COME TASTE THE BAND

Purple is hardly a real prog band though they sure had their moments with longer compositions like "Burn" and "Highway Star" and "Child In Time". By the time this album came out they were stripped down to originals Lord and Paice but still had that Purple sound. Ian is unmistakable in his drumming and who can possibly mistake Jon Lord's Hammond playing for anyone else? I was a very rebellious teen when this album came out. The first Purple record I had heard was "Burn "and that was quickly followed by "Made In Japan". I heard "Machine Head" next. Then "Stormbringer" came and it definitely had a different sound to it and was not as much a Purple album and was pretty polished production wise which may be why I didn't like it as much.

CTTB for me was a step back into a more gritty rock sound. Bolin is no Blackmore anymore than Blackmore is a Bolin. They are totally different in their styles and methods. I prefer Blackmore any day but Bolin's playing on Billy Cobham's Spectrum shows a great talent. It seems on CTTB he was holding back.

"Comin Home" is one of my favorite tracks and comes shooting out of the barn fast. His solo is a good effort but too controlled. "Getting Tighter" showcases Hughes' voice which to this day (2022) he still hits all the high notes. I liked the guitar riffs in that song as well. "Drifter" sounds like a Purple track and could have had all the Mark II lineup on it. "Medley" was perhaps my favorite tracks on the album with Hughes' soaring vocals followed by an all too rare instrumental.

This album is missing a lot of keyboard playing it seems to me and is largely a guitar album. I disagree it doesn't sound like Purple but it certainly isn't like the Mark II stuff. Sadly this lineup would crumble on its only tour due to Hughes and Bolin being too high on stage. Bolin's playing was getting worse and Hughes' behavior was getting too wild. It led to their last concert with Coverdale saying to Lord and Paice "I quit." The 2 of them responded that he couldn't because there was no more Deep Purple. Sadly Bolin died later that year due to his addiction and Hughes went onto form Hughes-Thrall which burned up due to his and Pat Thrall's addictions. At least he sobered up later.