Customer Reviews

Deep Purple Live: They All Came Down to Montreux [Blu-ray]

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I was a big fan of Deep Purple back in the early 80's. My favorite configuration was Mark II, which I am sure is a lot of people's favorite as well. Since their reunion, I bought a couple of their newer CDs, but never really got into the newer sound too much. I think it sounds too "commercial". In other words, they have sold out. Then I didn't listen to them for a while. I didn't even know that they had picked up a new guitarist -- Steve Morse. This Blu-ray is a bit of a surprise. First, the image and sound quality of Blu-ray is superb. Steve Morse is the biggest surprise. He is great. I like him a lot, more so than Ritchie Blackmore. He gives Deep Purple an updated sound. They now sound more like a modern heavy metal band, even though many of the songs are still classics. It is quite refreshing. Don Airey is not John Lord, but he is every bit as virtuoso. Unfortunately, I do have to agree with the last couple of reviewers -- Ian Gillan's voice is lacking. At 63, he should be thinking of retirement. Then again, without Ian Gillan, Deep Purple will not be Deep Purple. May be they will be lucky (like Queen and Paul Rodgers) in finding a singer that can replace Ian Gillan. Overall, I enjoy this Blu-ray, and would recommend it to any Deep Purple fans.

If you are a Deep Purple fan, stop reading now and buy this blu ray.

Seriously, stop what you're doing and put this in your cart.

Now, for those of you on the fence. This is a solid blu ray to add to your collection. I was disappointed in Ian Gillan's vocals. He could have had an off night, but he sounded a bit strained. I've long gotten over Ritchie Blackmore's departure and think the band plays better with Steve Morse on guitar. He's not a source of tension like Blackmore was and it shows as the band is tight and you can tell that they enjoy performing together.

Still getting used to not seeing Jon Lord on the organ and keyboards, but Don Airey is no slouch and he and the band have a good chemistry.

Would have liked for them to have included "Perfect Strangers" in the set list, but that's just a personal favorite. Great jazz take on "Smoke on the Water" before they kicked it into gear and rocked out on it. Was cool to see them perform the song where it was written.

Picture quality is great and sound quality is superb. Bonus concert included from the Hard Rock Cafe.

Deep Purple's They All Came Down To Montreux - Live At Montreux 2006 Blu-ray is a fairly decent release all around. It isn't exactly the best music Blu-ray on the market, but is far from a rip off.

The set contains two concerts, firstly `Live At Montreux 2006,' the main feature in High Definition, and then in the extras menu `Live at the Hard Rock Cafe,' in Standard Definition. Both gigs feature the same Deep Purple Mk VIII Line Up of Steve Morse, Don Airey, Rodger Glover, Ian Gillan and Ian Paice and both feature a pretty similar track listing, with the only tracks on the bonus concert which don't also appear on the main concert being `Fire Ball,' `I Got Your Number,' and `Perfect Strangers.'

Musically the band perform excellently with strong virtuosity and character throughout, although personally I don't very much care for the Keyboard Solo or the `Well Dressed Guitar,' (A Steve Morse guitar solo peppered here and there with popular riffs from other bands) but the vast majority of viewers will doubtlessly love them.

Nowadays many people claim that Ian Gillan isn't very good live anymore and that he can't pull off a lot of the classic material properly anymore and while I would like to rush to his defense, upon watching this concert I was kind of inclined to agree that his voice wasn't on top form throughout. How much this detracts from your enjoyment of the concert is entirely up to you.

The set list contains several Deep Purple Classics such as storming renditions of Machine Head favourites `Pictures Of Home,' `Highway Star,' and a Jazz Intro featuring `Smoke On The Water,' mixed with newer material from the band's most recent album `Rapture of the Deep.'

The Montreux festival is usually a hallmark of quality on the DVD market with many bands releasing their finest DVDs and Blu Rays from the festival. This is certainly not a poor effort but for a Blu Ray it isn't the masterpiece you may have been expecting, with a kind of poor mix and video quality that looks more like a good DVD than a Blu Ray for the most part.
Keep in mind however the attractive stage show, colour palate and excellent camera direction and editing mostly make up for this minor flaw.

There are some other minor niggles which can get annoying such as the band seeming unable to hear what Ian Gillan is saying half the time and interrupting him while he addresses the audience at the start of `Strange Kind Of Woman,' and other songs. Another is the supposedly fun bonus song `Too Much Fun,' which I found to be a just bit poor and the idea that it was all in good fun didn't really make it any better. The biggest problem of all, in my opinion is the guest singer named Brako, who joins the band on stage without knowing any of the lyrics, doesn't contribute anything and just generally gets in the way during closer `Black Night,'
To say any of these niggles truly spoil the show would be inaccurate and even petty but they can reduce your overall enjoyment if you aren't in a forgiving mood.

The second concert is in Standard Definition, on a cramped stage but has a lot of energy, especially on the fast paced opener `Fire Ball,' which I'd say is the best performance on the disc, the sound isn't as good as on the main how but the mix is slightly better. The cramped conditions and different style of camera work make the two concerts feel completely different to each other and even though they have pretty similar set lists, both are worth watching.

The Blu Ray box itself does contain a inlay with detailed linear notes about Montreaux, Claude Nobs, The Machine Head album (recorded in Montreux) and other similar subjects. A nice little addition. In the Extras menu you can also find some not entirely professionally made 25 minute interviews with the band which covers similar ground and also about the newer members, Claude's recent activity and former guitarist Ritchie Blackmore.

Overall if you are interested in Deep Purple this is a product you should consider, it has a few flaws, but also a lot on content. You should decide which of those is more important to you when deciding if you want to give it a try.

This is such a fun and talented band to watch, but you just never know if you're going to get a decent Ian Gillan performance or a terrible one. Unfortunately, this release is the latter, which is a shame because I've actually seen a few shows where his singing was really strong compared to his usual decent performance. Once one of the golden throats of rock, he just didn't take care of himself like contemporaries like Glenn Hughes, and sadly, it shows. When he sings the classics, it sounds like a different vocalist. Again, musically, Deep Purple are one of the best live bands still playing, but I'd pass on this particular performance.

This is sure fire hit! Anyone who is a DeepPurple fan will really enjoy this DVD!

As a long time Deep Purple fan I was really glad to add this DVD to my collection. It brought back lots of memories of all the DP shows I've seen over the years. This is a very good show and the bonus Hard Rock video is a nice touch. If you love Deep Purple you will love this DVD. Blu-Ray makes all the difference in the world as picture & sound quality are outstanding.

A must have for the Deep Purple fan,old or new. I'm glad I got this, I recommend this highly. Good extras of the band.

This is one of the first blu ray discs I purchased to test the sound and video capability of my PS3. I was not dissapointed. This sounds great in both 5.1 dolby or DTS on my system. The set list was good. Ian Gillan did sound a bit strained, and Smoke on the Water is not quite as good without Ritchie Blackmore, but still a gem of a DVD to purchase for a good concert of Deep Purple. The HD DVD version is also great as well, so if you don't have blu ray, there is still hope for Purple in High Definition!!! I have both and neither will dissapoint.

Being a long time rock fan, I looked forward to seeing one of my favorite groups in the historic Montreux setting. However, I was really disappointed in the Ian Gillan vocals or lack thereof. He sounded strained and even forgot the words in Highway Star. Any DVD or recording that has Steve Morse in it has redeeming qualities, as he is one of the true treasures of the guitar and continues to channel creativity and musicality at every turn. remainder of the band was competent and tight and the audio and video quality was as good as expected from Blu Ray format, but I couldnt get past the poor imitation of himself done by Ian.

I loved Deep Purple years ago and attended a live show in 2006 which was memorable. I was looking forward to this Blu-Ray effort. The audio production at Montreux is generally poor with the lead vocal totally submerged. Maybe that is a good thing though since Ian Gillian's performance is about what one would expect of a guy in his sixties trying to sing Highway Star. Gillian is probably still a good singer...of anything but 1973 Ian Gillian! There is a reason Rod Stewart and Robert Plant became crooners. The audio production of the Hard Rock segment is a little better. Twenty six tracks on the DVD but no "My Woman from Tokyo"...what's up with that? Richie Blackmore or John Lord must own the rights. I wanted to buy the Jethro Tull at Montreux but now I'm not so sure. This recording is a throwback to the live albums of the seventies with thumpy bass and muddled audio throughout. I own a lot of concert DVDs and most are nearly studio quality perfect. Not sure if Montreux is an outdoor venue or what but the sound here is totally lost.