![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/mcbride1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/mcbride4.jpg)
An owl hooting from the kumquat tree
Roger Glover is in a very interesting conversation with Michael Bradford. It is indeed more of a conversation rather than an interview, and Michael is a fabulous host. This was recorded some time towards the end of 2025, while work on Splat! was being finalized, but before the bout of touring in Tbilisi, Dubai, and Kuala Lumpur. Enjoy!
Thanks to our forum for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I know that I will upset lots of people by saying that Roger Glover as a Deep Purple producer managed to make DP sound better than their sound with Bob Ezrin.
August 28th, 2026 at 00:05Even the man in black who hardly complemented RG had to admit that he did a good job on ‘The Battle rages on’
But for me I strongly believe that the best produced DP album is ‘Slaves and Masters’ sorry I meant the best produced Rainbow album.
Peace ✌️
Thanks for the interview, enjoyable it was. Cheers.
August 28th, 2026 at 07:10I forgot to mention the artist non connection between Roger and John Glover, the well known English and Tasmanian landscape artist. I couldn’t resist having a search on that after today’s viewing of this interview and also reading about the artist John Glover’s work here in Tasmania, circa 1830’s/40’s. I was out at his old stomping ground last weekend, Evandale doing the heritage tour thing. Only a few miles south of that village is where Glover had his rural property at Nile. Cheers
https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/artists/glover-john/
August 28th, 2026 at 07:22Can we have a vote on ‘Bananas’ as the worst mixed and produced DP album of all time.
August 28th, 2026 at 08:58I am sure the highway star platform can arrange for such a vote once and for all.
Peace ✌️
@1
August 28th, 2026 at 10:30oh yes, I think the same..
🍷
@3 Interesting fact. Roger is Welsh, though, not English. He is unlikely to be related to John.
I once thought, based on my family tree, that I was a distant relative of Steven Tyler’s. I was wrong. I am a very distant relative of his.
August 28th, 2026 at 11:34Not quite Tasmania, but some of the earliest paintings of Australuan landscape, flora & fauna were done by a Scottish art tutor called Thomas Watling in the 1790s. He was over there at His Majesty’s pleasure for forging Bank of Scotland banknotes, and the prison Governor decided to put his talents to better use.
August 28th, 2026 at 12:19Adel, I always preferred Roger’s production work for other bands such as Nazareth, Judas Priest, Rory Gallagher and MSG to what he did for bands he played in. Number one, it always worked against his bass playing which became an afterthought, number two an outside producer brings other things to the table. Even the Beatles needed George Martin and Alice Cooper’s would have been nothing without Bob Ezrin.
It has nothing to do with ability, of course Roger can produce an album well, but with how many hats you can wear. Roger hasn’t produced a bad-sounding album even for DP, but by the same token: Is there a Glover-produced DP album where the production has really elevated the songs and performances in a spectacular way like say Keith Olsen’s work did with Whitesnake’s 1987/Serpens Albus? I can’t think of one.
I have no nostalgic feelings for the Glover productions era of DP, even with Rainbow I think that LLRnR is the best sounding production by a stretch (bone-dry but powerful). With Ezrin, even his detractors have to admit that his hands and ears have played a vital part with DP since Now What?! The way Simple Song (an unsung gem in DP’s canon) sounded says it all, it really struck me when I first heard that telltale Ezrin aura with DP.
Your observation that S & M is likely Roger’s best DP production … I actually agree with it. 👍 He had a hand for that AOR sound.
August 28th, 2026 at 13:14@1 I like the production on ‘The Battle Rages On’ also. The quality of the sound wasn’t all down to Roger as it was co-produced with Thom Panunzio.
I think the production on ‘Purpendicular’ and especially ‘Abandon’ is better than the Rainbow album you mentioned.
August 28th, 2026 at 16:02Though S&M is the DP album I rate below most others I think the sound is very good indeed. Purpendicular, Abandon sound fine, Bananas not bad, Rapture is improved big time now with the remix set.
I never saw the gem in Simple Song. I brought myself to listen to it maybe 5 times (it’s DP after all!) ….and I still think it’s the worst DP song that doesn’t have JLT singing. Some stuff on S&M may be worse.
August 28th, 2026 at 20:56Ezrin’s influence is more noticable as an additional songwriter to my ears. Someone outside the band who came in and Now What is an improvement simply because of that. Maybe that grandiose production helps a little at times, but DP are a hard rock band, not Pink Floyd etc. A fine example of the difference in producers involving Ezrin, who as we know is an American, is with the two albums with Kansas that are so different to each other. Power is produced by Andrew Powell, an English orchestral musician. Power is so much more straight ahead rock in most aspects with a few embellishments here and there, nothing too over the top. The next album, In the Spirit of Things is totally different to Power in its sound and ‘over the top’ production. Meaning, so many extras added, choirs, orchestral layers, cover songs and that big, dare I say it ‘cinematic’ and concept approach to things. Too big for my ears as Kansas are a rock band first and foremost. Does that overlaying and ‘cinematic’ approach work with a rock band? Especially a hard rock band like DP, not really. Anyway, big production, concept albums etc etc. It’s all music. Cheers.
August 28th, 2026 at 23:01RB, if Martin Popoff‘s research is to be believed (inter alia based on interviews with Thom Panunzio himself), then Thom‘s involvement with the final TBRO product was rudimentary at best, all album credits aside:
– Thom was mainly there while drums and guitar were still the focus. When he accepted the job offer he believed it would be an album with Joe Lynn Turner on vocals whose work ethos he rated. His work instructions where to produce an album that sounded heavier than Slaves & Masters, but would still see FM airplay in the US due to Joe’s AOR leanings. But during the sessions it transpired that Joe‘s rug (not the one on his head!) was slowly pulled from underneath him by Roger, Little Ian, Jon, management and record company as well as promoters, much to the dismay of Ritchie who very much liked what Joe had sung so far (five songs apparently).
– Thom has never met Ian Gillan in person. And when Thom‘s name was given to Ian he identified him as “the guy who was only there in the studio before I rejoined”.
– What you hear of TBRO today is mainly Roger’s salvage and resurrection job once his singing buddy had returned and – in the eyes and ears of Ritchie Blackmore had least – had mangled the backing tracks robbing them of the AOR qualities they had enjoyed when Joe sang them (Gillan never heard what Joe sang, Roger gave him the tapes wiped clean).
– In the end, although he had been slated for it too, Thom did not even mix the album. Roger states in Martin’s book that much to his dislike he had to assume Thom’s producer position once Gillan returned to the fold. If Panunzio had other commitments or distanced himself from the project because it had turned into something he had not signed up for I dunno.
August 29th, 2026 at 00:46BTW: I really liked the creativity exchange Michael and Roger had.
August 29th, 2026 at 00:48I love Bananas, my favorite Purple album since 1996 to the present day.
August 29th, 2026 at 03:06I guess I’m the opposite of most here – I prefer Roger’s production to Ezrin or Bradford. Bob compresses things far too much and everything sounds squashed and narrow to me. Bradford’s mixes are too muddy and lack clarity.
I actually think S und M is a poor sounding record – to me it sounds flat, one dimensional and lacks depth. I feel the same way about THOBL and Perfect Strangers.
To me the best sounding and produced Purple records ever are Purpendicular and Abandon – there is a wider stereo mix to my ears, everything is crystal clear and has depth. In my view, Roger’s production shined brightly and he gave the band their two best sounding records.
I wish he would continue to produce records that sound like those two 90s records – his biggest mistake, IMO, was not backing himself, as I feel the band did their best work with Mk 7 sound wise. Everything sounds full and clear to my ears.
Ezrin just muddies every thing and squashes the instruments to death by allowing far too much compression on both the mix and master. He’s a great arranger and also a poor mixer – it doesn’t matter if it sounds great on the studio, if that sound does not translate to multiple different systems, you’ve failed at mixing and mastering, IMO.
If I want squash, I’ll stick to Thanksgiving dinner!
August 29th, 2026 at 03:13What an interesting conversation of two pro‘s.
Roger is one of those patient with fans and always friendly people (and I dont‘t say „rockstar“ for that reason).
I was lucky to meet him once in 2022, when I got a backstage guest invitation for Don and it was in the same room. We did not talk much – I was asking for an autograph and a picture, but listening to him talking with fans he treated as friends (and I‘m sure they were) was wonderful. He was the last one leaving the room when someone of the roadcrew appeared and said „come on , the bus is waiting!“
Did you ever see the bus they use? It’s a real big black „beast“!
Btw, am I the only one who understands American speakers better than British speakers?
August 29th, 2026 at 07:54As an old fan.. I don’t often listen to the classic DP albums (1970-1975 + Perfect Strangers and Purpendicular) I simply know every tone, listened to them hundreds of times, they are top rock pieces.. but the time of 68/69 and from “The House of Blue Lights” to today.. once a month I listen to the complete DP discography.. and discovered that The Battle Rage On is not such a bad album but one of the better ones (1987-2026) despite the bad reviews.. (I only listened to my instincts) two pearls the title track and Anya are classics and the rest of the album is good..
August 29th, 2026 at 09:41Michael Bradford worked on two albums Bananas and Rapture of the Deep by produced and engineered.. and that album (R OTD) the weakest link in the chainseems to me (after “DP-Rainbow album” ). I don’t think Michel is the cause.. but there simply wasn’t a greater number of good DP-level songs what a mess we are. I thought at that time..does DP make any more sense after Ritchie’s departure… and now Jon is the last nail in the coffin of a great rock story, and that the story needs to be finished..let the guys dedicate themselves to solo projects in the last decade of their musical career.
Luckily after a long recording break..the guys came back and raised the quality with a new producer..from 2013 to 2026 they are good albums, easy to listen to..I like to listen to them at least once a mont
I dont remember why he wasnt taken on board again but perhaps to busy with IRON MAIDEN?
MARTIN BIRCH
I wish had cloned him or waited for him to have the time.
August 29th, 2026 at 13:12Beate, and if Roger had never played a note on bass, he would have been crucial to the existence of most DP line-ups. He deserves a Nobel Award for that alone.
“Btw, am I the only one who understands American speakers better than British speakers?”
Nein, bist du nicht, aber wie ich ein Kind der Amerikanischen Besatzungszone, AFN und so … Leute aus NRW oder Niedersachsen – Britische Besatzungszone – haben das Problem genau umgekehrt.
When my old German firm merged with Clifford Chance, the many Brit dialects I massively encountered bewildered me and I had severe issues understanding them (mind you, I went to an American school for three years of my life during my impressionable adolescence and thought, dreamed and calculated in English at the end of it – of course my Brit law firm partners would have said that an American school is no place to learn proper English! 🤣). I remember watching an undubbed Harry Potter film in the noughties in London when I had nothing better to do that evening and I swear I could have used subtitles for most of it because the Harry Potter franchise celebrated the most arcane and obscure British Isles accents.
That said, I love the way Rick Parfitt sang “rhine” instead of “rain” here:
https://youtu.be/wRLGl1mWels
Or how Glenn cannocks “You’re not to blame!” here @01:07:
https://youtu.be/FANya8mcue4
And our NYC office always had me cracking up when their reception girls bubblegum-mouthed on the phone “Clifford Chance” as in “tschäähns” and not properly as “tschanz”.
August 29th, 2026 at 16:02I sincerely apologise for the way my ears are processing the sound in my head, but my ears are telling my brain that ‘Wicked Ways’ from slaves and maters is the best produced song by RG and it’s more superior than anything from the Ezrin and Bradford era.
August 29th, 2026 at 16:18Peace’ ✌️
Yo,
Some interesting comments about production issues posted here, & I tend to think that everyone’s POV is correct. However, there’s a few points worth noting imo worth consideration, amongst many…
1. Bands & record companies do not spend potentially millions of dollars to deliver poor sound quality media.
2. It is true that some media gets updated over time, & the sound quality is improved.
3. There generally has to be an industry standard to be met as regards to the final product, with the intention that it sounds as best as possible on all media play-back systems. This is what computers analyze, to ensure all parameters are met.
4. No one has stated what their sound-system actually is, what medium is being used, or even what volume levels are set.
5. Some people love to fiddle with EQ settings, & this dramatically effects sound quality at different volume levels. *The best playback amplifiers in the world offer NO EQ, or even bass & treble adjustments. They’re designed to offer you exactly what the production team delivered.
6. On the basis that the music you listen to is ripped onto your hard-drive, have you disabled administrative shares, so that your recording is not transferred & shared with other computers around the world, into an inferior sounding recording over time ???
7. Have your ears been tested ?…There’s a system in place to determine any deficiencies at most medical practitioners, where you simply wear headphones use a push button to acknowledge tones when you hear them. ( It’s like a colour-blind test for your ears ).
And on & on it goes. I ask that people state what they are listening through before stating that something doesn’t sound great, as there’s lots of potential remedies.
Ciao !
August 29th, 2026 at 22:59It’s a pleasure to hear Roger’s interviews, but when will his autobiography come out, damn it!
The album he produced in 1972 with Paul Buckmaster was “Pick Up a Bone” by Rupert Hine & David MacIver
#15 Mike:
It’s normal for 80s records to lack depth compared to a 1995 or 2005 or 2020 record.
the frequency spectrum was treated differently.
but in my opinion the mix of the instruments was excellent, from the perfect sound engineer’s manual, much better than anything else I’ve ever heard in Purple’s discography.
sound, color is a subjective sensation of the listener, it can be liked or not.
August 29th, 2026 at 23:17I think the Martin Birch productions of DP had more grit than Roger‘s more glossy-commercial style. Roger was no doubt severely influenced by Martin, but overall was more commercially inclined, that could be heard as early as on his work with Nazareth to whom he gave a real pop sheen which helped their singles success immeasurably.
Typical Roger production of the 70s, all the ingredients are there:
https://youtu.be/ED9wkABemBo
Martin couldn‘t have done that. I did like his wörk with BÖC thöügh:
https://youtu.be/jUwh-C5w7II
https://youtu.be/kn-8n4QKUS4
https://youtu.be/8dxvQ9qCe78
August 30th, 2026 at 01:28(Joe Bouchard‘s bass note bendings are to die for in this.)
Uwe Hornung @23
August 30th, 2026 at 09:09I totally agree with you on the RG, Martin Birch production comparison.
I think the best illustration of good and bad mixing is when you compare like for like and let your ears do all the talking.
I listened to ‘Time to Bedlam’ ‘The house of pain’ and ‘Wicked Ways’
All three songs has fast tempo and all instruments used to maximum force. For me ‘Wicked Ways’ comes on top in term of mixing and production as I can hear all instruments.
While the other two sounds like someone put a blanket on top of the speakers.
Also for RG to remix ‘Rapture of the deep’ speaks volume about what the bands thinks of Michael Bradford contribution regardless of the excuses that were thrown about in the past about the rushed production due to his other commitments.
Peace ✌️
“Is there a Glover-produced DP album where the production has really elevated the songs and performances in a spectacular way? ”
Wasnt it the trio of Birch, Ian Paice and Roger that mixed the original MADE IN JAPAN?
Which is irony to the max considering Roger knew already he was out of the band soon?
August 30th, 2026 at 12:57@22
I wonder how big his place is.
I know he wrote diaries for ever.
Going try piles of diaries once stopped me writing in them.
The final reason was it was too comfronting to re read them but the original reason was my girlfriend going tru them in my abscence.
August 30th, 2026 at 15:59Yeah, Siôrs @chwech, that Welsh thing always had me worried with Roger a little too, imagine if his name were spelled Rhosser Glwfer?
https://welsh-dictionary.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html?glwfer
We’d be arguing endlessly here how the spelling goes and where that elusive vowel went, it must have gone via Miomi …
And then there would be unwarranted Tasmanian interjections how my spelling recommendations are all conjecture, hearsay and why DP member interviews are never to be believed unless you’re some fool from Germany. Plus that I wear Ritchie’s garter belts at night, but dare not talk about it. Not to mention that Rwber Hadog type exhaling something nasty through his gills.
So we all – Rhosser included – got lucky dwi’n meddwl (= Welsh for “I think”).
Cunning linguistic regards!
Urvèth
August 30th, 2026 at 16:14There is another conversation: Roger and Bob talk about „Whoosh!“
August 30th, 2026 at 16:35Very interesting!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=vUmNFt5FTMI&dp_isNewTab=1&dp_referrer=serp&dp_allowFirstVideo=1
@16 Beate, I do understand American much better than Brits most every time.
August 30th, 2026 at 17:28I think it’s because there are many different and difficult ways of speaking English all over Great Britain, some of which are like chinese to me. Iunderstood every US citizen I talked to on the other hand. Another reason might be that Americans tend to use a more simple way of speaking, taking it easy.
” 5. Some people love to fiddle with EQ settings, & this dramatically effects sound quality at different volume levels. *The best playback amplifiers in the world offer NO EQ, or even bass & treble adjustments. They’re designed to offer you exactly what the production team delivered.”
I think I had discussions over this with an old friend whose opionions I rated highly.
He was older, able to make music himself and the prime editor of the Dutch Rainbow fanmag.
He said the same as above and I never agreed.
I stated that a recording must be adjusted to the room and of course every person is entitled to “change”the basics if the ears ask him/her to.
August 30th, 2026 at 20:24Yo,
@30 said…
“A recording must be adjusted to the room and of course every person is entitled to “change”the basics if the ears ask him/her to”.
Exactly !!! Well said.
We must remember here that as an example, should you have just finished playing “Fireball”, & then started playing “Splat”, it’s quite likely that if you’ve made adjustments to EQ settings, you’ll be running to your stereo to change them again to try & get the same pleasant results…
Fair appraisals of any recording imo should have the system settings set to neutral, meaning no EQ added, everything set to zero position. This way you get natural playback conditions, & fair comparisons can be made since there’s no bias added.
The end result is that you’ll find most recordings are more similar to one-another than not.
Ciao !
August 30th, 2026 at 22:39RV, live albums are not so much “produced” (unless they are re-recorded in a studio) as they are “engineered/recorded” and “mixed”. The latter three things were done very well with Made in Japan, but the album isn’t really a “production”, Purple sounded great live pretty much by themselves.
Interestingly enough – and this was mentioned by Bob Ezrin in an interview -, he was in 1972 approached to do MiJ and would have liked to do so, but had other commitments. Imagine how we could have had the Bob Ezrin schism already in 1972! 🤣
August 31st, 2026 at 00:39Don’t forget, lots of us old original DP fans now use hearing aids (probably from blasting In Rock), we either adjust the sound on those, or adjust what’s coming from the speakers. (We have rings in our ears, and I do NOT mean the West Hollywood kind.)
About the different producers, all I can say is, with any of them, DP flat kills all of those other bands, even the legendary ones.
August 31st, 2026 at 03:23@33
August 31st, 2026 at 06:59You forgot to mention the Zimmer frame too 🤣🤣🤣
Peace’ ✌️
Uwe Hornung @32
August 31st, 2026 at 07:12Martin Birch is the king and I can’t imagine anyone doing a better job to get the best sound for DP in this era.
I personally think that at least half of DP songs with Bob Ezrin sounds like a blanket has been thrown on the speaker.
Hell to Pay and time to bedlam are two great examples.
And also he was very successful in eliminating SM guitar sound on Whoosh.
‘Truth hurts’ as JLT sang on Slaves and Masters.
Peace ✌️
@12
August 31st, 2026 at 10:56As for TBRO, I once read an interview with Blackmoore where he mentioned that Anya was the best song on the album, and that after Joe Lynn Turner left, Gillan completely ruined it. That was a long time ago, so I don’t remember what the magazine was called. Uwe, maybe you know more about it.
I know I sound insane, maybe I am, but for decades I adjusted, equalised, beefed up where I wanted in my livingroom.
A probably weird combination of elements and adding a trick or two to get my perceived maximum out of what there was .
Then, years ago I not only stopped watching TV. same room, but retreated as well in my less comfy=stonecold other space behind the ensuite.
I somehow found PC speakers, sounded good enough. I got newer ones from a friend that , like many , upgraded his stuff regularly.
I m happy with the sound!
Even though I could, once did, try to do the same “improving” as I did years ago in the other room but usually I dont.
I still think I ve good ears but maybe I ve not noticed it changed.
Always preferred flac over MP3 though.
But since I reached the age of 45 my eyes went downsouth and, medical reasons or not, like Gillan, my rolemodel, it deterioated structurally.
So maybe I m in unstoppable decline.
My cards are poor but I m Aries and stubborn.
I endure many stifling things but at 20 I promised myself to fight it all for the rest of my days.
I do have to use this mantra , otherwise it ll be the grave or ashes sooner than aimed.
Yeah, I m screaming to silence my anxieties.
August 31st, 2026 at 14:19Fair appraisals of any recording imo should have the system settings set to neutral, meaning no EQ added, everything set to zero position. This way you get natural playback conditions, & fair comparisons can be made since there’s no bias added.
Our returneth prodigal son Gregster is of course a diehard hi-fi hi-ender, likely one of those people who have one of those voodoo electronics gadgets that “clean up” and “stabilize” the current from his local utility (I’ve read that large parts of Tasmania are by now serviced with electricity, but the grid tends to be understandably shaky) before feeding it into his boutique stereo (which requires a 30 minute warm-up phase before operating properly) for maximum untainted aural enjoyment. Go tell everyone else! 😝😂🤣
Me, I push up the bass as much as I can on nearly any recording. 🙈
August 31st, 2026 at 15:16@Frater
I stopped using headphones decades ago.
I understood it can ve permanent damaging effect.
Going to concerts remained hard if one strived not to get deaf.
I tried earplugs,even specially made for me but more and more refraining from seeing shows due to my back and other reasons
Early 2000s after a MOTHERS FINEST show that was excellent but way too loud I really experienced pain IN my ears, so that was a real sign to change.
I d like to use headphones again for the known reasons but I got scared to lose more of my abilities.
August 31st, 2026 at 18:06Good rock demands sacrifices by all, when Slade played with a much too huge PA from their America tours all the way up to the ceiling in a small German hall in the late 70s, the fact that the guy standing beside me before the PA Martin bass bins suffered an immediate nosebleed when the band started was one of the highlights of my concertgoer life! Hey, and even he liked it, continuing to headbang undeterred, his blood flying everywhere. Way to go!
https://ring.cdandlp.com/collector89/photo_grande/113935360.jpg
I don’t really like listening to music with headphones, I prefer room ambience and outside noises with it. Temperatures allowing, I listen to most of my music via this here
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/aplus-media-library-service-media/bb0a70ee-dca6-4df5-87d2-f3f9ea9844c0.__CR0,0,300,400_PT0_SX300_V1___.jpg
on our porch (with the loud waterfall from the pond in the background) or over the B&W 10-speaker system of my Volvo. I’m not gonna give that car up just for the stereo it has! 😂
August 31st, 2026 at 21:27This is way off topic now, I’m sorry but I can’t let this pass. I am sooooo jealous of Uwe right now. Don’t come with your Ferraris or Koenigseggs, my absolute dream car is any Volvo with the B&W system. Sure, the bigger the better so let’s make it a XC90. I could care less about all the car features but that sound system is almost worth what the car costs in my eyes. Too bad I don’t have that kind of money…
The car is the perfect place to listen to music and finally some manufacturer put some thought behind the sound system design instead of just installing the biggest sub available.
August 31st, 2026 at 21:41Yo,
@ 37 & 39…
LOL !!! We must remember here that so far in this discussion, you haven’t claimed any bad productions, but simply stated age-related issues, along with a preference for bass adjustments…
I generally use my Logitech 2.1’s mostly, since they’re easy access, still sound great after 20-years, plus I’ve managed to fix the over powering low-end from the sub-woofer, by simply filling the breather-hole with some bubble-wrap (reducing its size about 50%), & placing the speaker behind the rear wall of my desk. *Lots of bottom-end clarity now, with no resonance / boom.
When I’m in a proper listening mood, it’s lights-out, & the Yamaha 5.2 home-theatre system is used. And though not absolutely necessary, it’s a pretty good way to appreciate your music, as the sound & dynamics take-on a whole new perspective / dimension, that you have to experience for yourself to believe…Simply incredible 🙂 !
No TV for myself since around 1997…Like Roger Waters once sang qt.”I’ve got 13 channels of shyte on the TV to choose from”…Save your brain ! And your phone can be turned-off too when not needed, which is even more of a brain-washing issue yo !
And this leads me into suggesting that if people are considering updating their Pink Floyd collection, grab the 2011 boxed set titled “Pink Floyd Discovery”. You get all the studio albums ( less “Endless River” ) & movie soundtracks ( less “Zabriskie Point” ) that have been remastered by the same engineering team, & the results imo are spectacular, – I do not say this lightly. ( Mini-LP CD design + quality booklet ).
I’ve heard many updated versions of “Dark Side of the Moon” over the years, with little noticeable difference from one to the other, but the improvement here is startling. You can actually determine that Rick Wright is singing along duet with Dave Gilmour, since you can hear him at last, as he’s no longer lost-in-the-mix. And many other subtleties are revealed across all the albums, though “Animals” remains a little on the flat side, but is still much improved…”The Wall” is drop-dead stunning, as you would expect with all the more-modern-era albums, however, the early 1960’s / 70’s albums sound sensational too, particularly “Ummagumma” with uncovered sparkle & shine / clarity to be found, – (*the live disc sounds amazing now, if a little thin).
I bought this boxed-set years ago, & kick myself for not listening / ripping it sooner, as it’s sensational. Highly recommended, & won’t put a hole in your wallet.
I’m not saying that you “must have this”, but you will be well rewarded, especially if there’s holes in your Pink Floyd discography & are thinking of completion.
Ciao !
September 1st, 2026 at 00:03Svante, I’m happy to hear you like Chinese cars too. ☝️😎
https://chineseposters.net/sites/default/files/images/pc-195b-014.jpg
Can I tell you a secret: I refused to buy the hybrid version of my V90 for one reason only: The size of the battery required deletion of the CD player! Instead I went for the R-Design, that still had a CD player. The car salesman looked incredulously at me, but I said: “If I have to drive a car without a CD player, I might just as well take the train!”
You can take my Volvo for a joyride
https://youtu.be/xCorJG9mubk
if you ever come to Frankfurt, I’m a ten minute car ride away from the airport. I’ll slip the Born Again CD in just for you, you Nordic Dark Metaller. 😘
Not much of an SUV fan here (had an XC90 when it first came out, it had the drag coefficient of a Königstiger), they’re cars for girls really. I like to be close to the road, not a meter away from it …
https://youtu.be/LKuuHfMx3CQ
September 1st, 2026 at 01:36I wasnt sure about the word GRIT because was close in thinking what it is.
An AI said, I said I preferred Martin Birch….
“That’s a very understandable preference.
Martin Birch generally seemed to serve the band’s identity rather than impose a strongly recognizable production style on top of it.
His work could sound powerful, spacious, and gritty while still leaving room for the musicians’ individual voices—especially the contrast between Blackmore’s guitar, Lord’s keyboards, Paice’s drums, and Gillan’s vocals.
Roger Glover, as both bassist and producer, brought valuable inside knowledge, but his productions can feel more deliberately shaped around a particular sonic direction.
Bob Ezrin is often much more overtly “hands-on”: he may emphasize arrangement, dramatic dynamics, layered textures, and a polished modern impact.
That can make a record sound bigger, but it can also make listeners feel that the producer’s aesthetic is competing with the band’s natural character.
Birch’s strength was perhaps knowing when not to interfere. His grit tended to come from the performances, amps, room sound, and controlled recording choices—not from forcing everything into a conspicuous production concept.
September 1st, 2026 at 11:20That’s probably why his Deep Purple and later Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden work still feels so organic and immediate.”
#44 Rock:
I love you, but does a long-time fan like you need to ask AI these things????
I prefer to read your opinions, feelings and memories, not the AI’s sentences
September 1st, 2026 at 20:25That was one smart AI, well-put Mr Roboto!
https://youtu.be/uc6f_2nPSX8
Martin Birch let DP sound like they sounded, Bob Ezrin makes DP sound like he envisions them and Roger produced DP the way other people might like it.
September 1st, 2026 at 21:24Gregster
I read some pun intended mockery?
Roger Waters is a clairvoyant since he predicted the worms d get into his brains.
Do still love Pink Floyd though.
Sometimes its itching but having certain priorities I for a long time now didnt go along with all the new and improved hifi stuff.
@45
Forgot why I ended up with the AI
I m kinda busy everywhere once I sit in this chair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr-la90mG20
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Q5hbp4IibNU
September 2nd, 2026 at 15:56Francis speaks his mind – as he always does.
September 2nd, 2026 at 21:55Yo,
@ 44 stated…qt.”Bob Ezrin is often much more overtly “hands-on”: he may emphasize arrangement, dramatic dynamics, layered textures, and a polished modern impact.
That can make a record sound bigger, but it can also make listeners feel that the producer’s aesthetic is competing with the band’s natural character.
Birch’s strength was perhaps knowing when not to interfere. His grit tended to come from the performances, amps, room sound, and controlled recording choices—not from forcing everything into a conspicuous production concept.
That’s probably why his Deep Purple and later Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden work still feels so organic and immediate.”
*Quite in-depth observations Rock ! As regards to the Wasp, he also encouraged band participation during mixing & production, at least with what was offered in the Machine Head documentary, where everyone had their chance to discuss & agree on sound, – with everyone’s hands on the faders lol !..
Certainly video evidence today reveals that the band trusts Bob Ezrin impeccably, especially when we see footage of Steve Morse driving away back home once recording duties & over-dubs were finished from the “Whoosh” sessions…
As for AI, it’s simply a marketing label for a new generation of computing technology to keep one interested in this stuff. Computers already did what AI does, it’s just being marketed differently, with a new spin on its abilities, & therefore responsibilities…
AI is essentially like TEPCO, where TEPCO was created after the nuclear holocaust occurred in Japan, to protect the nuclear industry from responsibilities incurred. They created someone to blame. And now, “these people” can blame computers / AI for disgraceful decisions being made & the results, instead of themselves…You’d be pretty silly to give AI your capacity for thinking for yourself it would seem, but the market-place & real world reveal that people are doing just that…eg, How many people do you see in the supermarkets using their phone to do shopping instead of making simple decisions with their own brain these days ???…
Our leaders know how to scam, they’ve been successfully doing it for millennia.
Most things offered to people in history by industrialists have their origins in the military & its uses first & foremost, & AI is no different. The term “internet” stands for “Internal Network”, as first created by the US-of-A in the early 1960’s as a closed-loop communication network between the Whitehouse & the Pentagon…My how it’s expanded lol !
The idea being sold of “Open AI” is bollox, as people like Gates & Musk ensured that they had their own “copy” of the “net” before releasing it, so it’s hardly open lol !
And here we are, 52 years on since the honourable POTUS Nixon was media-fodder, & forced into resignation for a few tape recordings made of his opposition that were loosely linked back to him, (perhaps after-the-fact), whilst today, people are lining-up for miles to pay for their Wi-Fi, & have all their privacy & secrets up-for-sale on the internet…But it’s all AI’s doing of course…Hmmm…
Bring-on the next DP album I say, even a live offering would be most excellent !
And the reason for it taking a few years to get around to listening to the “Pink Floyd Discovery” disc-set, is simply because of the daunting thought that was sitting for hours ripping the 14-albums to computer, & listening back to them all…I had to wait until I was hungry again to listen to them again. ( I already had existing copies ). Well worth the wait however, as the results are amazing.
Ciao !
September 3rd, 2026 at 00:43Gregster just had
September 3rd, 2026 at 14:08a stream… what am I saying … a volcanic eruption of consciousness!Yo,
@50 said…qt.”Gregster just had a stream … what am I saying … a volcanic eruption of consciousness”!…
LOL ! More likely simply an Owl, hooting from the Kumquat tree…
As Rod Evans once sung “I’m so glad, I’m so glad, I’m glad-I’m glad-I’m glad”…
Sometimes you just have turn the page, & read the book of Taliesyn…
Ciao !
September 3rd, 2026 at 23:2251
That was when they didnt know yet what to morph into it, being it Cream, Vanilla Fudge, or something else.
Covers were practicle, filling space and scoring hits, HUSH, with it.
Seeing Rod coming to his senses live with Captain Beyond, his hair and clothing very much echoing Ian Gillans early MK2 appearance I thought what a pity theur music wasnt/isnt very accesible even though daring.
Big MK1 fan here.
Too often I still read negative descriptions of it while it was just 1 year from whivh 1 great album easily could ve been derived.
1, And the Adress
2. Hush
3. Mandrake Root
4. Anthem
5. Wring that Neck
6. Lalena
7. Bird has flown
8. Fault line/Painter
9. Chasing Shadows
10. Blind
11. Hey Joe
12. April
Maybe shuffle it a bit and I m guessing it d fit on 1 CD or double vinyl.
September 4th, 2026 at 14:09#52 RockVoorne:
You forgot Emmaretta, with Ritchie starting to play a funky style before MKIII.
September 4th, 2026 at 14:34” Good rock demands sacrifices of all.”
Ian Paice here imho implies something very negative about the BOB EZRIN appriach.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8kkvIVFIWZ0
September 4th, 2026 at 14:4253
Alleged/proposed samplers/best of always dissapoint in the eyes of others.
Often they vary as well but I think this holds a nice balance between own material and covers.
Btw,I once read that HEY JOE originally was longer and thus, scarilege was committed again.
September 4th, 2026 at 15:55Yo,
Mk-I remains an awesome band imo. I often play through their 3 x albums with big smiles being the result.
I recently acquired all 3 x albums on CD, & it seemed to take forever to source them, but the results are amazing to say-the-least. ( I always thought that “Cherry Records” made a boxed-set of these albums at some stage, but no listings exist…(I may be wrong here of course ))…
Anyhow, the 2014 remastered versions from Parlophone appeared together from a local vendor in Sydney-town at a great price, & with free shipping as long as I bought 4-CD’s, so a Frank Zappa CD filled the void lol ! ( I grabbed “Weasel’s Ripped My Flesh” but it’s not a great disc, even if Lowell George played guitar on it, & Neon Park designed the cover…The “Mothers of Invention” stuff is mostly hit & miss imo, though “200 Motels” is one-of-the-best recordings that Frank made !
These updated versions of Mk-I recordings really do sound fantastic, are in full stereo, & make me wonder why I persisted with the poor sounding records for so long. You live & learn I suppose…
And there’s so-much bonus material attached with them, that I’ve made 2 x bonus EP’s, where I titled them the “live BBC sessions”, & “Odds & Sods” ( I don’t mind extra material attached, but I always make separate folders for them, & leave the original play-list as is)…The BBC stuff sounds great, with the Odds & Sods out-takes less-so however. Quite a complete collection of Mk-I material though, & you can reverse the CD’s cover inlays / booklets to restore back to the original sleeve designs.
Ciao !
September 4th, 2026 at 22:49You mean this here, Gregster?
https://media1.jpc.de/image/w468/front/0/0825646337415.jpg
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81eRwG9kSDL._UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg
It features the mono versions of Shades and Taliesyn too which had never come out on CD before.
I actually thought that was a nice package.
September 5th, 2026 at 05:36Emmaretta was always a cherished ditty since I encountered it on the Singles As and Bs LP.
The cover with the woman in purple swimmingsuit.
Great LP incl Hallelujah, Im Alone, PIANO version of SPEED KING, SKOW.
Emmaretta allegedly was a girl loved by Rod and in the cast of the movie HAIR?
Maybe someone can provide a pic of her?
I now wonder about swimming again because the last time I was really into it was summer of 2018.
Since my body gave me an aching skin and Bursitis I more or less stalled it, hoping for recovery, which as yet has not occurred.
Thats a deathsentence more or less, because I need ecercises like that to keep going.
This year was the first time it seemed to improve. But not enough.
I dont have the energy I used to.Tried to go around it inserting yoga or other things, but …..its complicated.
The MK1 music has been released several times , I think.
I do own the, still instigated in the slipstream of the Anniversary editions by Simon Robinson.
BBC released of both mk1 and 2 were there also . Put the brakes on it, economy.
Never been into Zappa. I think I might be not suited to it to appreciate it, though tried.
Going to try again with your albumadvice.
Lowell George was an inspiration for Joe Lynn Turner?
I just found this, never heard it before
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_B8e7r3gT8
September 5th, 2026 at 11:46Yo,
@57…Yes, that was the boxed-set I had in mind, but could only source it from e-bay for big-dollars that I couldn’t justify spending…( eg $185:00 AUD for 5-discs is simply too much).
The 3 x discs I acquired were all of $18:00 each, & had a combined 15 bonus-tracks of addendum. The BBC tunes are great !
@58…Zappa & his music is an acquired taste perhaps, but there’s no doubting his skills as a composer, producer, band-leader or as a guitarist. Possibly the biggest issue is the number of recordings officially released, & which ones to choose…He officially released about 60-albums before his death, & another 50 have been officially released since that time…He recorded everything, & kept recordings in his own vault.
The 40th anniversary edition of Live in New York is a great recording if you must have only one. Stellar performances & guitar work are featured, plus a healthy dose of his comedy. You even get introduced via song to a Mr.Michael Kenyon, who went around giving his female victims an enema after he robbed them…He’s known as the “Illinois enema bandit”…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_H._Kenyon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQvKRiJc2ts
Ciao !
September 6th, 2026 at 00:4259
Thx for the suggestion and info
Not so long ago overhere there was a lot of fuzz after a famous Dutch tv personality boasted on what “they” found funny and ac ceptable 4 or 5 decades ago.
Something with sticking with candles in a woman.
The underlying theme was that today people tolerate less of these actions.
September 6th, 2026 at 13:21RV, she’s one of the black girls here:
https://youtu.be/xlCilKlqrvI
Maybe even Melba Moore?
https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-XPkLcJ2ZlNzpEW4s-nFuaXg-t500x500.jpg
“Emmaretta” was never in the – much later, a whole decade – Miloš Forman movie, but she was in the 1968/69 original NYC Broadway cast. According to legend and lore at least. Rod Evan’s was rightly regarded a handsome man back then.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTo3d4irucEOWJk9vxTnMA_CTVQPSJZLILXl-CC9IkGm1BzOzmNlLzO4s0&s=10
And you didn’t need to buy The Singles A’s & B’s for the track, it was also much earlier on Purple Passages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Passages
and Mk I & II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_I_%26_II
***********************
Gregster, no … RV, vielen lieben Dank for the George Gakis reference,https://www.spirit-of-rock.com/en/biography/George_Gakis_And_The_Troublemakers/6171,
I was unaware of the JLT collaboration too, a sorry state of affairs that has now been healed via an order from Amazon (they only had one CD left!), you have thereby enhanced my JLT collection! Who said you were pretty much good for nothing?! 🤗 😘
Somehow, JLT has created this niche for himself in Balkan and Eastern Europe where he is considered really something. That’s a long way from Hackensack, NJ, where as a teen
https://dream-chaser.narod.ru/f1.gif
he played in a Motown covers band called Filet of Soul with another Hackensack teen
https://veterans.hackensackschools.org/VeteranSubpages/Individual%20Veteran%20Sub%20Pages/James%20Taylor/James%20Taylor%20Images/James%20Taylor%201972%20HHS%20Yearbook%20Photo.jpg
who likely, yet criminally so, means very little to our usual crowd here:
https://youtu.be/DfYC-SZehEA
First guy who dares say that Kool & the Gang did not belong in the RnRHoF will get a personal visit by my Königstiger
https://investorshub.advfn.com/uimage/uploads/2025/3/9/qsscv1741571112474.jpg
and me! And you can bet I will leave tracks … 😂
September 6th, 2026 at 14:53Thx for putting on a path where I did find the answer.
https://playbill.com/article/emmaretta-marks-original-broadway-cast-member-of-hair-dies-at
I encountered PURPLE PASSAGES around 1980 at my local village youthclub.
I already had bought A s and B s about 2 years earlier.
So the thing that was new to me was WABMC.
Which I as a unwanted dj served to a public now seeing my taste as anachronistic and passive behaviour cause I wasnt interested in punk, new wave. etc.
But I had my moments of openmindedness so some managed to draw my attention.
September 6th, 2026 at 19:57@58 & 61 – thought Hendrix wrote a song about the late Ms. Marks as well… But while trying to verify, found that was not the case.
Rather, she proofread his lyrics, initially, and later co-wrote with him. As described in this article, which details some of her other rock ‘n roll associations, beginning with Eric Burdon:
https://www.sisterfromanotherplanet.com/emmaretta-marks-reflects-on-her-varied-music-career/
Interesting piece, though it doesn’t mention Purple’s “Emmaretta”. Good song and excellent record – especially the tasty bass licks and explosive drumming. Love the fadeout! Possibly Ritchie’s most effective use of the wah-wah pedal, too.
@59 – “Illinois Enema Bandit” – Zappa in a nutshell! To fans, “comedy”…
September 6th, 2026 at 22:25To others, the reason for a sudden, pressing urge to change the radio station!
Yo,
@ 60 Rock said qt.”The underlying theme was that today people tolerate less of these actions”.
*Quite possible my friend, even the great story-telling within the tune “Mitzy Dupree” turns 40 next year…That’s a long time to not hear about ping-pong-balls…And 50-years now since we learned about the “Illinois Enema Bandit”…
But the enigma that is Michael Kenyon will live-on in the anals of FZ’s music at least.
Ciao !
September 7th, 2026 at 03:52Rock @58 – at 52.30 on this Jon Lord being interviewed by Rick Wakeman video, he talks about Emmaretta, both the lady and song. Cheers.
https://vimeo.com/901658437
September 7th, 2026 at 08:19Wow, RV and Skippy, now I have learned something – I always do here -, we‘ve finally really identified Emmaretta, thanks!
Rhyming “letter“ with “Emmaretta” is still pretty awful though, almost as bad as “haunted” with “wanted” (Roger Glover) or “mirror” with “nearer” (Paul Stanley). 🙄😂 But I liked the song too.
The Hendrix connection makes sense, didn‘t Jon Lord and Nick Simper jam with him around the time at a club performance in Greenwich Village, NYC?
September 7th, 2026 at 14:04#65 MacGregor:
The interview is also on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/hI_eUAL7FCM?si=bt4g8lpdM_nQPfQL
A great one-hour chat between two old friends, with plenty of interesting insights, and lots of uproarious laughter.
September 7th, 2026 at 14:26@66 Uwe – at least “letter” and “Emmaretta” is a legit rhyme, for someone from England.
Similar to the Spice Girls getting away with “forever” and “togevver”.
Or how Loretta Lynn was able to make a perfect rhyme of “tired” and “hard” in her Southern accent.
Rhymes of a nature which can come across as cheeky wordplay, perhaps best exemplified in the work of Ian Dury.
Would think that ANY rhyme is orders of magnitude less annoying than the tired common non-rhyming pairings that get used again and again. “Self” and “else” perhaps the most grating, used in dozens of songs.
September 7th, 2026 at 20:18@ 63- thanks Skippy for that info on Emmeretta, I hadn’t ever noticed any of that before anywhere. I remember her passing was mentioned somewhere, possibly here at THS about four years or so ago. That connection to Hendrix, so close and yet so far. Closer than many though. I wonder what vocals she is on, Electric Ladyland I am thinking, or those later recordings released after his death perhaps. Thanks Fla76 @ 67 – finally it has made it onto the ‘tube’ then, hooray. More accessible for some countries hopefully as I was told a while ago it wasn’t available. Or it wasn’t watchable probably should be said, as the previous video link didn’t allow screening in certain countries. Cheers.
September 7th, 2026 at 23:01Yo,
@63…Skippy O’Nasica said…qt.”The “Illinois Enema Bandit” – Zappa in a nutshell! To fans, “comedy”…To others, the reason for a sudden, pressing urge to change the radio station!…
*LOL !…I’ve been playing a lot of FZ lately, & could probably have “Hot Rats”, “Waka Jawaka”, & “The Grand Wazoo” on permanent rotation, & not get tired of listening to them…
But I suggest that the album “Sheik Your Beauty” from 1979 might grab the most laughs, & without-doubt have the more people turning that radio-dial-over lol !
But then there’s “Splat”…Whoa ! What a beauty ! Important to play this one at least once-a-day !
“Emmaretta” is one-of-those-tunes that makes one wonder how & why Mk-I ever decided to break-up…No “flim-flamming-around” here…
Ciao !
September 7th, 2026 at 23:43Or how Loretta Lynn was able to make a perfect rhyme of “tired” and “hard” in her Southern accent.
Yup, “tard” and “hard” is brilliant! 👍😂
September 8th, 2026 at 19:10MASH was hilarious but probably not totally spend on a child like me.
The words above now make think of wired but tired.
September 9th, 2026 at 14:57