CD Review: Deep Purple - Phoenix Rising (CD/DVD)

Written by Ray Dunkle Monday, 06 June 2011 14:04

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Artist: Deep Purple
Title: Phoenix Rising
Genre: Hard Rock
Release Date: 20th May 2011
Label: earMUSIC/Edel

Album Review

I don’t think that DEEP PURPLE need of any particular introductions. They are one of the cornerstones of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal with a tremendous culture impact. To give an example of that if the band had a couple of pounds for every young musician trying to learn the ‘Smoke On The Water’ on the guitar they would have been billionaires by now. And if for the songs in this CD I will put a 10 it’ll not be so for the whole concept. Therefore I’ll state my opinion for the product.

For that the company took half of the ‘Last Concert in Japan’ (1977), released much later on with better sound as ‘This Time Around: Live In Tokyo’ (2001) and half of the ‘On the Wings of a Russian Foxbat: Live in California’ (1976), they cleaned the sound even more and voila! They’ve also added a DVD with interviews and synced live footage, with the band members mostly commenting on the songs, the concerts and some gigs from the Mark IV period (1975-1976). And though one might find them interesting in their own right, personally I don’t, especially after watching ‘Anvil! The Story of Anvil’ and ‘Some Kind of Monster’. Besides the unavoidable feeling of nostalgia (for their hardcore fans) the DVD doesn’t build an emotional connection with the viewers like the aforementioned documentaries where everyone was able to see the musicians from all angles. It is mainly a linear chronological narrative of the band’s last world tour and kudos should be given to Hughes for saving this DVD from absolute oblivion. Besides his honesty what else is left?

Truth be told, there is a part where the problems DEEP PURPLE faced at the time are described, be it from the drugs and Blackmore’s adiós muchachos to the problems they had in Indonesia. It covers how the band split in 1976 and the tensions and disagreements within the band are absent from it. The DVD presents the whole crisis is a consequence of Hughes’s and Bolin’s addictions. Yet, the fact that both of them were at the time drug addicts had little to do with the decision of splitting the band. The band could easily replace them. Yet they chose not to. One of the most interesting things in the DVD is the ‘Indonesian Nightmare’ where they describe Suharto’s regime in Indonesia and the state of fear the dictator had established to his country and whoever visited it. The problem of this release is that besides the ultra fans who would want to collect everything? Who else has the time and the mood watching stories long forgotten by now?


Tracklist

CD
01. Burn (Longbeach) – 8:09
02. Gettin’ Tighter (Japan) – 15:04
03. Love Child (Japan) – 4:23
04. Smoke On The Water (Japan) / Georgia On My mind (Japan) – 9:29
05. Lazy (Longbeach) – 11:49
06. Homeward Strut (Longbeach) – 5:44
07. You Keep On Moving (Japan) – 5:44
08. Stormbringer (Longbeach) – 9:47

DVD
01. Burn
02. Love Child
03. Smoke On The Water
04. You Keep On Moving
05. Highway Star Deep Purple
06. Interview With Jon Lord And Gleen Hughes (Jakarta, December 1975)
07. Come Taste The Band Electronic Press Kit
08. Introduction
09. The Demise Of MK II
10. The Birth Of MK III
11. The Making Of Burn
12. The California Jam 1974
13. Stormbringer
14. Sunbury Music Festival 1975
15. Glenn Hughes ­ Troubled Times
16. Drugs Become An Issue
17. Ritchie Blackmore Leaves The Band
18. Tommy Bolin Deep Purple
19. Come Taste The Band
20. Drugs Become A Problem
21. Glenn Hughes In Rehabilitation
22. MK IV On Tour
23. Indonesian Nightmare
14. Rising Over Japan
25. The Final MK IV Shows
26. Credits Deep Purple


Line-up (during the MK IV period)

David Coverdale - Lead vocals
Tommy Bolin- Guitar, vocals, bass, piano
Glenn Hughes - Bass, vocals
Jon Lord - Organ, synthesizer, backing vocals
Ian Paice - Drums, percussion


Websites

http://www.deeppurple.com/


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 10
Sound: 9
DVD: 7
Total: 8.5 / 10