A forgotten classic. – 86%
hells_unicorn, February 5th, 2007
This album is pretty much shelved by the masses as being a final effort before the original Deep Purple line-up fell apart for the 2nd and final time. The circumstances surrounding Ritchie Blackmore’s exodus from the band obviously showcase the fact that when you put together 5 incredibly large egos together for 10 years on the road or in the studio, there is sure to be plenty of fire works. If nothing else, this album showcases the very different musical direction that Ritchie was going as opposed to the other 4 members of the band.
One of the reasons Blackmore gave for his not liking this release was the assertion that Ian Gillian was unable to sing in tune. Although during several instances in some of the songs (particularly the more progressive sounding Anya) the vocals do tend to slide a bit flat on the longer notes, the overall voice performance is not as horrible as he alleges. We are treated to the occasional high end shriek by Ian on more rocking tracks like “Nasty Piece of Work” and “Lick it Up”, but it becomes apparent that their lack of frequency is due to his inability to do it as often or as strongly as he used to. When I saw them in Pittsburg back in 2002 he didn’t even bother trying to hit the high G at the beginning of Highway Star.
The music on here is quite an interesting mish mash of rock and early metal influences, most of the strongest material occurring at the beginning and the end of the album. “Lick it Up” and “Nasty Piece of Work” are my picks for the best rock songs on here both for vocal performance and for solid low end guitar riffing. “One man’s meat” rides close behind with a more down tempo groove and some rather interesting guitar effects on the riffs. The title track is more oriented towards an epic metal approach that is less crunchy, but otherwise quite similar to Black Sabbath’s late 80s work with Tony Martin. “A twist in the tale” is a solid effort at emulating early speed metal like Judas Priest’s Exciter, although with a more blues driven set of ideas.
Our two best songs on here are the most unconventional for the band, and ironically quite similar to some of the work Ritchie Blackmore ended up submitting during his brief resurrection of Rainbow’s career. “Solitaire” has a slow and gloomy atmosphere to it, in addition to a rather unusual 2 voice harmony with some chorus effects on it. The overall feel of the song is quite similar to “Insatiable (Hunting Humans” off Stranger in Us All, minus the superior organ solo work courtesy of Jon Lord. Likewise, the classically influenced “Anya” has a principle riff which is paraphrased in Rainbow’s “Black Masquerade”, as well as the same basic instrumentation. This song is probably the most similar to Ritchie Blackmore’s current work with his more Folk/Acoustic project Blackmore’s Night.
This album was purchased by me about 12 years ago at a bargain bin in a Kmart, which in my opinion is a clear indication that the album was shunned due to having too many pre-Grunge influences in it. This album is as much a victim of the year it was released in as it was in being associated with the break up of the band. It comes recommended to fans of Classic Rock and early 70s metal, but fans of post-Ozzy Sabbath are also encouraged to check this one out. Don’t let the lack of interest fool you, there is some quality material on here.
rafazardly 