Extended Versions [Live]

Deep Purple | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 1, 2000)
• Original Release Date: July 18, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Bmg Special Product
• ASIN: B00004W1SU
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #385,017 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Burn

2. Lady Luck

3. Highway Star/Not Fade Away

4. This Time Around

5. I'm Going Down

6. Highway Star

7. Smoke on the Water

8. Georgia on My Mind

9. Tommy Bolin

10. Love Child

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mark IV: Live and Sloppy, August 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Extended Versions (Audio CD)

This is sure an odd release. It is on a major label (BMG) yet I cannot believe this was authorized by the band or the Tommy Bolin estate. The packaging contains no information whatsoever as to where and when these performances were recorded, and the two photos of the band are just horrendous. Everyone looks wasted out of there minds, especially poor Tommy Bolin (RIP).

Furthermore, the title "Extended Versions" makes no sense. Virtually none of the songs would qualify as extended, especially by Deep Purple standards. There are almost no real jams or improvisations to speak of and the average track length is only around 6 minutes.

I am not familiar enough with the King Biscuit/Foxbat release to say for sure, but I believe this may just be a repackaging of some of the same material. In any event, it is not a complete show as Coverdale makes reference to playing material from Stormbringer and Bolin's Teaser album and the band never plays it. (As if having two versions of "Highway Star" in the middle of the disc is not clue enough. . .) Anyway, on to the actual content:

These performances are sloppy to say the least. Even the usually reliable Ian Paice sounds kind of erratic in places. Most of the vocals sound pretty poor, of course. Coverdale is not yet in command of his voice (have to wait for until Whitesnake for that) and he insists on butchering Gillan's lyrics. Glenn Hughes inserts his usual quota of irritating yowls into random places, and his singing on "This Time Around" is a real disaster.

Bolin, bless his soul, just doesn't have the right sound to play Blackmore's riffs. The way he plays "Burn" robs the song of all its power. During "Smoke on the Water" his guitar simply disappears for a while as if he accidentally became unplugged. He sounds much better on the material from Come Taste The Band, but his lengthy intro to "Love Child" goes nowhere and does nothing.

I like Bolin, but Purple live without Blackmore is just not the same. I think Mark IV is much better heard on their studio album. Still, the sound quality is reasonably good and there are enough interesting solos from Bolin and a few other moments to make this marginally worthwhile for fans of Bolin and Mark IV, if no one else. It's sure hard to beat the price.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Their Best, December 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Extended Versions (Audio CD)

Long-time DP fans will be disappointed at this remarkably sloppy set from Coverdale, Bolin, Hughes, Lord, and Paice, a talented lineup captured on a particularly bad night. It sounds as if the band were all too tired or drunk to play competently. David Coverdale's vocals are consistently off, as are those of Glenn Hughes. Tommy Bolin does not handle Blackmore's riffs well at all, and even the (usually) superb rhythm section of Jon Lord and Ian Paice turn in substandard performances. There are songs which are very badly played, particularly "Smoke on the Water" and "Highway Star", which inexplicably appears in two versions, both of which are played atrociously. Additionally, the inclusion of "Georgia on My Mind" is a mystery, as it isn't really DP's kind of song, and is also played horribly. There is an extended guitar solo by Tommy Bolin (misspelled as "Tomy" on the back cover), but this is nothing more than an exercise in pure tedium, with Bolin seemingly striking the strings at random. In all, it is a bargain-priced disc, but hardly a bargain when one considers the dreadful performances contained therein. This one is worth owning only as a curiosity, and is far from being a worthy document from one of DP's least-known lineups. Unless Rod Evans' bogus DP recorded anything during their mercifully short career in the early 80's, this one stands as the worst DP set ever.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars BURN!!!, November 7, 2001

By 

dc777 (Austin, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Extended Versions (Audio CD)

These definately are not great performances at all. David Coverdale is a great singer, and I like Glenn Hughes and Tommy Bolin as well. However on this set they are absolutely, regretfully awful. These guys must have been waisted. A rather poor performance by such a talented team.

I can't decide with version of "Highway Star" is worse, "This Time Around" should have been left off, and I can't understand this infatuation with "Georgia On My Mind", it appears on every Deep Purple live album during the Tommy Bolin era right after "Smoke On The Water". I think the only song that I could tolerate is "I'm Going Down"; maybe "Lady Luck" as well.

Do yourself a favor and skip this one and stick with "Made in Japan" if you want a quality live cd from Deep Purple.