Ian Gillan "Gillan's Inn" 2006***

This time, Random Selection turned up something rare: the only Hybrid (DualDisc) CD/DVD release in my collection of (give or take) 7500 titles. Truth be told, very few albums were ever released on DualDisc. Less than 200 titles, spanning all musical genres, appeared between 2004 and 2006 before the format was ultimately abandoned. Today, dual CD/DVD editions come in the guise of box sets containing one or two audio CDs paired with a DVD or Blu-ray that may contain a variety of audio mixes, video content, or other extras. A DualDisc release, however, combined both formats on a single disc with two reflective surfaces: one side functioned as a standard CD, while the other contained the DVD content. Obviously, CD players could only read the CD side, while DVD/Blu-ray players would play whichever side was facing up. If at all - because that was apparently the problem with DualDisc: compatibility with CD/DVD players was not guaranteed; the disc's thickness means it was prone to get jammed or scratched when pushed in the slots of slot CD-players, multi disc CD changers, or car stereos. Also, while the DVD side was guaranteed to play on most DVD players, the CD side was not. I'm not sure how frequent these compatibility problems actually were: Both sides played perfectly on my BluRay player, laptop DVD, and former car stereo (R.I.P: why oh why did they abolish CD players from modern car entertainment systems? Now whenever I want to listen to one of my CDs on the road I need to rip it on MP3 and copy it to a USB flash disk or to my phone to play via android auto. Such a nuisance!)

But enough about the format—what about the content? The idea behind this release was to celebrate Ian Gillan's 40-year recording career by revisiting some of his classic songs with an all-star band. It sounds like the sort of project a rock star might undertake at the twilight of his career: revisiting former glories for the nth time because there's nothing new left to say. Which makes it all the more remarkable that, twenty years later, aged 80, Ian Gillan continues to front the latest incarnation of Deep Purple (Mark IX, by my count), playing sold-out arena tours and regularly releasing new music. Their most recent album, Splat just came out, and is garnering 4-star reviews. All DP members can be heard here, on multiple tracks: Ian Paice on drums, Roger Glover on bass, Steve Morse on guitar, and Don Airy and Jon Lord on keyboards. Despite DP being such a large part of Gillan's career, only four of their songs are revisited on Gillan's Inn. The perennial hit "Smoke on the Water" seems to resist all attempts at reinvention. Despite the addition of violin and extra percussion, and the use of two keyboardists—Jon Lord and his successor Don Airey—it still sounds like the same tired old warhorse. One nice feature on the DVD is the option to listen to alternate versions of the song featuring different guest soloists: Steve Morse, Jeff Healey, Joe Satriani, or Michael Lee Jackson. Lord also returns on "Demon's Eye", and it's a pleasure to hear him revisit the song. Jeff Healey's bluesy guitar work provides the main point of departure from the original version, but otherwise the arrangement stays close to its roots. A dizzying version of "Speed King" with Joe Satriani takes us back to that period of the band when the virtuoso guitarist temporarily replaced Ritchie Blackmore. The final Deep Purple track included here is the bluesy ballad "When a Blind Man Cries". Originally relegated to the B-side of a single, it was later included in Machine Head reissues and became a live staple after Blackmore's departure. Jeff Healey's expressive guitar playing and Jon Lord's Hammond B3 accentuate the song's blues credentials, while Gillan delivers one of the most soulful performances of his career. The result is quite possibly the definitive version of the song. Gillan's short-lived Black Sabbath period is acknowledged in a fine new version of "Trashed" featuring Tony Iommi on guitar. To me, these songs were all a little too familiar. While I enjoyed hearing the new interpretations, I ultimately found them somewhat superfluous. Most of the remaining tracks, on the other hand, were new to me and therefore much more interesting. The opening speedball "Unchain Your Brain", featuring Joe Satriani, is a particular highlight. Originally released on 1980's Glory Road, it matches the frantic energy of "Speed King" and sets the tone for the album in spectacular fashion. "No Laughing in Heaven" (from 1981's Future Shock) benefits from some fine playing by Gillan's DP colleagues, but I dislike his manic sing-speaking style on this track. Even his trademark high-pitched shrieks are wasted on what I consider a rather weak composition. "Men of War" (from Double Trouble, 1982) fares much better. Featuring blistering guitar work from Steve Morse, it alternates effectively between softer passages and explosive sections driven by Gillan's unrestrained vocals. "Bluesy Blue Sea" (from 1982's Magic) sounds like an update of the classic NWOBHM style. Not surprisingly, original Gillan guitarist Janick Gers—who also appears here—would later become a permanent member of Iron Maiden. Moving forward chronologically, "Loving on Borrowed Time" (from 1990's Naked Thunder) is a textbook power ballad in the grand 1980s tradition, featuring co-writer Steve Morris and former Scorpions guitarist Uli Jon Roth on guitar. "Hang Me Out to Dry" (from Toolbox, 1991) combines soulful vocals, a catchy main riff, and excellent solos from Joe Satriani. Yet it ultimately it leaves me unimpressed; I simply don't find the underlying composition strong enough. 1997's Dreamcatcher is one of Gillan's more obscure albums, which is probably why he chose to resurrect not one but two songs from it. "Day Late and a Dollar Short" is a fine hard rocker featuring guest vocals from Ronnie James Dio. I can't help thinking that a duet between two of hard rock's greatest singers ought to be more impressive than it is; instead of the singers it's Uli Jon Roth on guitar that steals the show. "Sugarplum", meanwhile, is an enjoyable blues-rocker built around a catchy riff and a relaxed groove. It certainly deserved a second chance to find an audience, so it's just as well that Gillan decided to re-record it here. "No Worries" is a solid, workmanlike blues-rocker that even finds room for a few harmonica solos. It is the only new composition on the album, co-written with Michael Lee Jackson, who also plays guitar on most of the tracks. While agreeable enough, it lacks the spark needed to stand out among the album's stronger moments. The CD closes with a touch of nostalgia: a respectable country-rock cover of Bob Dylan's "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight", performed as a duet with Def Leppard's Joe Elliott. The song was part of Episode Six's live repertoire back in Gillan's pre-Purple days, making it a fitting choice to bring the album to a close. A few words about the DVD extras before wrapping up the review. These include a 5.1 surround-sound mix, a short making-of documentary, a couple of live videos featuring the rarely seen Deep Purple lineup with Joe Satriani on guitar, photo galleries, lyrics, track-by-track commentary, and a bonus song: a new cover of the R&B classic "Can I Get a Witness", which Gillan used to perform with his beat group The Javelins in the mid-60s. All in all, the album succeeds as a celebration of Ian Gillan's musical career up to that point. It's an enjoyable listen, packed with strong performances and some pleasantly left-field song choices, particularly from Gillan's solo years. Twenty years later, I can't help wondering whether it's time for a second volume. Maybe it's even time to finally bury the hatchet and revisit some of Gillan's and Deep Purple's later material with Ritchie Blackmore as a guest guitarist. Now that would be something worth hearing. Come on, gentlemen— let bygones be bygones, we're not getting any younger!

**** for Unchain Your Brain, Bluesy Blue Sea, Day Late and a Dollar Short, Men of War, When a Blind Man Cries, Trashed, Demon's Eye, Speed King

*** for Hang Me Out to Dry, No Worries, Sugar Plum, Smoke on the Water, Loving On Borrowed Time, I'll Be Your Baby Tonight***

** for No Laughing in Heaven

Deep Purple "Live In Japan" a.k.a. "Made In Japan" 1972*****

I found this LP at a 2nd hand records store in Tokyo; I am quite familiar with the (official, at least) discography of Deep Purple but couldn't recall an LP called Live In Japan. Last Concert In Japan, yes. Τhere it was, also in front of me. I bought that too, because I couldn't resist the serendipity of coming across that LP while travelling in the city where it was recorded. Could this be the classic DP live album Made In Japan, albeit with a different album cover and title? If I could only see the tracklisting I'd know for sure, but that was nowhere to be seen. What the heck, I thought; let's buy it anyway, it's cheap enough. It turns out my suspicion was correct: Indeed, Made In Japan retains this title all around the world with one exception: if it is actually made in Japan, then it's sold under another title. I can imagine the frustration of the Warner Bros Japan executive who had to release this for the Japanese market "Made In Japan? Why, all of our records are made in Japan! No, this is too confusing! Unacceptable, we must call it something else!". So I bought this one again, which is fine; I had it on cassette back in the day, and still have the remastered CD, but a nice gatefold double LP is a thing of beauty - plus, this album has sold more than a million copies in Europe but I'm fairly sure I'm the only person in my neighborhood who owns this particular version. The original international edition, the one everybody except me has, uses the same picture as the remastered CD but the lettering is reversed, black letters on gold background. One of my classmates taped it for me, maybe 40 years ago. "If you listen closely" he told me "you will hear a Japanese fan blowing his own brains out on the balcony". No shit! "Yes shit!" Play-rewind-play-rewind, and yes indeed there it was around 9:45' minutes in during "Child In Time", the unmistakable sound of a gunshot - or is it? There are more plausible theories, such as an amp blowing out, or a spring reverb unit built into Jon Lord's organ suddenly going into action. But the idea of a fan choosing that moment to commit suicide, combined with Gillan's wailing and screaming and lyrics about bullets flying and ricocheting, that is goosebumps-inducing stuff. No wonder this theory was so popular with teenagers in the 80's - though how it proliferated so far and wide in the pre-internet days, I don't know. I myself heard it from a friend who either heard it from a friend, or a pirate radio DJ. Urban myths aside, this live version of "Child In Time" is fantastic - the band were in great form, possibly inspired by the triumphant reception from the Japanese fans: Gillan goes from quiet and emotive to demented-all-hell-breaks-loose screaming, and Blackmore's solos are insane, way faster than the studio version. Opener "Highway Star" is just another amazing performance featuring a brain melting solo with an immense difficulty factor - I remember seeing Blackmore's Rainbow play Monsters Of Rock 2016; he started that concert too with "Highway Star" and we all wondered if he could still play this solo at the age of 70, after a 20-year absence from rock performances; he almost nailed it, which is why his performance from Bietigheim-Bissingen didn't make the cut on the Memories In Rock DVD - they included the performance from Loreley instead. Side B starts with the band introducing "Smoke On The Water" to mild applause; back then, it was just a track from their latest album, which a lot of fans hadn't heard yet. The audience claps along to the intro, which is slightly different to the one we know; instead of repeating the same riff six or seven times, Blackmore plays a variation the second time. Once more, great solos surpassing those of the studio version. Which brings us to the moment everyone dreads during arena rock concerts: the drum solo which takes up most of "The Mule"s 10 minutes. Side C opens with "Strange Kind Of Woman" which I never particularly liked as I considered it too poppy for DP; the live version, though, is pure dynamite. Near the end there's an amusing duel between Gillan and Blackmore, with the singer mimicking the sounds of the electric guitar. "Lazy" takes a long time to warm up; Jon Lord plays an extended jazz intro on the Hammond for a few minutes before the band join him for a great jazz-blues jam; Gillan even blows a mean blues harmonica, which is quite uncharacteristic. All of Side D is taken up by a 20-minute version of "Space Truckin'". People will tell you it's boring and indulgent 70's arena-prog-rock shit. Those people are not your friends. Why would you want to miss the chance to hear what the exhaust pipe of a spaceship would sound like? If sound could travel in space, that is. Now you know: it sounds exactly like Jon Lord's organ, which sounds like nothing else on planet Earth. This is probably the last time that Blackmore and Lord share the spotlight equally as soloists: during the band's early days Lord seemed to have the upper hand; by this time DP had already become Blackmore's band, but the live organ and guitar duels here don't produce a clear winner. It's the incredible virtuosity of these two instrumentalists, along with the undeniable skill of the rhythm section, and -above all- Ian Gillan's unbelievable vocals that have rendered this album the leading candidate for Best Live Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album, ever! Not only that; it's also probably the only classic live album in this genre that doesn't contain any overdubs. Others (Thin Lizzy's Live And Dangerous, Kiss Alive! and Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East, to name just the worst offenders) were almost completely recreated in the studio, but Live In Japan is the pure unadulterated live sound of a monster rock band at the height of their powers.

P.S. The 25th Anniversary Remaster contains a bonus CD with 3 songs from the Japanese tour encores: "Black Night" (previously released only as a single) and "Speed King" come from the August 17 Tokyo date; the former easily outstrips the rather tame studio version, while the latter is a bit messier but still good fun. The bonus CD closes with a cover of Little Richard's classic rockabilly "Lucille" recorded the previous night in Osaka - it's quite entertaining but a bit lightweight compared to the rest of the album. Indeed the classic 7-song version of Live In Japan is just impossible to beat, and the glorious chaos of "Space Truckin'" makes for a perfect ending.

***** for Highway Star, Child In Time, Smoke On The Water 

**** for Strange Kind Of Woman, Lazy, Space Truckin', Black Night (CD), Speed King (CD)

*** for The Mule, Lucille (CD)

Deep Purple "Turning To Crime" 2021***

The last time Ι saw Deep Purple (DP) was this June, at the Graspop Metal Meeting festival in Belgium. They were below Sabaton and Deftones in the day's billing, which given their history is surprisingly low. I guess that the organizers figured DP was just another oldies act, which is only partly true - Judas Priest and Scorpions, who headlined other nights at the festival, are only a few years younger. It may have to do with DP's lack of stagecraft, they obviously prefer focusing on the music rather than on the show. In an earlier review, I had declared this band incarnation to be worthy successors to the original one, and I expressed the desire to see them in concert. As it happened, I narrowly missed my chance: guitarist Steve Morse had left the band only a couple of months before, to devote time to caring for his wife while she battles cancer. He was replaced by Simon McBride. The jury isn't out yet, but he didn't make much of a first impression on me. He played well, but any DP guitarist has to measure up against Ritchie Blackmore. Blackmore was more than a guitar virtuoso, he was also a genuine rock star, and McBride doesn't have that quality. The fact alone that he said in an interview that this material isn't "technically very difficult to play" suggests that he's the wrong person for Deep Purple, a hired hand rather than a bona fide band member. Morse may not be a "rockstar" guitarist, but he brought his own playing style to the game, bonded well with the other members, and his influence renewed the band's sound by achieving a balance between their established heavy metal style and their proggier jazz rock leanings.

Morse's leaving makes Turning to Crime the last album by Deep Purple's most stable lineup (together for 20 years). I doubt they intended to go out this way; usually cover albums act as a kind of interlude to let the band relax and have fun in the studio by playing their favorites. Which isn't precisely the case here: you certainly can't tell it by listening, but they weren't all in the same room during the recording. Because of the pandemic lockdown, each member sent his contribution via internet. Nevertheless, fun they most definitely seem to have, especially in the rock and roll/R&B numbers: Huey Piano Smith's "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu", Mitch Ryder's "Jenny Take a Ride!", and Louis Jordan's "Let the Good Times Roll". Extra points go to Don Airy for his jazzy keyboard work; if it wasn't for him one could mistake these tracks for something off Gillan's record with his old 60's chums The Javelins. Sounding even less like DP, we also get a few country (Johnny Horton's "The Battle of New Orleans"), folk and blues covers (Bob Dylan's "Watching the River Flow" and Little Feat's "Dixie Chicken"). Then there are a couple of 60's garage classics: DP's musicianship is beyond reproach but I feel they fail to capture the essence of Love's "7 and 7 Is" and The Yardbirds' "Shapes of Things". They're closer to home with early hard rocker "Lucifer" (Bob Seger), "White Room" (Cream) and "Oh Well" (Fleetwood Mac). What is arguably the highlight of the album comes at the end: a 7,5 minute mostly-instrumental medley called "Caught in the Act" incorporating parts from "Going Down" (Freddie King), "Green Onions" (Booker T & The MG's), "Hot 'Lanta" (Allman Brothers), "Dazed and Confused" (Led Zeppelin) and "Gimme Some Lovin'" (Spencer Davis Group). After all these years, the band have developed an an easy affinity with each other. The looseness is not only evident in their playing but also in the humorous title and album cover: they "turn to crime", as in stealing other people's material. Problem is, these songs are mostly too well-known and, with the exception of some nice improvisations here and there, DP seem content to act as a cover band instead of putting their own stamp on these compositions. The sound of the album is barely recognizable as DP; it may not be guaranteed to satisfy the more narrow-minded fans of the band, but it makes for an overall enjoyable listening. The total duration is around 50 minutes. It could conceivably fit in a single LP, but instead we get four sides on 45RPM: be sure to adjust your record player accordingly, otherwise this vinyl will sound very strange indeed. 

*** for 7 and 7 Is, Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu, Oh Well, Jenny Take a Ride!,Let the Good Times Roll, Lucifer, White Room, Caught in the Act

** for Watching the River Flow, Dixie Chicken, Shapes of Things, The Battle of New Orleans

Whitesnake "The Purple Album"(Deluxe) 2015***

A few years ago I wrote (here) about witnessing a show of Whitesnake's Purple Tour. Obviously if I had the Purple album already I would have coupled the live review with the relevant CD presentation, but in that case I used a Whitesnake (WS) compilation from my collection. I hadn't even heard the album at the time but that didn't matter. I was eager to listen to WS play Mark III & IV Purple tracks, since they're pretty good musicians and since the touring version of Deep Purple choose to ignore the Coverdale/Hughes period and never play these songs live. As Coverdale explains in the CD's liner notes, it was Jon Lord's death (Deep Purple and sometime WS organist) that prompted him to speak with his old colleagues and patch things up, especially Blackmore with whom he hadn't parted in the best circumstances. This led to talking about working together again, which led to Coverdale revisiting these songs, trying out new arrangements etc. The collaboration didn't go through - at the time Blackmore was only playing Renaissance music, although he did return to rock a couple of years later with Rainbow (I was there too, read here). By then though Coverdale was really itching to play the songs again, so he went ahead without Blackmore, recording this tribute CD and touring with his regular group. Right before the recording, guitarist Doug Aldrich quit the band, so his replacement Joel Hoekstra joined Reb Beach to form the WS dual guitar attack team. Thus instead of DP Mark III/IV's line-up with two vocalists and one guitarist, the songs were re-arranged for a two-guitarist-one-vocalist team. The effects are visible right from the start: the CD opens with Mark III's literally most incendiary song "Burn". The solos are as intricate as the original's, but Blackmore's precise progressive style is replaced by a more agressive heavy metal tone. Vocal-wise, Coverdale can still carry the songs but there's a hole where bassist/co-vocalist Hughes's parts should be. There are some backing vocals throughout the album, but those Hughes/Coverdale harmonies are even more sorely missed than Blackmore's guitar. Don't forget Hughes is the man whom fans dubbed "the Voice of Rock". However exaggerated the title, he can't just be replaced with any backing singer. And talking about irreplaceable, what about Jon Lord? Don Airy has done an adequate job filling his boots in Deep Purple, but studio keyboardist Derek Hilland doesn't even try. He gets a few fills here and there (most notably in "You Keep On Moving") but otherwise, instead of Purple's trademark guitar/organ interplay, we get a double dose of lead guitar lending the heavier songs ("Stormbringer", "Lady Double Dealer" and "Lay Down Stay Down") a more metallic hue. Maybe that makes it sometimes seem as if that the band is substituting quality with quantity, but the results are nevertheless quite enjoyable. "The Gypsy" is an epic track from Stormbringer that WS fail to nail completely, but "Might Just Take Your Life" follows closely and successfully the original. Ditto for the soulful "You Keep On Moving" from 1975's Come Taste The Band which in retrospect seems to presage the early blues days of Whitesnake. Conversely, "You Fool No One" and "Love Child" sound like WS in their hair metal heyday - the latter even sounds uncannily like their big 1987 hit "Still Of The Night". Could we have been wrong then accusing WS of stealing Jimmy Page's riffs when they was actually copying Tommy Bolin? The version of "Holy Man" here seems to be a bit on the country -or at least Southern Rock- side, while "Sail Away" is a beautiful ballad with emotive lead vocal, nice harmonies and acoustic guitars . "Mistreated" is the classic heavy blues that functioned as a showcase for both Coverdale and Blackmore, which is why they both kept playing it with their later bands. It features in Whitesnake's Live at Hammersmith (1978) and Rainbow's On Stage (1976) in a memorable performance by Ronnie James Dio and is still a staple of the reformed Rainbow setlist. Coverdale delivers here an impassioned performance while the guitarists try to outdo Blackmore by playing even faster, which won't do the trick - but hey it's still pretty good. The band's sentimental side is completed with gorgeous acoustic ballad "Soldier of Fortune". The Deluxe version adds two more covers, both from Come Taste the Band. These are the funky "Lady Luck" and hard rocking "Comin' Home". Which brings the total to: 6 songs from Burn (1974), 5 from Stormbringer (1974) and 4 from Come Taste the Band (1975). The balance sounds about right. Apart from the extra tracks, the Deluxe version also includes a DVD with 4 video clips and a Behind The Scenes featurette. Worth paying a couple of extra bucks for - that's if you decide to get the album, which isn't something you ought to do unless: A) you're a WS fan who is somehow unfamiliar with the originals. In this case, you can view this as one of WS's better and harder rocking albums of the last two decades. B) you're a Deep Purple obsessive who never tires of listening to reinterpretations of his favorite songs. No matter whether these new versions are better (they aren't) or just different (they are, to a degree) than the originals, you'll enjoy their energy and savor the different touches. I guess I fall more or less in the second category.

**** for Burn, You Fool No One, Love Child, Might Just Take Your Life, You Keep On Moving, Soldier of Fortune, Stormbringer

*** for Sail Away, Lady Double Dealer, Mistreated, Holy Man, Lay Down Stay Down, Comin' Home

** for The Gypsy, Lady Luck

 

Deep Purple "Infinite" (Gold ed. incl. Live At Hellfest) 2017***

The only time I caught Deep Purple live was in Athens, April 2000. I had to google to confirm the date, and I came across the contemporary reviews in the press, which were great. Not how I remember it. I mean yes the band played well, but the venue was awful, completely unsuited to live concerts. A place, somewhere in the Olympic Complex, which looked like a low-ceilinged aircraft hangar or a huge warehouse. 10,000 fans were cramped inside, slowly boiling in that stuffy place which had almost no air condition. Outside it was around 20°C, but inside it was well over 35°C. At least one in every five spectators smoked, while the sound reverberated all over the place. So that experience is more vivid in my mind than how the band played. I do remember being thrilled with Jon Lord's solos and annoyed that Blackmore wasn't there. I had missed my chance to see Blackmore with Purple a few years before, when the Slave And Masters line-up visited Athens. It was a combination of perennial pennilessness and annoyance that Joe Lynn Turner had replaced Gillan as lead singer. I don't think anyone accepted Turner as a legitimate Purple member, his style was too AOR for classic Purple material. Now, of course, it stands out as a missed opportunity. I would love to listen to a professionally recorded concert from that tour, see what he brought to the game and how his presence affected the songs.

My eagerness to listen how present-day Purple play their classic songs was one of the reasons I picked up the special edition of their latest CD, containing a bonus live disc. Another was the expectation that this was to be their last album (the accompanying tour was named the "Long Goodbye Tour"). Think of it as a once-beloved TV series that has been going on for too long. You may have missed the last few seasons, but aren't you going to watch the last episode and learn how it all ends? This was just a misunderstanding, though. The latest word by Steve Morse is that they are planning to enter studio again in 2019 for a new record. I had stopped following Purple after Perfect Strangers, as I found what I heard from the next few albums unconvincing. Then, when Steve Morse replaced Blackmore on guitar, I gave Purpendicular a chance. It had gotten good reviews, and it wasn't a bad album, but it certainly didn't sound like Deep Purple. Imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when the opening "Time for Bedlam" instantly reminded me of the titular track from Perfect Strangers. Powerful hard rock with guitar and organ fills worthy of the absent Blackmore/Lord. Gillan is in fine voice throughout the album. Different from the 70's, more constrained and less shrieky. On "Hip Boots" he's bluesier, even reminds me of Elvis for the first verse. On "All I Got Is You" Gillan sounds almost nonchalant, but Morse and Airy are on fire. "One Night in Vegas" and "Get Me Outta Here" are O.K. as fillers go, but "The Surprising" provides the highlight of the album, a more complex composition with soft melodic and hard rocking parts, lyrical vocals and epic keyboards. "Johnny's Band" is a fun but comparatively pedestrian straight rocker, and "Birds of Prey" another throwback to the 70's hard rock. The album ends anti-climatically with an unnecessary cover of The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues". The album cover depicts an icebreaker forming the letters d and p on the ice, which are also arranged to resemble the infinity sign to symbolize the band's 50-year history. 

Regarding the bonus CD (also available in standalone 3-LP vinyl form), it's a very decent live recording: excellent sound and tight performances, as can probably be expected for a lineup that has been playing together more than 15 years. It starts off with the bombastic "...Bedlam" and then straight to 3 classic Mark II hits with nice solos by Glover ("Fireball"), Morse and Airy ("Bloodsucker"). "Uncommon Man" from the previous album sits well among the classics, and features some shredding by Morse, whose playing is excellent throughout albeit not as flashy as Blackmore's. Don Airy, on the other hand, fills Jon Lord's boots with aplomb: just listen to him in "Lazy", it's difficult to tell them apart. Which in no way demeaning, he's not a copyist, just someone with a similar all-encompassing style and tremendous chops. Gillan is in remarkably good form for his age, especially if it's really an undoctored performance as stated on the cover. Doesn't hit the high notes like he used to, and his voice may have lost some power but it's still robust and never falters. After "Surprising" and "Birds Of Prey" from the new record, the band continue with the oldies: "Space Truckin'" has always been a live favorite, though it sounds awfully condensed at 5 minutes, as it used to routinely run for 20 minutes in concert. Actually no song surpasses the 8-minute mark, which which is very uncharacteristic of the old Purple who loved to jam and transform their songs onstage. Nowadays they're not so brash, more of a tight rock'n'roll ensemble than the unstoppable juggernaut of the 70's. Lastly, the obligatory crowd pleaser "Smoke On The Water" is followed by a couple groovier numbers with roots in the 60's, "Peter Gunn/Hush" and "Black Night". By seeing the 2000 lineup I had ticked the DP box and, as the experience was not too pleasant, I never again sought to see them in concert. Meanwhile, I had the chance to listen to the DP classics as performed by Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in Germany, and the best songs by Mark III and IV by Coverdale's Whitesnake in Belgium. Glen Hughes is also currently touring playing DP material. I guess we're now at that point in time that no single band or musician can lay claim to the DP legacy. I've finally made my peace with the fact I'll never see any of the classic DP line-ups, so I can listen to the newest version (officially Mark VIII) with open ears, and I say this album proves them to be worthy successors to the original band. I now look forward to seeing them in concert.

**** for Time For Bedlam, The Surprising, Birds Of Prey

*** for Hip Boots, All I Got Is You, Get Me Outta Here, Johnny's Band, On Top Of The World, 

** for One Night In Vegas, Roadhouse Blues

LIVE AT HELLFEST 2017 **** for Time For Bedlam, Lazy, Perfect Strangers, Smoke On The Water, Black Night

*** for Fireball, Bloodsucker, Strange Kind Of Woman, Uncommon Man, The Surprising, Birds Of Prey, Space Truckin’, Peter Gunn / Hush

Rainbow "Live in Munich 1977" 2006 (released)****

I was just in the German town of Bietigheim-Bissingen to witness the resurgence of Ritchie Blackmore as a rock guitarist. It was the second of three appearences, planned to culminate with a Birmingham concert on June 25th. The event took place as part of the Monsters Of Rock festival, under the arches of a long railroad bridge. Freight trains loaded with cars passed endlessly above us, as if to remind us that yes, Germany produces a lot of cars. I guess I knew already, but still I was quite impressed. 
A strange choice of venue, that Bietigheim viaduct, as this open air place is only quasi-famous for the so-called Bietigheim Horse Market, one of Oktoberfest's smaller-sibling beer festivals. It was as if Blackmore needed to do it somewhere out of the way to avoid publicity in case the concert proved to be a total disaster. Well, if that was his intention, he succeeded only too well. Our small company must have been the only ones crazy enough to dare the elements of nature and drive 700km away through rain and storm (sounds like a Dio lyric, but it's true nevertheless) to witness the new Rainbow. The muddy festival ground held a few thousand pretzel-munching beer-slugging aging rockers from the nearby villages. Maybe some had come all the way from the closest big city, Stuttgart. The place wasn't exactly suitable for a big rock festival either, and it reeked of a combination of dung and grilled bratwurst - so if you weren't there you haven't exactly missed much. Unless, that is, you're a Classic Rock fan who grew up listening to Deep Purple and Rainbow. In which case, you'll be glad -excited even- to learn that Ritchie is back! 20 years of absence from rock haven't diminished his ability to play the electric guitar! So what if he looks like an aging 16th century pilgrim? 
He's been playing lord of the castle for 20 years, the man doesn't have any normal clothes anymore, give him a break! To prove he's still the same old Ritchie he opened with Highway Star and his famous trademark solo. Then he went on with a perfectly executed mix of Deep Purple and Rainbow classics. New singer Ronnie Romero was a real revelation too, a spectacular talent reminiscent of Ronnie James Dio and, at times, Freddie Mercury. The rest of the players ranged from plain good (keyboards) to average (bass, drums) to non-existent (wifey Candice and the other back-up singer were barely audible). Despite that fact, they played Deep Purple songs with more urgency than the current touring version of Purple. As for the Rainbow material, it just hasn't sounded that good since Dio was in the band. A magical night for all involved, and the most perfect setlist: Highway Star/Spotlight Kid/Mistreated/16th Century Greensleeves/Since You Been Gone/Man on the Silver Mountain/Difficult to Cure/Catch the Rainbow/Perfect Strangers/Stargazer/Long Live Rock 'n' Roll/Child in Time/ Black Night/ Smoke on the Water. Beat this if you can, Ian Gillan & Co! 
...And after a few words on the latest version of Rainbow, we can focus on today's album, a live recording of the band in their 70's prime. Also from Germany, as there probably hasn't been a better documented Rainbow tour than Germany 1976/77. Shows were recorded with a live album in mind and indeed some of that material was used for the double LP "On Stage". That album, though, was heavily doctored in studio by producer Martin Birch, who not only used material from different performances but also spliced songs together from various sources - so that the final product wasn't really "live" at all. Years later, whole concerts of that tour resurfaced, of which "Live In Munich 1977" was (chronologically) the last. It was recorded for the German TV show Rockpalast and released in CD and DVD form in 2006. The main difference from previous shows was that the epic "Stargazer" was replaced by the poppier crowd pleaser "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll". Right from the beginning, another difference becomes evident: "Kill The King" is faster and much more aggressive from the "On Stage" version - it feels like we're witnessing the birth of power metal. This is followed by Deep Purple's "Mistreated". A heavy blues a la Zeppelin, at 11 minutes it allows Blackmore to showcase both his heavy and sensitive side, with long expressive blues solos in the middle. Dio's performance may be a bit over the top though, as he substitutes original singer Coverdale's pure emotion with heroic pomp. The 3-minute baroque intro to "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" presages Blackmore's later fascination with Renaissance music. Then it's back to heavy metal, with everyone giving their best: Dio and Blackmore, of course, but also Cozy Powell on drums who's fantastic throughout the whole show. The studio version of "Catch The Rainbow" was a (gorgeous) 5-minute ballad. Here the 5-minute mark is just where Blackmore starts warming up. The next 12 minutes will either test your patience or have you marveling at the virtuoso guitarist. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" comes just in time to wake the audience with its populist chorus which Dio sings along with the crowd. It's followed by another catchy tune "Man on the Silver Mountain". This is stretched to 15 minutes, incorporating jazzy solos by Blackmore and keyboardist David Stone and a detour into "Lady Starstruck" from the Rising LP. "Still I'm Sad" is a Yardbirds cover that graced Rainbow's debut in an instrumental version - a shame, as Dio always nailed it live. Above all, though, it's used as a showcase for the players' considerable instrumental talents. Blackmore, of course, shines above all others, but at 25 minutes there's enough room for lengthy solos by Stone and Powell, too. The proceedings close with a romp through "Do You Close Your Eyes", and no amount of intricate solos can mask the fact that it's one of Rainbow's weaker compositions. It ends with noisy feedback and Blackmore smashing his guitar. All in all, this live album manages to convey the band's energy on stage and features Dio, Blackmore and Powell on top form. It is, however, fraught with excess and should be approched with caution as the over-long solos will delight guitar afficianados but may bore less patient listeners. Lucky for them, the new Rainbow should be releasing a live CD/DVD of their hits-laden live set pretty soon. Sure, Ritchie isn't as fast as in his youth and Ronnie Junior isn't exactly Ronnie James Dio, but they can still wipe the floor with the competition!

**** for Mistreated, Sixteenth Century Greensleeves, Catch the Rainbow, Man on the Silver Mountain, Still I'm Sad

*** for Kill the King, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll 

** for Do You Close Your Eyes

Whitesnake "The Silver Anniversary Collection" 1978-2000(rec.) 2003(comp)***

About a month ago I saw Whitesnake for the 1st time at the Forest National arena in Brussels. The concert took place under heavy guard as it was the first gathering of so many people after the terrorist attacks at Le Bataclan in Paris, with some of the perpetrators still at large and reportedly loose in the city of Brussels. It was part of their "Purple" tour, a powerful incentive for me as the Deep Purple Mark III-IV repertory is rarely played live. Ian Gillan-fronted Deep Purple prefer to ignore the existence of records made with other singers, Blackmore has cut ties to his past and only Glenn Hughes occasionally revisits those songs. Yet Coverdale was the lead singer during those years and, knowing that his voice wasn't waned considerably, I was eager to listen to the likes of "Burn" and "You Keep On Moving" live. An unexpected bonus came when Coverdale sang one of my all-time-favorite ballads, the rarely performed "Soldier Of Fortune" from the 1974 Stormbringer album. It was an intimate, unadorned, performance with only an acoustic guitar for backing. The rest of the Purple tracks were performed with gusto, but there's such a thing as trying too hard. The band's two guitarists (Joel Hoekstra & Reb Beach) are quite skillful but they seemed anxious to put in as many solos as possible, trying to be compete with the ghost of Ritchie Blackmore, and that's a game you can't win. The ghost of Blackmore is unbeatable, not least by Blackmore himself who knows better than to take it on. Just ask Tommy Bolin! Anyway, that meant more hard rock and less ballads - which is fine with me. That said, despite the band playing their ass off during the Purple numbers, the highlights were the familiar Whitesnake hits from the 70's and 80's. The band was more relaxed and seemed to enjoy playing them. Coverdale was in good state vocally, while his appearance belied his age: lean, with the same blond mane he had in the 80's (probably even he has forgotten his real colour), unwrinkled face and bleached teeth. I'd swear when the lights momentarily went out I could still make out a disembodied smile, as if he was Alice's cheshire cat. Anyway I thought it'd be good to present a Whitesnake album in my blog but I hadn't brought any with me to Brussels, so it had to wait until I got back to my stash in Delft.

"... I guess I'll always be a Soldier of Fortune"

 The "Silver Anniversary Collection" covers 25 years of Whitesnake and related side-projects and, if you add its sister collection "The Early Years", you'll have all (some would say more than) you'll ever need from this band, 50-odd tracks in total. I'll present them chronologically as I usually do with retrospectives of this kind. After the dissolution of Deep Purple in '76 amid drug problems and following a badly-received Blackmore-less tour, Coverdale went into a bluesier direction, initially under his own name and later under the Whitesnake moniker, starting with 1978's Snakebite whence we get Bobby "Blue" Bland cover "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City", one of their finest blues numbers which is rightfully still in their live set. From the same year's Trouble we get FM rocker "The Time Is Right for Love" and soulful ballad "Love to Keep You Warm". From 1979's Lovehunter there's only the short goodbye-number "We Wish You Well" - not much, but that album is in no danger of ever be forgotten because of its epic cover art. Move on to 1980's Ready an' Willing featuring arguably the best 'Snake line-up with star guitarists Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden, bassist Neil Murray and Deep Purple alumni Jon Lord and Ian Paice. Hence we get R&B flavored rocker "Fool for Your Loving" (ostensibly originally written for B.B. King), excellent Free-like ballad "Blindman" and Southern Rock-style "Ain't Gonna Cry No More". 

That line-up's live prowess is demonstrated on live cuts "Walking in the Shadow of the Blues" and "Ready an' Willing" from the same year's Live...in the Heart of the City while sexually charged album titles continue with 1981's Come an' Get It, represented here by funk rocker "Don't Break My Heart Again", semi-acoustic Zeppelin pastiche "Till the Day I Die", electric blues "Lonely Days, Lonely Nights" and funky Deep Purple Mk.IV-sounding "Hit an' Run" . From 1982's Saints & Sinners we only get hard blues "Victim of Love" while 1984's Slide It In (those sexual innuendos on the title kept getting lewder and funnier) is a typical hair metal album of the 80's. "The Deeper the Love" is the "sensual" ballad, "Now You're Gone" is AOR and "Love Ain't No Stranger" sounds like a mix of Free and the Scorpions. Better yet are driving FM Rock"Guilty of Love" and Zeppelin-ish blues "Slow an' Easy". The apotheosis of that stage in the band's career came with the eponymous Whitesnake (released in Europe as 1987) featuring the archetypal 80s soft metal ballad "Is This Love" and one of the best hard rockers of the decade, "Still of the Night". Check the video for a trip back in time - it even stars the future Mrs. Coverdale as the ultimate 80's pin-up.

 

Does it matter that its monster riff is borrowed from Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog"? Of course not, after all Zeppelin also borrowed heavily from other sources. Power ballad "Here I Go Again '87" is a re-hash of an older Whitesnake hit with a catchy chorus, and hit no.1 in its new, polished, incarnation. Other tracks from "1987" included here are typical hair metal fare "Straight for the Heart", ballad "Looking for Love" and "Give Me All Your Love" with its welcome mix of hard rock and blues a la Gary Moore. 1989's Slip of the Tongue followed the same recipe with 1987, with diminished results. Ballad "The Deeper the Love" was a surefire hit, burt the rest wasn't so strong. "Judgment Day" is a return to the hard rock days of Deep Purple and "Now You're Gone" a competent but forgettable cut of AOR. The comparative lack of success drove Coverdale to join forces with Jimmy Page in supergroup Coverdale•Page for a sole album in 1993. Though that both were past their prime, this collection manages to evoke past glories, most notably in the Led Zeppelin soundalikes "Pride and Joy" and "Shake My Tree". "Take a Look at Yourself" is a typical 80's ballad of the kind Eric Clapton or Joe Cocker produced at the time (yawn). 1997 saw the release of the unplugged Starkers in Tokyo. Two understated emotive cuts are included here, "Sailing Ships" and the aforementioned Purple ballad "Soldier of Fortune". From 1998's Restless Heart we get the electric blues "Too Many Tears" and from Coverdale's solo LP Into the Light (2000) the short intro of the same name, Aerosmith-like hard rock "Slave" and bluesy ballad "Love Is Blind", complete with strings. All things considered, Coverdale could just as well retire from recording after 1987 without anyone noticing his absence. But since his voice is still in such a good shape and he's amassed a rich back catalogue of hits, you'd do well to catch him live - if bluesy hard rock is your thing or feel nostalgia for the 80's...

Whitesnake at Forest National/Vorst Nationaal, Brussels 1-12-2015

***** for Fool for Your Loving, Still of the Night

**** for Pride and Joy (Coverdale•Page), Is This Love, Walking in the Shadow of the Blues (live), Guilty of Love, Blindman, Give Me All Your Love, Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City, Here I Go Again '87, 

*** for Don't Break My Heart Again, Hit an' Run, The Time Is Right for Love, Love Ain't No Stranger, Too Many Tears, Victim of Love, Judgment Day, Take a Look at Yourself, Sailing Ships, Soldier of Fortune, Ready an' Willing (live), Slow an' Easy,  She Give Me…, Shake My Tree, The Deeper the Love, Love to Keep You Warm, Love Is Blind, Ain't Gonna Cry No More Love Is Blind Lonely Days Lonely Nights, Till the Day I Die, 

** for Straight for the Heart, Now You're Gone, Looking for Love, Into the Light, Slave,  We Wish You Well

Rainbow "Rising" 1976*****

"Rising" is officially Rainbow's second album, although the first one was presented as a Blackmore solo effort and featured a different band, with the exception of Blackmore and original singer Ronnie James Dio. It is evident from the elevated musicianship and live recordings that later surfaced, that this was a new, improved Rainbow. Drummer Cozy Powell had already proved his ability with Jeff Beck's group, bassist Jimmy Bain would go on to have a career in Metal and talented 19 year-old keyboardist Tony Carey was there to recreate Deep Purple's guitar/organ duels, an ersatz Jon Lord of sorts, only this time subordinate rather than equal to the guitarist. Although Rainbow was created (and always functioned) as a vehicle for Blackmore's guitar pyrotechnics, this is Dio's album, more than anyone else's. With "Rising", Dio was about to become a major player in hard rock and a very unlikely one for the boy who was a fan of fellow Italian-American tenor Mario Lanza, played trumpet and released his first single in 1958, only to languish in complete obscurity for the next 17 years. Most people would have quit the music business, but he kept on. Blackmore employed him and the rest of Elf as support players for his solo project - but now he emerged as co-leader, writing all the lyrics and getting equal credit for the music. His semi-operatic vocal style (never better than here) was groundbreaking and provided a blueprint for Heavy Metal singers everywhere, as did his fantasy inspired lyrics. "Tarot Woman" opened the record with 1,5 minute of synthesizer noodling, before the band dynamically kicked in with some crunching hard rock. It's immediately obvious that everyone, and especially the singer, is on top of his game. "Run with the Wolf" and "Do You Close Your Eyes" are standard 70's hard rock fare and "Starstruck" a song about a female stalker/groupie. It's a catchy Deep Purple-ish song, in the vein of "Black Night" or "Demon's Eye". I really like it, but it's out-of-sync with the epic character of the rest of the album. The second (vinyl) side is comprised by two long quasi-prog numbers that rank with Rainbow's best and have set the template for all future heavy metal. First off, those operatic vocals. Then, Blackmore's guitar playing. With Deep Purple he had already established himself among the top players in the world, but here he upped the ante. Completely abandoning the blues stylings of contemporary guitar heroes like Clapton and Page, he took his cues from classical music, albeit electrified and played at maximum speed and volume. That raised the bar incredibly high for other guitarists in hard rock, although a few did dare to try (a young Swede named Yngwie comes to mind). Of the two songs, "Stargazer" is the winner, with its frenzied guitar work and Munich Philharmonic Orchestra doubling with the keyboards to create an impressively epic sound. Even more importantly, it features Dio's arguably best ever performance, which makes it a candidate for all-time best vocal performance in Metal, period. Now, Dio has been often mocked for two things. The first one was his height: At 1.63 m, he was probably the shortest man in rock. In the macho world of Heavy Metal, this became cause for unfair mockery. The second was his lyrics, forever grounded in the world of heroes, wizards and dragons. This led to a great deal of criticism by music journalists, who found his lyrics immature and ridiculous. Curiously, those same journalists never objected to other singers' usual "Baby I love you, I miss you so, why did you leave me" drivel. "Stargazer" at least makes for some vivid fantasy storytelling: It's the story of worker/slaves toiling for years, building a pharaonic structure for a powerful wizard. At its completion, the wizard was supposed to gain the ability to fly and take them with him to the stars. Instead, he plunges to his death. All their dreams of interstellar travel are shattered but after the storm a rainbow rises and with it comes a realisation: That they are free, they have found their will again and miss their homes. "A Light In The Black" is the story of their homecoming, but the focus shifts from the vocals back to the instruments. Blackmore delivers a masterful performance and engages in exciting guitar/organ interplay with Carey, recalling Purple's heyday. Powell's playing is powerful and precise throughout the whole album. Overall, we're talking about a landmark of an album. Although not consistently great, I wouldn't dream of subtracting a star from such an influential work. "Stargazer" alone would have been enough to guarantee Rainbow a reigning position in hard rock's Valhalla.

***** for Stargazer, A Light In The Black

**** for Tarot Woman, Starstruck 

*** for Run With The Wolf  

** for Do You Close Your Eyes