What are we all listening to at the moment.

[_tom_]

Aphex Twin. The stuff that isn't boring ambient music is really good :)

[Frank]

Wow !

My very first ( and much loved / played ) 'grown up'  Album purchase. The coolest thing anybody could have in their record collection round these parts at the time ;  giving  rise to much guitar worship - and Purple bedroom colour schemes* .

( * This was the early 1970 after all ! ) .

Great stuff, thanks for the memory Frank !  8)

*Deep Purple high five*

I always loved their live recordings more than the studio albums. You can hear them playing together as a unit more than any other band before or since. I think they were probably telepathic.

[Philly Q]

I always loved their live recordings more than the studio albums. You can hear them playing together as a unit more than any other band before or since. I think they were probably telepathic.

Yeah, there is a feeling that you're hearing a "live" show in the truest sense, it was probably never the same two nights in a row.  Certainly Blackmore never played the solos the way they were on the records (which was a bit annoying sometimes!).  They had a sort of funky, jam band quality which made them more like, say, the Allman Brothers than most hard rock bands.

You rarely, if ever, see live shows like that nowadays!

It annoys me that they don't have the same iconic status nowadays as Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath.  When I was starting to take an interest in rock music in the late '70s, both Zeppelin and Sabbath were basically at low points - it was Purple and their offshoots, Rainbow and Whitesnake, that got me started, really.

[Fourth Feline]

I agree that the memory / significance of Deep Purple seems to get very short changed, considering that  many of the people I know ( including myself ) -  wouldn't  have sought out / discovered the rest unless we had first heard Deep Purple. The albums remained consistently ( even increasingly ) entertaining through the Gillian / Coverdale era(s) - and it was hearing the live version of Coverdale/ Purple performing 'Mistreated' on the Radio - that ( eventually ) put me onto Blues , more than Led Zep did.

Regarding 'Made In Japan' as originally posted by Frank ;  I still think that " Highway Star " is an incredible adrenalin rush (Including some of my  favourite bits of develishly dextrous solo ideas from Richie Blackmore ) - and " Child In Time " just dominated and defined the whole idea of the anthemic 'Epic' for me .  

As already mentioned,  the 'tight but loose' interplay seemed almost telepathic - and I still get a shiver down the spine when I think of the Title track from the album 'Burn' !  :D

[Frank]

Everyone cites Blackmore and Jon Lord as the real vituosos of Deep Purple but I've got to say that even at a young age I was astonished by Ian Paice's drumming. Dust off that old copy of Deep Purple In Rock, the breakdown in Flight Of The Rat is the funkiest thing imaginable - and it was recorded in what, 1970?

[Philly Q]

Everyone cites Blackmore and Jon Lord as the real vituosos of Deep Purple but I've got to say that even at a young age I was astonished by Ian Paice's drumming.

I meant to mention Ian Paice in my post above.  I know nothing, to be honest, about drumming - but to me he's always seemed amazing.

Another mention for the Mark III lineup - I love those albums too.  The Coverdale/Hughes vocal combination had the potential to be absolutely incredible, but I suspect egos ([cough]Coverdale's[/cough]) got in the way.

[Fourth Feline]

Ian Paice was indeed phenomenal - and in reading your comments chaps, I realise how much I had taken his genius for granted. Shame on me !   - especially as I would now cite him as being my all time favourite Rock drummer if I had to choose.  Inventive,  yet not self indulgent - and ( as Philly mentioned ) Funky with it too, without slowing the onslaught.

I shall always remember that the diminutive Mr. Paice, ( at the time ) made it acceptable / bordering on cool ,   to wear Specs.  Thank you Ian ;  in retrospect,  I take my ( Jon Lord-esque ) leather hat and ( Purple ) 'tie - die'  shirt off to you Sir !   8)

[gwEm]

Michael Schenker Group - One Night at Budokan

pretty good - not sure its quite up to Strangers in the Night standard though

edit 1:
might change my mind in a minute - its warming up a bit!

edit 2:
it really kicks in at the end!!

[AndyR]

Interesting how the MIJ discussion developed...

I've been studying the "3 gig" Live in Japan set over the past few days. It's easy to see how the "right" recordings were picked for MIJ. Eg all of the Highway Stars have that adrenaline rush, but the 2nd Osaka version (the one chosen) is almost on another plane.

Interestingly, one of the reasons for this is that Mr Blackmore actually plays notes rather than making lots of noise. And this applies to Smoke on the Water and Child in Time as well - the guitar solos on the unused versions are of the "I guess you had to be there" variety :lol:

But the other conclusion I reached listening to these three gigs repeatedly - what a rhythm section in Paice and Glover (and Lord to some extent). They are so consistently organic, but different from one night to the next. Eg the intro to Highway Star is surprisingly slightly different everytime (rhythmically).

In this combo, Ian Paice was the man for me. But he don't sound nearly so good, to me, in Whitesnake, for example, or even Purple post-MkII... the difference for me seems to be the empathy between Paice and Glover, and how Glover glues the organ and drums together, leaving both free to do what they did.

Frank - if you haven't already - give the Live in Japan CDs a go, they won't ever replace MIJ itself, but it gives you a chance to see under the bonnet a bit, and in some ways appreciate the released album even more. It certainly made me realise just what a superb musician Ian Paice is. I already knew he was good, but in amongst all that mayhem he was consistently good. :D

[ToneMonkey]

The Wonder Stuff - Eight Legged Grove Machine.

[Muttley]

Just started listening (2 mins in so far) to the new Nevermore album, The Obsidian Consiracy.

I shall report back after a few listens, but the first track sounds good so far.  :)

[Frank]

Thanks for the recommendation Andy - I'll check out the MIJ CDs this weekend. I'm sure Purple had off days but when they all hit a run of good form together they were utterly electrifying.

[Fourth Feline]

Big & Rich  : " Horse of a different colour".

I'd forgotten how much fun this album was ; especially 'Six foot town' .  :)

Also lined up for listening and compiling to Mp3 player - are Van Halen ( Best of : volume 1 ) and Larry Carlton 'Last Nite'.

Good time / summer music .  :D

[blue]

Hat Fitz N Cara Robinson;  Beauty N the Beast

great, stomping bluesy stuff!  saw them at the Blues festival here on Monday night, and somehow ended up eating with them afterwards!  the cd's good, but if you ever see them playing anywhere, they're magnificent live :)

[gordiji]

back to mij again and aside from ritchies talent the build up of the backing in strange kind of women around the second guitar solo is phenominal.there were no weak players here.Also for me between blackmore,iommi,page,
blackmore is head and shoulders ahead as a player, in a class above.this i've confirmed over the years trying to copy what they all do, and blackmore solos give the biggest difficulties(impossibilities).who you like most is however subjective.
back to the present i often google 'baker st' by gerry rafferty as a perfect song,very good idea/ writing,voice to die for, all the power for goose bumps in the sax bits and hugh burns' cherry on the cake solo at the end.i'd give it
popsong of the decade for the 70's