Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
People are saying the woman is damned..., July 17, 2001
In 1973, Deep Purple's legendary Mark II lineup imploded with singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover the odd men out. Ritchie Blackmore originally wanted ex-Free singer Paul Rodgers to replace Gillan but eventually settled for an unknown, future Whitesnake leader David Coverdale who at the time had a very similar style. Glenn Hughes, ex-Trapeze became the bass player with a little something extra, he was also an accomplished singer. This contrast of the bluesy Coverdale and the high pitched Hughes came alive on "Burn", released in February 1974. Although many fans missed Gillan's explosive screaming, there was no denying that the new tandem could rock out as well, as evidenced by many of the tracks on this album. The title song quickly immersed itself along side the great Purple classics and featured the new lineup (dubbed Mark III) firing on all cylinders. Blackmore's incredible guitar solo matched perfectly with Jon Lord's high energy organ and Ian Paice's virtuoso drumming combined perfectly with Coverdale's bitting verse and Hughes' wailing bridge. Other classics include "Might Just Take Your Life", "Sail Away", "Lay Down, Stay Down", and "What's Going On Here" all featuring Coverdale/Hughes tradeoffs except for the finale (not counting the instumental "'A' 200"). "Mistreated" featured Coverdale solo and became a stage favorite for the new Purple, Whitesnake, and Rainbow, a testament to the song's enduring power. I personally prefer Rainbow's version as Dio deliveres one of the greatest performances by a singer ever. Also this song could be seen as a slight ripoff of Free's "Heartbreaker", given how much of a fan Blackmore was of Paul Rodgers, but they're both great songs in their own right. Deep Purple rose from the ashes to regain their status as one of the big three in heavy rock along with Zep and Sabbath and David Coverdale showed why he belonged in rock's big leagues.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Rock Masterpiece, July 6, 1998
Deep Purple is one of the best rock bands of all times, although in America people tend to overlook its impressive body of work. If you are a Classic Rock fan, then BURN is one of the best early seventies albuns you can find. And what's even bes:: No track in this album has been played to death in your favourite rock FM!It was recorded in 1973, when Deep Purple was one of the hottest rock bands of the time, a giant in Europe and Japan but also popular in America, where "Smoke on the Water" 's riff propelled the sales of DP's finest album, MACHINE HEAD. But BURN was the first with a new line-up: the old warhorses Richie Blackmore (gtr), Jon Lord (kb) and Ian Paice (dr) plus the new-comers David Coverdale (vc) and ex-Trapeze Gleen Hughes (b,v). The guys were really meaning business and very gung ho about playing in the band. The result was a classic album that has more blues (Coverdale's voice) and more soul (Hughes' grooves) than their previous works, but that can rock in heavy anthems like the title song (devastating metal riff with some cool Bach'n'roll solos that reminds the also classic "Highway Star") and the moody "You Fool No One". Blackmore is pretty much the star ijn BURN, leading the band with some great riffs and playing some terrific melodic solos with less distortion than was characteristic of his stage antics. Never being just a show-off and always enhancing the songs, the guitar solos are a joy and prove that american guitarrists should pay more attention to Blackmore's work. Jon Lord is more discrete, making fewer solos but having his composition "A200" closing the album (actually, it is the only weak one in BURN). The bass and drums do a fantastic job that can impress anyone, and the vocals are great. Not only Coverdale is at his best (and not writing that crap that would make him a millionaire with Whitnesnake) but Hughes also shows his skills in all the songs but "Mistreated". Deep Purple in practice was a two-vocalist! band at the time, and the duet in "Sail Away" is particularly impressive. So, enjoy the great songs of one of the best rock albuns of its time! It created a lot of excitement when it was issued, particularly when the band began to open its concerts with blazing live versions of the first 3 songs of the album plus "Mistreated". The band showed in this album the potential to rock as well as its "classic" line-up with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover did. Unfortunately,the BURN era was too short-lived and soon after they went separate ways. It was good while it lasted!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprising, June 4, 2003
Okay, I admit I'm a dork. I have avoided the Deep Purple trap for years now solely based on Beavis and Butthead's fascination with the opening riff of "Smoke on the Water." Well, I won't go into the story of how it all came about, but I recently decided to pick this one up and give it a shot. Boy, what a fool have I been. Get past the fact that you have lead vocals by David Coverdale (who unfortunately has been cast in the role of "the guy from Whitesnake" which is impossible to say without a snicker) and LISTEN to the music. Wow, 70's hard rock at its best, and at a time when the interesting stuff was fading and the more commercial friendly arena packing crap was flooding the airwaves. Sabbath and Zeppelin were both going in all kinds of weird and strange directions (not necessarily a bad thing, mind you) and genuine, musically challenging and interesting hard rock was being handed down to the likes of KISS and Alice Cooper (though they also had their moments). What amazes me about this record is that as a whole, it's not a bunch of cheesy singles, a bunch of crap. It plays from beginning to end with a sense of comprehension that few artists ever reach. It's fast, heavy, bluesy, ball breaking r n' r, and if that's not good enough for you, then what the world do you want?
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