MADE IN EUROPE

As far as Deep Purple live albums go, their third one 'Made in Europe' attempted to be as commercially successful is its 1972 predecessor and semi-namesake, featuring recordings from the band's European tour from 1975, with the fantastic MK 3 lineup with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes in the front. While the scope of this live release might generally seem more limited compared to that of 'Made in Japan', the album absolutely manages to present the power and ambition of the band during their 1974-75 period, featuring just five songs from their incredibly strong pair of 1974 albums 'Burn' and 'Stormbringer'. Some of tracks are faithful to the album versions, while others see the extended jamming sections that Purple had become quite notorious for, and the overall impression is of a very solid and recognizable live sound, full of great playing and mesmerizing vocal performances.

Opening up the album with a killer version of their iconic track 'Burn', Purple set an explosive tone for the rest of this rather short release (purposely omitting songs from the previous lineup with Gillan and Glover) - the live version here is an invigorated rendition of the classic track, generally respectful of the original sound and structure of the song. Next up on the tracklist is a recording of the heavy blues number 'Mistreated', the version here is really powerful, with the performance of Coverdale being particularly noteworthy. Glenn Hughes' bass parts are also incredibly animated and upfront, which is a very welcome treat to the audiophile here, his playing shall be lauded for its technicality, precision and energy. The track gets extended by a fine Blackmore solo moment and an interpolation with classic blues number 'Rock Me Baby', here playing an interesting role in the context of the wallowing tones of 'Mistreated'. 'Lady Double Dealer' is excellent, while 'You Fool No One' gets an improvised extension through a Jon Lord solo opening spot, a Ritchie Blackmore string of guitar pyrotechnics, and the inclusion of Ian Paice's drum solo from 'The Mule', concluding the 16-minute-long version. A gorgeous 'Stormbringer' run-through closes off the overall excellent live album, eventually passed through extensive studio editing that had in any case failed to harm the recording's grit and liveliness, indicative of the powerhouse that Deep Purple is as a live act.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to A Crimson Mellotron
• Report this review (#3179786)
• Buy DEEP PURPLE music online with PA partners
• Show all DEEP PURPLE MP3/Stream
• Go to DEEP PURPLE page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Made In Europe page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for DEEP PURPLE related discussions