Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers Live DVD Review

Written by General Jabbo

While every band seems to reunite these days, the 1984 reunion of Deep Purple's famed Mk II lineup was a major event in the music world. Rock and roll still dominated the charts and, after 11 years apart, fans welcomed the "Smoke On The Water" lineup of the band with open arms. During their time apart, Deep Purple briefly continued on with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes handling vocals, singer Ian Gillan had a solo career along with a stint in Black Sabbath and Ritchie Blackmore had great success with Rainbow. Still, Mk II's chemistry was undeniable and, after 11 years and some soul searching, the band managed to heal old wounds to release a new album and tour behind it.

The album, Perfect Strangers, was a blockbuster for the band, going platinum and spawning two legitimate Purple classics in "Perfect Strangers" and "Knocking At Your Back Door." Still, live concerts are where the band built its reputation and the Perfect Strangers tour was no exception. Sadly, very little footage of the band's reunion has ever been made available, until now. The tour began in Australia and the band had the cameras rolling, resulting in the DVD Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers Live.

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Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow -- Black Masquerade CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

In 1995, having left Deep Purple for good, Ritchie Blackmore took a band of unknowns out on the road in support of Stranger In Us All -- the final album by his other legendary group, Rainbow. The album and tour featured Doogie White on lead vocals, a man who had the unenviable task of filling the vocal shoes of Ronnie James Dio, Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner. The band also included a young Candice Night, now the lead singer in Blackmore's Night and Ritchie Blackmore's wife and songwriting partner. Rainbow was recorded live on a stop on the German television program, Rockpalast. That show makes up the new CD, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow -- Black Masquerade.

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Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow -- Black Masquerade DVD Review

Written by General Jabbo

The mid-1990s were a period of major change for Ritchie Blackmore. In 1993, he left the reformed Deep Purple -- a band with which he had a love-hate relationship for some time -- for good and set out to record a solo album. The album featured largely unknown musicians and record company pressure forced Blackmore's hand by insisting he call this lineup Rainbow to sell more records. The lineup turned out to be the group's final to date and the album, Stranger In Us All, featured Doogie White on lead vocals and Blackmore's future wife and musical partner, Candice Night, on background vocals. The band hit the road, and a 1995 visit to Germany was broadcast on Rockpalast. Long available as a bootleg, the show is finally getting an official release as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow -- Black Masquerade.

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Rainbow - Live In Munich 1977 DVD Review

Written by General Jabbo

In 1977, Rainbow was on tour in Vienna, Austria, when trouble struck. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore didn't take too kindly to a bouncer getting physical with fans and expressed his displeasure by drenching him in beer. Blackmore's actions got him a night in jail, which posed a problem as the band was set to be filmed the following night in Munich. Luckily for fans, the next night was available and the band was filmed as scheduled for the German TV show Rockpalast. That show makes up the DVD, Rainbow -- Live in Munich 1977, and is the only complete concert on film from the Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio and Cozy Powell lineup of the band.

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Rainbow - Live In Munich 1977 CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

In 1977, Rainbow was filmed live in Munich, Germany, for an appearance on the Rockpalast television show. The show, recorded not long before Ronnie James Dio's final album with the band, Long Live Rock 'N' Roll, was released was, by many accounts, a stunning performance. The audio of this show has been newly remastered for the CD, Rainbow -- Live In Munich 1977.

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Deep Purple - Phoenix Rising DVD Review

Written by General Jabbo

Deep Purple is a band with an often volatile history, none more so than its ill-fated Mk. IV lineup. Guitar god Ritchie Blackmore was out and American axe-slinger Tommy Bolin was in. Their history is documented in Deep Purple: Phoenix Rising.

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WhoCares - Out Of My Mind/Holy Water CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

In 1983, after the departure of Ronnie James Dio, Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan joined forces with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward to record Born Again, the first — and only — Black Sabbath album to feature Gillan's vocals. Despite its short-lived status, that Sabbath lineup has a cult following among fans. Fast forward to the end of the 1980s when tragedy struck the Spitak region of Armenia in the form of an earthquake. Gillan, along with Deep Purple band mate, Ritchie Blackmore and an all-star cast including Tony Iommi, David Gilmour, Bruce Dickinson, Brian May and Roger Taylor recorded an updated version of "Smoke On The Water" as part of the Rock Aid Armenia album to raise money for the region. Now, some 20 years later, Gillan, Iommi and a new all-star band have recorded a single to help the charity.

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Deep Purple - Deep Purple CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

Deep Purple's third and final release from their original lineup was a self-titled affair. Unlike their first two albums, Deep Purple primarily features originals with only one cover song, showing the band's artistic growth. The album has been rereleased on CD with a number of bonus tracks.

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Deep Purple - The Book Of Taliesyn CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

After Deep Purple's success with Shades Of Deep Purple, the band did not stray far from its formula for their second album The Book Of Taliesyn. Like its predecessor, The Book Of Taliesyn is roughly half cover songs and half originals and it is being rereleased on CD along with all of the other Mk. I albums with a number of bonus tracks.

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Deep Purple - Shades Of Deep Purple CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

Before the bombast of such classics as "Smoke On The Water" or "Highway Star," there was Deep Purple Mk. I. The original band released three albums between 1968 and 1969 and featured Rod Evans on vocals and Nick Simper on bass. This incarnation was more psychedelic and pop-oriented than the hard rock sound the band would come to be known for. Now, all three of these albums are being rereleased with bonus tracks.

Deep Purple's first album, Shades Of Deep Purple, had a fair amount of success — particularly in the U.S. — including a top-5 hit with their cover of the Joe South-written "Hush." The song remains a staple of classic rock radio to this day and is the best-known version of the song. The band thought highly enough of it to rerecord it with Mk. II singer, Ian Gillan, for an album celebrating their 20th anniversary.

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Deep Purple - History, Hits & Highlights '68-'76 DVD Review

Written by General Jabbo

Few bands have managed to have as much success with as many lineups as Deep Purple. From the frilly shirts and swinging ‘60s vibe of the MK I lineup to the proto-metal MK II version to the more soulful MK III and IV lineups, Deep Purple has always been an exciting and interesting band, especially live. The band’s essential first period from 1968-1976 is covered on the two-DVD set, Deep Purple – History, Hits & Highlights ’68-’76.

Disc one opens with a short documentary of the band, showing highlights from 1968-1976 before going into a rare promo video of MK I’s cover of the Beatles “Help!” A performance of “Hush” from Playboy After Dark follows along with some studio footage of “Mandrake Root.” While the video quality is excellent, the PAD footage is oddly edited, with part of it on disc two and the disc one footage beginning at the end of a Jon Lord interview that is started on disc two. A minor quibble in an excellent set, but a strange oversight nonetheless.

Not surprisingly, the legendary MK II version with Ian Gillan on vocals and Roger Glover on bass gets the most coverage on the set with more than 20 songs. Highlights include killer performances of “Demon’s Eye,” “No No No,” and a version of “Highway Star” with different lyrics. The band’s signature song, “Smoke on the Water,” is, of course, included, though it seems a better version could have been chosen. While Gillan sounds fine, Ritchie Blackmore starts the song out of tune and appears disinterested. This wasn’t long before Gillan left the band, so tension on Blackmore’s part was likely. Disc two includes some rare rehearsal footage of “No No No” from the Beat Club that shows off Purple’s live prowess. These clips are mistakenly labeled as being from Rockpalast on the DVD sleeve.

When Gillan and Glover left, they were replaced by then-unknown David Coverdale on vocals and Glenn Hughes on bass. This lineup represented a bluesier, more soulful version of Deep Purple and they recorded two albums before Blackmore tired of their direction and quit his own band. “Burn” from the Leeds Polytech Student project in 1974 and “Mistreated” from the California Jam (the entire show of which is available on DVD) document this period of the band. For whatever reason, the same performance of “Burn” is repeated on disc two.

After Blackmore, came Tommy Bolin, who recorded one album with the band before their split in 1976. Bolin was hooked on heroin and later overdosed and his live shows were erratic at best. Still, “Love Child” and “You Keep on Moving” make an appearance here.

The DVD includes a fine book that reads like a scrapbook, with photos and newspaper clippings from all lineups of the band. Disc one fails to mention where any of the performances are from which, along with some of the other sloppy editing, keeps this from being a perfect Deep Purple collection. However the positives greatly outweigh the negatives, the footage is in great condition and the two DVDs contain nearly five hours of prime-era Deep Purple, making this a must-own for any fan of the band.

Blackmore's Night - "Paris Moon" DVD Review

Written by General Jabbo

It’s been over 10 years since Ritchie Blackmore left the final incarnation of Rainbow to form Blackmore’s Night – a fusion of Renaissance music, folk music, and rock and roll that really can’t be classified as any one of them, yet has elements of all of them. Paris Moon captures the band live during their first trip to France at the famed Olympia Theatre in Paris.

Led by vocalist Candice Night, Paris Moon features two hours of highlights from the band’s entire catalog including “Play Minstrel Play,” “World of Stone,” “Renaissance Faire” – a sort of call-to-arms for the band’s fans, many of whom, like the members of Blackmore’s Night, dress in Renaissance-period clothing and “Ariel” featuring Blackmore on his famous Fender Stratocaster – the guitar itself getting an ovation.

The band also runs through a number of cover songs, including Jethro Tull’s “Rainbow Blues,” Joan Baez’ “Diamonds and Rust,” Joan Osborne’s “Saint Teresa,” and even a song from the David Coverdale-era of Deep Purple, “Soldier of Fortune.” Night teases the crowd before “Soldier,” saying, “you might have heard a rumor that Ritchie was in one or two bands before this one.” Night makes the songs her own with her haunting, emotive vocals.

All of the musicians in Blackmore’s Night are given their chance to shine during the show and their love for this music is apparent – especially Night, who is beaming throughout.

The DVD has several audio options, including 5.1 Dolby Digital, 5.1 DTS and 2.0 stereo. The DVD features a short documentary about the band where Blackmore describes the “snobbery” he and Night deal with from fans of Renaissance, folk, and rock music who complain that it isn’t really any of those. What the band is trying to create is something new out of familiar elements. Also included is a photo gallery with photos from the show, set to “Streets of London,” sung by Night in French.

Included with the DVD is a CD containing nine tracks from the concert, as well as a studio version of “The Village Lanterne” and a radio edit of “All Because of You.”

Captured in widescreen, Paris Moon is beautifully filmed and with its Renaissance-themed stage show, is as much a joy to watch as the songs are to listen to. For fans of Ritchie Blackmore, or of Blackmore’s Night, Paris Moon is a must-own DVD.