Deep Purple Albums A Tier

Shaggy discusses and ranks Deep Purple’s studio albums, considering what he considers A Tier albums this time around

[davecrowson]

I kinda forgot about House Of Blue Light. That one was pretty good. Burn is pretty good, and I always liked Perfect Strangers, and my only Deep Purple Show was on that tour. Fantastic. And the opening to Woman From Tokyo is phenomenal.

[baerenonkel]

i haven't listened to them in quite a while, but as for live albums i suggest:

Inglewood 1968 (only heard it once, but it's the only available MK1 live show)
Montreux 1969
Aachen 1970 (just out of control, recorded near my hometown)
Live 1972/1973 (DVD, only full MK2 proshot video)
Made in Japan (obviously)
Deep Purple In Concert (get the version with the complete 1972 show)
California Jam (only full MK3 proshot video)
Live In London (i vastly prefer this to California Jam, better playing and sound)
Made In Europe (not as good as the above, but great versions of Burn, Mistreated and You Fool No One)
as for the Bolin era, i haven't heard either released show in full, but Long Beach is probably preferable to Osaka, where Bolin's arm was paralyzed from a bad dope fix
Stuttgart 1993 (last tour with Blackmore and a legendary show, don't bother with Birmingham, which is where he was too busy throwing a tantrum over the show being filmed)
Montreux 1996 (DVD, a band revitalized, even Gillan sounds really good, very inspired performance)
Royal Albert Hall 2000 (DVD, just a fun, varied watch with lots of guests who actually add to the enjoyment)

[baerenonkel]

Have you heard the Stuttgart 93 Anya? Strong version from a strong show.

Oh and i think Gillan had a bit of a vocal resurgence in the mid to late 90s before he started losing power again.

He didn't sound great in 93, but definitely better than on Knebworth 85 (where he sounds terrible imo).

[baerenonkel]

my problem with Mistreated is that it sounds a bit too "white man blues", this coming from a very very very white guy. the solo is great though.

what are your thoughts on Rainbow's version?

Also, Rainbow's debut was recorded around the same time as Stormbringer.

Come Taste The Band is a bit too "cock rock" in places, but it has some great tracks:

Gettin' Tighter
Drifter (great, grimy rocker with a fantastic riff)
Dealer
Owed To G (what a riff, what a jam)
You Keep On Moving

I recently sold quite a few of my Purple albums (but not before ripping them), simply because i'm pretty sick of most of their output (not that i outright dislike it now, i just heard it too much and my tastes changed). Some i will never sell though (like Made in Japan, Live in London, Now What, self-titled).

My favorite DP album is probably the self-titled one. My favorite DP song at the moment might be Living Wreck. It just sounds so cool.

The Perfect Strangers remaster, though inferior sonically, has an AWESOME bonus track/jam called "Son of Alerik"

[thekivster]

There’s nothing wrong with saying gypsy

[thepoetryofmandycore]

Not every Deep Purple album can live up to a high standard, to be honest