Deep Purple has had quite a number of members come and go, the only contiuous members being keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice. When the band broke up in the mid-70's, two other legendary bands were created, Rainbow (with guitarist Ritche Blackmore and bassist Roger Glover) and Whitesnake (with Paice, Lord, and charismatic singer David Coverdale.) Vocalist Ian Gillan also did an album with Black Sabbath, and so has bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (who was also the lead singer for Phenomena.)

"Shades of Deep Purple" (Spitfire remaster)

1. "And the Address"--instrumental (4:38)
2. "Hush" (4:24)
3. "One More Rainy Day" (3:39)
4. "Prelude: Happiness"--instrumental
   "I'm So Glad" (total=7:19)
5. "Mandrake Root" (6:09)
6. "Help!" (6:01)
7. "Love Help Me" (3:49)
8. "Hey Joe" (7:33)
9. "Shadows"--album out-take (3:38)
10. "Love Help Me"--instrumental version (3:29)
11. "Help!"--alternate take (5:23)
12. "Hey Joe"--BBC Top Gear session (4:05)
13. "Hush"--live U.S. TV (3:53)

Thank God I waited on buying this one as long as I did. This remastered edition, released by Spitfire in 2000, not only cleans up the total shit production on the original crappy vinyl (to say nothing of the crappy CD knockoffs) but adds 5 bonus tracks, including an unreleased outtake "Shadows". Tracks 10-12 are nifty alternate versions but they really should have left off the live version "Hush" -- or at least found a recording that wasn't virtually unlistenable.

Lotta covers on this one -- there's the obvious Beatles song, as well as Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe" (yes, I know Jimi didn't actually write it, but he may as well have.) Speaking of cover songs people mistake for originals: "Hush", their first big hit, is a cover of a Joe South tune. I can't remember who did "I'm So Glad" originally (it's also been recorded by Cream.) The instrumentals are nice, and "Mandrake Root" gets into that cool heavy blues groove that would eventually become their trademark sound.

"The Book of Taliesyn" (Spitfire remaster)

1. "Listen, Learn, Read On" (4:04)
2. "Wring that Neck (Hard Road)"--instrumental (5:13)
3. "Kentucky Woman" (4:44)
4. "a: Exposition"--instrumental
   "b: We Can Work it Out" (total=7:07)
5. "Shield" (6:06)
6. "Anthem" (6:31)
7. "River Deep, Mountain High" (10:12)
8. "Oh No No No"--studio out-take (4:25)
9. "It's All Over"--BBC Top Gear session (4:14)
10. "Hey Bop a Re Bop"--BBC Top Gear session (3:31)
11. "Wring That Neck"--BBC Top Gear session, instrumental (4:42)
12. "Playground"--remixed instrumental studio out-take (4:29)

Word of warning...do NOT buy any CD release of this album, except this one! (Or the original EMI import, if you don't care about bonus tracks.) All of Deep Purple's first 3 albums were knocked off even worse than Genesis's first album, and the copy I used to own of this sounded like a very BAD vinyl mastering, with a cheap blurry copy of the cover art (good God, I've seen BOOTLEGS that look and sound better!) No worries on the Spitfire reissue, which adds another 5 extra tunes (of dubious sound quality, although "Playground" sounds really good.) Once again, lotta covers -- Neil Diamond's "Kentucky Woman", Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High", and another damn Beatles song. "Wring That Neck" is a brilliant instrumental jam, and "Shield" is hauntingly beautiful, but the ballad "Anthem" really does get on my nerves. Oh yeah, this pressing comes with a full-color 12-page booklet describing the making of this album, like Shades did.

"Deep Purple"

1. "Chasing Shadows" (5:31)
2. "Blind" (5:22)
3. "Lalena" (5:01)
4. "Faultline/The Painter" (5:30)
5. "Why Didn't Rosemary?" (4:56)
6. "Bird Has Flown" (5:30)
7. "April" (11:52)

Totally forgot to mention that neither Ian Gillan nor Roger Glover were in the band up to this point. This one's got some cool songs, especially "Chasing Shadows" and their first mini-classical piece, "April". This is one of the cheap knockoff versions but it sounds good enough for me to stick with it for now, especially since all the bonus tracks are pointless live & alternate versions. Still, the end of the Taliesyn booklet did kinda leave me hainging...

"In Rock"

1. "Speed King" (4:18)
2. "Bloodsucker" (4:12)
3. "Child in Time" (10:15)
4. "Flight of the Rat" (7:52)
5. "Into the Fire" (3:29)
6. "Living Wreck" (4:30)
7. "Hard Lovin' Man" (7:10)

The first album with Ian Gillan, which defined the band's sound for years to come. Yngwie Malmsteen has covered "Child in Time"...as well as "Pictures of Home", "Demon's Eye", and "Mistreated"!

"Fireball"

1. "Fireball" (3:21)
2. "No No No" (6:40)
3. "Strange Kind of Woman" (4:04)
4. "Anyone's Daughter" (4:39)
5. "The Mule" (5:16)
6. "Fools" (8:15)
7. "No One Came" (6:25)

They put out a 25th anniversary edition of this one with extra songs, but WHO FUCKING CARES.... My favorite song here is "Anyone's Daughter", just gotta love those lyrics. :-) The title track's been covered by Wargasm.

"Machine Head"

1. "Highway Star" (6:05)
2. "Maybe I'm a Leo" (4:51)
3. "Pictures of Home" (5:03)
4. "Never Before" (3:56)
5. "Smoke on the Water" (5:40)
6. "Lazy" (7:19)
7. "Space Truckin'" (4:31)

I have this computer game called "Destruction Derby", in which you race around a figure-8 track and bash up other cars before they destroy you. The game supports playing music CDs, selecting a different track for each race. This CD is PERFECT for that game!! Metal Church has done an excellent cover of "Highway Star"; it's also been covered by Type O Negative on the compilation CD NASCAR on FOX: Crank It Up. Pat Boone (yes, PAT BOONE!!) has covered "Smoke on the Water", and Overkill has covered "Space Truckin'".

"Deep Purple in Concert 1970-1972"

An archive release featuring two shows from 1970 & 1972. I used to have this on crappy vinyl, and even though "Maybe I'm a Leo" and "Smoke on the Water" were only included on the CD version, I was quite impressed at how they were able to cram everything onto the record version. (Each side was nearly 30 minutes long!!) Lots of big huge long jams here, as normal.

"Made in Japan" (live 2CD/remastered)

With the possible exception of Motorhead, Deep Purple has put out more live albums than any other band since the beginning of time...this one is their most popular and probably the best from the Mk.II era, recorded live in Japan (duh) in '72. These boys just love to jam it out in concert, don't they!! Of course, Ritchie Blackmore's cock-up intro to "Smoke on the Water" clearly proves he's NOT the ultimate guitar god like so many people say. The "25th Anniversary" remastered edition adds a bonus disc with 3 outtakes from the same shows. How nice.

"Who Do We Think We Are!"

1. "Woman from Tokyo" (5:50)
2. "Mary Long" (4:25)
3. "Super Trouper" (2:56)
4. "Smooth Dancer" (4:10)
5. "Rat Bat Blue" (5:23)
6. "Place in Line" (6:31)
7. "Our Lady" (5:12)

This CD is part of a mini-box set called "The Originals Vol. 2"--a cheesy title, I know--which also includes Stormbringer and Come Taste the Band. All the CDs come with cute little sleeves which are perfect replicas of the original crappy vinyl packaging. I suppose I could have bought all of them in regular jewel cases for less money, but to hell with it..."Rat Bat Blue" has been covered by Helloween.

"Burn"

1. "Burn" (6:00)
2. "Might Just Take Your Life" (4:36)
3. "Lay Down, Stay Down" (4:15)
4. "Sail Away" (5:48)
5. "You Fool No One" (4:47)
6. "What's Goin' on Here" (4:55)
7. "Mistreated" (7:25)
8. ""A" 200"--instrumental (3:51)

David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes joined the band at this point, giving a much heavier, sultry, bluesy feel to the band's music. Many excellent songs here, including the title track, "Might Just Take Your Life", and the classic "Mistreated".

"Stormbringer"

1. "Stormbringer" (4:03)
2. "Love Don't Mean a Thing" (4:23)
3. "Holy Man" (4:28)
4. "Hold On" (5:05)
5. "Lady Double Dealer" (3:19)
6. "You Can't Do it Right (With the One You Love)" (3:24)
7. "High Ball Shooter" (4:26)
8. "The Gypsy" (4:13)
9. "Soldier of Fortune" (3:14)

I wasn't impressed with this album, a lot of grating semi-blues mixed with pseudo-metal. Ah well, gotta complete the collection.... Part of "The Originals Vol. II" mini-box set (see above).

"Come Taste the Band"

1. "Comin' Home" (3:52)
2. "Lady Luck" (2:45)
3. "Gettin' Tighter" (3:36)
4. "Dealer" (3:49)
5. "I Need Love" (4:22)
6. "Drifter" (4:01)
7. "Love Child" (3:05)
8. "This Time Around"
   "Owed to 'G'"--instrumental (total time=6:07)
9. "You Keep on Moving" (5:18)

Ritchie Blackmore left the band, replaced by Tommy Bolin (a guitarist even MORE overrated than Blackmore, IMO!) Surprisingly, this album contains some pretty good music. (Totally trivial fact: "Dealer" was one of the songs Paul Di'Anno sung when he auditioned for Iron Maiden. However, "Drifter" is NOT the same song as Maiden's!) Part of "The Originals Vol. II" mini-box set (see above).

"King Biscuit Flower Hour: Deep Purple in Concert"

Oops! This isn't the one I was expecting when I ordered it from Second Spin; ah well, that's the problem with a band that has so many fucking live albums!! And since I'm pretty much becoming a Deep Purple completist, it's still worth having. This set features one of the last concerts from the Tommy Bolin era, and sounds pretty close to early Whitesnake (since all they did was change the guitarist & bassist when Whitesnake formed.) Very bluesy, with long, drawn-out solos & stuff. The last 4 tracks on disc 2 are bonus tracks, but why in the world did they have to use the same songs from a different concert?? Oh well, at least there's no ECD portion to muck things up!

"Singles A's & B's" (compilation)

1. "Hush" (4:24)
2. "One More Rainy Day" (3:38)
3. "Kentucky Woman" (4:04)
4. "Emmaretta" (3:00)
5. "The Bird Has Flown" (2:54)
6. "Hallelujah" (3:44)
7. "Speed King" (4:26)
8. "Black Night" (3:28)
9. "Strange Kind of Woman" (3:49)
10. "I'm Alone" (3:06)
11. "Fireball" (3:21)
12. "Demon's Eye" (5:12)
13. "Never Before" (3:30)
14. "When a Blind Man Cries" (3:32)
15. "Smoke on the Water" (3:48)
16. "Black Night"--live (4:59)
17. "Might Just Take Your Life" (3:35)
18. "Coronarias Redig" (4:54)
19. "You Keep on Moving" (4:29)
20. "Love Child" (3:04)

An excellent collection of Deep Purple's early singles, covering the period from Shades of Deep Purple up to Stormbringer. Some of these tracks I had on rare 12" crappy vinyl singles, which I sold right after buying this CD (and the record store guy tried to jack me big-time, too! Luckily I'm no fool!)

"Perfect Strangers" (1999 reissue)

1. "Knocking at Your Back Door" (7:04)
2. "Under the Gun" (4:38)
3. "Nobody's Home" (3:59)
4. "Mean Streak" (4:21)
5. "Perfect Strangers" (5:28)
6. "A Gypsy's Kiss" (5:12)
7. "Wasted Sunsets" (3:55)
8. "Hungry Daze" (4:58)
9. "Not Responsible" (4:47)
10. "Son of Alerik"--instrumental (10:07)

In 1984 the classic "Mark II" lineup of Gillan, Blackmore, Lord, Glover & Paice reformed to record this album (over a decade before the "Dreaded Nostalgic Reunion Syndrome" became commonplace!!) It's a masterpiece, perhaps not as awesome as some of their earlier works but they did quite a good job, plus a way cool "Mad Max"-style video for "Knockin' at Your Back Door". The title track has been covered by Dream Theater.

As a matter of fact, this was the VERY FIRST CD I EVER BOUGHT when I got my first CD player back in '86 (the 2nd one was Holst: The Planets, which I no longer own, yet wish I still had.) In late '99, however, they reissued this one with the instrumental jam "Son of Alerik" as a bonus track, which was previously only available on a very rare & out of print German import (I did have an edited version of the song on the "Perfect Strangers" picture disc single, but not anymore...)

"Knebworth '85" (dbl. live album)

I used to have a bootleg from this tour called "Deep in Detroit" (which was actually recorded in Cleveland, go figure...) but it was such a piece of crap, that I immediately went looking for a better quality bootleg. Well wouldn't you know it, I ran across this OFFICIAL archive release, which not only solved the problem but kept my conscience clear as well! This is a great show, including two songs ("Nobody's Home" and "Gypsy's Kiss") which were only performed on this tour, plus a surprise rendition of Rainbow's "Difficult to Cure" (which includes Jon Lord's keyboard solo) and a KICK-ASS performance of "Speed King"!! It's a rare and expensive import, but worth tracking down if you can find it...my only gripe is that it comes in one of those massive-sized, environmentally unfriendly 2CD cases that are a bitch to store. Oh, apparently it rained like hell at the festival, which was dubbed "Mudworth" afterwards. :)

"The House of Blue Light"

1. "Bad Attitude" (5:03)
2. "The Unwritten Law" (4:54)
3. "Call of the Wild" (4:48)
4. "Mad Dog" (4:35)
5. "Black & White" (4:39)
6. "Hard Lovin' Woman" (3:24)
7. "The Spanish Archer" (5:31)
8. "Strangeways" (7:35)
9. "Mitzi Dupree" (5:05)
10. "Dead or Alive" (4:59)

The second album from the "Mk.II revisited" lineup. Not as spectacular as Perfect Strangers, but definitely worth owning. This one's current only available as an expensive import, but I managed to SCORE a copy for merely $5.50 on eBay! You see? It only takes patience...

...hmm, it seems this CD was just reissued domestically. No *wonder* I got it so cheap (and thank GOD I didn't pay $20 for the freaking import!!!)

"Nobody's Perfect" (remastered; live 2CD)

When this live album first came out, the band got tricky and decided to release a DIFFERENT TRACK LISTING for each format!! Thus, the (single) CD had only 12 tracks, the 2LP version added "Bad Attitude", and the cassette included "Dead or Alive". So, if you wanted to get ALL the songs, you would have had to buy the crappy vinyl AND the cassette, plus the CD if you wanted any decent sound quality!! Thankfully, in 1999 they remastered & rereleased this album as a 2CD version, with all 14 tracks intact.

Some interesting tunes here..."Strange Kind of Woman" includes a brief excerpt of the "Jesus Christ Superstar" chorus (Ian Gillian performed Jesus on the original Broadway cast recording of that play, did you know that? Can't recall if he was actually in the play itself, though...); "Woman from Tokyo" ends with an impromptu Buddy Holly medley.

"Slaves and Masters"

1. "King of Dreams" (5:30)
2. "The Cut Runs Deep" (5:42)
3. "Fire in the Basement" (4:43)
4. "Truth Hurts" (5:14)
5. "Breakfast in Bed" (5:16)
6. "Love Conquers All" (3:47)
7. "Fortuneteller" (5:45)
8. "Too Much is Not Enough" (4:19)
9. "Wicked Ways" (6:35)

On this album, vocals were done by Joe Lyn Turner of Rainbow, and that's kinda what the music sounds like. Nothing special of course. I wouldn't have even bought this except it was in the used bins for $1.99, and I'm still not sure if I got my money's worth...

"In Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra -- Conducted by Paul Mann"

All you brain-dead Metallica fans who think "S&M" is da bomb ought to take THIS masterpiece and shove it in your ear! Deep Purple was one of the first rock bands to mix rock & classical, and NOBODY does it better. (Granted, the fact that Jon Lord is a classically trained musician does give them an unfair advantage!) This 1999 concert celebrates the 30th anniversary of their ground-breaking "Concerto for Group and Orchestra", and they totally nail it in this performance. (Ian Gillan even remarks, "We finally got it right!") Disc one starts off with an unusual mix of ballads & blues jams, mostly taken from solo recordings, with Ronnie James Dio guest vocalizing on tracks 3 & 4 -- Dio also shares lead vox on "Smoke on the Water", which is undoubtedly the BEST live performance of this song in the whole fucking universe!!! Absolutely essential.

on crappy vinyl:
• "New, Live & Rare" (7" single--includes "Painted Horse" which is not on any other album!)

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