249. Deep Purple - Made In Japan (1972)
















Track Listing

1. Highway Star
2. Child In Time
3. Smoke On The Water
4. Mule
5. Strange Kind Of Woman
6. Lazy
7. Space Truckin'

Review

For some reason which escapes me Deep Purple were big in Japan... then again who isn't? So off they went to Tokyo and Osaka and recorded a live album in the land of the rising sun. And the result is probably their best album to date. There are however some snags here, firstly they are sounding a bit too much like a hair band, some solos are almost to Europe/Scorpions level. You really can't blame them though, as they were creating the style as they went along.

Another problem I have with the album is the fact that some songs and very particularly Space Truckin' are streched a bit beyong they capacity... Space Truckin' almost hits 20 minutes here at 19.54! After a while it's just a bit too much, the album is already long enough although it sounds surprisingly short due to the quality of most of it.

Still if you get this album you really don't need anything else by Purple... you get Child In Time, Smoke On The Water and Highway Star played as well as they ever were, and this is the only place you can get them together if you are, like me, a hater of Best Of collections. Deep Purple are heavier and more cahotic here than anywhere before and for them this is nothing but a good thing. Definitely a must for any metal library, so get it at Amazon UK or US.

Track Highlights

1. Highway Star
2. Child In Time
3. Smoke On The Water
4. Space Truckin' (still very good but just too long)

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Made in Japan is a live album by British hard rock band Deep Purple, released in December 1972. The album was recorded over three nights in August earlier that year. The tracks on the album mostly come from their studio effort, Machine Head. The three concerts recorded were later released as "Live in Japan" 3-CD box set. According to the liner notes for that set, unlike many live albums, there are no overdubs or studio additions to the original album. Recorded live during 15-17 August 1972 in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan.

Highway Star live in Denmark: