Customer Reviews

Come Taste the Band

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Come Taste the Band was the last studio record Purple did in the 70's. And it is a great example of how a million people (and maybe a few more...) CAN be wrong... all those fans who ignored it because it didn't feature Ritchie Blackmore don't know what they're missing. You, my friends, on the other hand, if you are reading this, is because you're interested, and I can promise you that if you keep reading and ultimately decide to purchase this record, that interest will be duly rewarded!

In 1975, shortly after completing an european tour in support of "Stormbringer", founding member, guitarist and resident tyrant (don't get me wrong, i'm a huge fan of his music, but the guy has serious issues...) Ritchie Blackmore left the band. An established act like Purple has 2 choices in such a situation: call it a day, or soldier on with a replacement. Purple chose the latter, and faced with that, they had 2 ways to go too: either choose an imitator and try to recapture the original sound and glory of the band, or forge ahead in a new direction. Again, they chose the latter, bravely enough. Rumor has it they originally set their sights on Jeff Beck, but unable to get him, went with a rather "risky" choice: a young yank named Tommy Bolin, with more of a background in Jazz/blues/funk/fusion than (hard) rock.

What did they come up with? Instead of telling you first what you're gonna find here, i'm gonna tell you what you are NOT gonna find here: you're not gonna find "Highway Star", or "Space Trucking", or "Burn" or even "Stormbringer" for that matter. Meaning that those songs driven by a big, nasty guitar riff are gone. That's not a bad thing, it just IS. With the departure of Blackmore, the remaining members were given ample space to unfold their talents, and they certainly show it here: Paice never drummed better, Lord is there filling in for Ritchie with his ever immortal Hammond B3, Hughes is in fine shape both as a bassist and singer, Coverdale sings his lungs off and Bolin, while not sounding like Ritchie Blackmore (he didn't even try, which was a bold decision...) makes a strong impresion throughout.

The band was, at least at the moment of the writing and recording of this album, rejuvenated and reinvigorated, and it really shows. My only observation would be about the vocals: how come there are only a few tandem vocals here? Coverdale sings the lion's share while Hughes sings two solo numbers ("Getting Tighter" and "This Time Around"), but the only song where they truly sing together is "You Keep on Moving". The tandem vocals are one of the features that originally fascinated me about Mk III, so I was hoping to get some more of those here. Still, their individual performances are consistently top-notch.

Try to imagine a cross between "Strange Kind of Woman" and "Might Just Take your Life" and you are halfway there! Most of the songs are rather carried through by the monster grooves that the band creates: "Coming Home", "Lady Luck", "Getting Tighter" and "I need love" (the latter being one of my favorites) are the best examples of this. Then you have a few songs that are a little more guitar driven, but here again they are different: instead of big classical scales (a trademark of Blackmore), the guitar riffs have a bluesier, "Hendrix-ier" feel to them, like the case of "Dealer", "Drifter" and "Love Child" (which is a bit reminiscent of Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker"). And then you have 2 succesive HUGE songs to top it all: "This time around/owed to G" , which is a two part song, the latter being an awesome instrumental that takes us back to those jams the band became famous for, and "You Keep on Moving", a song that can remind you a bit to "Child in Time" by its atmosphere, with the harmonies of Coverdale and Hughes being a high point. This album is awesome!!!

So what was the problem, then? Was it too funky? Nope, actually Stormbringer is way funkier than this. Was it too soft? Nope, the record rocks big time. Was it "less good" than previous records? Most definitely not! The reason is very simple: any band that experiences that many lineup changes is bound to lose (at least some of...) its identity, whether they realise it or not. And that's what happened here. Add to that the substance abuse issues that both Bolin and Hughes had, that would end up causing the implosion of the band and the death of Bolin shortly thereafter, and you realise that it just wasn't meant to be.

The bottom line: if you liked Stormbringer, you will LOVE this record! So if you don't have Stormbringer, i would recommend you to get that first. If your favorites are albums such as Burn and Machine Head, this may be a little odd for you. But i honestly recommend you to get it either way. If you like good, groovy rock, you should love this one too! Great music is great music, and you should give it a try! And the timing for you all to get this CD couldn't be better, either: thanks to this Friday Music release, you won't have to shell out any extra money to get the import version(s). I'm a diehard, and this is without a doubt one of my favorites. Go ahead and give this band a taste...

When I was 13, my older brother, a tremendous force in the direction to which my initial musical indulgences went. Walked in the door with this album under his arm.
I had at this point about 10 albums in my collection. I had Machine Head by DP and thought, wow, what a cool and classy looking album cover.
My experiences with Deep Purple's history outside of Machine Head were quite uninformed. But, one thing was for sure. When I heard the opening open quick drum roll, Tommy Bolin (need I say more?), and the opening lyrics.... Blew me away!
I was hooked!
Producer Martin Birch's incredible recording of this lineup is a masterpiece. This was, and is still to this day an absolutely essential part of my musical collection through 3 vinyl copies and one Japanese CD edition.
It is a perfect album and a sadly underappreciated one in the Deep Purple discography.
This is...Are you ready?? My #2 favorite Deep Purple album after Made in Japan. I think that it is simply incredible. It is funky, rockin', tight and simply some of the best boogie Rock-n-Roll to pour across my early ears and still to this day. NOTE: This is coming from a person that listens to an incredible amount of music from all genres (Except Rap/Hip Hop) and owns over 10,000 albums/CD's. The band is just having an incredible time here. It is obvious.
Plus, I feel deeply that any previous record by Deep Purple didn't have the production quality of this album. Often the recordings on "In Rock" etc. were incredibly compressed and seemingly muddy. To no fault of the musicians. The thing that to this day stands out for me with CTTB is how good these guys were at this time. Largely still are as musicians and vocalists. Their last few records are very, very good.
Here, David Coverdale took the combination of his Ian Gillan meets Paul Rodgers/FREE era styled blues vocals to a new level. I had never before or since heard him sing this well. (Ok, maybe on his first pre-WS solo album?) Glenn Hughes is an incredible soul singer. He is an amazing bassist. Jon Lord is brilliant. He open's up here in only his best way and with possibly some of his best work. Ian Paice is, and will always be, my favorite rock drummer of the "classic rock" era. Not a bad tune in the lot.

Dig it up and play it loud. Come on..."Come Taste The Band.

Perfection!!

Even 33 years after its initial release this is a difficult album to review.

I don't think many Deep Purple fans gave Mk IV much of a chance when "Come taste the band" was released. It was nothing like "In rock", "Machine Head", or even "Burn". By the time I got interested in rock music in the late 70ies the verdict was that the album was crap, and that Mk IV was a crap live band (the horrible "Last Concert in Japan" seemed to provide the evidence), and so I never bothered with them.

Somewhere along the line I heard "Lady Luck" on the radio on thought "not bad". I bought Billy Cobham's "Spectrum" with Tommy Bolin on guitar and thought it was so good that I even bought Tommy Bolin's first solo album and thought it was very good too. But I still didn't feel like tasting the band.

In 2006 I read the reviews of "On the wings of a russian foxbat" and got interested enough to buy it. To my surprise I enjoyed this Mk IV more than "Live in Paris" recorded with Richie Blackmore less than a year before.

In 2007 the remastered version of "Come taste the band" was released, and finally, after only a year of hesitation, I got a copy.

I admit that it was not easy at first to listen to the CD. The music was nothing like Deep Purple. But then I somehow I got over the hump. I kept playing the CD in my car for days (I wouldn't want to try this with any other Purple album), got to like it, and finally to love it. There is not a single weak song to be heard, even though it took me a long time to fully appreciate the ballad "this time around".

No, it's not a Deep Purple album. Not really. But a great rock album it is for certain. I can't stop wondering what might have been had Bolin and Hughes not been drug addicts and the band had gone on. Man, they were good.

There is only one more thing to say: come taste the band!

"You Keep On Moving" is worth the price of admission alone. One of the great songs from the 1970's, and one of Deep Purple's best songs ever. The rest of the album is also fine. A great "lost' 70's hard rock classic.

Deep Purples last with Coverdale & Hughes was probably not popular with
die hards but is still one of the best. With Tommy Bolin on guitar this
has more funky/blues & slow numbers but still rocks. Its worth a listen
just for the classics Gettin' Tighter, This Time Around & You Keep on
Moving which is one of my favorites. The band still plays great & this
music should not be dismissed. I'm sure fans of Coverdale & Hughes love
this as I do! It's a must for any fan of all!

This album is simply great. Just buy it. You won't be disappointed. This album was a big part of the soundtrack of 2007 in my life. It is simply a classic, memorable, album. Once you get it, you'll be listening to it for the rest of your life.

Short and in a nutshell, this is the most unigue, creative and best performance in their career. Tommy Bolin is amazing and a huge influence on this record. Amazing how much they allowed him to input. They are best by far with this version. I love Deep Purple, more the Hughes, Coverdale era - love all three of those. On the other hand, being a huge Tommy Bolin fan, this is also his best work. Hard to say that with his two solo records being so good, but it is true. This is not necessarily going to be liked by every DP fan, though. This is definitely not the riff rock band of the past. It honestly sounds like a different band. Come taste this one for sure.

Deep Purple werein a jam when Ritchie Blackmore left the band.What was the remaining members to do? Hire american guitarists Tommy Bolin of course.How does this record hold up to the Deep Purple legacy? well first of all let me tell you this record has fans that think it is one of the best records of the bands career and there are others who don't accept it too kindly. Well I think it is one of the bands shining moments.The record starts off with "Comin' Home" and Tommy Bolin steals the show on this one.It"s a steady rocker which will make you ask Ritchie who? It"s that good.Lady Luck is next up.This is a funk rocker brought to the band by Tommy Bolin and the lyrics rewritten by David coverdale.A short and to the point song that drummer Ian Paice does a good job on.For you Glenn Hughes fans out there the next song "Gettin'Tighter" is one of his two spot light songs on the record.Tommy and Glenn do not disappoint on this one.Full force funk rock with incredible vocals.Ian Paice does it again on drums."Dealer" is next and it is the first and only song on this record where Tommy gets a small singing part.Solid rock guitar playing on this song which was written about drugs."I Need Love" comes next it starts as a rocker before turning into a funk-rocker.Tommy and Ian do some justice to this ordinary song."Drifter" arrives next and again Tommy plays a great riff and fills in the rest of the song with his signature tone and style.This one should not be missed."Love Child" is another funked up rocker and Jon Lord plays a simple but effective synthesizer solo backed up by Ians' great drum fills and Tommys great playing.Glenn Hughes and Tommy out do them selves on the next combined songs "This Time Around & "Owed to G"(an instrumental)."This Time Around" is a ballad,a magical ballad performed by Jon Lord on piano and sung by Glenn.This is one of the best sung songs ever by The Voice of Rock.The instumental half of this song "Owed to G" is one of Tommys finest recorded moments and should not be missed."You Keep on Moving" is a duet with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes sharing the mike and bringing this record to a close.A great song and another great solo by Tommy Bolin.This record is a must in any true rock fans collection .If you already own it your one of the fortunate ones and if you don't buy it now.Don"t put it off,give your ears a treat.

WARNING: this, actually, is Coverdale's Band without the overcasting Blackmore's shadow.
Now, having said that, David is in blues-rock command and Hughes in full funky form. Sioux City guitar Bolin changes the direction of this "deep purple" into a more jazzy-rock mood. Superb vocals all around. Overwhelming energy and variety comes out of this effort by a band, specially Lord and Paice, that found themself facing a forking path. A great example of mid-seventies sound.
Whoever enjoy this product, should check two albums by Coverdale before Whitesnake: 1977's White-Snake & 1978's Northwinds.

I have been a Deep Purple fan since high school when I was 13 years old when I bought my first Deep Purple album featuring the wickedly good line-up that featured Turner as the lead singer but produced what that godawful red-headed stepchild REO Speedwagon-Foreigner disgustingly bad rip-off " Slaves and Masters ", that only had the one good track ( The INSANE first track " King of Dreams " ). After that I picked up all of their other albums in succession according to the line-ups and of course I started with Mark II, then Mark III, and so on. When I got to Mark IV I was COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY BY THIS ALBUM FOR ONE REASON AND ONE REASON ALONE: TOMMY BOLIN. THE GUY WAS AN INSANE GUITAR PLAYER, especially on tracks like " Coming Home ", " Dealer ", the disco Purple track " I Need Love, and " You Keep On Movin' ". I had never heard a guitarist like him ever in my life and after being a Classic Rock/ Hard Rock/ Metal fan for most of my life I don't think there will ever be one like him again. If you're a new fan just getting into DP, RUN, DON'T WALK TO BUY THIS ALBUM IF YOU CAN FIND IT LOCALLY and then buy some of Bolin's other works, especially his two solo albums " Teaser " and " Private Eyes ", Tommy Bolin Whips and Roses 1 & 2, and anything else you can get your hands on that's legit Bolin. Having died of a heroine overdose at the age of 25 we weren't blessed to hear the sounds that this legendary guitarist would have made over the years, and it's a damn shame that most people today haven't heard of him but I think that's more a testament to how narrow-minded people are in their choice of good quality music and see it as just music but for serious fans of any band it's art, and Tommy Bolin's canvas was his guitar.
The album itself is a mixed bag, I do have to say. Coverdale sounds more mellow and groovy than he did in " Burn ", whereas Burn had slower tempo tracks then this album did ( mostly cos Blackmore's guitar playing didn't have the frenetic energy and flair Bolin was known for ) on this album he and Glenn Hughes are singing in concerto, that is they sound more on the same page on this album then they did on the previous Mark III albums they had made with Blackmore. This was a really revitalized era for Purple and could have been a kind of Renaissance for them, but by this time Lord had been thinking of quitting the band for a while and almost all of them were hooked on drugs and the rock and roll lifestyle had gotten to them, but not before they entered the studio to record the album! It's just a fun, fun album if you're more into blues rock and jazz ( the main reason Blackmore quit the band, since he was having problems with Coverdale and Hughes over their love of what he referred to it as " shoeshine " music. )
That is where the true problem with this albums lies with true DP fans, and causes the raging debates that you'll hear from all the warring Purple factions. This album is not DEEP PURPLE MARK II, AND IT NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN. I'm sure most Deep Purple fans would have been happy it the band had changed it's name to reflect something new and didn't have the moniker Deep Purple since most fans have a hard-on for Gillan or Blackmore ( both of whom I love to death but I think of Deep Purple as an institution, not as a band ) but most fans probably don't know that the band was actually founded by Jon Lord and the first musician he approached to join was Blackmore, and that little tidbit has been lost over time and later on Blackmore took over more and more and Lord went along. The power struggles with Gillan and Blackmore led to the Mark III phase and while most people didn't initially know how to react to Coverdale subbing in for Gillan it was Glenn Hughes who made a more capable and better bass player than Roger Glover, so this thing went on and on until Blackmore finally had enough and founded Rainbow. This could have marked a new era in Deep Purple's history, but tragically this final, tragic album was their last until the Mark II reformation in 1984. Bolin breathed new life into Deep Purple just like Steve Morse did in 1996, and his flailing guitar playing and thrashing style should be emulated more today ( IF at all possible, cos NOBODY comes close to playing like this guy, NOBODY. ) For anything else, BUY THIS ALBUM TO HEAR TOMMY BOLIN SLAY YOU WITH HIS GUITAR ELTEE!!!!!!!!!!