Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Deep PurpleEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1999-06-22
Music Label: Island / Mercury
Soundtracks:
- Knocking At Your Back Door
- Under The Gun
- Nobody's Home
- Mean Streak
- Perfect Strangers
- A Gypsy's Kiss
- Wasted Sunsets
- Hungry Daze
- Not Responsible
- Son Of Alerik
Free Music Notes for Perfect Strangers
Free Music Review: a resurrected Purple, recaptures the magic perfectly...
Hit: 5 Stars
It was with the legendary Mark II lineup (Ian Gillan/Ritchie Blackmore/Jon Lord/Ian Paice/RogerGlover) that Deep Purple made their commercial breakthrough, and recorded a string of albums that helped define the fledgling hard rock/heavy metal genre in the early 1970's. When internal pressures led to the departure of Gillan and Glover in 1973, it was the end of an era for one of the pioneering bands in hard rock.
The reunion of these five musicians in 1984 was joyous news to Deep Purple fans, as the band had been disbanded since 1976. In Perfect Strangers, the resurrected Purple produced one of their finest albums, returning to form with an updated version of the classic Purple sound. All the members of course played a vital role, but the efforts of Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Gillan are particularly noteworthy.
Gillan's singing style isn't about finesse. He mostly relies on power and emotion to provide the drive for songs. On Perfect Strangers he doesn't go for the screaming high end, but his vocals are rock solid throughout the album. Blackmore's guitar playing is wonderful and inspired, quite simply the spark that drives the entire album. His solos are often incendiary, from the blazing speed on A Gypsy's Kiss, to the emotional string bending slow burn of Wasted Sunsets. Blackmore's guitar sound with Rainbow during the Joe Lynn Turner period had become a bit thin, but the trademark Blackmore sound is back nice and thick here. Jon Lord is of course a big part of Purple's sound, and unlike the keyboard players in Rainbow, Lord's isn't going to be overshadowed by Ritchie's guitar. As it was in the early days, the interplay between Lord and Blackmore brings out the best in each man.
Knocking At Your Back Door, opens with Lord's ominous organ, leading to an unusual "snake charmer" type chord progression. It's the same Purple sound, but the quality and depth of musicianship has grown. Blackmore is busy playing some chunky rhythm fills and his solo doesn't come until the 3:40 mark. It's dark, mean, and nasty, stinging like a whip. Feel it coming, now you know the score, Deep Purple is back!
The audio assault continues with Under The Gun, an aggressive track with plenty of Lord's organ, Glover's bass, and Paice's always steady drumming. As in the past, when Blackmore's enthusiasm for playing rhythm wanes a bit, the others step up to fill the void. Blackmore does delivers more blistering lead work, as his guitar wails and moans on this track. Gillan's snarling vocals highlight the percussion heavy Nobody's Home, a bouncy song that features some unusual tempos and rhythms. This is creative stuff, with Blackmore's teaser leading into Lord's organ solo, leaving Ritchie with an extended outro solo.
Mean Streak is also aggressive, and features an extended guitar solo, but still seems to lack a spark. The title track Perfect Strangers is kind of like Purple's version of Kashmir. The main riff is simple and repetitive, and doesn't give Gillan much room, but he makes it work. The secondary main theme that finishes off the tune is very solid and rhythmic, giving the tune an atmosphere of mystery and adventure.
Speedy and energetic, A Gypsy's Kiss is one of the album's highlights. Lord's organ is predominate leading into the classically influenced solo break, which is a masterful fusion of Blackmore's guitar and Lord's Hammond. This is the magical interplay that had been missing for so long. At the other end of the spectrum is Wasted Sunsets, a slow tune with little evidence of rhythm guitar, that becomes a showcase for Blackmore's winding and emotional solo guitar work. Gillan's tight emotional vocal performance helps propel the song that shows the band's sensitive side.
Hungry Daze is another aggressive tune with some speed and momentum, where the band keeps things interesting by changing tempos in the middle. A bonus track when the album was first issued on CD, featuring some spicy guitar playing, Not Responsible should have been on the original vinyl record. Son Of Alerik, is a second bonus track added in subsequent editions of the CD. It is a meandering bluesy instrumental reminiscent of the kind of spacey live jams Deep Purple was known for in the 1970's, with Lord and Blackmore trading leads. It's cool to have, though it may not quite fit in with tone of the rest of the songs.
On Perfect Strangers, Deep Purple bring a new energy to their music. Together again, there is much that is familiar, but the members have all grown as musicians and people, and that is reflected in the material. Produced by mainly by Roger Glover, the music is still powerful, but displays a maturity that wasn't possible before. The album is essential for any fan of the band, and highly recommended to fans of hard rock.
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