leroydiamond Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 (edited) Watched this last night. Have been a purple fan for longer than I care to admit (though I don't care to much for the more recent material with Steve Morse on board). For me Ian Gillan's performance on 'Made in Japan' is killer and unmatched by anything else in the 'hard rock' genre. However in this DVD Gillan really struggles from the off. Indeed the band are not really firing on all cylinders, though the moments of magic by Blackmore are stellar. Listening to the soundtrack from the DVD and comparing it with 'Made in Japan' reveals a band that had seriously lowered the bar in terms of performance. Admittedly this could have been just a bad night, as I travelled to Knebworth to see Purple on this particular tour and remember it being a knock out gig, particularly when the stage ascended into the heavens during the laser show (Though this may have more to do with a transaction with one of the local hippies than anything else ). Overall though this DVD is a disappointment Edited November 2, 2013 by leroydiamond Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 I was really looking forward to watching this!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 If this is the gig recorded in Paris it has been knocking about as a bootleg for years. Gillan was suffering from a bad cold at the time and if it wasn't for the fact it was being recorded they might have had to cancel. In addition he'd had nodules on his throat removed in the previous couple of years and it dramatically changed his voice, took him years to work round an alternative approach. Surely can't be worse than the performance that came out as 'Come Hell Or High Water' in the 90's. Blackmore's behaviour is downright unprofessional at times. I was at that gig and felt for Jon Lord that night, worked his arse off covering for RB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leroydiamond Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 This one was recorded in Melbourne. Surprised it has been released with Gillan's blessing to be honest. However it does not come close to the farce that is 'Hell or High Water'. It's a pity that neither of these DVD's offer a true representation of one of the greatest hard rock bands to grace the planet IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 My favourite incarnation of the band was Deep Purple mark II - Made in Japan is, for my particular taste in music, a record of some of the greatest performances ever by a heavy rock band. At that point in time Ian Gillan's voice was truly remarkable - one of the finest male singers of his time and up there with Robert Plant, Paul Rodgers etc. I didn't see them during that period but saw them on the 'Burn' tour - powerful stuff and still one of the best gigs I have seen - David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes are not bad subs for Gillan! But Ian Gillan has never been close to those early days - whatever happened to his voice wasn't good and I find it weak and whiny now. I saw them shortly after Steve Morse joined a few years back and they played a load of the early mkII era tracks (and, churlishly, nothing from the post Gillan times)- it just wasn't the same. The music was great, Steve Morse is a great guitar player, but it lacked that special something from those early days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leroydiamond Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 [quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1383480021' post='2264811'] My favourite incarnation of the band was Deep Purple mark II - Made in Japan is, for my particular taste in music, a record of some of the greatest performances ever by a heavy rock band. At that point in time Ian Gillan's voice was truly remarkable - one of the finest male singers of his time and up there with Robert Plant, Paul Rodgers etc. I didn't see them during that period but saw them on the 'Burn' tour - powerful stuff and still one of the best gigs I have seen - David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes are not bad subs for Gillan! But Ian Gillan has never been close to those early days - whatever happened to his voice wasn't good and I find it weak and whiny now. I saw them shortly after Steve Morse joined a few years back and they played a load of the early mkII era tracks (and, churlishly, nothing from the post Gillan times)- it just wasn't the same. The music was great, Steve Morse is a great guitar player, but it lacked that special something from those early days. [/quote] Yep +1. I have seen them a couple of times with Morse on board and it doesn't rock my boat. Totally with you on 'Made in Japan', played it for the first time in a while a couple of weeks ago (on Vinyl of course), turned it up to 10 and was blown away all over again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seashell Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Reading this makes me really wish I could give Made in Japan a bit of a spin. Haven' t played it in too long. My hi-fi isn't set up at the moment though following redecorating my living room. Really need to get that sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leroydiamond Posted November 3, 2013 Author Share Posted November 3, 2013 [quote name='seashell' timestamp='1383484440' post='2264868'] Reading this makes me really wish I could give Made in Japan a bit of a spin. Haven' t played it in too long. My hi-fi isn't set up at the moment though following redecorating my living room. Really need to get that sorted. [/quote] Its an unbelievable album!. Recorded at a cost of $3000 dollars with no overdubs or doctoring. However Vinyl is the only way with this as IMO, these older albums just don't transfer to CD all that well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.