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Deep Purple - Live in London CD (album) cover

LIVE IN LONDON

Deep Purple

Proto-Prog


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ZowieZiggy
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars "This band has been called the loudest band in the world" : this is the intro anouncement of this live album. Needless to say that we won't enjoy a lot of prog here. But what a great hard rock concert ! Recorded live on 22nd May 1974 at Kilburn State Gaumont in London for the BBC "In Concert" series. I saw the "Burn" tour in Forest National, Belgium in December 1973 and it was quite a good concert (read my review for "Burn" for details about this concert). Only two Purple anthems from the previous tour (MIJ). This record has been considered as a boot for quite a long time. The sound quality is great because it has been broadcasted on the radio.

The best tracks from the album "Burn" are here : "Burn" of course as the opener (what a pity than Gillan never wanted to sing that one !), "Lay Down, Stay Down" and "Mistreated" of course. The latter one is quite expanded on this live version (over eleven minutes) and is the very highlight of this live set (together with "Burn"); no wonder since they were also the best two songs from the studio album. Ritchie is fabulous here. This fantastic blues/rock can only be compared to "Since I've Been Loving You" : great vocals, superb guitar solo (this comparison applies for both studio and live performances). A piece of anthology. There is also a version of "Might Just Take Your Life" which was one of their weakest track on the album but that is working pretty fine here : faster and harder.

From Mark II, we get "Smoke On The Water" which is introduced by Jon Lord. He presents each member of the band and then as the last one himself as "Rick Emerson" considering himself being half a Rick Wakeman and half a Keith Emerson ! This version is faster than any other one from Mark II. Not bad at all (although the end has nothing to do with the original track and is a bluesy vocal highlight). This end will be a classical for Mark III, showing the great bluesy voice from Glenn. "You Fool No One" 's intro from Jon is similar to the "Lazy" one on MIJ before the track really starts (after four minutes). It is pure violence : drumming, organ and guitar are HUGE. It ends up with a short part of "The Mule" from "Fireball". If you have a headache when getting up after a long night, I would not recommend you to listen to this one. You've been warned ! On the vinyl edition, the last track "Space Trackin" was cut off due to the lack of ... space ! It is only available on a CD version (which was available through Japan import). If you think that the maximum was reached in terms of lenght on Made In Japan, well you have to revise your opinion : Mark III willl expand it to 25-30 minutes ! (which is quite dispensable). On this double CD version, it clock at 29'54" (yes, man : half an hour). It starts almost like in the Paris concert (recorded in 1975 but released in ... 2004) : with "A Space Odissey" introduction before the track really starts after four minutes. A bit of "Child In Time" as well around minute nine. And a long, very long (too long really) boring impro. Then a bit of "The Mule" - only a few seconds - around minute twenty-four. All in all a good live moment from the Purple (except "Space"). Three stars.

Report this review (#106080)
Posted Friday, January 5, 2007 | Review Permalink
Easy Livin
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
2 stars Squeezing a quart into a pint pot (some of us went out to Montreaux)

This album was originally released in 1982 as a single LP. Since the notation in the corner of the sleeve proclaims that it contains "over 57 minutes of heavy rockin' music", an immediate and accurate assumption can be made about the sound quality of the vinyl. This was eventually addressed in 2003, when the album was made available on CD.

The live performances actually date from a BBC "In concert" recorded 1974 in Kilburn, North London. The line up is therefore the mark III one, with Gillan and Glover out and Coverdale and Hughes in. Although the gig was recorded by the BBC, it was not a special performance for television, but part of a lengthy tour of the United Kingdom.

The whole of the first side contains tracks from the then current album "Burn", the first by this line up. Indeed, the first three tracks simply mirror the first three on "Burn", the fourth being Blackmore's wonderful "Mistreated". A long version of "You fool no one" from the same album appears on side 2, along with the only nod to the previous line up in "Smoke on the water". The gig was rounded off with what the LP sleeve describes as an "overlong" version of "Space truckin", which is omitted from the LP, but finally appears on the CD release.

While the sound quality of the live recordings seems to be pretty good, it is totally destroyed by the amount of compression required to get almost 60 minutes of loud music onto a single LP.

In terms of the musical content, the renditions on side one are unadventurous, by and large repeating the performances on "Burn". After an unnecessarily long (for an LP) band members introduction and a couple of brief false starts, side two bursts forth with a spirited rendition of "Smoke on the water". I must admit it does sound rather strange hearing anyone but Ian Gillan singing "We all came out to Montreaux". Coverdale and Hughes make a decent job of the song though, giving it a slightly funky feel. "You fool no one", yet another track from "Burn" closes the LP. The song is substantially elongated through a guitar jam, drum solo, and a wander into "The mule" (from "Fireball"). While it is good to see the new line up developing their songs, this is really just an excuse for the old guard to indulge themselves while avoiding the need to dip too deeply into the older material.

The set list will appeal to those who feel that work of the mark III line up has been unjustly overlooked over the years. Admittedly, it is good to hear a live Deep Purple album which differs substantially from the many others available, but my strong preference is to stick to the fine studio album from which the tracks are taken.

Report this review (#123570)
Posted Sunday, May 27, 2007 | Review Permalink
3 stars My first Purple album ever!

My old pal Maurício (my rockn'roll teacher) had tld me about a bunch of old guys that rock as harder as Zep with the Strange name Deep Purple. Once in an old vynyl shp I found a K-7 of this baby and bught without having the most slightly idead of what it could sound. Back in home put in the sound system and was shocked by Burn. Never had listened anything remotely heavy and so beautiful before. It was a kind of religious experience and from then on Ritchie Blackmore became my fav axe player.

Over the years I met Mk II and I (the only Purples that matters IMO) and could realize the power of this unique band. Although I recognize that MIJ is THE Purple live album (and the most important live album of heavy rock in all its vertents) I'll never forget Live in London. The Mk III will always live in my heart not only because it was with them that I made my first contact with DP but also because of their talent to create an unique language within a band with so much history behind it. I know it will never happen but a Mk III (almost full) reunion could be possible since some years ago when Lord resigned. Imagine a show, a single one, with Blackmore, Hughes, Coverdale and Lord together with a soulful drummer trying his best to emulate Paice! They are old but I feel it could rock really hard. But there are too many egos (Ritchie and David) preventing this dream of coming true.

Progginess: there's nothing prog in this album unless live impro could be named as "prog". 2 stars

Value per se: 5 stars easy.

Generl rating: 3 stars.

Report this review (#211794)
Posted Sunday, April 19, 2009 | Review Permalink
Wicket
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Definitely one of my more favorite Deep Purple recordings.

The humor is more prevalent here than most other shows, which is why in some cases I prefer this over "Made In Japan", and I, like many other reviewers, consider that record to be one of the finest live recordings ever.

However, it is a "best of" the three sets in Japan, which is why I prefer the "Live In Japan" set that contains all three sets.

I've always had an interest in Deep Purple's music because of their jam tendencies, which is why this particular set appeals to me more than the "California Jamming" record. The energy is clear from the start with "Burn", continues with a good version of "Mistreated" and follows up with a humorous intro to "Smoke On The Water", followed by the piece de resistance, 51 minutes and 26 seconds of pure excellence.

A 20-and-a-half minute long "You Fool No One" begins with an excellent solo by Jon Lord, followed by the actual song coupled by Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Pace solos. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't a segue to "Space Truckin'", but it was fine anyway, as this single song, this single performance is the epitome of the jam, beginning with the "Space Odyssey" intro and ending with plenty of room for improv jams and the like.

All in all, behind "Made In Japan" (simply because the quality, all the work to spiff and glitz it up), this is the next best live recording I've ever heard, simply because this is an endurance record. Yes, it is the MK III lineup, but the instrumentation here is still top notch and any Deep Purple fan would be thoroughly entertained with this record.

Report this review (#515314)
Posted Monday, September 5, 2011 | Review Permalink

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