The Album Review Club - Week #191 (page 1286) - Harlequin Dream - Boy & Bear

Besides "Smoke On The Water" & "Strange Kind Of Woman" the rest were new to me. I am sure that I would have heard my brother having this belting out of his room when young, but nothing else stuck with me.

I was taken with some of the reminiscences by others in relation to this with the patchouli oil. I drifted back to December '82 and Whitesnake at Deeside Leisure Centre, a cold crisp night awash in denim and patchouli oil...and with added Jon Lord that night.

I can see why so many hold this album in such high regard as the musicianship and energy come through the recording. I loved Jerry Lee @ The Star Club and of course Stop Making Sense, both of which I would say are on a par with this. I also think it highlights what can be done with a live album and something that was missing with the Embrace live offering. So much is in the recording and production of it. Despite this being so long ago, the effort put in to capturing their live sound/energy, was well worth it.

From my first listens to this I share the views of @mrbelfry that the weakest ones for me are "Child in Time" & "the Mule". I'm afraid that that drum "solo" will simply make me skip the track on next listens. Also a case of for me the stand out track being "Lazy". it having so much more to it.

Blackmore obviously a talent but I think it is Jon Lord that enhances this album so much. I did also wonder whether Mr Gillan had an easy ride here, as so much of this is about the musicianship rather than the vocals.
 
LGWIO said:
Besides "Smoke On The Water" & "Strange Kind Of Woman" the rest were new to me. I am sure that I would have heard my brother having this belting out of his room when young, but nothing else stuck with me.

I was taken with some of the reminiscences by others in relation to this with the patchouli oil. I drifted back to December '82 and Whitesnake at Deeside Leisure Centre, a cold crisp night awash in denim and patchouli oil...and with added Jon Lord that night.

I can see why so many hold this album in such high regard as the musicianship and energy come through the recording. I loved Jerry Lee @ The Star Club and of course Stop Making Sense, both of which I would say are on a par with this. I also think it highlights what can be done with a live album and something that was missing with the Embrace live offering. So much is in the recording and production of it. Despite this being so long ago, the effort put in to capturing their live sound/energy, was well worth it.

From my first listens to this I share the views of @mrbelfry that the weakest ones for me are "Child in Time" & "the Mule". I'm afraid that that drum "solo" will simply make me skip the track on next listens. Also a case of for me the stand out track being "Lazy". it having so much more to it.

Blackmore obviously a talent but I think it is Jon Lord that enhances this album so much. I did also wonder whether Mr Gillan had an easy ride here, as so much of this is about the musicianship rather than the vocals.
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As Chesterbells highlighted, Blackmore was the star of Deep Purple. Jon Lord was brilliant though, without doubt the greatest exponent of the Hammond organ. The interplay between the two was telepathic.

I am pretty sure I have seen Lord and Gillan both describe Ritchie as a genius.

The album does give a lot of space to the musicians but Gillan’s vocal contribution is superb, despite his own reservations about it. That really comes across on the surround sound version.
 
I think that listening to this album might have given me a little insight into what it's like for opposition fans watching their team be eviscerated by peak Pep's City at the Etihad.

Personally I love it. Watching City at the Etihad that is, from my seat in the third tier watching it all unfold from on high, the patience in the build up, the pre match rondos in an actual match situation, encountering and overcoming the low block with precision and skill. And it's gratifying when opposition fans have to grudgingly acknowledge our technical brilliance allied with irresistable flair. They don't have to like it though... but having made the effort to get there, more in hope than expectation...

And so we come to the technically brilliant combined talents of Deep Purple. If you're a home fan here then you probably love it. I've come to this up the motorway and struggled through unfamiliarity with the area to find a parking space. Or something like that.

I have to acknowledge, albeit grudgingly, that this is technically brilliant. Well I assume it is. Even the drum solo is probably technically brilliant but to slaughter an anology, it's akin to halting one of our football masterclasses to allow Phil Foden to do ten minutes of keepie uppies while everyone else goes for a glass of orange and a jaffa cake...

Leaving that aside. I have been exposed to some Deep Purple when I was younger (I got taken to Old Trafford to watch that lot as well). I think it was 24 carat purple which is kind of the equivalent of watching a compilation video of George Best, it couldn't fail to excite in some ways. But I never became a red and I never became a fan of heavy rock. Even though even I would admit that Deep Purple have had some success...

This album bored me. And I do like live albums with extended versions and noodlings. Live Dead and the Song Remains the Same come to mind (although I haven't voluntarily listened to either for many years and yes, TSRTS does also have a drum solo).

The positives? Well Smoke on the Water and Child in Time are good songs. I didn't mind the histrionics on the latter to some extent and the former tells a good tale which I haven't really listened to properly before. Not much else on this album seems anything other than standard heavy rock fare. Highway Star isn't a great start.

Part way through Space Truckin', (I was driving), I checked how long there was to go and found there was another ten minutes despite it already being interminably long. I'm not one for leaving a game before the end, even when the result is already well established and the players have effectively started their warm down during the match but sometimes you do wonder what is the point of the time added on at the end. I'm afraid this one did have me heading for the bus while the die hards were waiting to applaud the team off...

I can see, or rather hear, why this is conisdered to be so good by it's fans and by some who are more generous than me. In acknowledging it's technical brilliance with occasional irresistable flair while saying it also bored me I have to concede that this is going to find itself near the top of the league when all the results are in. I can't score it less than a 6 because it doesn't meet my criteria for low scores by being either cynical or perfunctory.
 
journolud said:
I think that listening to this album might have given me a little insight into what it's like for opposition fans watching their team be eviscerated by peak Pep's City at the Etihad.

Personally I love it. Watching City at the Etihad that is, from my seat in the third tier watching it all unfold from on high, the patience in the build up, the pre match rondos in an actual match situation, encountering and overcoming the low block with precision and skill. And it's gratifying when opposition fans have to grudgingly acknowledge our technical brilliance allied with irresistable flair. They don't have to like it though... but having made the effort to get there, more in hope than expectation...

And so we come to the technically brilliant combined talents of Deep Purple. If you're a home fan here then you probably love it. I've come to this up the motorway and struggled through unfamiliarity with the area to find a parking space. Or something like that.

I have to acknowledge, albeit grudgingly, that this is technically brilliant. Well I assume it is. Even the drum solo is probably technically brilliant but to slaughter an anology, it's akin to halting one of our football masterclasses to allow Phil Foden to do ten minutes of keepie uppies while everyone else goes for a glass of orange and a jaffa cake...

Leaving that aside. I have been exposed to some Deep Purple when I was younger (I got taken to Old Trafford to watch that lot as well). I think it was 24 carat purple which is kind of the equivalent of watching a compilation video of George Best, it couldn't fail to excite in some ways. But I never became a red and I never became a fan of heavy rock. Even though even I would admit that Deep Purple have had some success...

This album bored me. And I do like live albums with extended versions and noodlings. Live Dead and the Song Remains the Same come to mind (although I haven't voluntarily listened to either for many years and yes, TSRTS does also have a drum solo).

The positives? Well Smoke on the Water and Child in Time are good songs. I didn't mind the histrionics on the latter to some extent and the former tells a good tale which I haven't really listened to properly before. Not much else on this album seems anything other than standard heavy rock fare. Highway Star isn't a great start.

Part way through Space Truckin', (I was driving), I checked how long there was to go and found there was another ten minutes despite it already being interminably long. I'm not one for leaving a game before the end, even when the result is already well established and the players have effectively started their warm down during the match but sometimes you do wonder what is the point of the time added on at the end. I'm afraid this one did have me heading for the bus while the die hards were waiting to applaud the team off...

I can see, or rather hear, why this is conisdered to be so good by it's fans and by some who are more generous than me. In acknowledging it's technical brilliance with occasional irresistable flair while saying it also bored me I have to concede that this is going to find itself near the top of the league when all the results are in. I can't score it less than a 6 because it doesn't meet my criteria for low scores by being either cynical or perfunctory.
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That’s a great review with a nice central metaphor that you keep running nicely for its duration. You just missed the textual equivalent of the 16-minute coda.
 
Made In Japan – Deep Purple

Reading @journolud ’s review last night had me nodding my head more often than at the music we are reviewing. It’s not that it’s bad; in fact for the most part, it’s very good, but there’s something about Made in Japan that I don’t quite get.

Loads of guitars, monstrous slabs of Hammond, so what’s not to like? Well, I could just keep it simple and say that it’s the drums, but it’s probably more than that. I think that, for me, this album breaks down into the good, the OK and the tedious. Admittedly, not a snappy film title for a spaghetti western, but it just about sums up my experience of listening to Deep Purple live.

“Highway Star” is excellent. It runs a little longer but feels very similar to the studio version. Lots of splashes of Hammond and a killer solo. Whilst “Child In Time” is a long song, Jon Lord’s Hammond solo is great again as is Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar.

“Smoke On The Water” is unquestionably a fabulous song, It’s got that killer riff and it’s actually about something with lyrcs that draw you into the story. Again, it’s similar to the studio version but a bit weird at the start and the lack of familiarity messes with the brain. Of course, in 1972, that riff won’t have been embedded in people’s memory so might not have sounded so off-kilter. Once again, Jon Lord’s Hammond solo is stupendous.

“The Mule” is where the wheels come off. This is a track that I could quite happily never hear again. Technically, like painting a huge iron bridge using a broken fingernail in place of a paintbrush, I’m sure it’s great achievement, but as a listening experience, it’s lacking something. I just want to skip to the next song. For me, drums should keep the beat. A little clatter and breakdown here and there, fine. But this is just plain boring.

“Strange Kind Of Woman” is fine and in general, so is “Lazy”, which has some nice playful guitar and Hammond solos.

“Space Truckin’” displays some nice groovy bits but all that stuff in the middle loses me, I’m afraid. It’s worth noting that the original track on Machine Head is just over four-and-a-half minutes long and all the better for it. I think the old filmmakers editing adage applies here: arrive late and leave early.

There’s a fine line between creating an engaging instrumental and just dicking around. For me, this strays into the latter territory more than once. I was just listening to “Telegraph Road” by Dire Straits on the 1982 playlist: 13 minutes and not a second seemed wasted. In comparison, there are large parts of the 79-minute running time that could have been left out. But this is a live album, I hear you cry, would you not expect lengthy versions of studio songs? Yes, of course. But that’s why I think live albums are generally good (a) if you were there or (b) if the songs recorded are far superior to the studio versions.

As part of this week’s listening, I also watched a Deep Purple documentary as well as listening to In Rock and Machine Head. Whilst I do love a good instrumental passage, especially on guitar or organ, I found these studio albums to be superior to Made in Japan, which probably means that the amount of soloing on offer in the studio is just right for me, but plenty of others enjoy the longer form.

Thanks to @OB1 for a great nomination. I did enjoy most of it, but for the reasons noted above, I’ll stick with a relatively modest 7/10.
 
Highway Star.
Not a fan of long drawn out songs with guitar solos and drums part as i get older.Led Zep and Grateful Dead come to mind as groups I liked a lot better 20 years ago.
Three tracks on this i didn't mind.
Highway Star,Smoke on the Water and Strange Kind of Woman the versions on this record i loved.

The other 4 tracks with the screeching vocals,long guitar solos drum solos I cannot be bothered with and even some of the keyboard work was far too long for my tastes now.
If I had heard this back in my teenage years I would have probably scored this an 8 but the older I get long overblown solos annoy me
Can only mark this 6 but back in my teenage years would more than likely gave this an 8.
Good pick but I will listen to the studio version in the coming days to see if they are shorter and better than the live versions here. 6

Hard to believe this is my first Deep Purple album I have listened too.
 
RobMCFC said:
Made In Japan – Deep Purple

Reading @journolud ’s review last night had me nodding my head more often than at the music we are reviewing. It’s not that it’s bad; in fact for the most part, it’s very good, but there’s something about Made in Japan that I don’t quite get.

Loads of guitars, monstrous slabs of Hammond, so what’s not to like? Well, I could just keep it simple and say that it’s the drums, but it’s probably more than that. I think that, for me, this album breaks down into the good, the OK and the tedious. Admittedly, not a snappy film title for a spaghetti western, but it just about sums up my experience of listening to Deep Purple live.

“Highway Star” is excellent. It runs a little longer but feels very similar to the studio version. Lots of splashes of Hammond and a killer solo. Whilst “Child In Time” is a long song, Jon Lord’s Hammond solo is great again as is Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar.

“Smoke On The Water” is unquestionably a fabulous song, It’s got that killer riff and it’s actually about something with lyrcs that draw you into the story. Again, it’s similar to the studio version but a bit weird at the start and the lack of familiarity messes with the brain. Of course, in 1972, that riff won’t have been embedded in people’s memory so might not have sounded so off-kilter. Once again, Jon Lord’s Hammond solo is stupendous.

“The Mule” is where the wheels come off. This is a track that I could quite happily never hear again. Technically, like painting a huge iron bridge using a broken fingernail in place of a paintbrush, I’m sure it’s great achievement, but as a listening experience, it’s lacking something. I just want to skip to the next song. For me, drums should keep the beat. A little clatter and breakdown here and there, fine. But this is just plain boring.

“Strange Kind Of Woman” is fine and in general, so is “Lazy”, which has some nice playful guitar and Hammond solos.

“Space Truckin’” displays some nice groovy bits but all that stuff in the middle loses me, I’m afraid. It’s worth noting that the original track on Machine Head is just over four-and-a-half minutes long and all the better for it. I think the old filmmakers editing adage applies here: arrive late and leave early.

There’s a fine line between creating an engaging instrumental and just dicking around. For me, this strays into the latter territory more than once. I was just listening to “Telegraph Road” by Dire Straits on the 1982 playlist: 13 minutes and not a second seemed wasted. In comparison, there are large parts of the 79-minute running time that could have been left out. But this is a live album, I hear you cry, would you not expect lengthy versions of studio songs? Yes, of course. But that’s why I think live albums are generally good (a) if you were there or (b) if the songs recorded are far superior to the studio versions.

As part of this week’s listening, I also watched a Deep Purple documentary as well as listening to In Rock and Machine Head. Whilst I do love a good instrumental passage, especially on guitar or organ, I found these studio albums to be superior to Made in Japan, which probably means that the amount of soloing on offer in the studio is just right for me, but plenty of others enjoy the longer form.

Thanks to @OB1 for a great nomination. I did enjoy most of it, but for the reasons noted above, I’ll stick with a relatively modest 7/10.
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I had this album back in the day as well as Machine Head and Fireball. I haven’t listened to it again three times so I won’t score. They were never my favourite band and I always got the impression they could write some banging riffs but their songs didn’t show much progression - listen to the first minute and you have the song. Undoubtedly good/great musicians but not my favourites.
 
English Teacher have released a remix album. This will give a chance for the haters to reassess if they so desired. I've not listened so can neither deny or confirm that there are any 20 minute drum solos

 
mrbelfry said:
English Teacher have released a remix album. This will give a chance for the haters to reassess if they so desired. I've not listened so can neither deny or confirm that there are any 20 minute drum solos

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I’m Looking forward to their gig next month.
 
mrbelfry said:
Albert Hall on November 20th. It's a nice venue to be honest. Even though it has a capacity of over 2,000 it still feels small

Home - Albert Hall

Albert Hall is a forgotten Wesleyan chapel in the centre of Manchester, restored and resurrected as an unrivalled events venue.
www.alberthallmanchester.com www.alberthallmanchester.com
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Ahh, Manchester. About to say London Albert Hall many a time.
That’ll be good.
I’m seeing them at the Roundhouse, London.
 
It must have been about 1980. I remember sitting in my mate’s bedroom as we did back then, in the days long before mancaves, home offices and suchlike even became a thing. And he put this on: Made In Japan. I knew little of Deep Purple then, or most rock bands. I was still finding my way musically as listening opportunities were limited to whatever your peer group had in their respective collections.

My first impression was one of astonishment. The first track, Highway Star, is one of four from the classic Machine Head album that makes it onto this double album of just seven live cuts. Roger Glover’s driving Rickenbacker bass allows the others to stretch out throughout the album, and do they! Especially Ritchie Blackmore. Love him or hate him, there is no denying the man’s genius. His solo on Highway Star is sublime.

Child In Time not only features Gillan’s famous screams but Jon Lord’s intricate keyboard work. A performance of the same song was filmed at Manchester’s Granada Studios in July 1970 (see link) and is a go-to for many young people’s YouTube reaction videos. The performance is jaw-droppingly good, not just for the music or the interplay between the five musicians but because you can actually see how they played it, close-up and personal, with particular emphasis on Lord’s virtuosity.

My overriding memory of that Saturday evening long ago was the call and response section featuring Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Gillan during Strange Kind Of Woman which, to this day, remains one of my favourite Deep Purple songs. I’d never heard anything like it before and Gillan shines, although he claimed on its release that his voice was off and he hated the album!

Millions disagreed and bought what was a cut price album on its worldwide release, although the band themselves hadn’t wanted it releasing outside of Japan.

There was also the bum note during the famous introduction to Smoke On The Water, although Purple fans disagree to this day about whether this was a genuine mistake or Blackmore, well, Blackmore - being deliberately mischievous/awkward such is his God-given talent. No-one knows and, par for the course, he’s never said.

Another Machine Head track that made it on to the set list was Lazy, which is mainly instrumental but a musical tour de force in particular for Lord and Blackmore, with Gillan appearing only fleetingly with two short verses.

They recorded Made In Japan only a matter of months after Machine Head’s release and they had matured as musicians, but cracks were appearing, leading this legendary Mark 2 line-up to split acrimoniously less than a year later having made their final appearance together in Osaka, ironically.

It would be another 12 years before they played again. Some bands are for listening to and some you have to see; for me Deep Purple were in the latter category. I saw them with this same line-up in 1985 at Knebworth for the long-awaited comeback. As great as they were, Gillan’s voice was understandably shot. While they had assembled the biggest lighting and sound rigs ever seen or heard in the UK, because of bad weather Gillan couldn’t have: “everything louder than everything else!” Until that is, halfway through Space Truckin’ when someone whacked the sound up and it felt and sounded like the end of days so loud was it. I have never heard anything so loud again in the intervening 40 years!

It’s a toss-up between Space Truckin’ and The Mule as to which is the weakest track on Made In Japan. Not that either are bad songs, but any 20-minute Space Truckin’ is best experienced in person and if you’re listening to The Mule live, you’re probably in the toilet as drummer Ian Paice’s showcases his undoubted talents with a drum solo.

There are no overdubs here as found on, say, Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains The Same and Thin Lizzy’s equally misnomered album Live And Dangerous. The song didn’t remain the same and Thin Lizzy weren’t entirely live! Made In Japan’s only concession to editing was that the album was a confection of the best tracks from three different concerts in two Japanese cities: Tokyo and Osaka.

All the tracks from the three concerts this live album was culled from are available to buy/listen to now and as soon as I get the time I’ll listen to the lot. Again! But for me, Made in Japan was not only the highwater mark for Deep Purple Mark 2, but that of live rock albums in general. Since I first listened to it 45 summers ago, I’ve never heard another live rock album anything near as good.

Child In Time, Manchester 1970
 
The album then.

It's the right length but seems too long due to the incessant noodling. I like all of the songs in their normal form but weirdly I'm getting put off by the extras on here be they a drum, guitar or anything else solo.

Highway Star is a doozy of a song, always been one of my favourites of theirs, and it's pretty similar to the album version, not much added noodling. Smoke On Water is an extra 2 mins long, no idea why...oh yes...noodling. The Mule, which on Fireball is a lovely 5 odd minutes has nearly been doubled in size...

Now I appreciate if I had seen this live I'd be bobbing along, shoe gazing, head nodding but at home, in my room, with my vinyl, it's annoying.

Apart from that it's a masterclass of playing. Jon Lord especially. But they all chip in with near virtuoso performances. If only they had reigned the noodling in a tad. It's more like a jam session at times.

It gets a 7. Machine Head would have got a 9.
 
RobMCFC said:
“Smoke On The Water” is unquestionably a fabulous song, It’s got that killer riff and it’s actually about something with lyrcs that draw you into the story. Again, it’s similar to the studio version but a bit weird at the start and the lack of familiarity messes with the brain. Of course, in 1972, that riff won’t have been embedded in people’s memory so might not have sounded so off-kilter.
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In doing my own "noodling around" whilst listening I think it stated that the recording of SOTW used was the only one on the Japan dates where he played what was closest to the album intro for the song. Certainly the mindset of a genius simply doing exactly what he wants because he knows he can get away with it.

Goes without saying from a band POV that this is an ensemble piece but with Blackmore being the first amongst equals. However, as much of a genius as he may be, being let off the leash on stage I think he does perhaps go a little too far. Then again, that is exactly what the adoring public who come to see their heroes want.

It is also nice when something with one of these selections just hits right. When timing and tune synch up. Like the image of Foggy crossing the Golden Gate listening to Heliosphan, I was going over the Glenshane at 5 am this morning as "Space Truckin" kicked in. Pitch black, no other cars, so no more light and DP going for it. Couldn't help but turn it up and enjoy the "Space".

A bunch of very talented boys who showed that what you heard on vinyl could be replicated by them outside of the studio...and even bettered. That is if you enjoy a bit of "noodling". I think they could go far!

After another enjoyable listen on the way in to work (as I skipped The Mule) the day was made all the more special by encountering 3 legends of NI music in the space of an afternoon, Philomena Begley, Hugo Duncan and then Micky Bradley.

Once again I have had my musical experience enhanced by this thread with something that I probably wouldn't have bothered with. You cannot help but marvel at the skills of Blackmore and Lord, with the others being on a slightly less lofty pedestal. An enjoyable (if lengthy) listen and a 7 from the Derry jury.
 
I first heard Made in Japan in about '78, enhanced by a spliff-induced haze!

I've probably listened to it hundreds of times since, but nothing can compare with that experience - it was a definite 11 at the time; I can remember to this day the awe I felt hearing Gillan's iconic scream for the first time on CIT.

However, as I can never hope to replicate that original experience, I'm giving it a solid 9.
 
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