Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
I'm afraid it's just bad..., April 21, 2002
By A Customer
...Well as a producer and musician myself there is no way that the abysmal guitar playing and vocals on this live album can be 'fixed in the mix'!I love Bolin's playing on "Come Taste the Band" and even bought the recent California rehearsal tapes he made with the band in '75. However on this Japan concert he was suffering from a serious arm injury (the result of falling asleep comatose on his arm after, you've guessed it, getting stoned.) I mean, just listen... he can't even play the riff to Smoke on the Water correctly and his attempt at the solo is almost laughable if it wasn't for the tragic personal demons that led this ultimately talented guitarist to his death a year later. His playing throughout is truly awful apart from Wild Dogs, a song of his own, on which he gets himself together just about enough to play an acceptable version. There are no such excuses for Coverdale and Hughes' vocals however which are truly terrible. Hughes was Bolin's heroin buddy at the time and Coverdale was said to be unhappy and drunk a lot of the time and boy does it sound like it. I love Coverdale's studio and live work with the Blackmore incarnation of Purple and also his early Whitesnake output but this is definitely his lowest ebb. As for Hughes... sheesh, he sounds out of his head and as if he is just waiting for his next fix. The 2 remaining original Purple members, Lord and Paice sound like desperate men trying to carry 3 members who are simply not cutting it. In fact they do a brilliant job in the circumstances, especially Paice's drumming which is full of fire and inventiveness. So why 2 stars then...? 1 for the version of Wild Dogs and 1 for Lord and Paice's salvage job. This album is Deep Purple's darkest hour, the 4 surviving band members in hindsight all agree with that and the fact this album should never have been released. The album is for completists only or those with a morbid enjoyment of a once great band on it's knees.
|
|
|
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Sad, Sad, Sad album, June 5, 2001
It is a sad and story state of affairs that this album has ever seen the light of day. What the "Let It Be" movie was to the Beatles, so "Last Concert In Japan" is to Deep Purple. Let me set the events that led to this atrocious album out for you. First, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover left the band under less than happy circumstances, mostly due to guitarist Richie Blackmore's insistence. Next they hired David Coverdale, a not so bad choice to replace Gillan. He had all the energy that Gillan had, even if the "scream" wasn't there. They also hired Glenn Hughes- BIG MISTAKE. For a start his whiny vocals are like nails on a chalkboard and his bass playing was hardly spectacular back then. In the live context these two shared vocal duties as well as on the subsequent studio albums (which apart from a couple of tracks were not a patch on the previous five albums). Then Richie Blackmore left; fed up with the funk sound that Purple developed and then the final nail was sealed on Purple's coffin. Tommy Bolin was a great guitarist and an excellent songwriter but he had a fatal flaw- heroin. It would ultimately lead to his premature death soon after this album was released. Whilst the studio album with Tommy ("Come Taste The Band") was a better effort than the previous two albums with Blackmore, it was live that Bolin showed his true colours, culminating in this sad album. Bolin is obviously off his face during this show and Jon Lord has to do so much cover work for him that his Keyboards are pushed up to the max and swirling around like anything. From the moment we hear Coverdale scream "Ow! Oooow!! OOOOWWWWWW!!!!!!!" we know we are in for a torrid ride. A totally lifeless version of "Burn" follows with Hughes making a mockery of his sections with his cries of "You know we had to tu-ow-ow-ow-ow". Huh? Then follows an equally uninspiring rendition of "Love Child" and "You Keep On Moving". Limping through this material, the band seems so unhappy with what they are doing, they are just marking time. Ian Paice tries his darnedest to get some life into proceedings but to no avail. Bolin then takes the mike for "Wild Dogs", one of the more passable efforts of the evening. Throughout this concert between song banter consists of a screamed word in Japanese and the "Ow! Oooow!! OOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!" mentioned earlier. "Lady Luck" follows and then what is supposed to be the highlight of the show- "Smoke On The Water". Coverdale's intro to this is laughable. He starts by announcing the song as being from "Machine Head" and getting a small reaction from the crowd, he then adds that it's about a place called Montreux which gets an even smaller reaction. In desperation he mentions Frank Zappa and the Mothers and it finally clicks with the crowd. After the song peters out without the third verse we get a bit of "Soldier Of Fortune" (possibly the best song on the album) and the Jon Lord gives us a little taste of "Woman From Tokyo" which must have made him wretch from the inside. Finally we get to the end of the song and realise that it was the ending of "Smoke On The Water". Confused? The final indignation is the atrocious performance of "Highway Star" which concludes the album. Hughes has no idea how to harmonise and Bolin is so far gone he doesn't even play save for a few stabs. It is, perhaps, the lowest ebb of Purple. The band did not want it released but the record company insisted. Mercifully we are not treated to the full show (one can only imagine if that was the best bits what the worst ones were). It is without doubt their worst live album ever, and by no means a true idea of Purple live. It is sad to see five fantastic musicians sound like this. Let us hope the rumours circulating about a double cd remaster of the full show is only that- rumour. Avoid at all costs. Please.
|
|
|
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Horrible Mix of Something Wonderful, November 7, 2005
Last Concert in Japan should never have been released. The mix leaves Bolin far too quiet and the song selections from the concert do not show the strength of this lineup. Another unfortunate occurance was that this show was not particularly the best that Purple did on that tour, let alone in Japan. I give the music 5 stars because I have heard it in other forms. This ENTIRE concert is availible on a proper mix on the 2-CD set "This Time Around: Live in Tokyo", and you won't even recognize it compared to this waste of time. But if you want to hear Mk IV at their peak, get "King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents" (or "On the Wings of a Russian Foxbat", same concert) to hear an amazing display of music. The 2 disc Tokyo show or the King Biscuit show is some of the finest live Purple you will ever add to your collection, but avoid this sad release all together.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
by Deep Purple 
