Deep Purple

I have to agree, a very disjointed album which pretty much matches the state of the bad at the time. One I rarely listen to. The good news is that it gets much better from here on :)
 
bearfan said:
I have to agree, a very disjointed album which pretty much matches the state of the bad at the time. One I rarely listen to. The good news is that it gets much better from here on :)
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Well, in my opinion, Purpendicular and Now What?! are great but I tend to think we have to make a mix of Abandon, Bananas and Rapture of the Deep to make a really good record (by the way, thanks for giving me the idea to put up another CD-RW for my car! ;) ).
However, there's no question that the band has fared better ever since live (even though time has started taking its toll on Gillan very severely , since 2010 or so).
 
I'll agree, Abandon and Bananas are not epics by any stretch, but they are an improvement over Battle and certainly Slaves. I like Rapture quite a bit though, a notch below Purpendicular and Now What, but really good.
 
Well, if we get started about the next albums, we're endangering the equilibrium of the Force... thread! :) Let's just say that Abandon is my least favorite DP album ever.
 
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I'll have to upload one FM sourced and then remastered Satch bootleg on YT (1994, St. Gallien if I recall). It's immense. The audio quality is extremely good. It's my second favourite DP show after Perfect Strangers 1984 DVD, lacks a bit in sound quality dept (it's a bootleg, not a recent official release after all), but the performance itself is even a bit better. Satriani said that he didn't take Purple gig because he couldn't get away from all Blackmore influences (of his, not imposed by the band). In my view, it made these 1994 shows really special, Satriani is true to Blackmore but you can also hear Satriani technique and Satriani sound, which made Purple even heavier. Some people say that it changed Purple sound because Ritchie was not so high-gain and had a bit of a scooped middle, giving free space to Lord, while Satch uses the wall-of-sound approach for a lot of time. Well in my ears Lord played perfectly around it, he was a genius after all.
 
On The Battle Rages On

Won't be giving too much background information as Black Bart already did a a great job at this, so after finally listening to this album ( ;) )I'll just touch upon a few points.

First of all it's very cool to hear how uncompromisingly Purple the band still were at this time at the height of MTV and Grunge. It's also probably one of the heaviest Purple albums production wise. Battle Rages On starts out very strong with the title track. I really liked this one and it has all the Purple ingredients one comes to expect from a classic Purple tune. Lick It Up lightens the atmosphere a bit and is a fun little rocker in between two of the better track here because next up is Anya. I love how Blackmore starts the song off with his folky renaissance guitar ( a foreshadowing of what he would later do in Blacmore's Night?) before transforming into an amazing riff and perfectly conjures up the story told in the lyrics. Jon Lord also throws in some very imaginative keyboard lines in this song. overall just love at first listen ;)

The album falls apart a bit in the middle with some OK and enjoyable songs but none of them too original. Credit where credit is due though, Ramshackle Man manages to conjure up memories of the jammy arrangements on songs such as Lazy from the early albums and of course it's a pleasure to listen to Blackmore and Lord let loose over a heavy blues tune. Always guaranteed to blow your brains out. Solitaire with it's sinister but epic feel really salvages the album at the end after a string of not so good songs. Great track and probably should have closed out the album instead of the forgettable One Man's Meat.

Some 1994 tour footage from Germany on the Battle Rages On tour :)


 
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Purpendicular is Deep Purple's fifteenth studio album, the first with guitarist Steve Morse (ex-Dixie Dregs and Kansas) who was recruited on a permanent basis in late 1994 after Joe Satriani's temporary stint to finish "the Battle Rages On" tour started with Ritchie Blackmore. According to Ian Gillan and Jon Lord, Steve Morse was topping every member's list to fill the slot. Steve Morse was tried out during a couple of discreet shows that took place in Mexico and finished the tour that had begun in 1993. The setlist was similar to that used with Satriani (including the likes of "Maybe I'm a Leo", "Pictures of Home", "Fireball", "Ramshackle Man" and "When a Blind Man Cries" which don't appear on Come Hell or High Water) but towards the end of the tour, a new song ("The Purpendicular Waltz") was added to the setlist.

To quote Wikipedia:
It was recorded at Greg Rike Productions, Orlando, Florida, February to October 1995 and engineered by Darren Schneider and Keith Andrews.
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The album was released in February 1996 (April for the US) and it appears as the most collective band effort possibly since... Machine Head (though Perfect Strangers was more collaborative than those that followed).

The addition of Steve Morse is heralded by the opening of the album ("Vavoom: Ted the Mechanic") that establishes the latter as a funkier and more technical guitar player than Blackmore through the use of pinched harmonics for example. Here, I think the groove enhances songs like the opening one and "Rosa's Cantina" for example where it rather fell flat on TBOR's "Talk about Love" or "Lick It Up".

The interplay between Morse and Jon Lord is also to be noted: "Cascades (I'm Not Your Lover)" and "Hey Cisco" feature delicious bits of unison that are extended on the great though rather confidential Live at the Olympia '96 (click for tracklisting). The pair also managed to recreate a feel of improvisational magic (which seemed to be lost) on the old numbers:

What's more, this album features compositions that felt more inspired and less obvious than what DP had accustomed their listeners to, especially the softer songs like "Sometimes I Feel like Screaming" - the album's hit that even got a video released
- and the acoustic (and very "Morse solo") "The Aviator" and "A Touch Away" which were seldom if ever played live.

All in all, this album, particularly in so far as it comes after a string of more or less dysfunctional albums, appears as a breathe of fresh air.

My favourite ones:
"Vavoom: Ted the Mechanic" (often shortened to "Ted the Mechanic" in the future")
"Cascades (I'm Not Your Lover)"
"Hey Cisco"
"Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming"

The ones I like less:
"A Castle Full of Rascals"
"The Purpendicular Waltz"

(sorry for the English and the overall fluidity, I've just had sake (rice wine) ;) )
 
I'll comment more on the album later (out of town working this week), but in general a really good effort by the band. Their album quality really seems to be the opposite of the level of dysfunction in the band.

Morse was a really good addition (see you can introduce an American into an all British band .. STEVE!) He has done a nice job on the old stuff keeping the key parts, but adding himself into it, he fits the jam nature of the band, and has come up with some pretty damn cool riffs/solos on his own. I found a few of his solo instrumental albums in 99 cent bin and gave them a listen, good stuff. Really great player and composer. He'll always be overshadowed by Blackmore in DP, but I cannot imagine them getting a better guy for this job.

Looking back, with the exception of Lord retiring, then passing away, this is the start of the most stable era in Deep Purple history.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
I love everything about that album, even Flight of the Rat
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LOVE Flight of the Rat. Killer simple guitar lick to the 70's sounding almost disco guitar break. Speed King, Child In Time, love this CD. A shame Black Night was not on the LP. Love the gatefold cover with lyrics and the song meanings! Too few bands did that. Only other band I remember printing the meanings of the songs would be Annihilator on their first 2 LPs.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
It's a strange song. Not sure what they wanted to accomplish with it and when you hear it on the album it's way off...Like I said I like the slide guitar somehow on it. Cool melody. But I think the rest of the song is too much of a Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan (remember, in 1970 Dylan went country with New Morning) type of tune... And yeah Anyone's Daughter sounds a bit like Purple trying to tap into that success...
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I always enjoyed Anyone's Daughter due to Ian's humor and because it was so different than the rest of the LP. Strange Kind of Woman I like, but it cannot touch the Made In Japan version. This LP began Purple only printing the lyrics on a separate lyric insert through (as far as I know) Burn. Warner Bros did the same thing with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. All later reissues of vinyl through the 80's did NOT have the lyric insert.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Yes, and he does a fine job at it too. The album has a very "roomy" sound, with everything very audible and that extra something that you can't quite put your finger on that gives it a special aura, sorta like Live After Death has too.

Here's Jon Lord talking about the album and some great live footage. He gives props to Martin Birch too for capturing such a great sound.


And a trailer/ad for the deluxe edition released in 2014 which features Bruce Dickinson, amongst others, calling it "The greatest live album ever recorded". It's easy to see the effect that this album had on Bruce Dickinson IMO, from Gillan's screams, his banter with the audience, the stage presence etc, Dickinson obviously took a leaf out of Gillan's book. I think in retrospect, Gillan's performance on Made In Japan had a pretty big impact and fostered some of the classic rock concert traditions..such as a the screaming back and forth between him and the audience in Lazy for example.

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The only thing I don't like about Martin's production of 70's Purple is the way that the guitar is in the left channel and keyboards are in the right. If you are watching the band live, it should be switched. Ritchie is on our right so his guitar should be on our right. That is how I listen to Mark II 70's music with my ear buds switched.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
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Come Taste the Band (1975)

With Ritchie Blackmore surprisingly out of the band by the end of 1974 Deep Purple daringly decided to continue without him and wasted no time setting up auditions. In the end American guitarist, Tommy Bolin, known for his stint in the band James Gang and as a session musician (on albums such as Billy Cobham's Spectrum) ended up being the man who was going to try to fill the shoes left behind by Blackmore.

The album musically shows the continued funk influences from Hughes and Coverdale but the inclusion of new guy Bolin also steers the band back into a heavier guitar rock direction. Evident in the confident opener "Comin' Home"assigned for newbie Tommy Bolin to show his chops. There's an entire middle section here for him to fill with his guitar, and he is good, but also undoubtedly not on the same level as Blackmore. "Getting Tighter" has a great energetic riff and surprises us with a clever little funk bridge!And while the lyrics...

Get up--keep in line
It's gettin' tighter all the time
You say you're feelin' fine
It's gettin' tighter all the time

...Is rather uninspired Hughes manages to give the song some edge and passion. Bolin lays out some small licks here and there but almost ends up overdoing his part on this song.

"Dealer" is very listenable but ultimately also very formulaic and run-of-the-mill. Tommy Bolin throws us one of his better performances on this album in his solo towards the end of the song with the rest of the band grooving behind him. Except for Lord who is strangely absent on almost the entire album. Particularly this closing solo could have been amazing with some hot organ playing rivaling the guitar, like Deep Purple used to do. "I Need Love" is entirely skippable. Stupid lyrics and a dance-like groove. "Love Child" sports a very heavy riff and a great atmosphere, reminding me a bit of classic Deep Purple and their emphasis on atmospherics leads and riffs. Also this song finally has a Jon Lord appearance although it's not one of his better performances, sadly. "This Time Around/Owed To G" actually turns out to be a very cool little instrumental again with newbie guitar gunslinger Bolin shredding away! Just a shame that we have to sit through around 3 min of lounge music before we get to this!

Overall a more energetic and rocking album than previous output, Stormbringer, but in dire need of a standout track like that album had with "Stormbringer" and "Soldier of Fortune" so perhaps a more consistent album but with less really good memorable tracks...But also no real clunkers either, except for "I Need Love". Tommy Bolin does a good job on this and probably gave the album/band a much needed adrenaline shot but naturally has too big of a void to fill here after Blackmore. While Hughes and Coverdale probably had more room to play on their own terms on this album without Blackmore intervening the songwriting and the playing subsequently also suffers quite a lot without him. Bolin while a a very capable and talented guitarist. just does not have the songwriting skills or traits to effectively replace him. All in all this is the last album to feature the talents of Coverdale and Hughes and of Tommy Bolin too, who would die a year later from a drug overdose at the age of 25

After this album Deep Purple split and wouldn't be seen for nearly 10 years!

Tommy Bolin on his solo album Teaser (recorded at the same time he was with Purple). A really good album in fact!. I'm sure guitar players would find some interesting songs on there and probably a better showcase album if you're just interested in listening for yourself to his respected guitar credentials ;)


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The song titles were trend setters.
First rock song called Coming Home (later this title was used by Cinderella, Maiden, U.D.O., Bryan Adams, Scorpions, and many others)
Love Child (later used as a title by Accept)
Drifter (Maiden)
Lady Luck (Tesla)

Enjoyable not well known underrated LP, but very different than the rest of the catalog
 
Bummed...just found out Joe Lynn Turner played here about a week and a half ago and I did not know. Worse, my best buddy knew and did not tell me because he was out of town. Bandsintown never emailed me either :mad:

Saw the setlist
Don't know why Joe is singing songs he was not the original singer on like Burn, Highway Star and Man on the Silver Mountain. Joe has so much material he did sing on he could have sang instead like Wicked Ways (Deep Purple), Holy (solo) or House of Dreams (Sunstorm)

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/joe-lynn-turner/2016/the-pub-fountains-stafford-tx-2bfcc4a6.html
 
terrell39 said:
Don't know why Joe is singing songs he was not the original singer on like Burn, Highway Star
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He probably has good memories of doing these on the Slaves and Masters tour that he did with Purple. Which was a pretty good and successful tour. But yes, it would have been more fitting to do say...The Cut Runs Deep, Wicked Ways or King of Dreams.

 
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