PURPLE OVERVIEW
Micaloneus | the Cosmos | 12/07/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Most of Deep Purple's classic albums have been expanded in recent years and they're probably the best place to start if you want to follow the musical lives of Blackmore, Gillan & co. But if you want a one stop shop of the "golden era" look no further than this collection.
This collection has at least one track from every studio album from 1968 to 1975 and includes all the essential hits such as Hush, Black Night, Speed King, Child In Time, Strange Kind Of Woman, Smoke On The Water, Highway Star, Woman From Tokyo, Burn and a live version of Perfect Strangers. Disc one has the early days (1968) up to the IN ROCK sessions of 1970.
Disc two for some strange reason is made up of mainly remixes of classic Purple. Finally, disc three takes us up to 2003's Sun Goes Down from Bananas.
This third CD could have been much better. No fault on DP, it seems this record company couldn't get hold of the classic lineups reunion era material from 1984 to 1993. Oh well. Also, nothing from 1996's "Purpendicular," the first album with Steve Morse on guitar. Such a strong album and yet nothing. The true fans already has everything on this collection, but for new fans this is a good starting point.
P.S. If you like this collection, then check out Deep Purple's live disc "Made In Japan." If you like the songs "Any Fool Knows That" and "Sun Goes Down," then check out their excellent 2005 album "Rapture of the Deep.""