Customer Reviews

Deep Purple - Live at Montreux 1996

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

 

 

I won't wax rhapsodically about Ritchie vs Steve, but instead I will just rate the dang DVD.

The musical direction is great. This compilation of tracks recorded at historic Montreux in '96 and '00 is just fantastic. The sound quality is better than most systems are capable of, so you'll probably get the best sound your equipment can give.

I own Purples Australia '99 as well as Scandinavian Nights, New Live and Rare, and the Come Hell or High Water reunion tour with Blackmore. Montreux is in the top two, and I have enjoyed it almost every night since it arrived last month. Paice, Morse, Lord, Glover and Gillan mesh perfectly [as always] and obviously have a great time playing together. They joke around occasionally, and theres a few surprizes that spontaneously erupt on stage [Sooo, thats 'funky Claude' eh? hmmm].

This DP line-up clicks extremely well together, and it shows [I can't believe I am the only one that noticed Gillan giving Blackmore the "finger" at the end of 'Paint it Black' on the High Water DVD. If you got it - watch the last second of that track .. BOING! Up goes the 'bird' at Ritchie, who should have gotten a butt kickin instead of just the finger].

If you are a purple fan, or just a music lover who enjoys those nice long live instrumental riffs of great rock & roll that highlight not only the guitarist but all facets of the bands talents, buy this disk. These guys blend better than Tequila and Lime. Theres plenty of deep-cut material on it I'd bet money you have not heard before and that in itself is reason enough.

Here we have yet another live DVD from Deep Purple. This one is neither bad nor good. It is interesting to hear Ian Gillan fumble over the words on "Ted the Mechanic," and that gets you ready for the kind of performance you get here - just average. However, with just average Deep Purple can be pretty good.

I love Steve Morse and what he brings to the band, but his playing is extrememly repetative, and since this is my 6th or so Morse DVD purchase, I find myself predicting riffs before they happen.

Don't get me wrong,the band is in high form, but it sounds and looks like all the other DVD releases. If you have a lot of other Purple DVDs from this era, this one is nice but not essential. If you have none, this is a fine place to start.

rock and roll is a lot like dancing, you can either do it or you can't. there is no way to fake it. and these members of deep purple, all 50 plus still have the goods. the concert really gets going on ted the mechanic, a newer song that really rocks. this might be the greatest collection of musicians ever gathered for one band. steven morse is a marvelous replacement for blackmore, retaining just enough of ritchies style for the deep purple sound while adding his own terrific licks. good for you boys keep rocking until you can't rock no more.

If you are looking for one Deep Purple concert DVD to buy, this is it.. Come hell or high water is next..

Very enjoyable!

Pretty good stuff for later Purple. Morse is really good on the axe, and gillan still has the voice. Its not quit the same without Ritchie, but still worth the money.

Most fun was seeing myself in the audience. I saw DP again this year in Montreux and can say that this concert should be the last... Ian gets out of breath on Highway Star.

How can anyone expect others to utilize this guys review when he hasnt heard of steve Morse? Yet, he also somehow knows that "He puts Blackmore to shame"? The two are not even similar as players. Both are totally UNIQUE! (Especially Blackmore). This guy has also read a few magazine articles and put together enough propaganda to do a psychological profile on Blackmore too!? Come on dude. Blackmore's clearly a complex guy as many of his caliber are. He will be remembered 100 years from now. Steve Morse was a good choice for DP to carry on with, and is a great player as well. I havent even seen the DVD and can tell you more than this bizarre guy. Go to the "Deep Purple Appreciation Society" website for an itelligent and credible review, as well as for tons of Purple and Purple -related info.
I give the DVD 4 stars for Ian Paice and Don Airey's history alone...increble musicians. The Montreax DVD's are great..Just got the Rory Gallagher one..excellent! Speaking of Blackmore and Morse..BUY that Tommy Bolin cd "Whips & Roses"! Great stuff! Here's some insight to the DVD...

"This forthcoming DVD release is a bit of a mixed bag, but on the whole it's one I've enjoyed, mainly for the sheer clobbering power of the '96 set. We caught the band right at the start of the tour and that was good enough, but six months down the line they have begun to really gel, breathing new life into the oldies and honing the Purpendicular material. The mix is great, even on the VHS viewing copy, with a nice balance of guitar and organ, and a great cugging bass/drum sound which was one of the hallmarks of the tour.

The filming is a pretty typical TV quality shoot; not too imaginative but it does the job, though the light levels are a bit low at times. The director gets the hang of it later so the pictures begin to match the vision and there are some great close-ups of Paicey and a wonderful sequence of Lord and Morse from behind the stage duelling away in Speed King. It's a shame this is a shortened set (it runs for an hour and a quarter), but it's much more enjoyable than the Polish set issued last year as Gillan is in fine form. We also get to see Claude Nobs introduced right at the end. The bonus tracks from 2000 are flatter musically, but the film quality is a lot sharper and clearer. There seem to be more of them than we were originally led to believe too." (from the deep Purple Appreciation Society)

i've been an avid fan of deep purple since i had their 33and1/3 rpm albums on the "tetragrammaton label" in the early seventies.
yup, from what i gathered blackmore was a phenomenal guitarist but a major psycho,very temperamental and troublesome.a few weeks ago i decided to revisit the aging rockers.a tad grayer and paunchier but still great.gillan is the man! but it would be unfair to the rest of the band not to mention how great they sound together.
the amazing part to me is the guitarist in the background who looks a little like kid rock( NO offense intended for mr morse.) anyway this guy plays the guitar like no one else ,steve makes the guitar sing ! morse puts blackmore to shame.too bad deep purple didn't start out with a different guitarist instead of blackmore, then perhaps there would not have been so many personnel changes, then D/P would had greater success.maybe bigger than led zep.Rock on !! GREAT ALBUM, BUY IT !