[pdf] Purple (the Dragon of Unison Book 1) (the Colours of Unison)

Twenty-eight years after the band's inception, Deep Purple venture into the most adventurous album of their storied career. With guitar virtuoso Steve Morse, of ex-Dixie Dregs and Kansas fame, replacing the legendary Ritchie Blackmore (his second departure from the band), fans get the breadth of Morse's influences…

The Soundboard Series focuses on the last three decades of concerts around the world. While some of the shows were previously available as rare and limited fan club editions, others are concerts from the artist archive, mixed and mastered for the occasion. In both cases, great care is spent to achieve the best audio quality. “Live In Hong Kong 2001” features Deep Purple on top of their game, in the midst of their Asia Tour in 2001. On March 20st, they took to the stage in Hong Kong’s Coliseum, the city’s largest concert hall at the time. Here, we see Purple as a raw and immediate live-act, without background singers, guest vocals, added string quartets or any other bells and whistles. It’s rock’n’roll in its purest form –and we like it.

The style of this album follows the way of the previous Lake of Tears albums since "Headstones". Maybe the main difference in "Moons and Mushrooms", apart of its odd title, is that this album is has less 70's influences, and it's more focused in authentic gothic rock, in the style of other nordic bands like The Wounded and Sentenced. This is a pity, because the thing that make this band so special, is their mix between 70's psychedelic inflences, 80's souding keyboards, and modern gothic rock. And that it's a bit diminished in "Moons and Mushroom".

The Petards have tried the impossible. In the early years of rock music, they met as a completely isolated German band from the provinces to achieve their national breakthrough on their own - the dream of international fame in the back of their minds. In their seven-year career, the Petards have made thousands of appearances, five long-playing records, a dozen singles and a lot of experience that groups in this country have been struggling with to this day. They were among the pioneers of German rock music who faced the thankless task of bringing new music to the rural areas of the Republic, where beat or rock music had previously only been accessible via radio. Although bands like the Petards met a starved and enthusiastic audience there, they were usually denied the boring recognition for their fundamental musical fieldwork.