The mid-90's saw a Deep Purple in transition. Long time guitarist Ritchie Blackmore left the band for what looks like the final time, and after Joe Satriani filled in for a short time the band recruited Dixie Dreg legend Steve Morse as the permanent replacement. Actually, replacement is not really a fair assessment of the contributions that Morse has made to Deep Purple, as his virtuoso style and solid songwriting skills have added new fire to Deep Purple, something that really needed to happen for this band to continue on. The well received release of Purpendicular saw the band invigorated for the first time in years, and this live set from the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 1996 sees Purple firing on all cylinders, playing classic tunes, a few new ones from the then recent album, plus a few rare ones that longtime fans I'm sure were thrilled to hear. "Fireball", "Pictures of Home", "No One Came", and "When a Blind Man Cries" are all dusted off and given royal treatment here, rocking hard with Morse's blistering guitar work, Jon Lord's organ, and Ian Gillan's passionate screams leading the way. Of course, staples like "Woman From Tokyo", "Speed King", "Smoke on the Water", and "Black Night" made an appearance (sadly, no "Highway Star") and the band rips into them as if it was the first time they roared into these classics. Steve Morse makes the songs his own yet still pays tribute to Blackmore, choosing to inject his own personality into the riffs and solos while still keeping the feel the same.
There are also two tracks from Purple's 2000 set at Montreaux, the heavy "Fools" (when was the last time you heard the band play that one?) and the melodic "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming" from the Purpendicular album. Overall this is a very fine live album from a revitalized Deep Purple, and if you like the guitar playing of Morse I highly recommend you check this set out. The booklet has a great essay from Geoff Barton as well as plenty of live photos from the event, making for an all-around nice package.
Track Listing
1) Fireball
2) Ted the Mechanic
3) Pictures of Home
4) Black Night
5) Woman From Tokyo
6) No One Came
7) When a Blind Man Cries
8) Hey Cisco
9) Speed King
10) Smoke on the Water
11) Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming-bonus
12) Fools-bonus
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