80's Blackmore/ Purple

[killerbananas]

I've been listening to the bootleg series from the 80s lately, and sadly have to say that, IMO, Purple and Blackmore was crap back then! Blackmores guitarsound at the time was below awful, and his playing was mostly pure crap! Sorry, but that's what it sounds like to me. It's quite clear, listening to the bootlegs, that he couldn't play a desent solo at the time, and he didn't have any good ideas during the jams within the songs. What was the reason? I mean, they've just recorded one of their best albums ever, Perfect Strangers, but during liveshows he was.....crap! The rest of the band wasn't much better either. Lords Hammond organ sounded like a bad synth, Gillan didn't have much voice left and Paice used some strange effects on his drums (as heard in his soloes and at the beginning of Space Truckin') as well as playing below his average self.

To their benefit, it all changed during the 37ish shows they did in 1993. Blackmore was really on fire and sounded great, Lords organ sounded like a Hammond again, Paice was wild like "The Animal" again, Glover was like he's always been- great! The only thing that wasn't as good as expected was Gillans voice, but that too changed.....when Blackmore left IMO Gillan sounded great, or as great as possible considering age, up until the 2008 tour.

Any thoughts? Am I the only one who can't find anything positive about Purple, especially Blackmore and Lord, during the 80s?

[outlier]

Any Youtube examples you know of that would demonstrate this?

[killerbananas]

Just search for Deep Purple 1985 over at YouTube, and you'll find a lot...

[killerbananas]

I'm sorry if I offended anyone with this topic. I guess I could've used another word than "crap" since, even if I think they had to many nights "off", they had their moments during the '80s too. At the time I was comparing them to how they sounded and played in the '70s, and that's why I think that '80s Purple and Blackmore, in hindsight, was a big letdown. At least for me! Of course I respect if anyone of you think that '80s Purple were great! I thought so too just after the reunion, but after all the years gone by....well, two MKIIb albums stand out as classics to me, and the '93 tour was, IMO, by far the best since the '70s. But, sorry, it's my opinion that much of the '80s era are quite forgetable:-/

Edit: The post was written when I just had listened to a lot of '80s Purple and compared them to what they did with those same songs during the '70s.....not a fair comparison maybe!?! Ftr, as I said they released some of their, IMO, best records during the reunion era (Perfect Strangers and to a degree TBRO).

[jimbop]

dont apologise for expressing your opinion. i love blackmore but some of his live 'stints' are pure shit!

his playing on that 95 rock palast vid is superb though.

[killerbananas]

Feb 28, 2012 10:32:44 GMT 3 jimbop said:

dont apologise for expressing your opinion. i love blackmore but some of his live 'stints' are pure shit!

his playing on that 95 rock palast vid is superb though.

Oh yeah, his playing during the early/ mid ninties was fantastic, and he sounded like Blackmore again. I really like his Englfuelled sound from the Rainbow 90s era, a sound he still have today when he choose to pick up the Strat on occation

[hornbyskewes]

Well, I wouldn't say that the whole band was crap at that time, but Blackmore wasn't at the level everyone used to know him.
He admitted that his playing back then was sloppy and that he went lazy. It was the financial curse which made him come back to DP in 1984-1985. In the beginning it should have been only for one record but then........
Of course the band searched to get a more modern sound in the 80's and therefore the phaser/flanger on Pacey's cymbals. The hammond went also more trebly. But this was something common in these days.
Check the sound of an old Plexi Marshall from the early 70's and go on then by checking the JCM800 then the 900. They all went more and more agressiv in tone.
I never saw the MK2 & MK3 original line up from the seventies ( I was eleven when Blackmore quited DP )
So I was very excited to see the MK2 at their reunion tour 1985, on june 29th at the Maimarktgelände in Mannheim.
A big Open Air event with Roger Chapman, Meat Loaf,etc.
I was glad to see my heroes on stage, but the whole gig left me a bit unsatisfied. Soundwise it wasn't what I expected. Their sound went modern and I wrongly expected the early 70's sound as maybe lots of fans from these days expected as well. But you have to go with your time. Ok, but my main disapointment was Mr. B himself
He was in a good mood that day, smiled and joked with Ian or Roger, but his playing and his sound, disapointing.
The outstanding event that evening was when the screen behind Pacey after his drum solo announced that it was his birthday And nearly 80000 people sang a Happy Birthday for him

[killerbananas]

Feb 28, 2012 12:15:42 GMT 3 hornbyskewes said:

Well, I wouldn't say that the whole band was crap at that time, but Blackmore wasn't at the level everyone used to know him.
He admitted that his playing back then was sloppy and that he went lazy. It was the financial curse which made him come back to DP in 1984-1985. In the beginning it should have been only for one record but then........
Of course the band searched to get a more modern sound in the 80's and therefore the phaser/flanger on Pacey's cymbals. The hammond went also more trebly. But this was something common in these days.
Check the sound of an old Plexi Marshall from the early 70's and go on then by checking the JCM800 then the 900. They all went more and more agressiv in tone.
I never saw the MK2 & MK3 original line up from the seventies ( I was eleven when Blackmore quited DP )
So I was very excited to see the MK2 at their reunion tour 1985, on june 29th at the Maimarktgelände in Mannheim.
A big Open Air event with Roger Chapman, Meat Loaf,etc.
I was glad to see my heroes on stage, but the whole gig left me a bit unsatisfied. Soundwise it wasn't what I expected. Their sound went modern and I wrongly expected the early 70's sound as maybe lots of fans from these days expected as well. But you have to go with your time. Ok, but my main disapointment was Mr. B himself
He was in a good mood that day, smiled and joked with Ian or Roger, but his playing and his sound, disapointing.
The outstanding event that evening was when the screen behind Pacey after his drum solo announced that it was his birthday And nearly 80000 people sang a Happy Birthday for him

Good post I think that the sound changed for the better, and more towards the 70s sound, in the early 90s. The band sounded much tighter than in the 80s, and Blackmores playing was no less than superb!! IMO Blackmore hit a peak once again during the 90s Rainbow-era.

[zakk]

Only read, when interested in one`s personal fanship to RB/DP:

Okay guys, here my confession: My name is Zakk, Blackmoreholic

the Reunion was a very emotional thing for me. I just went into that whole DP thing after beeing give the original cassette of Made in Europe by my brother. I was into metal that time, Maiden and everything. I was totally blown away by the brutal guitar sound (Burn etc.) and the whole band so mighty and powerful, wow . I got more and more into DP. My father brought me the DoLP of Made in Japan and by the time the needle hit the vinyl and Highway Star came up, you could see me jumping all over my Bed in my small room, hitting the cealing . One of the greatest moments concerning music in my life. I was 13 at that point and then ... shortly afterwards the thing that never seem to happen happened. The Reunion. I listened to BFBS Radio (BBC for the troops outside the UK) late in the evening with headphones, hiding my activities from my parents. Hah - 21/22 o`clock, our kids would have laughed at that. They played 2 tracks prior the release: Nobody`s Home, which was okay and then Wasted Sunsets. I was totally in tears, never heard such an emotional thing, such beautiful guitar playing . I was in heaven. Then came the 2 open airs in southern Germany in 1985, I was just 15 and had no-one to go there with me. I was very disappointed . Then Germany TV sent the recording of the 85Paris gig after their WDR Lorelei Open Air on TV, radio and on that stage that night. My uncle, who was a lucky man, having a video recorder taped it on VHS for me, I recorded it from TV and radio. I was allowed to see it after sleeping in advance. So Gillan`s voice wasn`t in good shape due to his problems, we all know now, the organ sounded totally trebly distorted (never heard such a cool sound ever since), Ritchie`s guitar had too much distortion as well, they didn`t sound like 1973 but I was in heaven again, because I wasn´t able to visit the open airs. Ritchie played very well that night, only having a muddy and too much edgy sound. The band worked harder because of Gillan`s bad voice shape, but they did it like friends/brothers.

My first DP was in 1990 with JLT at good voice but huuuu you can not watch him on stage ... great playing from the band, still love the record. Years later I got a bootleg from the gig via the internet, great! Ritchie`s backline alone was much louder than the support act via the PA. They opened with Burn, which was clever, the crowd went nuts.

The next MK2 Reunion I went to see them on 2 occasions in 1993, as a result of missed concerts in my youth. Essen and Cologne. Great gigs. Anya was jaw dropping!

Then came a gig with Satch. I can`t remember good things . Keep it short: Uriah Heep as support were in good mood.

Next Purpendicular. Even though I never thought it could happen I really dig the record. Still do. Went to seem them with Morse, even though it seem a sacrilege to me. They were so good. Lord and Morse were a great team, they had so much fun on stage. I really liked it. Then came Morse with an uncompained Solo. You had me in tears once again . Really beautiful. You must think I am way too emotional, but f..k off I don`t care. ;D ;D ;D

Next Purple gig with Don Airey, okay nice but not so great.

Saw Blackmore with Rainbow in 1995, the gig you mentioned before in Duesseldorf, recorded once again by Rockpalast and 1996 in Schmallenberg. Good gigs. Doogie, great singer!

Then several times with Blackmore`s night until I had enough of it, honey voice singing and his moody shape. Then a friend asked why I hadn`t been at a BN gig in Wuppertal. I had enough of tights and synths and plastic trees , I said. Only to hear that he played the Strat nearly throughout the gig and played wonderful. Okay ....

Hornby and Bernd were lucky to be old enough to get to that 1985 Mannheim gig. But Bernd even saw the 1975 Saarbrücken show, most of Made in Europe is from this concert, wow, ...
So, being older definately has advantages.

[hornbyskewes]

Yup, this is the story everyone has more or less lived.
I remember, that I taped the Paris show on VHS and I can't remember how many times I looked at it before the tape collapsed
Thanks for sharing this story with us Master Zakk.
If I could a have a free wish in my life and go back in time for let's say a week a month or a year, it would be from mid 60's to mid/end 70's but as an adult with my band.
Man, that must be fun ;D

[rezi]

Zakk & Hornby, I too taped Paris '85 (it was broadcast simultaneously on radio, but there was a problem with my parents' hi-fi and the audio tape was very hissy) and me and my mate must have watched the video almost daily for weeks, if not months. It still has a very special meaning for me. It's a very good show, featuring probably my favourite live version of Perfect Strangers.

And then there's the old bloke during the intro of SOTW!