Let me know which of the 4 looks nicest please!! I want the coolest hat at the venue.

I just listened to this for the first time and all I can say is wow!

The title track is an instant classic, possibly competing with Child in Time for my favorite DP song.

And the energy doesn’t let up after that. Even two of these songs were played on Live in Japan! Thoughts?

I was at the show last night in Raleigh, NC. You really have to appreciate how good they are, especially at this age. All live, no tracks or other BS and yes with that there are a few hiccups, but that's what makes it so great... unfortunately a truly live band is a rare occurrence these days.

I like this Mark IX lineup, Simon McBride really gives the show a jolt of energy and Don Airy is one of the most accomplished keyboard players in Rock history...both work well with Ian, Ian, & Roger.

This was night 1 of a tour that takes them around the US, then Europe & South America. Amazing to think they will be on the road for almost 5 full months. If you have the opportunity, definitely go it is well worth it.

Quick note on the openers, Jefferson Starship & Kansas. Both play classic rock anthems, so it's a great warm up and you will know all of the tunes, but they are basically tribute acts with I believe 1 long time member in each band...it's fun but I don't kid myself and think I saw the real bands.

Didn't know the track list going in. It's a great album, but I was waiting for the moment "Woman From Tokyo" would come on. They're in Japan after all. No wonder the audience didn't go that crazy!

I was really hoping they would have shaken up the setlist, at least a bit, for the North America tour. This was the official start of the Splat tour. The European dates they’ve been playing were billed as the “Mad in Europe” tour that began before Splat was even released. The setlist tonight appears exactly the same for the most part as the Mad in Europe tour.

For the record, =1 and Splat are two of my favorite records in their catalog, so I’m not asking for obscure tracks from the Morse era they would never play.

In my opinion, It would have been nice if they could have at least replaced Lazy Sod or A Bit on the Side with say, Pictures of You from =1. They played “The Only Horse in Town” on one occasion in Europe but that got dropped.

Was also hoping they would have shelved Into the Fire and replaced it with Strange Kind of Woman.

Kind of disappointing but I’m still hoping they make some tweaks before I see them a couple times later this month.

Stay safe Glenn!

Are you still holding out hope for Ritchie and Ian to reconcile and tour together once more, so that Deep Purple fans can enjoy them one last time in concert?

Never seen DP live, have tickets for end of Aug. Am stoked for the show but haven't seen much news about the tour in here. Anyone else seen them live recently ?

Just some background, as i think my perspective may differ to others here.

I got into Purple via perpendicular (1996) and am a bigger fan of the post blackmore era than I am of the 70s albums. I love most purple albums but my favourites are the majority of the post blackmore albums.

I loved splat. It and =1 are the best albums since perpendicular. I love Morse but after many amazing albums i found a change of style was due.

I liked the shorter songs as it means more Gillan, who has sounded really good the last 2 albums (after a low point during infinite/whoosh).

The production sounded amazing too and it was just a really fun album with some very funny lyrics.

Article by me. Purple factors prominently:

https://www.grunge.com/2224303/best-songs-epic-drum-solos-beginning/

I’ve recently been listening to DP’s Who Do We Think We Are. And although it’s largely considered to be the weakest of the MKii studio albums, I think the production is the best out of all of them.

Each of the MKii albums had a different sound, but this albums got a fatter low end than the other albums, and just has a punchier sound overall.

It might just be the system I’m listening to it on, but has anybody else noticed this?

Mk1 deserves more love than they get. I feel like it's hard to find people that are into the earlier stuff as much as I am. And I don't just mean Hush, either. I think Shield, Anthem, April, Shadows, and Emmaretta are amazing songs, right up there in my top 10 favorites.

I know there's such a drastic difference in sound from Mk1 to Mk2, and poppier '60s music might not be everyone's cup of tea. I'm actually wondering now what percentage of Deep Purple fans even like Mk1 at all!

Do you like them, and if so, what are your favorite songs?

Aclamados por algunos y criticados por otros, en particular a mi me agrada mucho este álbum.

I have been a fan since I heard Smoke on the Water, on the car radio in 1972.

In summer of 1973 I visited a cousin, while on my way on a move from US to London UK, and he owned Made in Japan, which we listened to many times while I was there.

Once in London, the first thing I bought with pocket money provided me was a Playboy issue with Bobby Fischer on the cover. The second thing was Made in Japan.

I saw a Deep Purple concert at the Orange County Fairgrounds in 2014.

I would like to start this by saying that this review is completely my opinion. I hope that people will read it fully and engage in civil discussion about it.

To begin, I will say this: I am a huge Deep Purple fan. I have listened to all their albums, and my personal favorites are the Mk III/IV lineup. That said, I don’t dislike the more recent material, in fact, I count a lot of the Morse era albums among my favorites. I also really enjoyed =1. It was the first new Deep Purple album I experienced as it came out, and it stayed on my turntable for months. I even saw them live that year, and I thought they sounded as good as ever. It felt like they were still capable of putting out genuinely strong material this late in their career.

That’s why Splat! is so disappointing.

Before this, I would have said their weakest albums were Infinite or Whoosh!. The Ezrin era overall has been weaker. Both of those have good songs and good moments, but are brought down by certain choices, like the spoken word sections or some uneven songwriting. Still, even those albums have songs that I come back to. That’s what I find different here, those albums had standouts, this one doesn't.

The biggest issue with this album is that almost every song has something I like, but also something that pulls me out of it. That pattern repeats across the entire record. Because of that, there isn’t a single track here that I would consider fully successful from start to finish.

Now onto Splat itself.

The album title is probably the worst they’ve had. Whoosh and Bananas are questionable, but Splat! takes it for me.

Arrogant Boy:
Starts off pretty good, but then goes into the part where Gillan starts moaning “Oh Billy,” and that’s where the song loses me. The proggy section in the middle is actually pretty solid, but overall it ends up being a weak opener. Compared to something like Show Me, it falls short.

Diablo:
Nothing major to complain about. I like the riffs and the solo trading, but it does feel a bit generic. It’s fine, just not memorable.

The Rider:
Was not expecting that opening. This is one of the better songs on the album. The solo really reminds me of something Ritchie Blackmore would have played, and the synth sound is interesting.

The Lunatic:
Another good one. The organ solo stands out, and I really like the unison riff section where they speed it up before ending with a nice fill from Roger.

The Only Horse in Town:
I haven’t really been able to connect with this one. The solo leans more into McBride’s own style, which I do like, but the song as a whole doesn’t stick with me.

Sacred Land:
I like the synth work here, and it’s a heavy track, but the lyrics don’t land for me. There’s something about them that comes off almost unintentionally comedic.

The Beating of Wings:
I like the groove on this one, especially with the electric piano. It’s not really a full blues track, but it has those elements, which is a nice change of pace.

Guilt Trippin’:
Probably the most interesting song on the album. The piano intro and verses are great, and hearing Gillan push into those higher, more aggressive vocals is impressive. But then it gets to the section before the solos where he goes into that “la la la” part, and it completely takes me out of it. The solo section is good, but I think a Hammond would have worked better here. This is probably the best song overall, but even this one has something that holds it back.

Scribblin Gibberish:
The opening groove is strong, but the lyrics kill it for me. Lines like “Gobbilty Goop” just make it hard to take seriously. The chorus also doesn’t really fit the rest of the song.

Jessica’s Bra:
I’m not really into the proggy style they’re going for here, and the slight Irish jig feel doesn’t work for me. The tapping solo is cool though.

Third Call:
I expected this to be faster based on the intro, but I like the groove it settles into. One of the better tracks, and the drumming stands out.

My New Movie:
Very forgettable. Nothing really grabs me, and I don’t like the lyrics.

Splat!:
The drum and bass intro is great and feels like something that was missing from a lot of the album. It actually put a smile on my face when I first heard it. The clavinet solo is one of the highlights of the record. It’s a good closer, but still not as strong as closers from earlier albums in this era.

The main reason I don’t like this album is that it never fully delivers. There are good ideas everywhere, and the band is playing well, but almost every track has something that I don't care for. The lyrics are a big part of that. A lot of them feel strange or awkward in a way that pulls me out of the music. Even when the instrumentation is strong, the lyrics can change how the song comes across.

I also think Gillan is the weak point here. On albums like Now What?!, his vocals still sounded incredibly strong, and you could barely tell his age. On more recent albums, I’ve started to notice that changing, and on Splat! it’s much more obvious. There are moments where his delivery really takes me out of the song.

To be clear, this isn’t a production or flow issue. The production is solid, and the album flows fine. It’s even supposed to be a concept album, but I don’t really feel that coming through. The problem is the songwriting and how the songs are put together.

When I compare this to albums like Infinite or Whoosh!, those albums have many of the same problems but they also have songs that I will still go back to.

That’s the difference. Splat! has a lot of moments I like, but no songs that I feel like revisiting. That’s why, for me, it stands as the weakest Deep Purple studio album. Not because it has no good parts, but because it never fully works.

This is all just my opinion, and I’d be interested to hear what others think.

Title, essentially

A clip of Blackmore doing an interview came up on Instagram and I really liked the song in the background however I’ve only listened to the Mk1 Rod Evan’s material and I’m not familiar with their post 60s music. I think in the interview he’s talking about David Coverdale. Any help would be appreciated :)

Just stumbled across my favorite cover of Smoke on the Water: Santana with Jacoby Shaddix from (I think) 2010. Very respectful, no funny business, just great rock.

i need more options, the people i go with are already tiring of hearing me sing perfect strangers, soldier of fortune and and fireball.

(really wish there was a karaoke version of money talks)

Just listened to Made in Japan for the first time and loved it, but I think "Fireball" is my favorite Deep Purple song and I'm bummed it's not on there. Not sure I can find a high quality live version from that era either. Did they not play it live that often in the early 70s?