Deep Purple - confessions of a fanboy....

[loendmaestro]

I'm all into the "review" portion of this section of the forum. So I bring you my unsolicited opinions regarding one of my all time favorite bands:
DEEP PURPLE

Shades Of Deep Purple/Book Of Taliesyn (1968):
Sounds of a band searching for it's identity. Some flashes of the inherit brilliance, but bogged down psychedelic nonsense & lots of covers. Still had Rod Evans & Nick Simper in the band. Though I love Rod's work with Captain Beyond he was best suited as a ballad singer & Nicky Simper was an adequate, but rather unremarkable bassist.

Deep Purple (1969):
An overlooked offering from DP. Still the original lineup, but starting to come into their own. Still the requisite hippy dippy cover (Donovan's "Lalena"....that I really like BTW) & some bloated classical interludes - see "April" but it all works. April is actually a very amazing tune, it hinted at the upcoming disastrous mis-step called "Concerto for Group & Orchestra" but here it's enough proggy neo-classic hard rock to keep the listeners interest. The band was starting to get heavier & less reliant on outside songwriters. Check out Chasing Shadows, Fault Line/The Painter & Bird Has Flown. Really worth a second chance....

In Rock (1970):
The shot heard 'round the world baby. Enter Ian Gillan & Roger Glover & I present to you Deep Purple Mk. II...
Every song on here is a classic, from the Little Richard on crack Speed King to the balls in a vice vocals on Child In Time. It's all there. Check out deeper cuts like Flight Of The Rat, Into The Fire & Hard Lovin' Man. Interesting bit of trivia: Ritchie recorded most of this on a Gibson ES335!

Fireball (1971):
A somewhat oddball follow up to In Rock. Lotsa of eyebrows raised when it was initially released, but I think it holds up pretty well. Classics like Fireball & Demons Eye are on there along with some hidden gems like No One Came & Fools (though Fools could have used about 2 minutes spliced out of the middle). Also worth mentioning is the song Anyone's Daughter. A softer, country tinged song with some great slide work but Blackmore & tongue in cheek pub lyrics from Gillan. I used to not like this song as much, but I dig it now.

Machine Head (1972):
Sorry, I mean MACHINE HEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, yeah, yeah....Smoke On The Water dude, I know. That song, Highway Star & Space Truckin' while all classic songs have been done to death as it were. The hidden gems are Maybe I'm A Leo & Pictures Of Home. Pictures Of Home has not only one of Blackmore's greatest solos, but a classic Roger Glover Rickenbacker bass solo as well. This was one of the records that made me want to play bass. A Rickenbacker bass.

Who Do We Think we Are (1973):
Very obvious that this would be the last release (for now) by this lineup. At times uninspired & disjointed. Word was the Gillan & Blackmore didn't even see each other in the studio. Rat Bat Blue stands as one of the meanest, spitting & snarling DP riffs of all time though. I really like Super Trouper, Smooth Dancer & Mary Long as well. But Place In Line & Our Lady? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........

Made In Japan (1973):
Classic live record. 'Nuff said.

Burn (1973):
Wow. Deep Purple Mk III comes out swinging. Sean & I have butted heads about this before, but I love Glenn Hughes. I think that dude hung the moon. You need to have an appreciation for R&B, funk/soul to like him. I loved Trapeze & really dig DP with him in it. David Coverdale? Though he works in small doses, his extremes of soft, heavy breathing into the mic, then loud, out of key braying like a mule coupled with being one of the worst lyricists ever is really too much for me to bear. But how can you deny the power of the title track and You Fool No One? Also, Sail Away in one of the most evil, sinister, up to your neck in black swirling water tunes ever. God what a great song. There's a couple of clunkers on there, but a classic Purple platter nonetheless. All Rick bass too!

Stormbringer (1974):
Two camps for this record....love it or hate it. (ala Sabbath's Born Again maybe?) But this is one of my all time favorite Deep Purple records. Much has been made of Glenn's funk tendencies creeping in on this one....and I say bring it on. Blackmore was bored & going through a divorce, so he didn't write a lot of material for this one. He was also ****** because the band refused to record a cover of "Black Sheep of The Family" by Quartermass. You ever heard that song? He made Dio do it on the first Rainbow record. What a piece of **** that tune is. No wonder they vetoed it! I love, love, love Dio era Rainbow & Blackmore is a hero of mine, but that guy is a bit of a whack job.
But I digress...
Stormbringer baby! If that title cut doesn't get you going - you don't have a pulse. I love the funky tunes too: Love Don't Mean A Thing (slide solo played by Blackmore with a screwdriver!), Hold On, You Can't Do It Right With The One You Love. Man! Then there's Holy Man, The Gypsy & Soldier Of Fortune. God -- I want to go put this album on now! Skip High Ball Shooter as it's a prime example of Coverdale's junior high school locker room lyricism. Like I said though, this is one divisive DP album. Almost as much as....

Come Taste The Band (1975):
Firstly I am a HUGE Tommy Bolin fan. Quite possibly the most underrated guitarist EVER. But I can understand why some say this isn't really a Deep Purple LP. I really like the record though. Glenn & Tommy were so coked/smacked up but it's a nice gritty mid-70s rock record. Every song is good. It sort of feels like your favorite pair of Levi's 501s that you've worn for four days or so. Kinda dirty, but feels so right. Bolin & his Echoplex are music to my ears. Do yourself a favor & check out his work with on Billy Cobham's "Spectrum" & his solo LP Teaser. Good stuff indeed.
Back to CTTB, "This Time Around" may be Glenn Hughes' finest vocal moment ever & Coverdale is only marginally annoying on this one.

Perfect Strangers (1984):
Arguably the best reunion record of all time. Holds it's own with any classic Purple Record IMHO.All the songs are fantastic. Blackmore's playing is inspired again, after all of the post-Dio Rainbow dreck. Glover's production is just "modern" enough. Knocking At Your Back Door, Not Responsible, the title track, Wasted Sunsets....all so tasty. A fine return to form.

And I simply refuse to review any Deep Purple records after this. The Mk II magic quickly faded with "House Of Blue Light" Bleearrggghhh. And Joe Lynn Turner? No thank you. Steve Morse? Yo, I like you dude...but I'll have to pass. I did just see them last summer with Morse & Don Airey. It was a really good show, but they stuck to the classics. Even they know....

Anybody else wanna chime in? C'mon Sean -- I know you got something.

[charlyg]

Love the band, but I doubt they qualify. They were in the first batch of "Heavy Metal" bands. I seem to be one of the few around who remember that we coined the term heavy metal WAY before the 2nd wave boys realize.

[loendmaestro]

If Lizzy and Sabbath count, so does Purple!

[charlyg]

Thin Lizzy is a stretch IMHO...... Sabbath was who we had in mind when the term was coined. It was more about power chords than the "costumes" and attitude.

[loendmaestro]

I'm just going by what I thought was the original spirit of this forum when Sean said:

I'll do my best to cover all aspects from early metal, doom, death/black metal, power metal and everything in between.

I didn't realize that when you & John Kay from Steppenwolf (or was it Mars Bonfire?) coined the term "Heavy Metal" that there would be such an exclusive membership!

[charlyg]

Not me so much. There is rumbling that what we called heavy metal wasn't the "real" stuff. I think it all fits. The term heavy metal thunder from "Born to be Wild" refers to a "hog" so I also think it is a stretch to assume that is where it was coined. In order to be coined, it has to mean the same thing.

[loendmaestro]

So serious...

OK then, I was just trying to contribute. And I did work pretty hard at it, but if Deep Purple isn't deemed appropriate please remove my entry & I'll limit my contributions to other portions of the forum.

[charlyg]

Nah, I'm just on a rant. It's a "button" for me. It's all good.

[phlemmy]

@ Charly's second wave!

I only count Lizzy's final album as metal.

As for Deep Purple, I must admit to not being that well versed in them. I do own Burn, Stormbringer, Come Taste the Band and Perfect Strangers (my fave!). I've heard Book of Taliesyn and liked it when I heard but never picked up my own copy. I will ultimately pick up the others in the early back catalog but it's not a priority.

I do remember when Perfect Strangers came out and how excited I was that it was the same singer from Born Again. Until just a few years ago I wasn't familiar with the pre-Strangers stuff beside what I heard on the radio. For me, Rainbow is the shining star of Blackmore. I'll have to do a write up of that stuff soon.

I'll be reading your stuff more in depth, but I haven't had much time today. Thanks again for your input. Can we just keep Charly out of this section? He such a troublemaker. Kidding of course, brosef.

[winston]

Deep Purple is one of my all time favorite "metal" bands. But I'm not kidding. Machine Head, Made in Japan and Stormbringer I am convinced were conceived in a different dimension or perhaps an alternate reality. Those albums were that good.

All in all they are just an incredibly great band.

[loendmaestro]

Deep Purple is one of my all time favorite "metal" bands. But I'm not kidding. Machine Head, Made in Japan and Stormbringer I am convinced were conceived in a different dimension or perhaps an alternate reality. Those albums were that good.

All in all they are just an incredibly great band.

Agreed!


And I don't really like labels myself. I was just going with the theme of the thing here.
Most of that '70s stuff I love so much is just "rock" to me. But one man's metal is another man's Muzak.

Somebody once said - theres only two kind of music: Good & Bad.

[charlyg]

Deep Purple is one of my all time favorite "metal" bands. But I'm not kidding. Machine Head, Made in Japan and Stormbringer I am convinced were conceived in a different dimension or perhaps an alternate reality. Those albums were that good.

All in all they are just an incredibly great band.

Agreed!

Tryin to avoid a forum ban!!

[loendmaestro]

Deep Purple is one of my all time favorite "metal" bands. But I'm not kidding. Machine Head, Made in Japan and Stormbringer I am convinced were conceived in a different dimension or perhaps an alternate reality. Those albums were that good.

All in all they are just an incredibly great band.

Agreed!

Tryin to avoid a forum ban!!

Wow. You found me out...

[phlemmy]

You guys are awesome.

[nattiep]

I just started to listen to these guys recently due to my hearing of Ian Gillan mainly from Black Sabbath. Sure, I've heard Smoke On The Water.. blehh. To me.. Ian's one of the gods. He's one of the few that can sing that high. He makes me reach for the limits of my range. I have to say, what I've heard.. mostly Made In Japan and Perfect Strangers... they're amazing.