Review by Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
No rating supplied
Just when you think you have heard all of the live Deep Purple albums
and another surfaces. Don't you love it? Well I suppose you would
if you were a big fan like I was. "MKIII The Final Concerts" was originally
titled "Live In Europe." Its actually different recordings from that
same timeframe, but its also the last three days of concerts with
Ritchie Blackmore before he left the group. This group has been around
for so long and have had so many incarnations, it isn't real hard
to imagine that they would have a huge archive of studio and live
tapes hanging around just waiting to grabbed from the shelves to be
remastered and remarketed to their adoring faithful. It works for
me. I am not the only one that gobbles up this stuff, there are many
more out there just like me. I happen to really enjoy
this version of Deep Purple with David Coverdale (vocals) and Glen
Hughes (bass, vocals). They gave the band a good shot of soul and
funk. This however was not to Mr. Blackmore's (the original guitar
player and founding member) liking, he thought that most of the music
they made during that time was garbage. It seems Blackmore thought
the albums 'Burn' and 'Stormbringer' were too funky for his taste.
He would rather be playing pretty music, or hard rock. Well that was
taken care of shortly after this concert was recorded. Blackmore took
off on a nine year venture with his new group Rainbow, which by the
way is a group I really liked, especially the first two albums.
The version of 'Smoke On The Water' on this two-disc set was hard
to swallow. The music was terrific as usual, but it just didn't sound
right with Coverdale singing it, Ian Gillan was sorely missed on that
tune. However, that is the only song on this entire set were I feel
the pre MKIII lineup could have been more appreciated. Everything
from 'Burn' and 'Stormbringer' offered excellent live funky and soulful
versions thanks to Coverdale and Hughes playing off of each other
so well. Hughes seemed to really get in a good groove when Coverdale
was on lead vocals, although you can hear how his bass becomes less
innovative when he is singing lead. That seems like it would be a
perfectly natural transition, there are very few bass players that
can do both at the same time exceptionally well. 'Space Truckin' is
an immensely long song (19:56), and a very interesting one at that. Even
though this was a pre MKIII tune, the new members don't bat an eyelash
and they make it their own. A lot of improvising is done by each member
on their instruments, proving that it didn't matter what state of
mind that band was in or who was in the lineup, they still were one
of the greatest live rock shows on the earth. 'Going Down/Highway
Star' turns into a medley of sorts, and it rocks with plenty of great
guitar licks from Blackmore and some outstanding bass playing by Hughes.
The shining moment for Blackmore is the red-hot closer 'You Fool No
One.' Ritchie's guitar playing is breathtaking, and the band sounded
like they had reached their peak as a live unit. This seems like a
fitting end, and the song is placed perfectly in order ironically.
Maybe Ritchie was fooling no one and everyone did know that he was
on the way out. None of that really matters anymore. This is a great
live Deep Purple album and should waste no time in getting it.
Disc: 1
1. Burn (Blackmore/Coverdale/Lord) - 7:33
2. Stormbringer (Blackmore) - 4:37
3. Gypsy (Blackmore/Coverdale/Hughes/Lord) - 5:39
4. Lady Double Dealer (Blackmore) - 3:53
5. Mistreated (Blackmore) - 12:38
6. Smoke on the Water (Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord) - 10:17
7. You Fool No One (Blackmore/Coverdale/Lord) - 13:21
Disc: 2
1. Space Truckin' (Blackmore/Glover/Lord) - 19:56
2. Going Down/Highway Star (Blackmore/Glover/Lord/Nix) - 15:13
3. Mistreated (Blackmore) - 14:14
4. You Fool No One (Blackmore/Coverdale/Lord) - 12:41
|
