Search - Deep Purple :: This Time Around: Live in Tokyo '75

Not the best show to represent Deep Purple

Marcus J. Viduya | Campbell, Ca United States | 07/19/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I was recently reading an older magazine which was bagging on the Mark 5 (Blackmore, Turner, Lord, Glover, Paice) tour in early 1990s, stating that that band was the worst in DP's history. the bootlegs of that tour, however, show that although Turner can be a bit lost in a few of the lyrics (forgetting a queue or two), he NEVER performed as badly as Tommy Bolin did on this recording. Tommy, David, and Glenn really disappoint here.



Coverdale seems either tired, drunk, or both. He's out of key here and there, and does not show the energy he had on Made in Europe. Hughes needs to give up the screeming and just play the bass. He might want to try singing also. Bolin, poor guy, was the victim of his own demons during this show and could hardly perform, leaving even the opening to BURN and many other parts he was paid to play to John Lord. In fact, it was John Lord and Ian Paice who basically held the show together.



As much as I love DP, I must say that it has to be questioned in why this album was released. I'd rather listen to SLAVES AND MASTERS and those live boots than have to play this CD."

A bad night for tommy

B. VINES | SHREVEPORT, LA. | 10/19/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hello- this concert is an pretty good show for DEEP PURPLE (david, ian, glenn, jon) but tommy bolin seems to be having an off night (what guitar great has not had a bad show ? )but there is a light at the end of tommy's tunnel, that is "WILD DOGS". i have always loved this song, especialy check out the early l.a. demo of "WILD DOGS" on "TOMMY BOLIN ARCHIVES VOL. 1" (it is almost better than the version on TEASER) anyway. tommy shines on this version. it makes this cd set worth the price."

Great live stuff!

Erick Bertin | Santo Domingo, Heredia Costa Rica | 02/02/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Once again, I purchased this double CD with a fair amount of hesitation, since I had been hearing for years stories about how high Tommy and Glenn usually were, about Tommy's overdose and consequent loss of sensitivity in his fretting arm, about how bad this incarnation of the band was during that last tour... You know what I mean, right? Finally, and after listening to the samples available, my curiosity overcame my doubts and I decided to purchase it.



And after listening to it carefully, I can honestly say that it was well worth it, and that most of the talk about Tommy's lackluster performance is unjustified: if he was having a rough night, I can't imagine how good he must have been when he wasn't high. That's not to say that this is perfect or the most fundamental DP listening experience ever, but I think that at least for those who, like me, enjoy(ed) "Come Taste the Band", this is a great addition. Narcotic tales aside, the band sounds very good on the 7 songs they play off that record, which is something that totally makes sense.



My favorites are exactly the same ones as on CTTB: "I need Love" (even though the song proves to be quite a struggle for Coverdale), "This Time around/Owed to G" and "You Keep on Moving", all of them AWESOME tunes, played with lots of passion and feel. Maybe the only things that are a little distracting are David (mostly) and Glenn's sometimes off key screams while trying to reach some of the higher notes. Actually, that is the reason why I chose this instead of the "King Biscuit Flower Hour/ Foxbat" set, since the samples that I heard really spooked the heck out of me!!! I don't know what happened over the course of the 2 months that separate those two concerts, but you can certainly hear the difference between a good night and a bad one... Oh boy...anyway, other tracks that stand out for me are "Love Child", "Drifter" and above all the amazing 17-minute jam on "Getting Tighter", which is an awesome band workout.



So why 4 (actually, more like 3 1/2, but since I can't put that...) and not 5 stars,though? Because there are a few glitches: Being a massive DP fan, I don't particularly appreciate it when my favorite music is messed up, or like in this case, "underplayed": the inclusion of just a snippet of "Soldier of Fortune" is a big disappointment to me, since it is one of my favorite songs and I would have loved to hear it in full; the inclusion of "Lady Luck" over "Coming Home" is criminal, if you ask me, since the latter is one of the best tracks off CTTB; Tommy's solo is not really a solo, but rather a 7 minute strumming excursion on guitar; but above all, the biggest "BUT" here are the versions of MK II and MKIII material, especifically 3 of my favorite DP songs: "Burn" basically goes over guitar-less, and while the liner notes on the CD claim that it was due to technical problems, I have reservations about that claim, and it's a major let down for me; "Stormbringer" is unnecessarily expanded and lacks the punch of the Mk III versions, and "Highway Star" is a little too much of a loose jam for my taste (something that was already happening during the "Stormbringer" tour, so I'm not blaming it on this lineup exclusively). And how come they didn't play "Woman from Tokio" in full, as opposed to just use a snipet of it during Jon Lord's solo? I mean, if you're gonna do something wrong, you better do it right! If they were gonna play Mk II material anyway, what could've been better than playing that song while being IN TOKIO??? However, the band does a pretty respectable job on "Smoke on the Water"(maybe they play it a little safe, but I like it nevertheless) and the mostly instrumental "Lazy", which pretty much shines as a jam.



Ultimately, all of those things are minor quibbles for a truly heroic performance which is mostly carried over by the spectacular performances of founding members Ian Paice and Jon Lord (moreso on the older Mk II and Mk III material than anywhere else), who undoubtedly steal the show, coming to the forefront in the absence of Ritchie, and to fill the gaps left by Tommy. As individual performers, you might find flaws in these performances (especially on Tommy's), but as a whole, Deep Purple on a bad day were ages ahead of the average band, and Paice and Lord really impress throughout. I would highly recommend this set for the hardcore DP fan and for MK IV aficionados, but not to the casual listener who knows only the hits, since chances are you might end up disappointed.

"