Stormbringer

The Mk 3 line up of Deep Purple (Coverdale, Blackmore, Hughes, Lord and Pace) only recorded two albums before splitting up. Stormbringer is the second of those albums. In the short space of those two slabs of vinyl, the influence of Coverdale and Hughes in moving the band away from the trademark heavy rock sound of the Mk2 line up to a slightly more complex rock sound with a strong soul/funk infusion was impressive, and for me the two albums recorded buy this line up stand up there as some of the best from the group.Stormbringer is the end of the journey started with Burn, and the soul/funk elements of the music reach their logical climax. The record is different to their earlier stuff, a little more reflective and complex, but that is just a logical result of the band maturing, and soaking up new influences. Personally I find it one of their most listenable albums.Sadly Blackmore left the band after this, and his replacement Tommy Bolin only recorded one album with the Mk 5 before his untimely death, which essentially marked the ed of the classic years of Purple as the band split up and went into a hiatus. For me, this is the last in a line of 6 classic albums (the first being In Rock) that should be in any music lovers rock collection. 5 stars.

`Yes, I can hear the sound of a windmill going round'Still have my original LP version from 1974 on Purple Records (115g), a piece of typical flimsy 70s vinyl. Even remember buying it on release from the `Paperchase' basement store in Manchester. It was a shock first hearing the whole record because it was clearly a different direction compared to previous records. It was one of those albums that got better and better on playing with time. Was it really Deep Purple? Yes and no. Songs like Stormbringer, Lady Double Dealer -yes, Holy Man, Love Don't Mean a Thing-no very different. Overall I liked the LP and still do. Ok it was not my favourite Purple LP but I always thought the next MK 3 one would be better. Well the rest is now history.Now 35 years on I purchased again the record with the same excitement hoping technology had pushed vinyl further on and I was very interested to hear the extra tracks on offer. The album packaging is certainly very much better. Well-made gate folded design with pictures of the band on first inner cover and very readable lyrics on the rest of the first inside cover and across the second inside cover. The record sleeves contain easy to view words and pictures from the sessions for the aging rock fan. Having two ca 200g weighted discs in the album makes it feel a really substantial package. Remembering back to the 70s taking half a dozen LPs under our arms to house parties would have required body building training with the weight of these remastered vinyls. It was disappointing to find the vinyl discs were not sent in the sleeves but free inside the middle of the gatefold cover between the sleeves, very strange. I am guessing they came from the manufacturer like this, as I cannot understand why any supplier would go to the extra effort to remove them from the sleeves. It clearly increased the risk of damage to the discs in the post.Both my discs are not perfectly flat but my record deck arm can cope with the ripples at the edge of the records. The surface noise between tracks is noticeable but not unbearable and does not spoil any of the music on the tracks. Sound quality of the album is very reasonable but to me played back to back with the original, the sound seems more compressed and less bright. This is particularly noticeable on the vocals and on the last track, Soldier of Fortune it really stands out. The stereo remixes are interesting but for me not essential. They sound a bit like disco mixes in parts. I cannot comment on the quad mixes as I do not have a surround system connected into my HiFi. I very much like the High Ball Shooter instrumental, a great Purple trademark track and it works very well in this format.In conclusion, I am a bit disappointed that 35 years on I am not blown away by the sound quality of this remastered vinyl set. I expected more. Ok vinyl technology may have peaked many years ago, the sound quality is certainly not bad and the music is still very enjoyable. However, I have been impressed by recent vinyl releases from Free, The Who and Black Sabbath. It makes me think Martin Birch et al must clearly have engineered this album very well the first time around making it very difficult to improve upon.

I first bought this album on vinyl in the early 1980's and promptly put it onto a C90 cassette (remember them?) I listened to this all summer on a personal cassette player after riding round North Wales on my trusty motorbike. There were no small players then so I could only recall the music after stopping and digging out the player. From the start this album delivers, while not in the traditional Deep Purple style this has a more Bluesy style to it, Coverdales vocals, whether you like them or not are unique. The first track and album title is a great rock and roll tune that sets the scene for the album. If you have listened to David Coverdales original alum Whitesnake you will find this familiar. Gypsy is a great tune that you will repeat time and time again, while Soldier of Fortune is a timeless classic, I challenge anyone to play this only once, its an absolute classic, it still sends chills down my spine, as did when a blind man cries, but that is another story..This is a real move on from the Ian Gillan days but part of the story of Deep Purple. Definitely one to add to collection!

Love the Coverdale / Hughes MK3 Purple era , kind of Funky groove which they carried on to Come taste the band , Great sounding 180 gram vinyl remastered at Abbey Road , building back up my Vinyl collection .

this album is a bit a of a strange one it really doesn't sound like deep purple at all compared to the other albums its very toned down and very subdued, so in that respect its not so greatHowever, as an album of music on its own its actually quite good David coverdale does put on a brilliant vocal performance and is only there because he was the replacement for Ian gillan so it wasn't his fault.the music is good on its own when not compared to other earlier deep purple albums BUt its a bit insipid and whimpy sounding though there are some nice songs on it including soldier of fortune (covered by opeth)I also like the frontcover though the name is a title that doesn't suit the album at all Inrock music would have suited the name Strombringer.so All in all not their best possibly the weakest album in the whole collection but I am a completist so I had to get it.another thing I do like change in band but I generally like them to keep their core sound and change elements of their music when I say change forexample Opeth have kept their core sound but have changed alot.anyway not bad but not classic or great either