Shades 1968-1998 [Box set]

Deep Purple | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 16, 1999)
• Original Release Date: March 16, 1999
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B00000I5LW
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,673 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #97 in Music > Hard Rock & Metal > British Metal
  • #99 in Music > Classic Rock > Supergroups

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Hush

2. Help!

3. Shadows [Demo 1968]

4. Love Help Me [Instrumental]

5. Kentucky Woman [Single Version]

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Strange Kind of Woman

2. I'm Alone

3. Fireball

4. Demon's Eye

5. Anyone's Daughter

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Smoke on the Water [Live 1972]

2. Lazy [Live 1972]

3. Woman from Tokyo

4. Mary Long

5. Super Trouper

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Knocking at Your Back Door

2. Perfect Strangers

3. Son of Alerik [7'' Single Version]

4. Call of the Wild

5. Bad Attitude [Single Version]

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent retrospective musically, with bum liner notes, March 24, 2001

By 

John Hopkins - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shades 1968-1998 (Audio CD)

I can't really add much to what has already been said in the other reviews here, with one exception. No one seems to have noticed that the liner notes in the accompanying booklet (which was otherwise nicely done with some great photos) gets all kinds of facts wrong. This is not mere nitpicking, as there are literally too many mistakes to list in this review. As Rhino needed to work with Simon Robinson (founder of the UK-based Deep Purple Appreciation Society and writer for all of DP's remastered album booklets) to get many of these tracks, one wonders why they didn't ask him to write the historical essay. Considering that this long-overdue boxed set is otherwise lavish and packed with tracks previously unavailable in the USA, the thoroughly misleading essay is a garish oversight.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No One Came, November 8, 2002

By 

John M. Keeton (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shades 1968-1998 (Audio CD)

Well this band has been coming at us for over thiry years and this box set is an excellent synopsis of that 30 yr period. Not only do they do a great job at selecting the songs, but it is well organized and produced along with a nice book included to read about the band while you listen to the songs.

You get to see what a great live band they are in this set. An example of this is a top notch extended jam of "Lazy" on the third disc from the infamous Tokyo 72 shows. We also see what a great studio band they were with many examples, some highlights being "Perfect Strangers," "Bad Attitude" and the afformentioned "No One Came."

You have songs included from their entire career with different members, but the bulk being by the Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Jon Lord, Richie Blackmore and Ian Gillan fivesome. You get to see the good times they had together on tracks such as "Space Trucking and "Knocking at your Back Door." On the flip side of the coin, you also see the strained relationship at times between these five (specifically Gillan and Blackmore) in such songs as "Smooth Dancer."

I actually gave this collection 4 1/2 stars. The only knock being that I would have liked a few more rarities, but there are many on here still to enjoy. There are tracks just pulled from the vault and dusted off like "Shadows," "Love Help Me," and "Son of Alerik." I also would have liked more pictures from these times these five were in the band.

There are also some great songs from the times that Glover and Gillan were not in the band, like the rocker "Burn" featuring David Coverdale on vocals prior to his Whitesnake days and "Sail Away."

Deep Purple is a band that was never appreciated enough in this country always bigger over in the eastern hemisphere. Well, this is one American fan who definately appreciates them and this box set has everything that many other box sets fail have a solid summary of a bands entire career.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally--A box set that's really worth the money!, May 26, 2001

By 

William J. Lambert (Oklahoma City, OK., USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shades 1968-1998 (Audio CD)

..And I really do mean that! As a fine connosieur of Classic Rock, outtakes, rareties, and the like, I have purchased some box sets in the past that really were a waste. Some with really poor outtakes that sounded like they literally came out of the garage, and should have stayed there, never to see an album or the charts. And worse yet, box sets that spend so much time focusing only on the "hit" making period of a group, that they show no revelations or spark of creativity from either the early or late periods, and all you're really paying the 50-to-100 dollars for besides the "extended greatest hits", is all the never-before-seen photographs of the group. None of which describes this most excellent of box sets by Deep Purple. One thing I can say for sure: This collection is comprehensive and chronological. Deep Purple is a group that went through almost as many phases as Spinal Tap, and this collection does a fine job of representing each and every stage of Deep Purple fairly, highlighting all the creative points and landmark songs from each stage. But most importantly, everything I want out of a good box set is here: Unreleased newly-discovered gems that should have been hits, such as "Cry Free", an outtake from "In Rock" that is so catchy and soulful, I find myself singing at work! Also, from the Rod Evans-era, a couple of the earliest known demos of the group, "Shadows" and "Love Help Me", the latter of which wound up on the groups' debut album with vocals, but hearing it instrumentally here sounds a whole lot better. I was also not dissappointed with what wasn't on here, but pleased with what was. I'm most happy that this wasn't strictly Ian Gillan-era stuff, because there were some really good Rod Evans songs here, too-- In particular, "Anthem", perhaps one of the most hauntingly beautiful love songs I've ever heard--good to listen to when you're lonely and heart broke, reminds me a lot of "Nights In White Satin", by the Moody Blues. Another true revelation here is the first-ever U.S. release of "Hallelujah-I am the Preacher"--a rare glimpse of a Rod Evans-era pop song, sung by Ian Gillan, during that transition period in 1969, when Evans and Simper were on their way out, and Gillan and Glover were just getting their feet in the door, and handed some of the earlier unit's "progressive bubblegum" fare to sing. This song is a rare chance to hear Ian Gillan sing lyrics to a song (or, should I say, "hymn"), that would fit in in most modern churches today. Why Deep Purple was given this song (hymn), I really don't know, but they performed it with all the surprising sincerity they could muster. I was also happy to see "Never Before" on here, a favourite of mine from "Machine Head" that should have been a hit, and never made it on any other greatest hits package, and certainly the band thought it should have been a hit, and I'm glad they put it on here. All the other great Ritchie Blackmore-riffs are well-represented here: "Emmeretta" (and Ritchie said he didn't like playing "funky"--what do you call that?), "The Bird Has Flown", "Speed King", "Into The Fire" (My all time favourite Blackmore-riff--sounds like "Frankenstein" meets "Iron Man"), "No, No No" (Hendrix-meets-Traffic), "Space Truckin'" (My favourite from "Machine Head"), "Highway Star", "My Woman From Tokyo" (John Lennon tribute?), and for those of you who like "Smoke On The Water", you have a choice here--"Live" or "Studio". Probably the one song that best represents the funky, Coverdale/Hughes period is "Just Might Take Your Life", with the organ of Jon Lord coming more to the forefront, and Blackmore's guitar taking more of a backseat, and the singing of David Coverdale much more soulful, Deep Purple begins to sound more like late-period Grand Funk Railroad or Humble Pie (and if you like Funk or Pie, you'll defintely dig some of this Coverdale-era stuff.) There's really something for everyone here. For those fans of Tommy Bolin, there's even songs from the short-lived Tommy Bolin period. But probably the best thing about this box set is that it has allowed me to see Deep Purple in a whole different light, and given me a better appreciation of them. These are not the dark, mysterious guys from accross the pond that I've always been led to believe. In fact, as far as "Heavy Metal" bands go, they are probably the most lyrically "down to earth". If you can just get past their quasi-mystical sounding hits like "Smoke On The Water", or "Burn", you'll see a whole different group. I've begun to regard the Ian Gillan and Roger Glover as much better songwriters, writing some really cute-and-witty songs like the vulnerable "No One Came"--Ian Gillan's narrative about the 15 minutes of fame some pop stars have, "Strange Kind Of Woman", about a prostitute named Nancy that he tried to win over, or "Mary Long"--a true story about a censorship campaigner who really should have practised what she preached. I think the songwriting team of Gillan-Glover really could have been on a par with the "Rubber Soul"-era Lennon-McCartney if they had been given more of a chance. And I'm really glad that this collection brought out that side of the group. Behind the serious-minded, grim-faced, mystical Druid facade, was actually a bunch of loveable, witty Brits, who could laugh at themselves in songs. They even went back into the studio in 1988 to perform their early-hit, "Hush", just to see if they could still do it, and it was interesting to hear Ian Gillan singing (yet another) Rod Evans song. Just think of it like Robert Plant with Jimmy Page, going back into the Yardbirds' stuff to sing Keith Relf's "Mister, You're a Better Man Than I", and bringing it up to date! Pretty Amuzing! This box set is not only worth every penny, but it also does what every good box set should do--give you a better appreciation of the group. And because of this box set, Deep Purple has become my favourite British band (sorry, Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds, and The Who.)