SHADES OF DEEP PURPLE

I entered the Purple catogue in 1971 with "Fireball". It is only during 1973 that I discovered the Mark I era. The core of the band is there : Ritchie, Jon and Ian. The singer Rod Evans will never be at par. His monocord tone is boring at times. It is obvioius here that the influence of Jon Lord is enormous throughout the whole album (and in the Mark I era which is the only one to be related with prog). I must honestly admit that I was quite impressed with their first work. Some fantastic covers ("Hush" - their first hit, "Help" and "Hey Joe" ) in the style of what Yes did it with "America" if you see what I mean. They were more a re-interpretation than a cover. it is quite remarkable to know that the Mark I wxill be very sucessful in the States : "Hush" will reach Nr. 4 in the US and sell more than one million copies while the album will peak at the 24th spot. "And The Address" is a solid piece of instrumental music. "One More Day" starts with a thunderstorm "like" sound and is a melodic ballad. Not really representative of DP's music. It is different with "Prelude" : Jon is fantastic on the keys, and the rythm section is excellent. This intro to "I'm so Glad" is one of the best moments of the album. "Mandrake Root" will be a classic live track (exceeding 15+ minutes - even more than thirty on Scandinavian Nights - with wild improvs). There are some bonus tracks on the remastered version, but frankly they are not really worth (Top Gear version of "Wring that Neck" is above average though). They are live or alternate versions from existing songs. "Shadows" was a left over from the studio sessions. Three stars for this work.