Deep Purple

There has been no shortage of Deep Purple compilations over the years, but unlike some of the British hard rock legends' contemporaries (Sabbath, Zeppelin, etc.), they've managed a fairly consistent stream of output since their 1968 debut. Rhino's A Fire in the Sky, a 40-track career retrospective that includes at least one song from every studio album through 2013's Now What?!, is easily the most comprehensive anthology that the band has released to date – a more manageable, largely singles-oriented 20-track version is also available, as is a triple-vinyl edition. Despite cycling through too many lineup iterations to mention, the band has consistently adhered to the heavy blues-rock foundation that made career highlights like "Hush," "Smoke on the Water," "Highway Star," and "Woman from Tokyo" so essential.

They All Came Down to Montreux was recorded in 2006 during Deep Purple's world tour promoting their album Rapture of the Deep. Fans of the Machine Head era lineup should check this out, as vocalist Ian Gillan, bassist Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice are featured. Among the 12 tracks are "Lazy," "Highway Star," "Space Truckin" and "Smoke on the Water."

This Special Edition three-CD set features the three 1972 concert recordings from which the classic Made in Japan album was selected, remixed, and remastered. It's almost complete - a few encores and two songs from Made in Japan had to be left off, as the remaining tracks clock in at over 230 minutes. Deep Purple played almost exactly the same set each night, so there's a lot of duplication here, but they're in fantastic form throughout most of the performances. The second show, over half of which did make it onto Made in Japan, burns brilliantly and white hot from start to finish, and there are other new highlights as well, including the wailing encore "Black Night." Only you can decide if you need three 20-minute versions of "Space Truckin'," but for fans this is a valuable set - not only for comparative listening (Jon Lord never plays the intro to "Child in Time" the same way twice)…

30: Very Best of Deep Purple is a 1998 compilation album by English rock band Deep Purple, celebrating 30 years of the successful band. There are two CD versions of the album, a single CD and a double CD. The vinyl version was a double LP printed on purple vinyl, and the tracklisting was identical to the single CD version. The single CD version concentrates on the greatest hits of Deep Purple through the years, and contains mostly edited single versions of the songs, for example "Child in Time" which was over ten minutes long in its original form on the album Deep Purple in Rock.

When Ritchie Blackmore departed Deep Purple in the mid-'70s and formed Rainbow (which featured Ronnie James Dio), his replacement was Tommy Bolin. To be sure, Blackmore was a darn tough act to follow, but Bolin proved himself to be a fine guitarist in his own right on Come Taste the Band, his first album with Deep Purple. But unfortunately, Bolin didn't have exceptional material to work with - decent and likable, but hardly exceptional. While sweaty yet melodic cuts like "Dealer," "Lady Luck," and "You Keep on Moving" are far from bad, nothing here is in a class with "Smoke on the Water" or "Highway Star." Deep Purple's more hardcore devotees will want this album, though it's far from the best representation of their '70s work.

Slaves and Masters is the thirteenth studio album by the British rock band Deep Purple, and was released on 5 October 1990. This is the only Deep Purple album to feature former Rainbow lead vocalist Joe Lynn Turner, who had joined the previous year after the firing of Ian Gillan. Following its release, Slaves and Masters peaked at No. 87 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album dramatically sold below expectations, as compared to Deep Purple's previous album, The House of Blue Light with Gillan, which charted at No. 34 in the US. A song from the Slaves and Masters recording sessions was rearranged for the soundtrack of the 1990 movie Fire, Ice and Dynamite. Despite underwhelming album sales, Deep Purple had a relatively successful tour in support of Slaves and Masters in 1991, especially for the band's European leg.

The Concerto for Group and Orchestra is a concerto composed by Jon Lord, with lyrics written by Ian Gillan. It was first performed by Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold on 24 September 1969 and released on vinyl in December 1969. The release was the first Deep Purple album to feature Ian Gillan on vocals and Roger Glover on bass. The 2002 reissue of 1969 recording live at London's Royal Albert Hall. Here though, for your pleasure, is the original performance of the Concerto along with Deep Purple's three song set also recorded that night and the encore of the Concerto's Third Movement, released for the very first time.

The final lineup of Deep Purple in the 1970s – Jon Lord, Ian Paice, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, and Tommy Bolin – lasted less than a year, and released only one album, Come Taste the Band. This 65-minute collection of June 1975 rehearsals represents the only other studio document of this lineup, and thus the only other available studio stuff Bolin did with Deep Purple save Come Taste the Band. Combining early versions of album tracks, and no less than four ten-minute jams, it doesn't represent an apex for the Purple ones. It's period hard rock, sounding at times like sub-Led Zeppelin. Deep Deep Purple [sic] fans will appreciate its importance as a historical relic, though, particularly as the sound is good. There's also a cover of "Statesboro Blues" and, as a true oddity, a shambolic, one-minute circus-like cover of "I Got You Babe."