Machine Head (Limited Edition) [2-CD SET] [Extra tracks, Import, Limited Edition]

Deep Purple | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Extra tracks, Import, Limited Edition
• Label: 101 DISTRIBUTION
• ASIN: B000006UD8
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,645 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Highway Star (1997 Remixes)

2. Maybe I'm A Leo (1997 Remixes)

3. Pictures Of Home (1997 Remixes)

4. Never Before (1997 Remixes)

5. Smoke On The Water (1997 Remixes)

6. Lazy (1997 Remixes)

7. Space Truckin' (1997 Remixes)

8. When A Blind Man Cries (1997 Remixes)

Disc: 2

1. Highway Star (Remastered)

2. Maybe I'm A Leo (Remastered)

3. Pictures Of Home (Remastered)

4. Never Before (Remastered)

5. Smoke On The Water (Remastered)

6. Lazy (Remastered)

7. Space Truckin' (Remastered)

8. When A Blind Man Cries (B-Side)

9. Maybe I'm A Leo (Quadrophic Mix)

10. Lazy (Quadrophic Mix)

Editorial Reviews

1997 release, a limited edition two CD set in a slipcase with a 28 page booklet for the 25th anniversary of their landmark 1972 album featuring 'Smoke On The Water', 'Space Truckin'' and 'Highway Star'. 'Machine Head' is remastered &with three bonus tracks: 'When A Blind Man Cries' & Quadro- phonic mixes of 'Maybe I'm A Leo' and 'Lazy'. Also featured here is an eight track bonus CD of 1997 mixes for all seven of the album's tracks, plus 'When A Blind Man Cries'. 18 tracks total. An EMI release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Purple's crowning achievement, August 10, 2001

By 

Gavin Wilson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Machine Head (Limited Edition) [2-CD SET] (Audio CD)

Deep Purple could easily have been as big as Led Zeppelin. They were certainly as talented. If only Ritchie Blackmore had got on better with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, this classic line-up could have stayed together for a few more years, and clocked up true supergroup status. And earned an awful lot of money.

But an inability to make compromises often goes with the territory of being highly talented. Listening again to these remastered anniversary editions of 'In Rock', 'Fireball' and 'Machine Head' together with 'Rainbow Rising', I am strongly persuaded by the argument that Ritchie Blackmore has been rock's greatest post-Hendrix guitarist.

This was a re-master I had to buy. 'Machine Head' was the first album I ever bought. For several months it was the only album I owned, so I played it to death. Every piece of music brought into my boarding school had to be approved by the headmaster. At the time, only 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' had been approved. Rather than ask permission and get the album confiscated, I sneaked 'Machine Head' in to the school, intending to play it to myself on headphones. But other boys -- we were 13-year-olds -- wanted their own copies, so a number of crude speaker-to-microphone recordings were made. That summer, the sounds of 'Highway Star' and 'Pictures of Home' echoed around the subterranean cavern that was called the Model Club. Fortunately this was not the era when hard-rock bands felt obliged to insert gratuitous four-letter words into their lyrics. Despite the musical style of 'Machine Head' not nothing like the classical stuff that our teachers wanted us to aspire to, the album was not banned. Strangely, 'Smoke on the Water' was NOT one of the tracks we paid much attention to. It was only when I moved on the next term to another school -- one where boys could learn the guitar -- that I became aware of the legendary status this track was acquiring.

This 2CD set throws up an immediate dilemma: which to listen to first -- the Remixes or the Remasters? I know every note of the original album, so the Remasters were my first port of call. The recordings are clearer, but there's no particular revelation.

What is stunning -- and this is the reason why every Purple fan has to own this version -- are Roger Glover's Remixes. Normally I am suspicious of remixes. Today remixes are usually an excuse for another producer to cut and splice, re-order chorus and verse, and put down several new layers of synth and drum machine. Glover has done none of that, but he has brought a fantastic clarity to the recordings. Most tracks last a little longer, because Glover has left in an additional bar of music at the opening or at the very end. Two tracks, including 'Smoke on the Water', have completely different solos.

In listening to the remixes, you feel very close to the stage of the Grand Hotel, Montreux. There is a tremendous live feel to the recordings. Extraordinarily for a band whose members couldn't abide each other, the level of empathy between the musicians is oustanding. The interplay between Blackmore and Lord is wonderful. (Now at last with the sonic clarity of the remixes I can just about be sure which bits are played by Lord and which by Blackmore.) Even Glover's bass solo on 'Pictures of Home' sparkles.

Ian Gillan may have been casual about the writing of the lyrics, but Purple's music has lasted because the band put so much into the development of each track. I found that it took many listens to fully appreciate all the nuances of their finest recordings. That was, after all, part of the appeal of progressive music. This anniversary set is a fitting testament to the greatest progressive hard rock band I have known.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific re-issue of a very important album., August 27, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (South Dakota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Machine Head (Limited Edition) [2-CD SET] (Audio CD)

This is perhaps one of the best-sounding CDs I have ever heard. I grew up on the album, and, in fact, went through 2 copies. Thus, I thought I knew it pretty well. The first CD version of the original album was 1 of my first CDs, but it rather disappointed me as it was not much of an improvement on the original album, if at all. This re-issue, however, goes way beyond just remastering. The remixes on Disc 1 bring out the interplay of guitar and organ like you've never heard it before, in effect making the songs new again. Drums and bass are both given resounding punch, and the vocals will move you. The overall sound is cleaner and crisper than ever, yet not to the point of being sterile. You can really feel the emotion and tension in that Swiss hotel-made-studio, I swear. Disc 2 is the original album, beautifully remastered for CD. This one will always be in my Most-Played rack. It's a model for re-issues.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Limited Edition, Worth The Buy......, September 18, 2004

By 

guitar19 (GuitarWorld19) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Machine Head (Limited Edition) [2-CD SET] (Audio CD)

This double CD set includes both the orginal album remastered and many outtakes, mixes, remixes, with a single b-side, rare quad versions..and unissued guitar solos. Their is also a huge limited edition book inside which roger glover has contributed including many rare photos from the orginal sessions and the story behind the album which produced deep purple's biggest smash hit Smoke On The Water. This album is without a doubt a true classic album worth the buy. Specially in this Limited Edition( double CD set ). Dont buy just the machine head CD buy this limited edition. Recomended!