Customer Reviews

Deep Purple - Perihelion [VHS]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This last tour of Deep Purple will be remembered as organist Jon Lord's last. This DVD and tour was better than the one in 1998. Ian Gillan's voice seems well rested and less raspy than on the last concert release. The band plays a Greatest Hits set with a few fun things thrown in like "Mary Long" and "No One Came." What you see is a close knit group of friends making the music they love. Guitarist Steve Morse is a perfect fit and has been with the band almost 8 years. It is too bad nothing from the last studio album ABANDON was included, but all in all fine fare!

Jon Lord has left the band to be replaced by Don Airey. We shall miss the master of the Hammond. I saw this tour when it came to Minneapolis, and they were a very hot band. Excellent sound quality on this DVD and good video production. Buy it.

I'm huge fan of Deep Purple and this is my first DP DVD and it is really great here is the content of the DVD:
The concert is 1.425 minutes here is the track list:
1-Woman from Tokyo (7.06 minutes)
2-Ted the Mechanic (4.53 minutes)
3-Mary Long (6.34 minutes)
4-Lazy (7.00 minutes)
5-No One Came (5.13 minutes)
6-Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming (10.12 minutes)
7-Fools (9.07 minutes)
8-Perfect Strangers (9.15 minutes)
9-Hey Cisco (5.03 minutes)
10-When a Blind Man Cries (7.19 minutes)
11-Smoke on the Water (6.35 minutes)
12-Speed King (15.51 minutes)
13-Hush (3.19 minutes)
14-Highway Star (9.55 minutes)

and there is 30 minutes of very interesting interviews with the band

the performance is a brilliant and most of these songs are better here than the album versions for example (long Mary) had never attracted my attention but here it is really cool song and it is one of my favorites....
The new version of (fools) is very impressive because Jon lord added new sounds with his Keyboards and Morse plays new guitar solos so you find it very different from the 1971 version ...here it is longer and better
The 15 minutes (speed king ) is the best performance on this DVD because Morse and Lord play incredible solos then Roger plays Bass solo then Ian Paice plays Drums solo then Gillan perform another short song while morse plays Guitar then the continue Speed King....they are amazing
So this is a must buy DVD and you won't be disappointed at all. Actually any one who loves Hard Rock and Blues will love this DVD

As a purple fan for many years I was interested in finding out what one of the original "monsters of rock" bands were up to lately. While signs of age are clearly present there is still a confidence and professioal swagger that exists within the very core of this band. The sound and picture quailty is exceptional and the program selection which mixes classic purple with new material holds up throughout the entire show. Guitarist Steve Morse is like a shot of adreneline and he looks like a kid in a candy store playing these classic tunes. The added comentaries are revealing and it is apparent that Blackmore's leaving was not met with any tears. A five star performance from one of the originals.

I've seen these guys live three times - 1984, 1986, and 1998. This DVD was almost as good as the real shows. The only missing element is Ian Gillian's voice - he can't hit those high notes anymore, and his lung power is very obviously fading. Despite all that, he has a rollicking good time, as does Steve Morse. The sound quality (DTS 5.1) cannot compare to the best I've heard (Eagles - Hell Freezes Over), but still, it's well engineered to suit Purple's genre of music - slightly muted highs and a great thumping bass line. "Perfect Strangers", "Lazy" and "Space Truckin" are the highlights. Also nice to hear an old favourite "Mary Long". But "Woman From Tokyo" was disappointing - the studio cut was better. The bass and drum solos on "Speed King" are simply out of this world - as good or better than the great Lord/Blackmore jam on "Strange Kind Of Woman" from the "Made In Japan" album.
Overall, highly recommended and a must have for any true rock fan.

Isn't it true... wasn't watching this concert more enjoyable than about any other time you might have seen Deep Purple? Let's face it, though one helluva guitar player, Ritchie Blackmore is, in my opinion, the Ty Cobb Of Rock n Roll ~ Had the chops, but not the most mild mannered individual in the world. I thought Steve Morse just did an OUTSTANDING job playing the purple leads. And, unlike Ritchie, smiles and entertains with seeming ease. I was also turned on to some new old stuff I either hadn't heard or hadn't heard in a while. "Ted The Mechanic" is just a great tune with a great story. Love their jamming on "Mary Long" (of whom I actually know one). Tons of tunes and all One show, without a bunch of stupid editing... I love the way it was done. (The old rockers still know how to film better stuff). If you've EVER liked Deep Purple, this is a DVD you will NOT be dissapointed with.

I, too, am a long-time Purple fan and I agree with Mr T. There is a nice mix of old songs and new songs; including rock, ballads and even jazz. Steve Morse obviously fits well with the band. His work on Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming, Fools and Perfect Strangers is phenominal. No One Came is an excellent studio song that just doesn't translate well to a live performance, but Perfect Strangers is more than worth the price of the DVD alone. Overall it is an excellent performance by true masters. It will be enjoyed by rock fans everywhere.

Bought new live and rare and this DVD. As a longstanding purple freak I was keen to see how Morse fitted in. Blackmores playing whilst once an absolute genius had gone to pot in the past few yrs of his playing with purple. Morse fits in perfectly, he is an awesome player and does not try to change any of the classics but adds his influence to the new stuff. Highway star, lazy and hush are still classics. Fools has been the highlight for me on both New live and rare and this DVD.
My one complaint....... On the extra they give interviews with all the band members and they talk about a concert they did with Pavarotti. I was expecting to see clips from it at the end of the chatting... but Nothing, nada.... why not!!!

Who is Deep Purple? Is it Deep Purple if Ritchie Blackmore is not involved? This question is constantly being asked when mentioning or reviewing this band. Blackmore will always be associated with the history of this band. But, then again, So will David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes and Tommy Bolin. What I'm saying is that Deep Purple was always 5 very talented musicians working together and making music. It's a collaborative effort. Blackmore left and decided that collaborating was only doing his songs and no one else. So, The band got Steve Morse to play guitar. I met Steve Morse in 1993 at an after show Dixie Dregs meet and greet. I told him that admired his column in Guitar magazine called "Open Ears". He said to me if I ever had any suggestions for the column to let him know because he had a tedency to run out of ideas. "Excuse me! Steve Morse wants ideas from me?"
So, as I watch this DVD, I see 5 musicians working together and getting the buzz from working off the other musicians(as they tell us in the additional stuff). Did we ever see Ian Gillan stand that close to Ritchie Blackmore? Did we ever see smiles on those faces so big?
Yes, Gillan's voice is a little weak at times. But, as the show continues, it seems to get stronger and it sounds like and looks like a relaxed vocalist singing at his peak. Steve Morse is a phenomenal guitar player. He's a rare guitarist. With him, Talent doesn't equal ego. Because his talent is immense and huge. Thank God his ego isn't. I never thought too much about Roger Glover's bass playing until now and realize he can lay it down and improvise with the best. Jon Lord is and will always be the master of the Hammond Organ. Just listen to any recording he's ever done of "Lazy" and you'll know why. And of course, the bedrock of Deep Purple...the left handed drum wizard-Ian Paice. His drum solo caught my attention, my wife's attention and my one-year old son's attention. This man's incredible one handed drum roll sent me to my basement to try and figure that out for myself.

Song selection...
some have said in their reviews that the songs were a little weak. I personally thought it was a nice change for the band and for fans alike. There are obvious songs that are expected. Smoke on the Water and Speed King are two of them. But after listening to Made in Japan and Nobody's Perfect (over and over)it was nice to hear some other songs from the classic era. When they went into Mary Long(from Who do We Think We Are)and Fools and No One Came (from Fireball), I almost thought they were from the Steve Morse era albums. But I was relieved to find out that they were great old songs that they were dusting off for a younger audience. I even dug out my old vinyl copy of Fireball to have a listen. The Morse era numbers just rock with power and aggression that Blackmore lacked in the past few years. I had forgotten what great songs Ted the Mechanic, Sometimes I feel Like Screaming and especially Hey Cisco were.
These 5 guys obviously love making music together. You can tell in the performance and that's what makes a great concert from a great band.

I bought Deep Purple's Perihelion only because I'm a casual Deep Purple fan who wanted live DVD versions of classics like "Hush" and "My Woman From Tokyo"...... This disc has turned me from a "casual" fan into a rabid fan! ... When did DP get THIS good?

I'm not comparing DP to the WHO, but on this disc, although they don't have the virtuosity of the WHO, they do have that rock and roll "crunch" that is reminiscent of the early WHO's power.

Almost every track rocks like crazy and lead guitar player Steve Morse, who age-wise could be the son of the other DP members, is obviously having a blast in his roll as DP's latest guitar slinger.

Oh, and the sound... A-wall-of-thunder!

The latest in my Purple collection, I rank it fourth place. First goes to "Australia '99", second would be "Montreaux '96", and in third place I stick "Come Hell or High Water" because I have no respect for the way Blackmore presented himself. I felt the quality with Perihelion could have been much better and I felt it had a CHEAP feel to it compared to the '99 concert. Smaller stage, smaller audience, no frills and a shorter line-up of tunes. Still it was a joy to experience and I recommend it but I set the bar pretty high after their better shows. I will say I put Perihelion above their "Archive Collection" and "New, Live and Rare" which are great DVD's as well, just not high in the 'blow you away' scale.