Live In Graz 1975

Deep Purple

Eagle Rock, 2014

http://www.deeppurple.com

REVIEW BY: Benjamin Ray

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 10/06/2014

Deep Purple tends to get lost to musical history after Made In Japan, which gives short shrift to Burn and Stormbringer, the final two albums to feature guitarist Richie Blackmore. Those two albums also had Ian Gillan singing lead; with his departure, David Coverdale took over (and Glenn Hughes also replaced Roger Glover on bass), creating the shortlived "Mark III" lineup.

Disenchanted with the direction the band had taken and his divorce, Blackmore quit the band in 1975 after the Stormbringer tour and formed Rainbow. This show, from Graz, Austria, was the third to last show before he left, and while it doesn't compare to Made In Japan, it still has some solid hard rock moments for fans.

By 1975, Blackmore and the rest of the band had grown apart, especially keyboardist Jon Lord and Hughes (whose musical direction Blackmore disliked), and so relations between the quintet were tense. Professionals that they were, Purple never let this seep through on stage; Blackmore in particular seemed to use it as an outlet for his frustration, and the band's interplay was as strong as ever. Still, there was a sense of finality, of an irreparable crack in the foundation, which is why there's a spark mising from this show that is present in much of Deep Purple's music.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

Six of the eight songs are from Burn and Stormbringer, with overly long renditions of "Space Truckin'" and, of course, "Smoke On The Water" to round out the show. The version of "Space" on Made In Japan was long too, and a bit overkill, but still fun in that early ‘70s balls-out rock sort of way. This one takes five minutes of noodling before it gets going and just has little to offer once it does. "Smoke On The Water" is better, especially since the guys had it down to a science at this point.

"Mistreated" is a fascinating beast, 14 minutes that includes a few bars of "Lazy" before seeping into a decadent Zeppelin blues rock crawl. You can actually hear Coverdale honing his Robert Plant impression on stage, which would serve him well a decade later with Whitesnake. The take on "Burn" is incendiary, one heck of a way to begin the show, but "Stormbringer" and "The Gypsy," while played well and loud, just don't have much to offer. "You Fool No One" is the other main highlight, with smoking solos and a tight rhythm section coming together in one teeth-rattling moment of rock glory. Blackmore probably knew this was one of his last shows as a member of this band and he pours himself out on stage.

Evidently, this concert is held in high regard by serious fans as something of a collector's item, so having it available in a remastered, nicely packaged CD is a welcome treat. The moments that work give credence to the forgotten notion that this era of Deep Purple could rock as well as any other, but those moments – thanks largely to the lackluster songwriting and the lack of crowd participation (no cheers for the intro riff to "Smoke On The Water?" Really?) – are few and far between. Worthwhile for the faithful, but hardly necessary for the casual fan.

Rating: C

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


Comments

 








© 2014 Benjamin Ray and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Eagle Rock, and is used for informational purposes only.