
| Next Title: | Jealous Lover |
| Next Year: | 1981 |
Difficult to Cure is the fifth studio album by the British hard rock band Rainbow, and it was released in 1981. It was the first album to feature Bobby Rondinelli on drums and Joe Lynn Turner on lead vocals after the departures of Cozy Powell and Graham Bonnet respectively, following the release of Down to Earth. The album marked the continuing commercialization of the band's sound, with Ritchie Blackmore once describing at the time his appreciation of the band Foreigner.[2] It became the band's highest-charting album on the UK Albums Chart, where it peaked at number three.
Writing of the album's material was begun with singer Graham Bonnet still in the band, progressing as far as recording an early version of "I Surrender", before Bonnet left the band due to his dissatisfaction over the material, and numerous fallouts with Blackmore. American singer Joe Lynn Turner, formerly of Fandango was recruited and sang over already completed musical tracks. Turner stated that, because of this, he was singing in higher keys than he would do normally (and would do subsequently).[3]
Allegedly, the album's cover (designed by Hipgnosis) had originally been proposed for use on Black Sabbath's 1978 release Never Say Die!.[4] "I Surrender" would be the band's highest charting single in the UK, reaching No. 3.[5]
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 mistranslation from the German, which was corrected on later releases. However, the "corrected" version still is not perfectly grammatical, as the correct German for "Maybe Next Time" is "Vielleicht beim nächsten Mal".
The laughter at the end of the last track is a sample of Oliver Hardy. On the original LP, the laughter is an endless loop as it plays in the run-out groove, while on CD it loops a few times before fading out.
A remastered CD reissue was released in May 1999, with packaging duplicating the original vinyl release.
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[6] | 77 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[7] | 1 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[8] | 12 |
| Year | Title | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | "I Surrender" | UK Singles Chart | 3 |
| Mainstream Rock (USA)[9] | 19 | ||
| "Can't happen Here" | UK Singles Chart | 20 | |