And suddenly, a flash of lucidity and intellectual honesty on IORR about guitar playing level at 70. But not about Keith

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keefriff99

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Hairball
I don't know about that keefriff99 - based on some of the videos I saw of the performance at the time he sounded pretty good to me, especially as he's barely played any rock music in awhile as you say. Hard to judge from videos alone, but will watch again as it's been awhile. As for Deep Purple being better off without him at this time I suppose you're right - they have Steve Morse. But what they don't have is the mastermind who invented all of the major guitar riffs that made them famous back when the band truly mattered. It's now a bit of a forgery, but happy that some people seem to find joy in it.

Something just seemed off to his playing. Of course I didn't expect him to play like he was 30 again, but the whole reunion felt rushed and slapped together. As I said, aside from the terrific singer, the band didn't mesh.

Ritchie himself said he deals with some arthritis and muscle stiffness so he didn't expect to play like his old self. At least he was honest...and let's face it, the way he used to rip on the guitar was quite a bit more involved than what our dear Keith does, so imagine attempting to recreate those solos with arthritis.

***
I'm just a Bad Boy Boogie



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-12-20 15:20 by powerage78.

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powerage78
And suddenly, a flash of lucidity and intellectual honesty on IORR about guitar playing level at 70. But not about Keith

Lol, I've NEVER held Keith's physical problems against him. I just wish he was more honest with himself when it came to trying to pull off solos that he clearly can't anymore.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-12-20 15:28 by keefriff99.

This new song is nearly brillant. Much better than I expected.
Regarding the band members:
Ian Gillan is still a very good singer, he practices every day and most of all he knows where his limits are. Ian Paice is as good as ever. Don Airy is a wonderful keyboard player that makes me forget about Jon Lord. Hearing Don I don´t miss Jon. Steve Morse is a far better player than Blackmore ever was. He indeed is the "aviator" as Ian Gillan often used to call him. Roger Glover is solid as ever. There are three original members of the Mark II incarnation, they have every right to call them Deep Purple. Some incarnations of the band had less original members. Let Blackmore do his minstrel-thing, Deep Purple does not need him.

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HMS
Some incarnations of the band had less original members. Let Blackmore do his minstrel-thing, Deep Purple does not need him.

I always considered Blackmore as a good replacement for Mick Taylor around 1975, maybe "too good".

Sounds like classic Purple, doing their signature metal, to me. Pretty good.

Gillian sounds almost like Ozzy now, though. A bit monotonous.

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TheflyingDutchman

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HMS
Some incarnations of the band had less original members. Let Blackmore do his minstrel-thing, Deep Purple does not need him.

I always considered Blackmore as a good replacement for Mick Taylor around 1975, maybe "too good".

Wow, that would have been a disaster. Blackmore's playing is way too exotic for the Stones. He explored all kinds of different scales and sort of laid the groundwork for the neoclassical shred movement of the '80s (Malmsteen, Vai, Satriani).

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DandelionPowderman
Sounds like classic Purple, doing their signature metal, to me. Pretty good.

Gillian sounds almost like Ozzy now, though. A bit monotonous.

Why does he? This has been my premonition, but as I`ve never allowed meself to listen to Black Sabbath, I could never be sure. It makes me think of a merciless person. This annoyed me during a couple of songs on the "Now What?!" album. I know he has been part of BS for a short period.

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noughties

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DandelionPowderman
Sounds like classic Purple, doing their signature metal, to me. Pretty good.

Gillian sounds almost like Ozzy now, though. A bit monotonous.

Why does he? This has been my premonition, but as I`ve never allowed meself to listen to Black Sabbath, I could never be sure. It makes me think of a merciless person. This annoyed me during a couple of songs on the "Now What?!" album. I know he has been part of BS for a short period.

I think he's lost a lost of range and dynamism in his voice due to age, and now he has a very narrow register where he feels comfortable singing. That's probably what it is.

Ah ah love this thread, selective criticism...

***
I'm just a Bad Boy Boogie

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oldschool

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gotdablouse
On top of being a nutter Blackmore"s been useless when it comes to *DP Material" since PS and arguably THOTBL. He had free reign for S&M and it was horrible for the most part, except possibly for the MOR single. He again got free reign (and $2 million) to restart whatever he wanted and let Gillan back in. Who remembers the albums he put out before branching out in renaissance stuff?

Meanwhile DP came up with the great Purpendicular that probably saved the band. It's been up and down since of course...

PS and THOBL were very good reunion albums IMHO. S&M was more like post Dio Rainbow if you like that kind of music and TBRO was mediocre but then again Blackmore really did not want to do that album or tours and in fact bailed on the band who had to enlist Joe Satriani to finish contract commitments I believe.

Listen I agree Blackmore is a arsehole and I don't blame Gillan for not wanting to work with him but he was the main song writer in the old DP so without him it is a much different band for sure. In any case I think not having Lord as well makes a huge difference as he challenged Blackmore to play his best and I think his contribution is sadly underappreciated.

I have seen the current DP with Morse and they put on a good show but having seen the Mk II band live and the 85 reunion tour it is hard for me to consider them as the real DP.

I wish I'd seen them in 1984 too, although Gillan's voice was completely shot at Bercy according to the video on YT...I think there was a weird incident when they came back in 1987 with Richie only playing the intro of SOTW for the encore because he was p*ssed off at the promoter or some nonsense like that.

Anyway my point was that Blackmore was completely dried up when it came to DP sort of material. TBRO was terrible absolutely nothing memorable on there ! And then he took the $2 million to do the tour and restart Rainbow in 1994/1995 or whatever it was called and it seems I was right, no one remembers these LPs. Let's see : [www.allmusic.com] : Stranger in Us All (1996), Shadow of the Moon (1998), anyone ? Meanwhile DP delivered the great Purpendicular !

Oh, there's a pre-order for a 6 disc "Big Box" of the new project for €45 on Amazon, tempting ;-)

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IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio

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gotdablouse

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oldschool

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gotdablouse
On top of being a nutter Blackmore"s been useless when it comes to *DP Material" since PS and arguably THOTBL. He had free reign for S&M and it was horrible for the most part, except possibly for the MOR single. He again got free reign (and $2 million) to restart whatever he wanted and let Gillan back in. Who remembers the albums he put out before branching out in renaissance stuff?

Meanwhile DP came up with the great Purpendicular that probably saved the band. It's been up and down since of course...

PS and THOBL were very good reunion albums IMHO. S&M was more like post Dio Rainbow if you like that kind of music and TBRO was mediocre but then again Blackmore really did not want to do that album or tours and in fact bailed on the band who had to enlist Joe Satriani to finish contract commitments I believe.

Listen I agree Blackmore is a arsehole and I don't blame Gillan for not wanting to work with him but he was the main song writer in the old DP so without him it is a much different band for sure. In any case I think not having Lord as well makes a huge difference as he challenged Blackmore to play his best and I think his contribution is sadly underappreciated.

I have seen the current DP with Morse and they put on a good show but having seen the Mk II band live and the 85 reunion tour it is hard for me to consider them as the real DP.

I wish I'd seen them in 1984 too, although Gillan's voice was completely shot at Bercy according to the video on YT...I think there was a weird incident when they came back in 1987 with Richie only playing the intro of SOTW for the encore because he was p*ssed off at the promoter or some nonsense like that.

Anyway my point was that Blackmore was completely dried up when it came to DP sort of material. TBRO was terrible absolutely nothing memorable on there ! And then he took the $2 million to do the tour and restart Rainbow in 1994/1995 or whatever it was called and it seems I was right, no one remembers these LPs. Let's see : [www.allmusic.com] : Stranger in Us All (1996), Shadow of the Moon (1998), anyone ? Meanwhile DP delivered the great Purpendicular !

Oh, there's a pre-order for a 6 disc "Big Box" of the new project for €45 on Amazon, tempting ;-)

Blackmore was and is a moody SOB so you never knew what you were going to get from him on any given night. He was rarely bad but could be indifferent and not give his all if he was in a bad mood, or the crowd did not react the way he wanted, but when he was inspired there were no better live guitar players IMHO.

IMHO Gillan began to lose the ability to hit the high registers during the post 84 reunion tours and by the 93 reunion it was pretty much shot. He still sounded good but the days of holding the high note screams were long gone.

From what I read TBRO was written mostly when Turner was lead singer and originally very post Dio Rainbow sounding, meaning more melodic less metal sounding, but Gillan reworked much of the material which pissed Blackmore off and contributed to him quitting again.

I was never a fan of post Dio Rainbow, as Ritchie went pop chasing hit records IMHO, but lets be honest how many of the Morse era albums sold many units and are memorable to anyone other than dedicated DP fans?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-12-21 00:23 by oldschool.

I think Gillan blew his voice out when he fronted Sabbath in '83...he hit some ungodly high notes on the Born Again album and was screaming his head off during that tour he did with them, a very-much mocked tour where their Stonehenge set wouldn't fit in many arenas (that's where Spinal Tap got their idea from).

As far as Blackmore...I don't think he's a nutter so much as a moody, egomaniacal prick.

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keefriff99
I think Gillan blew his voice out when he fronted Sabbath in '83...he hit some ungodly high notes on the Born Again album and was screaming his head off during that tour he did with them, a very-much mocked tour where their Stonehenge set wouldn't fit in many arenas (that's where Spinal Tap got their idea from).

As far as Blackmore...I don't think he's a nutter so much as a moody, egomaniacal prick.

Agree with everything you said. I highly recommend Jerry Bloom's Biography on Ritchie titles "Black Night" as it does an excellent job getting into his personality.

Blackmore does not deny he can be difficult and has said in interviews he is like a vampire in that he uses up musicians he plays with and discards them when they have nothing left to give him musically. A pretty cold fish.

I used to live in Bethel, Connecticut and Ritchie lived in a nearby town. He used to hang out in a local pub there and I have been told would sit strumming an acoustic guitar at the bar sometimes. I never got to see that but did run into him at a local drugstore and said hello to him. He gave me a startled look nodded his head and scurried way. Odd fellow that Ritchie.

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keefriff99

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noughties

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DandelionPowderman
Sounds like classic Purple, doing their signature metal, to me. Pretty good.

Gillian sounds almost like Ozzy now, though. A bit monotonous.

Why does he? This has been my premonition, but as I`ve never allowed meself to listen to Black Sabbath, I could never be sure. It makes me think of a merciless person. This annoyed me during a couple of songs on the "Now What?!" album. I know he has been part of BS for a short period.

I think he's lost a lost of range and dynamism in his voice due to age, and now he has a very narrow register where he feels comfortable singing. That's probably what it is.

but gillan works that range with every bit on emotion he has

[www.youtube.com]

I see what you mean. Funny how it reminds me of Uriah Heep. Nice guitar.

The Battle Rages On is a very good album, imo. There are fantastic tracks on the album. Slaves & Masters... uh. It´s bad Rainbow in a purple cloak. House Of Blue Light has it´s ups and downs, it´s average at best. Unnecessary attempts of sounding modern ruins most of the album.

ok, I'll bite, which tracks from the top of your head ?

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IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio

Rainbow after Dio was basic cookie cutter 80's schlock rock. Boring. No identity, and did I say BoRiNg?

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whitem8
Rainbow after Dio was basic cookie cutter 80's schlock rock. Boring. No identity, and did I say BoRiNg?

Agree 100% and was total waste of Blackmore's talent IMHO. From what I have read after Dio left Rainbow Ritchie wanted a more commercial sound and started chasing hits singles. Can't remember if this was related to money or just an ego thing for him.

'Lost in Hollywood' is great tune with Graham Bonnet (Dio's replacement) in it's similarity to Burn, and has a great guitar solo.
And then 'Can't Happen Here' with Joe Lynne Turner (Bonnets replacement)...not bad, but....not really great either.

To be honest though, there are only a handful of songs I liked from Rainbow anyways - a majority of them from the Dio era.
Alot of it hasn't really aged all that well in comparison to all the great Deep Purple classics, although Ritchie's guitar is mostly memorable.
Was really happy about the DP Perfect Strangers reunion, and ecstatic that I was able to see them a couple of times that tour - they were on fire.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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gotdablouse
ok, I'll bite, which tracks from the top of your head ?

The Battle Rages On******
Talk About Love
Time To Kill
Ramshackle Man******
A Twist In The Tail...

...maybe even more.

This album is better than Perfect Strangers and House Of Blue Light. Well let´s say almost as good as PF.

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keefriff99
Blackmore reformed Rainbow with a bunch of musicians for some festival dates this past summer. The results were rather lackluster.

The singer, Ronnie Romero, is fantastic and can really nail Ronnie James Dio's cadence and timbre, but Blackmore's playing was subpar. Let's face it: he's 71 and has barely played rock music over the past 20-25 years.

DP is better off without him at this point. And that's not even going into his nastiness and egocentricity.

Ronnie Romero is also the singer in his own band "Lords Of Black". I saw Lords Of Black live and Ronnie is really a fantastic singer. He has an amazing vocal range!

Listen to Lords Of Black if you want [www.lordsofblack.com]

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noughties
Huh, anybody heard this?

[www.youtube.com]

'Time For Bedlam' sounds not so good like 'Highway Star', 'Child In Time', 'Smoke On The Water' and other great classics, but it still sounds like a good Deep Purple song to me.

There is quite a difference between being respected and being craved for. If you ask young people, they would nod approvingly, but I wonder if an average journo in a dayly paper would find it worthwhile to write about them even when releasing a new album.(In Norway, the Oslo papers maybe would, The Bergen paper most certaninly, the Trondheim paper wouldn`t, in consideration of all the young kids in town)

I don't like it

Album already in place in 4 formats:

[www.amazon.co.uk]

Most Air Guitarists started their careers with "Smoke on the Water"

Sweet Child In Time, those were the dancing days.

"-Hey, let`s make a rock record":

[www.youtube.com]

Damn, I need that video teaser to be about 5 minutes longer! Hope they knock this one out of the ball park since it's suppose to be the last. Come to think of it could be the same situation for The Stones?