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Purpendicular at 30
Purpendicular holds a special place in our hearts, as its release and events leading to it coincided with the formation of the online community that had founded this website and still runs it to this day. It is also one of the seminal albums in the history of the band — alongside with In Rock, Burn, and Perfect Strangers.
Our editor emeritus Doug MacBeath celebrates the 30th anniversary of the album.
It occurred to me the other day when I was listening to Purpendicular that it was hurtling towards its 30th Anniversary, and that got me thinking on whether it is arguably the most important album the band have done. It certainly is from a personal level.
The personal side is easy to justify – for me, music is not just about the songs themselves, but also about the memories of the events and people I associate with them. Musically, this is my favourite album since the band came back together in 1984. I play it regularly and I sing along. Listening to it in the car, I can honestly say I know every lick, every word, every nuance and by the end of the tour, I was indeed on first name terms with several of the crew. But that’s another song (and so’s that 😉 ). Along the way I made friends with a bunch of people who I’m still in touch with today, and who still mean a lot to me. Hearing the songs reminds me of all the good times we’ve had over the years.
But what about the band itself? Blackmore had left, but news was hard to come by. We had one or two issues of Darker Than Blue (the DPAS magazine) a year. They reported rumours and more in-depth news, but were often reporting events that could be several months old. For anything else we relied on Kerrang! and the likes, and the mainstream music press, especially in the UK, had taken to bashing the band. Fans I knew were already wary about what would follow, especially after the divisive S&M album and tour. But I think it helped that this time, the band did things differently. The Satriani gigs were heavily bootlegged, so it gave many of us a chance to hear what a post-Ritchie Purple would sound like. And it was good (the revamped set certainly helping).
And then we got the announcement of the permanent replacement in Steve Morse. A guitarist’s guitarist, but a name unknown to many, or at best as the guy who played The Friday Rock Show theme. The band went into the studio but then hit the road, playing new material before it was released, something not done since 1971. Again these gigs were bootlegged giving us an early taste of Ted the Mechanic, Soon Forgotten and The Purpendicular Waltz. If you got the right bootleg, there was also an acoustic version of what was to become The Aviator Jon, Rog and Steve played on South African radio. Those lucky enough to attend the first DPAS Convention in 1995 also got to hear an exclusive studio jam – the Turtle Island Shuffle. All this certainly whetted the appetite of those of us open to life after Blackmore.
Then came the album release and the start of a two-year-long tour, kicking off with 19 UK dates — more than the previous four UK tours put together, and mostly in the smaller venues. Out went the fancy lasers, and in came… a mirror ball (used in Highway Star) and the band set about rebuilding their slightly battered reputation by letting the music do the talking.
We got up to seven tracks a night from Purpendicular in those early shows, and eight were featured in total over the 150ish shows. I originally planned to attend four shows on the tour – the first two nights in Plymouth and Reading, plus the two Scottish shows. I ended up adding Newcastle (the only time I’ve ever bought a ticket from a tout outside) and the final UK gig in Brixton. The first shows featured Mary Long and Rat Bat Blue, but these had been changed for Bloodsucker by Newcastle. I think I added Brixton in the hope that they’d make a further change for the last few dates.
But, back to the personal, and what I didn’t know at the time was that this little thing called the “World Wide Web” was bubbling along in the background. Sure, I’d seen a few demonstrations of it at Uni in 94/95, but it was very much being touted as something for academics (I remember the lecturer being very excited by something called Super JANET). It was therefore a surprise to see details for the band’s official website on postcards being handed out at the first night of the tour in Plymouth (the old FSL.com address). After the show, Roger was going on about something called a “newsgroup” and how he’d originally posted the studio reports in the Tour Book there. So, a few days later (ok — looking at the gig list it must have been around two weeks!) a friend and I ventured into an Internet Cafe in Edinburgh… possibly called Hot Frog. I do remember that by coincidence I vaguely knew one of the staff, and the search engine was called Webcrawler. They showed us how to access the website, but also the newsgroup, Alt.Music.Deep-Purple (or AMDP)
I ventured back several times over the next few weeks, and even stood outside the Brixton gig with a number of fellow AMDPers and website editors (not that I knew anyone back then). I eventually splurged on a modem (top speed? 33.3k!) and became a regular on both AMDP and the associated IRC channel (an early chat page). The vibe I got from the six UK shows seemed to be resonating with others all over the World, and I was desperate to see the band again. I therefore hooked up with some fellow fans and did my first solo trip abroad to see the band in Zwolle, Netherlands. I think it was that trip I also met Dave H, one of the founding fathers of Purple’s internet fandom, and The Highway Star. The following summer, I did the Daytona Festival in Lahr, where I met several more AMDP regulars. By this time, I had also gotten to know Stephen (we would both go on to become Editors of THS for a bit) after we’d realised we drank in the same bar in Edinburgh. I finished off the year with the three Chicago shows, including Steve’s Wedding, and a bunch of North American fans. Those three shows brought my total for the tour to 11.
So… thirty years on, the band are still going strong. I suspect if _|_ (as we abbreviated it to on AMDP) and the tour had not been so well-received, the band may have fizzled out, at least for a while. Who knows? But as we know, the band came out fighting, and proving all the nay-sayers wrong. So yes – I do believe that it is the most important album the band have done, and it allowed them to continue.
As it is, we are now in 2026, anticipating another album of new music and another World Tour. Along the way, that little website I discovered became known as Rosa’s Cantina (complete with neon cactuses) before settling down as The Highway Star we know today.
But more importantly, I’m still in touch with so many friends that I first met on that, and subsequent, tours. We’ve grown up together. We’ve grown older together. We’ve had highs and lows. We’ve had families. We’ve lost friends, including sadly, Dave H himself. A group of us met up at the Berlin gig in 2024, and picked up from wherever it was we left off years earlier. Some us even had our own kids with us.
30 years…? It’s been the best 30 years of my life (yeah, ok – marriage, family and career helped too!) and it’s been an absolute pleasure. I look forward to seeing many of you down the road somewhere this year.
Doug MacBeath
Thanks to another editor emeritus Trond J. Strøm for the UK tour flyer.
You can take a peek at Rosa’s Cantina, sans the neon cactuses unfortunately, courtesy of our very dusty archives. The Wayback Machine has another copy of the Cantina from late 1996, which shortly afterwards became known as The Highway Star.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Oops – I spot a typo…. !
Sorry!
January 25th, 2026 at 22:29I was a lot younger man when Purpendicular came out-
January 26th, 2026 at 01:49I knew it would be something special having listened to and meeting Steve years before.
This album still stays in my Purple rotation regularly.
Ted, Sometimes I Feel like screaming, Rosa’s Cantina ,
all of it.
Who knew then we’d still be jamming to Deep Purple 30 years
later.
Thanks Deep Purple!
For the committed vinylistas among you, a fossil fuel double album release has been announced for February – in fetching matchstick head-red …
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/poprock/detail/-/art/deep-purple-purpendicular/hnum/12593912
January 26th, 2026 at 06:41And rather (un)helpfully, my teenage kid has just pointed out that when I was his age, 30 years early was classic Elvis. Now I DO feel old!
January 26th, 2026 at 09:17How about a gatefold colored vinyl reissue?
January 26th, 2026 at 09:28You are absolutely right, Doug.
January 26th, 2026 at 12:27These past 30 years have been wonderful. Steve Morse saved our dying band.
I thought it was over after S&M and TBROn…, but Purpendicular came along and proved me wrong.
Makes me happy.
Yes, “alt.music.deep-purple” when the Internet was very young. There was Trond, Svante, Rasmus, Nigel, Andreas, Harrie and more.
January 26th, 2026 at 12:58Even Roger (BAsec5) and Jon did post there from time to time.
Just too bad that one person could ruin a good group.
Yes, Purpendicular is a fine album.Seemed as tho’ the band was all fired up. Steve Morse encouraged and helped them to try new types of songs. I can’t imagine A Touch Away or The Aviator happening without him.
The album still sounds fresh and exciting,3 decades down the road
I saw Purple in concert for the first time on this tour. November 20th,1996 at The Warehouse in Toronto.
January 26th, 2026 at 13:31I really liked Purpendicular when it came out. I wouldn’t personally rank it with In Rock, Machine Head, MIJ, Burn or even Come Taste The Band (an excellent album though it failed to do what Purpendicular did, i.e. rejuvenate the band because Tommy was unlike Steve no one you could rely on), but that is because by 1996 DP we’re no longer a sociological relevant band in sync with the times – the first half of the 70s, their golden era, had long gone. [By 1996, any mention of DP to people not devoted to the band would be met with a quizzical “(i)Gibt’s die denn überhaupt noch?!” (Do they even still exist?!). 🤣 ]
If truth be told, I was filled with a bit of trepidation how the album might turn out though the new songs pre-played in Mexico, South Korea and India sounded at least promising. But I had seen Steve Morse with the original SMG in the mid-80s in a small German venue because a Dixie fan (and ironically a Purple hater! 😂) had, uhum, dregged me there (and also at a music fair in Frankfurt) and Steve‘s “guitar clinic music” though technically impressive had left me largely cold. That said, I had by 1993 arrived at the conclusion that Blackmore and Ian G could no longer be in the same band together, they had become this once interesting warring couple you think twice about inviting to a dinner with other people because depending on their moods they could be brilliantly entertaining or awful for anybody else present there. I had also seen Purple with Satriani and while they battled manfully at that gig in Kassel, it wasn’t the same for me without Blackmore.
But then Purpendicular came out and I was immediately taken by it. The band sounded liberated from the chains of Ritchie’s personal preferences and idiosyncrasies, the album burst with new ideas. You could also hear that IG had now ultimate control (never to let it go again) – as vocal lines go, Purpendicular is at times as outlandish as IGB’s Clear Air Turbulence or Sabbath’s Born Again (two albums I rate among Ian’s extracurricular best).
Why does no one ask Steve to supervise and maybe co-produce (his hearing!) a 30th anniversary stereo remix of it? Certainly, the masters of that album must still exist.
Did I believe that Purpendicular would be the starting point of another three-decade-run of Purple? Not really though I had a hunch that Steve would play a longer game.
The gig I saw in Hanau was brilliant with indeed seven songs from the new album immaculately executed, Steve at the jaw-dropping peak of his powers, IG beaming with satisfaction and pride and Roger, Paicey and Jon reinvigorated.
January 26th, 2026 at 13:57janbl wrote:
> Just too bad that one person could ruin a good group.
Yes, we got an early warning about what the net would turn into there. 🙂 Mostly good times, though.
January 26th, 2026 at 14:53I remember very clear how proud I was. At least a cover you could show some friends with a more sophisticated taste. Most DP covers (let’s not even start talking about the spin offs!) had been just downright embarrassing. Now here was a nice artwork – and the music to match! Interesting songs, different approaches, good lyrics, hell, even special sonh titles. I loved it!
January 26th, 2026 at 15:14And… Ulm…first show with SM I attended. Man, fid they groove! Plus different set list! Smiles al over stage. F a n t a s t i c.
Down in the restroom.a guy beside my his buddy ‘see, what did I tell ya that Blackmore is good! Wonder why he fyed his hair though….’
Hi Doug,
Thanks for writing this. It certainly brings back some memories of that time. I was a lot more involved in following news at that time and a regular on AMDP (and trying to help keeping the discography on this site complete before Wikipedia took over). Some memories have faded but I think it was also Dave I met up with at the Concerto Shows in 1999 and while having a walk before the show we bumped into Jon Lord in the streets nearby. It was a great community.
For me there was one more important step on the road to _|_ that was the DP Convention in Sheffield in June 1995, where we were treated with first snippets of Steve playing in the band (and receiving the Dick Pimple CD!) which certainly made us curious to hear more. Then the album came out and indeed no disappointment for me. It became one of my favourite 3 (studio) albums of the guys.
Cheers,
January 26th, 2026 at 18:45Uwe
I never heard before Turtle Island Shuffle!! An improvised jam on a blues track is unparalleled. Fantastic. Reminds me of Place in the Line… 30 years ago 😔
January 26th, 2026 at 19:33You can feel Jon Lord’s hand here, I like Don but Jon Is The Lord. Rip Jon ♥︎
Remember the start of THS and the release of Purpendicular with much fondness. Loved P from the start and it did well in Sweden, charting at # 3. Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow toured in Sweden a couple of time at that time too. I saw both Satriani (Gothenburg) and several Morse shows in Sweden, Norway and Germany.
January 26th, 2026 at 19:44I remember buying it on a Holy Saturday at Tianguis cultural del Chopo, in Mexico City. The same day, a radio station called Rock 101 played the whole album. Some months later I got the American edition with the bonus track “Don’t hold your breath”.
Great album, great songs. I think Somebody stole my guitar must have been a single.
January 26th, 2026 at 20:17My ticket to the world of Deep Purple – March 30th 1996 in Hanau – “Purple Rose of Hanau”. After the show, listening to the Purpendicular CD, joining the Aviator fanclub, meeting all the hardcore fans at the “Aviator days”, then later joining the team running the Aviator website, interviews with Roger, meeting both Ians, Don and Steve – all these memories, all those good times are closely linked to this very album which started it all and changed my life. It will forever be one of my favorites.
January 26th, 2026 at 20:28What a great album. I don’t think Purple dared to go in so many directions like this album does before or after. Fresh and beautiful. the soundtrack of my youth. Alas A BAND ON was kind of let down trying for more “moodier” sound
January 26th, 2026 at 20:53Great article. I too rank Purpendicular in and among my top 5 DP albums, possibly even 3rd. Despite being a previous Steve Morse fan, the new music was a revelation. The shot in the arm was amazing. I was at the 1995 DPAS convention and was blown away with the jam as it boomed across the room. You could see the smiles everywhere. The next thing i heard was the video to ‘Screaming’ and to say i was stunned… what a hook. Still one of my all time favourite songs. I went to the Aberdeen and Glasgow gigs which ROCKED. Doug I believe you were at the stage entrance door to the Aberdeen Capitol during the afternoon. The Barrowlands show – i was right in front of Ian in his slacks and t shirt. I will never forget Steve’s brief snatch of ‘Amazing Grace’… March 1996, oh to live that month again.
January 26th, 2026 at 21:02Those thirty years have passed too quickly…….I do remember the website from those days, a computer and the internet being a new thing and all….I also remember the name change a little later on too. Regarding the album, yes it was their most refreshing and creative from the post Ritchie days. That was almost to be expected though, even though I thought at the time ‘what is this going to sound like’ with Morse being more instrumentalist in his own music. I was still well aware though of the two Kansas albums that Morse could work very well with a vocalist and a few others in co-writing a few good songs etc. Jon Lord still being there was and also still is the key to that era of Purple. The fact the band backed up their new material so extensively on tour said a lot too. Also with the Abandon release that also happened. Not sure why things altered into a reverse mode after Jon’ departure. If your songs are good enough, or you believe in them, they should be performed live in concert. Anyway as Purpendicular still stands the test of time and Steve still lauds it as his favourite and rightfully so, enough said there eh?@ 9- “I had also seen Purple with Satriani and while they battled manfully at that gig in Kassel, it wasn’t the same for me without Blackmore.” Well folks, there it is, after all these years we finally see the light. Uwe Hornung labelling many here as Blackmore worshippers or worse, he he he, over the ensuing years and then that comment lands like the proverbial bombshell!. Oh dear oh dear. From all those years ago with Rainbow 1976(7) to 1993(4) and Uwe was still craving Ritchie. Get the popcorn out folks………we are in for a long ride……….again…….Cheers.
January 26th, 2026 at 21:19Trond wrote:
Yes, we got an early warning about what the net would turn into there. 🙂 Mostly good times, though.
To be fair, there was more than one. Yes – he waa the biggest troll, but I could name 2 or 3 others.
But everyone – please keep the memories coming. I’m loving reading them.
January 26th, 2026 at 22:2130 years ago, good times… I remember waiting in my local record shop (which no longer exists) and buying Purplendicular on the first day it came out… a few months later I was leaving for the military and it was one of the CDs I took with me…
The shock of the CD cover, the excitement when I turned on the CD player, the very strange riff by Ted the mechanic… so much creativity and so much risk between odd tempos and atypical songs for Purple…
obviously the most listened to initially were Cascades and Somebody Stole which united Morse’s present with the past of the other 4, but also Sometimes and LMS, two gems, and then the semi-acoustic double Aviator-A touch away….
the other songs are all over the top for something particular, a strange riff, an odd tempo, a particular rhythm, a dissonant melody, all things possible thanks to the arrival of Steve Morse and that genius of Lord.
for me Abandon is a cut above, but Purplendicular is still on the podium of the best albums with Morse.
January 26th, 2026 at 22:37I remember this well …can’t believe it was 30 years ago !…I remember being blown away by Soon Forgotten…and going to the Plymouth gig …meeting Steve..and saying..” Hi Steve ..somebody stole your guitar !” ..I think he was pleased I recognised him …and said in a rather coy manner ” Enjoy the show ”
January 26th, 2026 at 23:50I also went to the Bournemouth show and remember a really great , rocking No one Came ( pretty sure they did Rat Bat Blue too ….great memories…brilliant album
I discovered the MIJ -and the band- in 1984, few time before the reunion and the PS. Kept following them through the mighty heavy’s 80’s, going back and forth in time, learning all the purple universe, placing them among all the other great monsters, old and new. The release of Purpendicular is frozen in time for me. The joy, the pleasure of listening to the band at a complete new level and the hope that there was indeed life after Blackmore. Never could have expected that they would still be going on thirty years later. It’s quite unbelievable.
January 27th, 2026 at 00:34My first DP concert was in 1998 in Barcelona, Abandon tour, amazing. Been more and more a die-hard fan as years go by and I get older and older outside, but inside, I’ll ever be the guy I was when I listened to the MIJ for the first time and then, in a week or a month, the PS. I couldn’t think of any relevant point -high or low- in my life whithout DP around.
From the bottom of my heart thank you very much!
Happy birthday Purpendicular, you have matured fine!
January 27th, 2026 at 07:27Personal opinion, I rank it as my favourite post reunion album (close to but slightly above Perfect Strangers) and in the top-5 of favourite DP albums.
Unnecessarily gloating Herr MacGregor @18: What possessed you to think that Ritchie is not my favorite guitarist? I adored the man at the height of his powers and creativity, but I do not shun away from calling him out when he is punching below his weight.
If something is dear to me, I also criticize it, never had issues with that concept. Ritchie‘s dark drama will always have an appeal for me, hey, I’m Yuropean! That said, he can also be a complete jerk. Ying + yang.
Ritchie was the spice of DP, yet by the same token he never found a dish that he could complement better with his aroma than DP. But by 1993 the recipe was dead. The Steve and Simon eras that followed were different flavors of their own. I still faithfully go to the DP restaurant to eat, but I‘m not expecting the 1970-75 menu, they have new cooks and that‘s alright.
January 27th, 2026 at 07:48I remember when it came out, Couldn’t stop playing it!! Neither could the folks who used to “Borrow it” when I wasn’t looking LOL. I’d easily place this album up there with anything MK II did in the 1970’s.
January 27th, 2026 at 08:20A shaky video from my 1st Deep Purple show… Toronto,1996
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ1BzOzrHt8
January 27th, 2026 at 12:31I like Purpendicular.
January 27th, 2026 at 13:19Those lucky enough to attend the first DPAS Convention in 1995 also got to hear an exclusive studio jam – the Turtle Island Shuffle. I remember it well. 4 hour train ride from Bristol and worth it! I still have my copy of the Turtle Island Shuffle – any offers?
January 27th, 2026 at 13:28Another in a series of albums that had to change the future of DP willy-nilly. Morse stepped in, revitalizing the band’s sound completely. The atmosphere in the band had a positive impact. Purpendicular was probably the most diverse album of their career. My best moments
Ted the Mechanic – The opening song is a real rocker, Steve like Eddie van Halen great guitar groove, solo, Roger’s bass so strong “Too many rules and regulations are decided by fools behind closed doors”..good lyrics
January 27th, 2026 at 14:00Loosen My Strings – It’s not a hard rock song so it’s forgotten, but the pearl after Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming is the best on the album Steve and Roger are fantastic, excellent melody
Soon Forgotten- Lord’s growling organ sound is fantastic. Great exchange of the same notes between keyboards, guitar and bass. The song reminds me of the song Out Of My Mind that Ian and Jon recorded with Tony Iommi.
Cascades: I’m Not Your Lover -Lord has completely taken control. A bit of Highway Star here. I don’t know why Gillan sings “NOTCHO lover” instead of “NOT YOUR lover.” I’m not familiar enough with the English language and customs. In the concert performance of this song (Live At The Olympia ’96) which is twice as long, Steve Morse is presented in an insane guitar heavy metal version, the last three minutes of the song are fantastic, DP has a monster of a guitarist again
The Aviator-This song proves that Deep Purple is much more versatile than most people think. Ian’s vocals are as smooth as Ian Anderson, country rock, which is not typical for Deep Purple. I think Ritchie likes it for BN
Rosa’s Cantina -Groovy, mix funky -blues -jazz, So damn good. Roger Glover first name of the song
A Touch Away-Jon’s keyboards really give the song that “purple” touch. Ian makes sexual suggestions
Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming – The best-DP classic from the inner circle One of the most beautiful guitar solos of all time the guitar is tingling, Jon’s piano accompaniment, singing…phenomenal
and the tour that followed promoting the album Purpendicular revealed some sublime songs that were not previously on the setlist Pictures of Home, No One Came, When a Blind Man Cries, Fireball, Into the Fire, Maybe I’m a Leo.
If the album “Machine Head” -“ , In Rock” are masterpieces in the band’s history, untouchable
Purpendicular is a class below..an excellent album in the company of “Burn”, “Fireball”, “Perfect Strangers”, “The Book of Taliesyn”,=1 , Infinite, Stormbringer, Shades Of Deep Purple
Easy my top five Deep Purple album:
In Rock
January 27th, 2026 at 14:14Machine Head
Burn
Perfect Strangers
Purpendicular
Purpendicular is always in my Top 5 Deep Purple albums, after (ascending to the 1st) Fireball, Machine Head, Burn, and In Rock.
Perfect Strangers and Come Taste the Band follow after.
Is there any bad song on it? I admit I still did not get Purpendicular Waltz, but it is certainly not a bad song
January 27th, 2026 at 16:08Totally lost interest after S&M. Went abroad, blissfully unaware of TBRO … but later found a CD in the bargain basement of a shop in Hamilton, Bermuda, about 1999. What’s this? A Deep Purple album with 4 of the Mk2 but no Blackers? Is that the guy who did the Friday rock show theme? Worth a punt at 3 dollars. Take home. WOW! Totally found interest again, never looked back.
January 27th, 2026 at 16:29Often I expressed my Blackmore die hard thoughts vs the Morse era.
Regularly tried to balance it and in the end saw 10 shows, ending in 2006.
PURPENDICULAR I by chance bought as a 2nd hand Japanese pressing on CD .
Saw them in Rotterdam and think I skipped the Zwolle show.
IMHO the band really fired unlike in the 80 s during TBRO tour and wish I had been able to see more than 3 shows.
My blurry brain for decades remembered visiting the inter room of the soon to be closed VIRGIN in Rotterdam.
Recalling the front of THS had a TBRO tour live group pic.
So, I always thought THS was already around at that time.
I bought THE TURTLE SHUFFLE but forgot from which source.
To me it was it was a funny jam with very bad vocals und totally not on par with SON OF ALERIK, which I think was fair to compair it with.
I had times I pulled out PURPENDICULAR and some other Morse era cds but live I often checked out fast………
What Hughes OTT screaming et all did/does for many, incl me, was done by Morse sound and soli.
It sounds pathetic but if I m depressed et all Steve gives me anxiety but Ritchie lifts my mood.
Cheers
January 27th, 2026 at 21:59I remember when I first purchased the CD, I was living in a remote corner of New England and didn’t even know a new album was forthcomming, I just saw it at CD store. I knew Satch had recently toured with them, but had no information if he stayed or went. I rushed to open the CD to see who was playing with them. I remember when I found out it was Steve Morse, I was shocked and did a fist pump. My niece was with me, she was 15 years younger than me and couldn’t figure out why it was such a big deal. At the time, she was big into Green Day and Nirvana. We spoke different languages. I wore that disc out.
January 27th, 2026 at 22:05@31
Studio albums:
1. Machine Head
January 28th, 2026 at 03:162. Burn
3. Purpendicular
4. Now What
5. Shades
I don’t remember where I bought Purpendicular, I just remember being horrified by the coverart.
January 28th, 2026 at 05:45It’s an album I’ve appreciated over time, not at first. My favourite songs is
The Purpendicular Waltz
🍷
@ 35 – interesting comments regarding the 90’s American bands and their influence on the younger generation at that time. I hear you there, I heard a lot of that music through mid to late teens cranking it all the time. I wonder if they still hold their once favourite music as still the best etc. Or has time diminished their passion for it as many of us hold on for dear life to our favourites from over fifty years ago and counting. Dinosaur rock it was called back then, still is of course. Are the 90’s bands about to enter the ‘dinosaur rock’ category? Those teens were surprised when they heard me cranking Living Colour back then. “Oh, you do listen to modern rock music then’ was one cynical and sarcastic response. They were not that impressed with Deep Purple and Black Sabbath etc. Have to laugh as we do all have our favourites, from any era. Cheers.
January 28th, 2026 at 06:07In my book, Purpendicular is DP’s Abbey Road.
January 28th, 2026 at 08:45Here’s my review of the album from back then, if anyone wants to revisit: https://www.thehighwaystar.com/reviews/purptjs.htm
January 28th, 2026 at 09:27“It sounds pathetic but if I m depressed et all Steve gives me anxiety but Ritchie lifts my mood.”
Naw, not pathetic at all, just an indication that you latch on better to Ritchie than to Steve, many people do (and vice versa).
With the departure of Ritchie, Purple no doubt lost somber darkness and moodiness (Burn is a darker album than Come Taste The Band or Purpendicular, Ritchie was the Gothmeister within Purple). Steve gave the band positivity, I find Purpendicular an extremely uplifting album from DP, probably their most uplifting one ever (though Bananas for all its flaws came across as very spirited too). It has to do with how Steve writes, the fact that he is an American raised in the South, his openess to major keys (something Ritchie only really started to open up to in Blackmore’s Night because the Western folk music origins that feed much of BN’s material depend mostly on major keys) whereas Ritchie, when in Purple, tended to always orbit around those darkish Eastern scales. But it’s not just the musical ingredients, it is also the different outlooks Ritchie and Steve have on life: Steve finds even in despair a glimmer of sunlight. Just imagine in an alternative universe, if Candice had been Janine and Ritchie would have lost her, how that would have impacted on him, I don’t think we would have heard new music from Ritchie; like Puff the Magic Dragon he would have retreated in his cave and sealed himself off forever.
That elegiac darkness Ritchie brought to Purple, yeah, I can appreciate that too, but it’s not something I would have expected to continue after he left the band. It didn’t continue with Tommy either and Steve’s positivity made Purple altogether a happier place both inside and to the outside world. And happiness isn’t a bad thing per se, you know. 🥸
But in a bout of depression, I can understand how one might feel more affinity to and supported by how Ritchie played with Purple, the moody old bastard.
January 28th, 2026 at 10:01@41 Uwe
January 28th, 2026 at 11:52I think the saddest albums with a sad, dark mood are the last three with Steve Morse, but especially the last two. I can’t listen to them anymore for this very reason. I also stopped listening to doom metal, at my age (58) I need more cheerfulness and lightheartedness: blues and rock n roll.🤣 🍷
@ 36 Shades? Now What? nah I like my ranking better; you could have thrown Perfect Strangers in there instead of Now What or Shades cmon
January 28th, 2026 at 13:13Whoosh! sounds in hindsight somber and like a parting, AndreA, but I wouldn’t call it dark, more bittersweet.
I’ve always had a melancholic (not depressive) strain in me, so melancholic music doesn’t bother me whereas music that is too upbeat tires me out after a while, I like the Beach Boys, but I couldn’t listen to them for hours on end …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT7QQ9Q_f_E
That said, I’m now gonna be humming the bloody Kokomo melody for the rest of the day! 😂
January 28th, 2026 at 14:24Great review, Doug MacBeath. Thank you for taking the time to write it, and for sharing the photos of the stubs, album booklet, backstage passes, etc. It is hard to believe that it has indeed been 30 years since Purpendicular was released.
January 28th, 2026 at 15:12As I have written on these sacred pages in the past, I moved to the States for school in the mid-90s and, between then grunge’s meteoric ascend and the somewhat lack of Deep Purple awareness (especially compared to Led Zeppelin) amongst my school mates, I found myself listening less and less to the band that I had grown up with and had come to adore. In fact, perhaps in an unconscious effort to wipe the slate clean, I had probably gone close to a year without regularly listening to Purple, which was very unusual. Then, one day in 1996, as fate would have it, I stumbled upon an unfamiliar album at a record store in Tucson, AZ. The album in question was Purpendicular. I bought it on instinct. I remember getting home that day and playing it reluctantly, pretty much expecting to find myself back in familiar territory. Boy, was I wrong?!?
Purpendicular simply kicked my butt – start to finish. Rather than sounding like the work of an old band, who had been there and done that, it came across as fresh, fun, and exciting. It sounded like music from a relatively new band. A band that was on fire, full of new ideas, and eager to tell its story. One can liken it to a wild animal that, after spending time in brutal captivity, had finally escaped and was now running free in exuberant excitement and with a strong determination to never, ever go back inside the cage.
As luck would have it, a couple of years later, I attended my very first Deep Purple show. It was February of 1998, and Purple played at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, AZ, which has a capacity of 2,650. Miraculously, I had obtained a backstage pass and met Roger and Steve. We chatted for a while, and they both came across as genuine and real salt of the earth. Fortunately, I have met the band numerous times since then, but the February of 1998 encounter remains unforgettable.
Janine (R.I.P) came backstage with one of her friends and greeted us. She was polite and had a disarming personality, putting at total ease what was then a young student that was still full of adrenaline from the just finished show. Janine mentioned that she had noticed my enthusiasm during the performance and expressed appreciation for my energetic support for the band. I guess my animated demeanor during the show was hard to miss LOL. Perhaps, Janine’s witnessing of fan support had served as some kind of confirmation to her that Steve had indeed done the right thing by joining Deep Purple. To my dismay, I have read reports of some fans not being supportive of Steve, especially during some of the shows from the early years.
Back to Purpendicular. Thirty years later, I still find the album as fresh, exciting, and untamed as I did when I accidentally stumbled upon it that fateful day at an obscure record store in Tucson, AZ. Purpendicular brought me back firmly to the Purple universe with a much-renewed loyalty, appreciation, and vigor. Blackmore is in a league of his own and has left un untouchable legacy, but I am eternally grateful that Steve joined Purple at one of the most vulnerable moments in the band’s history. It could have easily gone the other way, especially given the different styles between Steve and what remained of Purple. Luckily, whatever they did worked to great effect.
The four remaining Purples and Steve were not deterred by the differences in their styles. Quite the opposite. They had the foresight, courage, and artistic abilities to take smart risk and blend their different styles in such a clever way that the reward was the forging by the five of them of something original, unique, and special. Together, they picked up the scattered pieces and – patiently, cleverly, and devotedly – put things back together, fixing, refitting, and rearranging, and in the process constructed Purpendicular, an unexpected, rare gem. The album was more than a statement by the new mark. It was a bold argument that it was not time yet for the story of the mighty Purple to be filed away and forever covered by dust in the bins of history. Purpendicular, moreover, is not simply the beginning of a new era; it is indeed the rock-solid foundation on which Purple has so skillfully been building upon for the last thirty years.
Thank you again, Doug MacBeath, for your awesome review and for bringing back so many great memories.
@Ðoug MacBeath: How on earth did that SWF3-Moose get into your collection?! That “Elch” was an illustration of mine for the german radio station SWR3 at the time. Now there’s finally a connection between my work and Deep Purple! Hurray, I praise you 🙂
January 28th, 2026 at 16:18@ Uwe
I never ever experienced Ritchie s sound/songs as dark et all.
“like Puff the Magic Dragon he would have retreated in his cave and sealed himself off forever.”
You might be right.
It also adresses the sensitivity in the man who is often called a nasty bully, an asshole….
I never met the man, also scaredwhat he d do hearing the bad stories, and me being the sensitive kind.
That being said Gillan was one of my heroes but more than once behaved very rude to me.
Which opposed the other moments in which he remained calm, composed,asking me,maybe thinking I d sell it for nig bucks on the Net?,I was one of these nutters bringing too many of my collectibles to let him sign….
I love the ones I have and ll not sell.
But they re imcomplete because I never got Ritchie to sign anything.
Its weird, he is one that for 50 years changed my life forever, and still moves me deeply when I listen to the older stuff.
I rarely enjoy Blackmore s Night.
It had its moments and though she looks great and sings well, its all too sugery and happy(…)for me.
I do have a broad taste, for example I thoroughly enjoy Dio s “improvisational” renditions of old 50 s/60 s stuff ….
Yeah, melancholy or whatever people call it and too often related to darkness isnt negativity for me.
I m nostalgic et all
Yes, the could play very heavy and rough but it was pure and real, not polished.
His words on what should belong on IN ROCK and what not said a lot.
Dramatic, exitement, etc…
And always different, I LOVE IT.
January 28th, 2026 at 16:24Deep-purple.alt
You mean that guy who talked about the CalJam to ad-nausem levels? haha. forgot about him, The wereo broadcast – or some dumb shit he used to say regarding his recording. Scott with an L was his last name. What a douchebag!
January 28th, 2026 at 20:23I have always remained sceptical as to certain peoples notion that Steve Morse ‘saved’ DP. Those four Purple guys offered the gig to Satriani. It could have been anyone that ‘saved’ them, they would have come across another guitarist if Steve had not joined and they would have still had a blast etc in writing, playing, recording and touring together. I was more glad for Morse at the time as he was getting a ‘break’ of sorts, decent recognition and a chance to tread the world stage a lot more, plus he could relax and enjoy the atmosphere. Let’s face it, the Purple guys were already treading a well worn path. It happens with many bands when a new key member arrives. That new excitement, energy, ideas etc etc. It isn’t rocket science, as that well over used expression goes. Morse had that ‘European’ influence in certain aspects, enough to connect with the British lads at times. Especially in the early days when Jon Lord was still there. It is only rock ‘n roll as Keef often says. The first album from any artist is nearly always the most creative and exciting when that ‘new’ found magic is stumbled upon. Then the ‘baggage’ of other things begins to ‘get in the way’ as time moves by. Human nature eh? Cheers.
January 28th, 2026 at 20:31Have to agree with our esteemed Ritchie acolyte Uwe Hornung. Ritchie’s hat and that ‘dark side’ has something about it. That ole European medieval call it what you want. However as we are all aware, nothing lasts forever in this world and more than likely in any other world. Ritchie attained his zeitgeist with the Dio era Rainbow in that aspect. Nice and broody and Eastern at times and darker than Purple too. Have to love that old European thing in art don’t we, well some of us at least. Now where is my Robin Hood outfit? Oh sorry, that was the other broody guy, I forget his name at the moment. Cheers.
January 28th, 2026 at 21:58MacGregor I agree and am.glad you put that straight. Never bought that SM-saved-DP-story either. They could have gotten a mot of axemen I think and any of them would brought something to the table.
When it comes to RB I feel he was top of his game within the DP framework of strong musicians and characters to put his dark and moody influences in a context of different styles. The mix of his style with IG’s wit and anarchy or JL’s R&B roots and clasdical approach, DC’s Blues or GH’s Soul, IP’s swing – that made DP so special. Ritchie on his own never reached that class again imho
January 29th, 2026 at 09:19Purpendicular was the second to last DP album I bought discovering the back catalogue. Took me a few weeks to actually get to the second half of the album, because I was so amazed by the first 4 songs that I kept listening to them on repeat. So much stuff going on there that my brain wasn’t ready to process the whole album at once. Loosen My Strings remains of the most moving DP songs to me.
January 29th, 2026 at 10:05@3 Good news! Ignoring it’s title, I’ll very well hold my breath for that japanese bonus track, which is one of the few Purple songs I never heard (purposely so)
January 29th, 2026 at 11:40Perpendicular and Come Taste the Band might be my two favourite Deep Purple albums… this week, anyway.
January 29th, 2026 at 12:33@41 Uwe
> whereas Ritchie, when in Purple, tended to always orbit around those darkish Eastern scales.
Did he really do that in his first tenure in Deep Purple though? The only song that comes to mind using some eastern scale (phrygian) is Madrake Root in the solo. Of course there is the usage of this part live in Space Truckin’ and also their cover of Paint it Black. I wonder right now if there is something more I miss.
Of course in Rainbow he did start using such parts a lot and this continued in the Deep Purple reunion.
January 29th, 2026 at 12:45When I first heard of a guitar player named Steve Morse I said to my self….wait and listen, then Purpendicular was released and what a breath of fresh air that was, a year or two later I found a live recording called “live at the Olympia “ and it was just awesome, with the band playing at the top of their powers again, Steve Morse put in the time,the travel and the music to take Deep Purple to were they are now
January 29th, 2026 at 13:26@50 Let’s not forget that the other broody guy is officially the most depressive lyricist in history:
https://www.mylondon.news/news/local-news/most-miserable-songwriter-goes-chiswick-born-8029907
Interesting also, that unlike most here, I think Purpendicular may sound quite sad. It has bright songs, it has dark songs, but on the balance it is some 60/40 on the sad side.
That’s okay, though. That’s the way this world is. Recently I’ve been revising Bach’s violin sonatas and partitas. The first two sonatas are in the minor key and the final third one is in major. Same things with the three partitas. Even the famous ciaccona is on the minor side. That’s how life goes. You walk down the sad lonely road 2/3 of the time and then you get some relief. If you are lucky, that is.
January 29th, 2026 at 13:39Over time, the overt narrowness of Ritchie’s likes (and the wide range of his dislikes! 😂) became an issue for DP – as much as he was initially the center of creativity in the band, he also stifled a lot of creativity by others in his later years (“I’m not playing this, I’m not playing that.”). It wasn’t only his fault, Purple had a hard rock image to live up to.
I sometimes fantasize about a never recorded “White Album” by DP were Blackmore ideas like MOTSM and Catch the Rainbow would have stood side by side with Gillan’s (and Glover’s) Clouds & Rain and Via Miami and Jon’s Pictured Within (the song). The Church of Deep Purple in cathedral size, encompassing many styles and genres, their Physical Graffiti if you will. I think Ritchie is the chief reason something like that never came about.
I’m no Queen fan, but one thing I have always admired about them was their absolute fearlessness in approaching a multitude of genres, neither being worried about, nor ever losing their identity.
January 29th, 2026 at 15:24There was a joie de vivre in the often spontaneous and/or anarchic approach of the Blacker’s DP. From 30 minute Mandrake Root’s to Hall Of The Mountain King spontaneously combusting in 1993. The sheer joy of making an unholy racket has been lost as the band has aged. It hasn’t dampened my love of the band but’s under SM it was a more cerebral approach. Personally I want to forget my age when listening and relive my, albeit, distance youth.
January 29th, 2026 at 15:28Manic Miner, you have a point, “Ritchie goes Eastern” was a journey that took some years. But even on Book of Taliesyn on tracks like Anthem you can hear Ritchie developing into that direction. It became more distinct with Mk II (Pictures of Home) and very much dominant with Mk III. With Dio era Rainbow it finally turned into something like the bands unique selling point, to a degree that Ritchie painted himself into a commercial corner (songs like Tarot Woman, Stargazer and Gates of Babylon are great songs, but hardly radio material) and then felt compelled to execute a commercial about-face with the Bonnet- and even more so the Turner-era.
And in his quest to turn Rainbow into an AOR success, I often felt that his Eastern-flavored playing actually sometimes grated with what later Rainbow set out to do: If you want to compete with Foreigner, then being a Mick Jones and playing very accessible and even mundane guitar solos (or even no guitar solos at all) benefits the cause more than Ritchie’s sometimes outlandish solos which seemed strangely at odds with AOR fodder like I Surrender, Stone Cold or Street of Dreams. It’s kind of ironic that Ritchie who wanted to go AOR with his band and structured it accordingly was in a way the least equipped/willing of all musicians in the later Rainbow line-ups to really commit all the way to AOR – he wanted it both ways and I don’t think that really worked (whereas his Eastern-tinged playing was a perfect fit with Dio in early Rainbow).
January 29th, 2026 at 17:49@59
January 29th, 2026 at 18:16Yes, good post!! 🍷
@ 58 – The guys in Deep Purple need each other, Queen had individual songwriters in the band, a big difference to a co-songwriting scene Uwe. And the vocals come into it big time, not just one singer, excepting MKIII of course. Cheers.
January 29th, 2026 at 20:02Blackmore needed to let off steam with Rainbow after DP. That is why Rising and LLR&R are harder albums. Same thing with Ian Gillan after the IGB, they both need their outlet after a little while. Different people (in some ways), different moods (sometimes) etc etc. Of course the 1984 reunion was never going to last, a similar thing happened again, it was rather predictable wasn’t it? Anyway old hindsight eh? Who would have thought that another banjo player would replace Steve Morse. Well as we know in this life, anything can happen unfortunately, at any time. In regard to Ian Gillan, I have always thought ‘how long will this last’ He has the same attitude as Ritchie in so many ways. How long has Gillan been ‘chomping at the bit’ in DP, frustrated at times etc. Alpha males eh? Can’t live with them, can live without them. Cheers.
January 29th, 2026 at 20:21@56 Noe, Live at the Olympia indeed deserves praise! Never understood why it’s so rare, noone seems to appreciate this gem.
@57 Georgivs, I never felt Purpendicular was a very let-the-good-times-roll album either. It’s a fantastic piece of work but not too sunny.
And before Uwe comes in blaming me…. Tillythemax could of course have a listen to Don’t hold yourbreath before!
January 29th, 2026 at 21:16But he tends to save best for last sometimes. As I do.
#60: Some of Ritchie’s most focused solos can be found on the JLT era albums, Uwe?
January 30th, 2026 at 02:06#8, We met up at Toronto’s hard rock for the concert at Massey Hall. Great get together!
January 30th, 2026 at 02:56Agree re the JLT era Rainbow and Ritchie’s solo’s were sublime on so many songs. That is one of the main reasons I followed that era of Rainbow. There are a few good songs here and there too of course. Plus those wonderful instrumentals on the first and third albums. I really enjoy quite a few newer songs on the Stranger In Us All album too. That cracking cover of Still I’m Sad, a phenomenal version that is. Plus an ode to Edvard Grieg with Hall of the Mountain King. What’s not to like. Well maybe a few too glitzy AOR attempts on the second and third JLT albums, and couple of throw away standard rockers, but most bands if not all of them end up doing that too.. Overall Ritchie rules again with the class. All hail Ritchie! Sir Ritchie perhaps, hmmmmmmm that sounds rather good to my ears. Cheers
January 30th, 2026 at 08:54@60
Uwe the “Ritchie goes Eastern” case for Pictures of Home and, especially, its dominance in MK3 evade me. Maybe a tiny bit in Strormbringer solo one more tiny in A200 and that’s all I can spot to be honest…
Anyway, another note on the “Eastern” part of Deep Purple: The main/chorus riff in Perfect Strangers I suppose sounds Eastern to most people due to the scale. But, more interesting to me is the time signature. It is one measure of 4/4 and next on 5/4, which could be considered also as one of 9/4.
This is a very common time signature in Greek folk songs (and maybe some Turkish?), as an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRStMntTP-c
And in the case of perfect stranger the division is the same. I mean, I have heard Western music using 9/4 or 9/8 (even if it is more rare than 7/8 or 5/8). Prominent example is Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo à la Turk” (which was inspired by Turkish music), but there you get a more common 2+2+2+3 that becomes at some points 3+3+3. This 4+5 I have not heard anywhere else I think. I wonder if it was Ritchie’s instinct on the work or some more deliberate touch (probably by Jon Lord).
January 30th, 2026 at 12:03#66- Jog my memory….What’s your name ??
January 30th, 2026 at 13:08Despite them being my favorite band, despite building an entire record collection that I could trace back to my Uncle’s late ’70s gift of his copy of In Rock and Purple’s many influences, by the mid-90s I had lost touch. I knew nothing of Blackmore’s departure, or of Joe Satriani’s deputisation. So, when browsing CDs in a small record store in Antrim’s Castle Centre. I assumed the relatively plain purple cover I discovered was another compilation of Deep Purple ‘hits’. Of course, none of the song titles were in any way familiar and, on unfolding the insert, I was astounded to find that Steve Morse, Dixie Dregs and Guitar Player award- winner, was playing guitar in Ritchie’s place. What? (I recall later telling Victor McCullough, brother of Henry, whom I was helping record some demos, and he said “But Morse is a Jazz-head… ‘ )
January 30th, 2026 at 14:23The music is not jazz of course, but it is a band completely revitalised. Morse’s playing is excellent but everyone is playing at a level above anything since the mid-80s at least); Jon Lord in particular is playing with a fire that I hadn’t heard for years. I love this album and would argue that it was just as, if not more, important in Purple’s history as Perfect Strangers. I recently purchased the album again, this time on vinyl. I can’t believe it has been 30 years. It still sounds fresh. Purpendicular can stand with In Rock, Machine Head, Burn, Perfect Strangers – It is not out of place in this company.
1. Manic Miner, the Eastern scales crept into Ritchie’s playing more and more over the years, to a point where it almost became a mannerism. Sail Away and Mistreated are full of Eastern scale notes too. It is similar to his penchant for stops and starts in his soloing, that too became more dominant over time – to a degree that I found it sometimes distracting in the 80s, he sacrificed natural fluidity for going against the grain on purpose sometimes. Listen to how he played on MiJ and then compare it to his playing on Nobody’s Perfect.
2. Strange meters in Greek folk music you say? Germans know all about that since Udo Jürgens’ perennial Schlagerhit “Griechischer Wein” from 1975, catch the strange meter in the verse! 🤣
https://youtu.be/Rcv1U71wLIM
It has become a standard/classic …
https://youtu.be/lU2uKnFIhRY
The lyrics actually go deeper than your usual Schlage fare, it is a song about Greek migrant workers in Germany in the 70s who hang out in their own bar night for night listening to Hreek folk music and reminiscing slightly melancholically about the country and the dear ones they left behind to support their families from Germany. The protagonist is lured by the “exotic yet beautiful music” coming from the bar into the street and enters it to be treated to some legendary Greek hospitality and weltschmerz.
3. Re Perfect Strangers, listen here at o2:25
https://youtu.be/0-eUb60ZVJo ,
the Eastern Kashmir’esque riff was already played around with by Ritchie in early 8Os Rainbow (circa Difficult To Cure sessions), both Roger and Don Airey have mentioned that. Rainbow gave up on it eventually because they could not fit it into a song at the time, but the non-conventional meter was already there pre-Jon Lord playing with Ritchie again.
January 30th, 2026 at 15:31LATO ’96 is an excellent live album, and a refreshing move away from the MiJ set. I felt the brass section and backing singers really elevated several songs, and Perfect Strangers especially.
Only downside is the slightly shorter set compared to other shows, but we can’t have anything.
January 30th, 2026 at 15:45@ 68 – thanks for the Greek music, always enjoy the melodies and the feel of ‘eastern’ music. A violin playing friend has purchased an Oud to learn a few things on, so I picked up a small Turkish Darbuka drum and we occasional jam, messing about etc and it is interesting to touch on some of that music. Munir Bashir was a master of the Oud instrument and nowadays his son Omar. It is nice to get away from all the noise of western rock music occasionally and Ritchie’s short wave radio inspirations from the 70’s still ring in my head. Tapping into that side things a little makes him stand out from the norm in western rock music. The Greek and Italian music from my youth and hearing their music all the way out here in outback Australian was something else and still is, it was an ear and eye opener indeed. It leads onto other styles in music and isn’t that grand. Below is Omar on his Oud and we can hear little runs here and there that we can recognise from other places in our lives. Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIHMR29WVtA
January 30th, 2026 at 17:12#60: Some of Ritchie’s most focused solos can be found on the JLT era albums, Uwe?
To quote Rowan Atkinson @04:30:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl0HqlbX7dc&t=15s
MY POINT EXACTLY!!! 😂
From the late 70s onwards, I felt that Ritchie’s solos became – in the studio at least – less off the cuff and more and more premediated. He began to overthink things (an observation Don Airey has made too) and over-focus on pulling off something impressive that some of his 80s solos, while still drawing a smile to my face, began to sound mannered, I missed the lightheartedness and instant inspiration of the solo in Hold On for example.
The much lauded solo in Stone Cold for instance @02:42 …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hByGwgm_vRs
I hate to say it, but to me that sounds totally overwrought and as mannered as a French minuet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLY0cgXcMVw
January 30th, 2026 at 18:26Ritchie played solo’s for the song melody much more in the 1980’s, to my ear at least. That isn’t to say he wasn’t already doing that with grandeur before the change in attitude. Then we hear other artists doing that AOR thing and then the guitar solo falls away from the song or is just an excuse for a show off, then we know where Ritchie is coming from. The Blackmore 80’s solo’s are very melodic with the song melody. Something many guitarists don’t seem to do or know how to. The only trouble was that when he was performing live in the 80’s he seemed to be not giving a toss a lot of the time or he was trying to play too fast. But on the albums that isn’t the case. We all hear what we hear and as always ‘each to their own’. Cheers.
January 30th, 2026 at 20:21#74. I don’t hear too much overthinking going on. The solo in Desperate Heart gives the term “off the cuff” a new meaning, as if the solo completely overtakes him and not the other way around. Ritchie at his finest.
January 31st, 2026 at 07:11@71 Uwe
> Strange meters in Greek folk music you say? Germans know all about that since Udo Jürgens’ perennial Schlagerhit “Griechischer Wein” from 1975, catch the strange meter in the verse! 🤣
Heh this I have known, but always fun to revisit
> 3. Re Perfect Strangers, listen here at o2:25
Ha, this I did not, thanks for the link very interesting. So no Jon Lord involvement on the riff meter, that settles it!
@ 73 MacGregor
Good luck with the Oud/Darbuka jams, that sounds like fun!
January 31st, 2026 at 10:22And nice improvisations by Omar Bashir indeed, he builts nicely on it.
As regards Desperate Heart, a deep cut from BOOS (in my book the best Turner era album), I actually agree with you, Daniel!
https://youtu.be/BKemJnMR0TY?si=KELwAwdzqztmtJVY
The fact that Ritchie cites the “seal squeal” ending of his Stargazer solo draws a grin to my face. He still had improvisational brilliance in him.
And now to you, Herr MacGregor, you’re spot on as well with your observation that Ritchie in the 80s began to edge closer to vocal melodies (which at that point he also had more of an influence on than in the Mk II era). I’m not sure whether I really welcomed that, it took some of the impromptu surprise out of his studio solos, but then latter day Rainbow saw Ritchie striving to meet more conventional expectations.
January 31st, 2026 at 15:17I want to go against the grain and define the fact that in Rainbow with JLT Ritchie’s compositional quality rises, while the quality of the solos decreases.
I think this is also linked to the “cacophonous” way he had started to do live already with Bonnet, and the reasons for this have already been analyzed here, probably in Ritchie’s mind the solos had taken on a secondary role compared to the song as a whole, and in the heavy metal era he sounded as if to say “Hey I’m Ritchie, the one who in the 70s played better than everyone, louder than everyone, and I’m still making so much noise that the audience wants from me between one chorus and the next”.
Fortunately, on Perfect Strangers his solos on record were more polished and more varied than on Rainbow’s last two albums.
January 31st, 2026 at 16:40then also live with Purple in the general fun of the first reunion tour, Ritchie’s solos continued on the path of cacophony and imprecision desired by himself.
Good point, Fla76, I agree.
In the 80s and 90s with DP and Rainbow, I sometimes had the impression that Ritchie live grew impatient and frustrated with his own playing, to the point of self-de(con)struction. There was even something self-injurious at times about it, he was slicing his own guitar playing apart in anger and distaste. I remember shaking my head about it at some gigs.
January 31st, 2026 at 18:08I love mid and late 80’s Ritchie and the stuff you refer to as self-destruction and cacophonous! His playing reminds me a lot of Mailes Davis towrds the end of his life. It’s like there is no filter between the brain and fingers. Just pure emotion straight into music. I love the solid backing of Roger and Rondinelli/Bürgi with RB just freaking out over it.
January 31st, 2026 at 18:34#81 Svante:
What you say is interesting.
In a certain sense it was a stylistic evolution for Ritchie.
but also a technical involution.
wanted by himself for a whole series of reasons.
He was a mature man who no longer had to prove anything to anyone (this was his opinion, not that of the critics and not that of the fans).
the jovial atmosphere of the MKII Reunion was cathartic for Ritchie, for all 5 of them, at least until the time of the PS tour they always declared that they had never had so much fun before.
throughout all this Ritchie (who like the others arrived in ’84 in dazzling form, a mature and fascinating man as he had never been before) decidedly focused on the essential aspect of performance and musical exhibitionism.
I had never considered putting the development of technique on the back burner in favor of sonic irregularity as an evolution, but in fact it can be considered an evolution and a voluntary choice.
It’s a shame that, qualitatively speaking, the live performances of the MKII bis couldn’t compete with those of the 70s, both for this reason, and because LittleIan had started playing with the click, and because of BigIan’s up and down performances, and because the arrangements of the classics were strangely missing some things, and above all because of a really bad overall mix sound.
January 31st, 2026 at 20:04It wasn’t only Blackmore and Purple who refined their style and sound in the ‘dreaded’ 1980’s. Plenty of the 70’s acts travelled down the path of the much more straighter and to the point proverbial 4 minute song with melodic hooks etc. Look at how refined King Crimson were in comparison to their 70′ music. Adrian Belew on vocal and second guitar. Everything changed, look at Black Sabbath with Dio as another example. What about Genesis and Yes, the list goes on. It still has its quality though, Ritchie knew how to adapt, he wasn’t silly about it to my ears when we stop and listen to others who also walked that path. Lead vocalists embraced that as well, the record companies and MTV demanded it and they all jumped on board. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t as Neil Young said when he was lambasted for the ‘rockabilly ‘album he released. Cheers.
January 31st, 2026 at 21:13I get the Mile Davis comparison in more ways than one, Svante, it’s something I have often thought too. But Miles could be tempestuous with his own playing and performances too.
Where I disagree is on the rhythm sections, I don’t think that either Glover/Powell, Glover/Rondinelli or Glover/Burgi were ever a match for Glover/Paice or for that matter Hughes/Paice (nor for Martinez/Paice or Murray/Paice if we want to think outside of DP). For much of his time with Rainbow, poor Roger was on autopilot as a bass player, perhaps because his mind was occupied with production duties, his largely uninspired bass playing was in any case a major letdown for me in later Rainbow line–ups. In parts it sounded as if had suffered amnesia between what he played on MH/MiJ/WDWTWA and his resurgence with Rainbow. And Powell was a clobberer, uninfluenced by any bassist he playesd with in Rainbow, Burgi a soulless drum machine, and Rondinell somewhere in between.
January 31st, 2026 at 21:30You can’t compare Rondinelli/Glover with Paice/Glover. They are two different bea(s)ts. What I meant was that for the weird style RB had in the 80’s, the rhythm section worked fine.
January 31st, 2026 at 21:45@81, 84 I agree. Here’s Miles 3.
I love this about this page. Things you thought – or even said in front of people that just shook their head in disbelief – all of a sudden appear to be not as far off as you were afraid they are. I always knew there’s jazz, free jazz and cacophonic new music sounds to be found in DP and Rainbow live recordings. Sometimes I even thought of Moondog.
January 31st, 2026 at 22:42Me thinks Roger Glover enjoyed his Rainbow daze…………..sorry days, as he wasn’t only focused on production. He was at ease overall in the complete package that was there for him, different times, different place, more involved in the songwriting no doubt, one on one with Ritchie a lot of the time. Having fun ‘All Night Long’ etc. The comparison of the never forgotten (by Uwe) rhythm sections is irrelevant. As some here have correctly stated, it all suited the best of them for what it was at the time. Cheers
January 31st, 2026 at 22:55Why not? You can compare Murray/Paice with Glover/Paice no sweat!
The rhythm section work in Rainbow was at all times unremarkable/stodgy, the debut album with the Gruber/Driscoll groove-team maybe excepted.
February 1st, 2026 at 00:13With the exception of Gates of Babylon not a single bass line that sticks in one’s memory was played in the eight years of Rainbow’s existence.
It’s more comparing Rondinelli/Bürgi to Paice. Love then all but Paicey shouldn’t play Tearin’ out my heart and Bobby shouldn’t play Strange kind of woman.
February 1st, 2026 at 07:44I guess it’s a fine line between entering a Miles Davis phase and just being drunk onstage playing the guitar with a frisbee 🙂 I love RB’s studio work on the JLT albums and PS, his most exciting playing on record probably, but I don’t know what was going through his mind onstage around the same time. The tone was crap and it was as if he had lost his chops, more or less. But clearly he hadn’t when you listen to PS, so it’s a bit of a mystery. His tone on PS is absolutely wonderful and commands all attention.
February 1st, 2026 at 08:24#83 MacGregor:
not to mention the changes in Rush, in a certain way also Kiss, Van Halen and Judas, even the singer-songwriter rock of Springsteen, Journey were in perfect harmony with the FM sound… everything sounded hyper-melodic and well-planned, between the new recording technologies, the use of synths and the canons of musical fashion.
the only ones who really passed without constraints were Queen, but they already had the commercial/pop side from the beginning.
The writing of THOBL contains all the conflict that Purple had with the mainstream, and in fact it is a commercial album but in their own way.
#87 MacGregor:
I also think Roger was comfortable with what he was doing in Rainbow, those FM songs allowed him to do what he loved, stand back and keep time with a trendy white or neckless bass, his hat on his head, and a bit of a stage show.
If I have to think of a bass player who had the same role as Roger in the 80s, Ross Valory immediately comes to mind, another one who did his “simple little” job, but he did it damn well..
moreover, as a producer he was very attentive to those “new” sounds, which he then used in his beautiful The Mask, but also in Gillan/Glover, where he vented his creativity freely as a musician and producer.
Let’s not forget that Roger, thanks to the fact that he is a producer, and thanks to his way of playing without virtuosity, also has an exaggerated melodic taste, probably more than all the other Purples, more than Gillan, and even more than Lord (this sentence must be contextualized not in an absolute sense obviously)
February 1st, 2026 at 10:21Oh, you mean that Bonham’esquely dragging Mistreated 3.0 (after Love’s No Friend had been Misteated 2.0)? 🤣 You’re right, Little Ian would have died of boredom playing that excruciating plod-fest. Music like I never want to hear it. Give me something lively!
https://youtu.be/5E2TAr5IIDY
February 1st, 2026 at 11:52I guess it’s a fine line between entering a Miles Davis phase and just being drunk onstage playing the guitar with a frisbee ? 🙂
😂🤣😂🤣 Ouch, Daniel, you little venomous scaly reptile!
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/07/a9/a2/07a9a2c2f204252317a8b7e5c548198e.gif
February 1st, 2026 at 11:59#90 Daniel:
You’re basically right, but we don’t know how much alcohol the Purples used in the 80s compared to the 70s, maybe it even decreased, we don’t know (or at least, I don’t know).
Ritchie has stated several times that he doesn’t understand how so many guitarists could go on stage drunk, so we just have to understand what his measure of “drunk on stage” was.
It may also be that he was actually sober on stage, and then the “Uwe theory” of voluntary cacophony remains standing.
However, I too have always been disappointed by the lack of attention to detail that Purple had live in the 80s, and which is the exact opposite of what comes out of the mix of Perfect Strangers, where everything is placed according to an impeccable logic, which Purple have never found again in the following years up to today, but not even in the previous years with the legendary Martin Birch who literally worked miracles.
Was it just luck in 1984? Or was everyone in Vermont good? Both the musicians and those who recorded, mixed, and mastered the album?
I think they were all good, nothing in Purple’s discography sounds as good, homogeneous, heterogeneous, clean but with a groove as Perfect Strangers.
February 1st, 2026 at 13:43I believe you’re too harsh on the Glover/Rondinelli partnership, Uwe. Roger’s greatest strength as a bass player is the way he plays for the song. Can’t Happen Here may not have flashy bass work per se, but when you listen to it, it’s perfect for the song and has a lot to do with the groove. Same thing with the breakdown in Freedom Fighter where RG/BD lock into a groove, allowing Ritchie to take off with a solo only he could have come up with. Why would you want him to look to Mick Jones of Foreigner of all people? If anything, the gutsy guitar solos on the JLT era albums added fire and excitement, setting them apart from other bands. They still had the hit songs for the radio. RG and BD were perfect for that era of Rainbow, the same way Bob Daisley was perfect for Ozzy’s solo work and Glenn for Mk 3.
February 1st, 2026 at 17:57I wonder if there will be a remaster or even a remix of Purpendicular in 2026? The last remaster I am aware of was from Andy Pearce in 2014 for Cherry Red’s hard rock & heavy metal sub-label HNE (Hear No Evil) Recordings. It featured Don’t Hold Your Breath and the single edit of Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming as bonus tracks + was released as a digipack with liner notes by the late Malcolm Dome.
https://www.thehighwaystar.com/thsblog/2014/07/01/purpendicular-reissue-review/
The rights for that album are still with Sony (as are Slaves & Masters and The Battle Rages On), not a label that has been in the past conspicuously active with Purple re-releases. So unless earMusic buys the rights, we shouldn’t exactly hold our breath.
I could imagine Steve Morse doing wonderful liner notes on a remix – eye- and earwitness news!
February 1st, 2026 at 19:33This is what I had in my mind when I wrote those comments:
https://youtu.be/jV3C0AO4CAI?si=7ENpA5pFG4RRGG3W&t=307
https://youtu.be/IifWr74_6jg?si=hxDYVIs53Udxn9le&t=198
February 1st, 2026 at 20:23@ 95 – Excellent points Daniel, right on the money. The DTC album has really good songs and couple of cracking instrumentals to boot and plenty of fire and passion on it too. That album certainly left the previous one wallowing in it’s pity. Poor Uwe, he just wants everything to sound like Deep Purple all the time. How effing boring? And he is a Judas Priest acolyte, that says something. Look how they changed and dumbed it down. One thing is for sure for our erstwhile Mr Uwe Horning. If you are ever in a certain ensemble with certain musicians, don’t ever go anywhere else on your musical journey. Just stay the same as to what is the formula of someone or something previously and keep on keeping on. Cheers.
February 1st, 2026 at 21:02@ 97 -thanks for that I Surrender clip, wonderful that is. Cheers.
February 1st, 2026 at 21:10Hi Doug,
Thank you for the great write up. I remember those days when I discovered THS on the interwebs while I was fresh out of college and on my very first job as a Windows Systems Administrator in Kolkotta, India. This was in 1998 or 1999 I can’t remember clearly. After work, I would go to the internet and browse around, and THS was, with it’s older gen web page, chat section, a way to express stuff. I would download the pics you guys uploaded of the band albums and stuff and make them the background or screensaver images for my PC!
My first DP gig I saw live was in Mumbai, India 1995 (Bombay Calling), I had submitted my review much later: https://www.thehighwaystar.com/rosas/reviews/950408jag.html
I’ve tried to see DP at least once (or twice or thrice) on every tour they’ve done in the US since the year 2002 as I moved here in 2000…but this post was more for you guys, you achieved such brilliance with this website which binds us loyal DP fans together….Doug, Dave, Rasmus…the names I was familiar with at those times (sorry I might be missing others)…would love to meet you guys some days at a DP concert and share a pint and DP stories….cheers!
February 2nd, 2026 at 03:36#94. True words spoken about PS, Fla76. Probably my fave DP album too and the best reminder of what they were all about. Gypsy’s Kiss with its exuberant solo section… I think it’s a combination of many things. The age they were in, their mindset and the natural chemistry those five had together to start with. No Ezrin needed when all of those things align.
February 2nd, 2026 at 05:56#96: _I_ sounds great the way it does, doesn’t it?
February 2nd, 2026 at 05:57@103: So continue to listen to the original then. Then for some of use others, who have listened to the album almost too much already, give us a new version which might let us discover new things about the album.
February 2nd, 2026 at 07:19Svante @97: Horses for courses, that is exactly the kind of playing by Ritchie I personally dislike, him shredding, which – let’s face it – by then younger guns did more fluidly than him. It sounds to me like he was trying to prove something. He no longer soars with his guitar, he battles it.
Daniel, I rate Roger as a bass player very much, I just thought he was punching below his weight with Rainbow. He has always played for the song, but as bass lines go, he was much more creative on the Mk II albums of the 70s. With Rainbow his bass playing was like an afterthought, I don’t hear anything as beautiful as his melodic bass solo in the bridge of Woman from Tokyo.
Herr MacGregor, accusing DP – of all bands – of always sounding the same takes some nerve! 🤣
The gulf between DP and Rainbow is that with DP you always hear a collective at work while with Rainbow it is the maestro + four other people doing more or less what they’re told.
February 2nd, 2026 at 14:01Daniel, it sounds good for 1996 no doubt, but perhaps not like it could sound today. Production techniques move in leaps and bounds. So if the masters exist, why not do something with them? As Svante has said, no one needs to give up on the original mix.
But imagine what a Purpendicular boxed set could offer with studio outtakes, rehearsals, Steve Morse home recording ideas and maybe a choice gig from the tour. It’s an album in which a lot of work and preparation went, the digital masters and aggiliated recordings must be a treasure trove.
February 2nd, 2026 at 16:31#97. I would put his soloing on I Surrender (studio version) in my top 5 of his but the noise playing in those 2 clips is not very impressive in my opinion. The buzzing tone/effects don’t do him any favours. It lasted for much of the 80s but then he gradually came back to form from S&M and onwards.
February 2nd, 2026 at 18:39There were still moments of captivating improvisation during those years. Just a shame about the guitar tone being paper thin:
https://youtu.be/sRdBl2_27xA?t=132
February 2nd, 2026 at 18:53@104: Yeah, that’s another favorite of mine, but I like it all the way from the start.
February 2nd, 2026 at 20:57When I saw Ritchie with Mk V at Hammersmith (second night), he played beautifully, he was totally relaxed and there was very little noise generation. It was as if the absence of IG on stage made Ritchie’s playing much more compelementary.
February 2nd, 2026 at 22:21#104 Uwe:
I agree with your feeling, but I think no music critic has ever had the sensitivity and courage to ask Ritchie what the reasons were for his “stylistic” change… it would be very interesting to know, indeed fundamental to fully understand what he has done from the end of the 70s to S&M.
The paradoxical thing is that in the infamous TBRO micro tour Ritchie played much cleaner and more precise than anything he had done on stage in the previous 13 years. Of course, the overall improvement in the band’s sound due to technological progress may also have a significant impact on our perception, but I believe that Ritchie in 1993 sounded different from the previous decade, almost in a sort of swan song…
As for Roger, dear old great Roger, just yesterday, in the wake of a search for interesting interviews about the “Tone Guru” Nick Blagona, I listened to Perfect Strangers once again, and guys, if you focus only on him, also thanks to Blagona’s superb sound mix, you can hear Roger’s work, which is extraordinary in being a continuous presence that remains powerful in the background, but which constantly emerges between a guitar and organ phrase, between a drum fill and a Gillan pause, as the absolute protagonist in countless micro-spaces that are a pleasure for the ears and the progression of the songs.
obviously a far cry from his “homework” in Rainbow, and I think Roger’s best performance ever in Purple.
Roger’s constant work of embellishing the songs on PS sends me into ecstasy, even in S&M it sounds good, less good in THOBL and even less good in TBRO (where perhaps he was even more meticulous), then from Purplendicular onwards, from my point of view Roger was always penalised in the album mixes.
(This doesn’t mean you can’t hear the bass or you can’t hear the notes the bass plays, but how the bass sound translates into the overall mix of the songs on the album.)
And while I’m at it, I’ll add (get ready guys, this is a heavy one) that if Nick Blagona had continued working with Purple instead of all the others who came after (including Bob Ezrin) we would never have complained about how Morse-era records sound.
February 2nd, 2026 at 22:27Hey, I love the complete WFT too, the intro with Roger’s contrapunctual bass, Ritchie’s E major riff, the elegant change to a G major verse, the brilliant middle part with Roger’s melody, Ritchie’s terse solo and Jon’s piano tinkling at the end. What’s not to like?
The whole WDWTWA album is Purple at its most melodic and sophisticated, verging into Beatles territory at times (Super Trouper and Our Lady, even Woman from Tokyo is Lennon’esque). A gem of an album.
February 3rd, 2026 at 01:51#104. But Woman From Tokyo is quite far removed from what Rainbow were going for on Difficult to Cure, so it will be hard to find that style of bass playing there? What you will find is a track like Spotlight Kid, which should be rated up there with Burn really, in terms of the excitement it generates. The players were not equal partners, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from the way Don attacks that solo, for example. A powerful band with Ritchie’s vision still crystal clear (for the most part).
February 3rd, 2026 at 04:31#105. Despite the advanced technique, today’s albums sound inferior to those that came out 50 years ago, CTTB being the benchmark. The Kevin Shirley remix offered more of Bolin but slightly less of Paice. I like the remix too but does it top the original? Probably not. Same thing with the recent MIJ remix. Does it improve on “MIJ – The Remastered Edtion” from 1998 (the one with the black cover)? Probably not. If there is no improvement, I don’t see much point. Remixing albums where someone dropped the ball originally, like with ROTD, makes more sense.
February 3rd, 2026 at 04:40@97. Tearin’ Out My Heart replaced Loves No Friend. Both extended live with a double time solo but compare the playing on your clip with the end solo on Roger Birthday from 1979. Ritchie lost accuracy in the 80′ and his tone had deteriorated.
@107 I too love this but when it appeared on Finyl Vinyl Ritchie had over dubbed so of the guitar and when you compare the video with the dubbed version you can understand why and the “real” take is err..lacking precision.
@98 Bit harsh Mac. Keep it civil.
General observation on the JLT live clips – Joe’s stage presence (if that’s a decent word to describe it) is awful. I can listen to him (up to a point and definitely not when listening to him butchering any MK2 purple tracks live) but I can’t watch him.
February 3rd, 2026 at 08:13The three post 70′ Deep Purple bands were experiments in many ways. or even solo albums of a sort. If you look at it as the three ‘leaders’ of those bands. Musicians coming and going, the freedom of adventure and different styles etc. How long did any of those lineups last, that says it all really. Why not try different things? Gillan were a balls to the wall band, annoyingly so in certain aspects, but as we were young then that was ok and enjoyable, particularly live in concert. Ian Gillan and John McCoy especially. Hit hard and who gives a damn about the consequences. Ritchie went from harder rock to a more commercial style and Coverdale from a bluesier to glam metal style. They all suffered somewhat from the mis and hit scenario, so what, that is what rock ‘n roll is. Out with the old and in with the new. I have never compared those bands with DP. Agree about JLT’s embarrassing stage persona, but then ole Coverdale was that too. It was MTV etc. All that preening, in front of a mirror does that doesn’t it. Also the remixing comments regarding certain records not needing it at all. Marketing eh? How to re-sell the product, dress it to kill, for want of a better description. Some albums do not need it, some definitely do. About the production. It is a fine line, different equipment, studio and personal etc etc. TBRO is a harder sounding record, but after S&M it needed to be so I don’t mind that as it was a relief to hear DP rocking hard again as they always should. A hard rock band sounding smooth doesn’t work for me. Leave some angst and harshness in it. Cheers.
February 3rd, 2026 at 17:15“General observation on the JLT live clips – Joe’s stage presence (if that’s a decent word to describe it) is awful. I can listen to him (up to a point and definitely not when listening to him butchering any MK2 purple tracks live) but I can’t watch him.”
Oh how I hear you, David, you summed up my feelings for JoLT exactly. He could have been a great extra for The Sopranos series though, walking-talking Italo-New Jersey. One of Tony Soprano’s lower rank soldiers, he just would have needed a short hair wig.
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTZjMDliOTUybmZuODVvbmh2Nms2aWtnbWU4ZThidXBlNm9hM2I2cHgyNW13eDF4ZiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/4H1xauOflBDHY4sUah/source.gif
PS: “Bit harsh Mac. Keep it civil.
Cut the impulsive wombat some slack, David,
https://blooper0223.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/140856.jpg
he is free to pounce on me anytime! 😘
February 3rd, 2026 at 17:15#107 Ritchie’s live sound in the 80s was truly disastrous. If I remember correctly, he was using the Roland GR 700 guitar synth, and his sound became thin and clinical. He was also experimenting with different pickups. It wasn’t until he discovered Engl amps in the 90s that his live performances improved.
February 4th, 2026 at 10:30@97 These two clips are totally fine by me. By the second half of the 80′, Blackers’ playing live degenerated quite a bit, though. Back then, I was a kid and had only gotten into DP. When I was listening to their ’80s’ live recordings, e.g. Nobody’s Perfect, I was shocked to hear how loose and undisciplined they (mostly RB and IG) sounded compared to their studio albums and their ’70s’ live recordings.
I don’t think that they had any loss of the ability. It had more to do with their attitude and the resulting complacency. I guess they might have been thinking that they had been firmly established as gods in the rock pantheon so they could just hit the stage and play anything and still get the admiration of the public.
It’s quite ironic, that on their infamous TBRO tour, when they grew older, and Ian lost some of his former range and Blackers became less fluent on the fret, they played much, much better. Again, I attribute it to the attitude. Everyone knew IG and RB would not be together for long and each of them wanted to send a big FU to the other by doing one’s best and beyond the best. Based on the Stuttgart recording, Blackers’ FU was louder and more articulate. He played like possessed to prove to the rest of the band there was no one like him and how much they were about to lose.
February 4th, 2026 at 11:03@115 spot on Mac. I saw DC in the blues era and considered him a real front man. I had no desire to see him in the wiz bang era but caught up with them in the late 90’s when he was already diminished as a voice but still err…strutting his stuff. That looked increasingly anachronistic in later years.
Like you say – a hard rock band should sound like a hard rock band. Gillan did in a messy fashion, TBRO does (I think I’m in the minority as I love that album) and as enjoyable as the Ezrin era albums are they don’t punch you in the gut. The early info would suggest the next one might be. Purple came in as a hard rock band should- I think they should exit as such.
P.S. I’d never call you a wombat!
February 4th, 2026 at 11:38@115 Mr. MacGregor I have to disagree strongly regarding the comparison of JLT and DC. Well… of course I know what you mean. But … Don’t you think that DC always acted a bit tongue in cheek? I feel he didn’t take himself too serious. He once said he inflated his personality 10 times the moment he went on stage. By chance I met him “live” in social media once, him being online in his instagram account and when – for a reason, he just had posted something cocky – I called hiom a poser he reacted with a laugh and a “but…sure!” comment. The interviews over the years the way he talks…his lyrics…I think it’s all to be taken withj more than a grain of salt.
Whereas JLT is or makes you feel like what my sons would call cringe. I remember laughing a lot at WS gigs … and feeling drop dead ashamed at the shows I saw JLT with Rainbow and even more so DP.
February 4th, 2026 at 15:19@106 Daniel, you need to check out bootlegs from 1988. I reckon after Ritchie broke his finger in 1987 I think he listened to the gigs recorded for the Nobody’s Perfect album and realised his tone was shite. It’s better for the 1988 Hush,which was recorded at the mixing sessions Feb 1988, and check out Copenhagen 1988, Child In Time could almost be 1972! IMO the received wisdom that he cleaned up for S&M is not accurate.
February 4th, 2026 at 15:59DC was a diva and adulation-hugger on stage in WS days, but not a complete jerk like you know who.
That said, JoLT definitely kept his pipes in better shape and was not adamant to consistently sing out of his natural range. When Joe performs his own songs the out come is to this day more than decent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkBL0Xc6dWk
And to be fair: He is today less obnoxious on stage than he was with Rainbow and Purple. The bald look als gives him some automatic frontman credibility he didn’t have in the past.
February 4th, 2026 at 17:09@ 119- no problems at all David. Uwe enjoys our Australian wildlife and he even owns a couple of our monitor lizards, so he enjoys mingling with the ‘natives’ from out this way. Regarding Coverdale he was heavily influenced by a few earlier frontman in rock bands. Robert Plant and I can also see a little Roger Daltrey too with his microphone stage antics. I always think back to Coverdale’s nervous start in a major rock band and the Cal Jam footage. I don’t know how he did that actually, he did ok for a beginner, all things considered. It is a difficult one for a stand alone lead singer in that aspect. What do they do if they don’t play an instrument, so I get the fact they have to try and come up with something, anything almost to occupy their time and remain relevant. JLT was a lot worse and the constantly looking into the camera gives him away. Some good points from you there in regard to the production and sound of the modern day DP albums. I notice a lot of bands are sounding too smooth and condensed these days, it is the way everything has become with technology etc. Georgivs @ 118 with the Blackmore and Gillan attitude in the late 80’s, spot on. Also Max @ 120, Coverdale does have a more comic attitude at times no doubt, he looks at it both ways etc. JLT always looked too serious with the vanity side of things. He was playing catch up JLT, coming in after the ‘theatre’ stage had already been well set many years earlier. One way to look at it. I much prefer a lead singer who just stands and delivers. Ian Gillan always impressed me with that along with a few other of my favourite lead vocalists from different bands. Cheers.
February 4th, 2026 at 17:13#121. It seems you’re right, David. His tone appears to be slightly clearer already in 1988. They were really going for it in Copenhagen: https://youtu.be/07nVr2DuYD8?list=RD07nVr2DuYD8&t=265
February 4th, 2026 at 18:58@123. Precisely. My first Gillan concert was 1981. They started with Unchain Your Brain and IG came on several bars after the band had started. Then he stood centre stage leant into the mic stand and started belting it out and he absolutely commanded the stage.
February 5th, 2026 at 13:21@122. Well maybe but those gloves (which he’s been wearing for ages) are absolutely ridiculous.
February 5th, 2026 at 13:24@43 AL: I’d put “Perfect Strangers” at No. 7 or 8. Thrilled when Mark 2 reformed and toured. I was able to see my idols on the same stage for the first time. Was well-pleased with the LP, but over time it’s sunk in my rankings. Upon further review, it sounds like a Ritchie Blackmore project with Gillan and Glover’s lyrics and a stunningly good backing band. It was darker than the previous Mark 2 LPs. Nothing in a major key, other than a few bars of “Pomp and Circumstance’’ within “Under the Gun.’’ The concert I attended on that tour didn’t live up to expectations, which were probably unrealistically high. Was most impressed by Paice’s drumming and Lord’s keys solo. Gillan’s voice even way back then wasn’t up to the rigors of touring. RB played brilliantly on the LP but seemed more interested in playing the showman onstage than showing off his instrumental prowess. The live recordings from that era pale in comparison to the “Made in Japan” recordings, when the band was a more cohesive unit. Enjoyed Morse-era shows while Jon was still in the band much more than the reunion show. Cheers.
February 5th, 2026 at 15:54Daniel, and that’s a very poor sound compared to the version I have
February 5th, 2026 at 17:57Just celebrated Purpendicular’s 30th anniversary with a good listen on the same M-76 Kenwood midi of the era! The album is good although not a masterpiece, but brings such beautiful memories of that period when I was 16: first time I attended a Deep Purple concert is in Milan Sat. 8 June 1996. I’ll never forget the Fireball conditioner noise at the beginning of the gig (and consequent excitement), and Jon Lord’s sweat in the hot Palatrussardi. Great.
February 5th, 2026 at 22:54https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeWceETWzn0
Copenhagen 1988. No vision but much better sound.
February 6th, 2026 at 11:39@ 125 – I remember it well, November 1981 in Sydney, the same as you describe there. Gillan and McCoy were the force of that band, pedal to the metal and off their face etc. Bernie not there was a little disappointing but we knew he was gone. Ger’s was very good though and certainly carried the flame well. Cheers.
February 6th, 2026 at 20:47Janick, when I first saw him, I initially thought he was spoofing Ritchie all the time – even before Yngwie did. The only thing un-Blackmore about him was the fact that he avoided black in his dress. But if truth be told even though he had a less original presence and sound than the explosive Bernie Tormé, I liked Janick’s neo-Blackmore melody lines better, probably due to the greater familiarity. Bernie was of course an incongruous mix of Jimi Hendrix and Steve Jones! 😂
February 7th, 2026 at 15:53I can see the Ritchie comparison in that sense. I had no idea who Janick was at that time, mind you it was the same for me with Bernie a little earlier with the Glory Road album introduction to the Gillan band. Bernie was more suited to the band with their overall attitude etc. Cheers.
February 7th, 2026 at 21:01#132 Uwe:
It’s very true, Janick was one of the first disciples of the messiah Blackmore, even before Yngwie & Murray!
February 8th, 2026 at 00:54White Spirit, the band Janick came from, where as Purplish as you could get … 😂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0Vjxcma_HM
February 10th, 2026 at 19:19@135
Never heard White Spirit before. Got more of a Rainbow vibe to my ears.
February 11th, 2026 at 09:11In the grander scheme of things, Rainbow were of course purplish too – as were GILLAN and Whitesnake, none of them invented something all too removed from the Purple nest. Only PAL and IGB strayed from the Purple path – and paid commercially a dear price for it.
I think John McCoy produced White Spirit‘s debut – hence the connection. As a Blackmore fan, he obviously liked what he saw and heard.
February 11th, 2026 at 14:49