Now that Deep Purple was defunct, the record company needed to release something I am sure so why not a live album.  In October 1975, ‘Made in Europe’ was released.  The recording from April 3rd – April 7th on some of the final dates that Ritchie Blackmore would play as he left the band shortly after.  So, with that being said, the line is the Mark III lineup of the band consisting of Ritchie, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.

The show was recorded from 3 different shows that took place on April 3rd, 1975 in Graz, Austria, April 5th in  Saarbrücken, Germany and finally on April 7th at the Palais des Sports in Paris, France.  According to the album jacket, the album was recorded using the “Rolling Stones” mobile truck.  And it has also been discussed that there were some heavy overdubbing and cleaning up of the set including the audience with the crowd noise and applause…but this is the 70’s what live album wasn’t retouched (ahem…Kiss).

The album is only a single LP and only includes 5 songs with a total run time of 45:47 which means the average song length over 9 minutes so the band plays the heck out of these songs which is really what a Deep Purple live album is all about.  The band had huge success with the prior live album ‘Made in Japan’ and although this is a good release, it isn’t as good as the Japan release.

The five songs are only from the albums ‘Burn’ and ‘Stormbringer’ which is a little disappointing as I would have loved to hear them do the older Purple songs.  I get what they are doing, but a full show with a mixture of Deep Purple eras would have made this that much better.

Side I:

The album opens with “Burn” which has become a David Coverdale classic.  It opens with some Blackmore guitar picking before slamming hard and heavy into the “Burn” riffs.  The combo of Hughes & Coverdale on vocals is incredible as they play off each nicely.  I think Hughes is really into it with his ridiculous screams and high notes is off the hook.  What I love about Deep Purple live is the jamming.  Ritchie’s extended guitar parts, Jon Lord’s tickling the ivory like no one else can with his extended breaks and then Ian Paice’s drum fills and playing is top notch.

Since the album is from 3 different shows, it is not one continuous flow from one song ot the next. There are fade in’s and out’s as they are piecing it together.  “Mistreated” turns into a an epic 11:40 song that is something to behold.  There are bands out there that when they play live, they play the song as close to the album as possible.  Let me tell you that is not why I go to a live show.  I want to hear the song interrupted a different way for the live show.  Go crazy, explore it, take it in new directions, but maintain the essence of the song and Deep Purple do just that.

Glenn’s bass is really turned up as I hear every note.  He gives “Mistreated” that groove and rhythm that holds it all together. And when you get to the musical interlude of the song, Ritchie takes it slow and quiet with Glenn’s bass lightly thumping and then Ian comes pounding in the drum roll and it gets going full speed again with David’s blues singing style and then it keeps building and building and then jam session.  Then it becomes a slowed down, blues groove thing. The 11 minutes flies by.

The final song on Side I is “Lady Double Dealer” which does stick to the original version. I guess they all can’t go in the many directions that ‘Mistreated” did.  It is hard driving, fast tempo and a slamming rocker.  What I love about the mix is how clear everyone is, Glenn’s bass is loud and proud as well as Ritchie’s killer riffs and solo, Ian’s keyboards and Paice’s drum beats are all front & center and no one is left out.  They all shine equally.

Side II:

Do want to talk epic?  “You Fool No One” goes for an astounding 16:42 and it is all fantastic.  It opens with Jon Lord on keyboards and then some Hava Nagila musical interlude from Ritchie before kicking in to the song.  Ian Paice is a beast on this and Ritchie’s solo work is outstanding as he does get a nice long solo on this one during their midsong interlude; however, it is a long time to stretch out a song and at times when they were all jamming and throwing in there own little pieces it was a bit much.  And on top of that Glenn’s bass on this one seems to be up a little bit louder than everyone else as it is quite prominent at times.

The final track is “Stormbringer” off the album of the same name.  The song is kept pretty close to the album version except maybe it rocks a little more live. The guitar solo for Ritchie was good and even Jon Lord got a nice little solo break which is always welcomed in my book.  All in all, a good version only nothing special added to it.

Now the album overall is quite good; I just have a few issues with it.  First, it isn’t a complete show and the fading in and out between songs takes away from the excitement of a live show.  Second, the crowd interaction between the band and the audience is quite minimal which also lessens the live feel.  I would have liked more of the live feel.  With all that being said, I think I would give it a 3.5 out of 5.0 Stars.  It is good, just not great and definitely not better than Made in Japan.

Thanks for stopping by.  Let me know what you think and I hope you come back again for the next one in the series.

Up next…David Coverdale – ‘White Snake’.

The David Coverdale Series:

1. Deep Purple – Burn
2. Deep Purple – Stormbringer
3. Deep Purple – Come Taste the Band
4. Deep Purple – Made in Europe
5. David Coverdale – Whitesnake
6. Deep Purple – Last Concert in Japan
7. David Coverdale – Northwinds
8. David Coverdale’s Whitesnake – Snakebite
9. Whitesnake – Trouble
10. Whitesnake – Lovehunter
11. Whitesnake – Ready an’ Willing
12. Whitesnake – Live…in the Heart of the City
13. Whitesnake – Come An’ Get it
14. Deep Purple – Live in London
15. Whitesnake – Saints & Sinners
16. Whitesnake – Slide It In
17. Whitesnake – “Give Me More Time” 12″ Single (Bonus Review)
18. Whitesnake – ‘The Best of Whitesnake (Bonus Review – 1982 release)
19. Whitesnake – Whitesnake (1987)
20. Whitesnake – “Is This Love” 12″ Promo (Bonus Review)
21. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue
22. David Coverdale – “The Last Note of Freedom” – Single Review
23. Coverdale/Page – Coverdale/Page
24. Coverdale/Page – “Take Me For A Little While 12” Single (Bonus Review)
25. David Coverdale & Whitesnake – Restless Heart
26. Whitesnake – Starkers in Tokyo
27. David Coverdale – Into the Night
28. Whitesnake – Live…In the Still of the Night (DVD)
29. Whitesnake – Live…In the Shadow of the Blues
30. Whitesnake – Good To Be Bad
31. Whitesnake – Forevermore
32. Whitesnake – Live at Donington 1990: Monsters of Rock
33. Whitesnake – The Purple Album
34. Whitesnake – The Purple Tour (Live)
35. Whitesnake – Flesh & Blood
36. Whitesnake – The Rock Album
37. Whitesnake – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
38. David Coverdale – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

Other David Coverdale Albums reviewed – (Box Sets and Bootlegs):

1. Whitesnake – 1987 (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
2. Whitesnake – Slide It In (35th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
3. Whitesnake – Unzipped – Box Set
4. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
5. Whitesnake (Snake) – Still of the Night Live in Battle Creek, Mich. July 26, 1987 (Bootleg)