ONe of mine, too. How do you like his work with Blackmore's Night? I think it's some of his best playing ever and only that band could have allowed him to extend himself like that.Originally Posted by sotdude
ONe of mine, too. How do you like his work with Blackmore's Night? I think it's some of his best playing ever and only that band could have allowed him to extend himself like that.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
I love hearing Blackmore playing acoustic guitar so for me, the BN albums have mostly been very good. My only real complaint is that a lot of the albums are fairly interchangeable, IMO.
I like Pete's post but I'm not quite as enthusiastic about Steve Morse-I've never been a big fan of The Dixie Dregs and I didn't like his work with Kansas. I just don't get the same charge out of Morse's playing that I always do from Blackmore. Maybe it's because he sounds too "American" if you will. Blackmore always had that Gothic tinged Euro-ness going on and I really miss that component in modern Deep Purple. That being said, as I noted before, I think "Purpendicular" and "Now What?!" are really great records; the ones in between range from merely OK to being pretty bad. I find "Bananas" to be a very weak album.
And that's always been a frustrating thing about Deep Purple: they've never been the most consistent band out there. I mean, were "Slaves and Masters" and "House of Blue Light" really all that good? It pains me to even say that because Purple is probably my favorite band of all time as well and yet I recognize they are probably more guilty of coasting than any other major artist out there not named Yes. <ducks>.
Although I love The Dixie Dregs, I agree with you that Steve is too southern fried for DP.
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
I was upset at the time that Satch and DP didn't hook up permanently. I kept listening to "The Extremist" and wondering what might have been.
Have you heard any of the live recordings? It's pretty cool hearing Deep Purple play "Satch Boogie."
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
I don't think I could have said it any better. I love all eras of Deep Purple and have all of the studio albums and a good selection of the live material (they have a boat load of live albums) and Blackmore did bring an edge to the music that is long gone and it's been replaced by a more seasoned approach and, as you say, it seems to be working!
Bill
She'll be standing on the bar soon
With a fish head and a harpoon
and a fake beard plastered on her brow.
I was a Steve Morse fan before I was ever a Deep Purple fan. The one and only time I saw DP (in 2001) was mainly to see Steve. It was a great concert (it was the one recorded for the Perehelion DVD). But I really think that Ritchie is THE guitarist of Deep Purple. I really think Steve is best when he's doing the SMB or the Dregs stuff. He is a technical guitarist who's best when he's doing fusion/prog (imo). But with DP he has (or had) a tendency to use too much pinch harmonics and whammy barring. The DP guitar sound is Ritchie's Stratocaster. I've always wondered why Steve couldn't just play a stock Strat with Deep Purple. No need to answer, I think I know the answer.
Wait a second... 2 pages & not a *single* mention of the topless woman at 04:40?? *raises eyebrows & leaves room*... Alright- guess *I'll* have to start the PEv3 private thread about hot women again...
I absolutely disagree with this statement. To the point where not only do I think "much" superior is incorrect, but I actually haven't the faintest clue how anybody who understands guitar could think that Morse is "technically superior" to Blackmore at all. In fact, I think the opposite is true.
Morse's picking technique leaves a lot to be desired. He holds his guitar too low and the angle is simply not optimal, IMO. It wouldn't matter except that he insists on doing so much of that dated "machine gun," McLaughlin-styled stuff that I wish he'd just abandon. But when he plays like that, he hits way too many open strings and duff notes leak out left and right.
I don't know how people come up with these ideas or if they are just trying to find a way to explain the differences they hear, but Ritchie Blackmore is superior to Steve Morse, technically. And I think I can say that with some objectivity because even if he weren't, I'd prefer him to Morse any day. Who is better in this respect is really not much of an issue for me, but I have to call "BS" here.
The day Tony Iommi isn't in one of those incarnations is the day I jump ship.
But as it happens I was just digging some Tommy Bolin-era live Purple this weekend. It's not that I have absolutely no tolerance for Purple sans Blackmore, and I'm not saying that Morse in Purple is the worst combination I've ever heard, but the band misses Ritchie. And, IMO, Steve Morse is not the right fit for this band.
I agree Jeff it is not Deep Purple to me.
Jeff, I do prefer Blackmore over Morse, as I've stated, and for me, nothing will ever compare to some of the stuff that Ritchie played in the '70s. Groundbreaking guitar work in my opinion. That being said, as a guitarist myself, much of what Morse was doing in the '80s with the Dregs and the early '90s with the Steve Morse Band, is pretty incredible stuff. Ritchie in that same period was floundering-I saw him live a bunch of times during that period with both Rainbow & Purple, and at times he seemed to just be going through the motions and playing a lot of noise, flashy stuff that didn't amount to a hell of a lot of skill in my view. Is he a more well rounded player perhaps that Morse? Perhaps. And don't get me wrong, I'll say any day that Ritchie in his hey day is better than anyone else out there. But you talk to any serious musician, especially Morse's peers, and there's a reason he is so well regarded in the industry. The guy is a chops machine. Is he too sterile for some in DP? That's obviously the case, and hey, to each his own. As for the 'machine gun' approach as you call it, Ritchie was just as guilty of that in the '80s, picking a million miles an hour and just running his fingers up and down the neck. Nothing wrong with that from either guy to be honest, but I still think if you look at Morse's complete body of work, I have a hard time understanding how anyone can deny his technical ability on the guitar. In the end we can argue all day about who is better than the other, and why one works better in DP than the other. I'll agree with you, Blackmore is the better fit in DP, always has been, a more well rounded player, and I love the guy to death, but the facts are, both he and DP have long since moved on, and DP are making damn good music without him. You and I differ on that opinion, and that's cool. I just think to call my statement 'BS' is a little unfair, as we all have our own views on things like this.
Anyway, we are getting away from the original topic of this thread. Good performance from DP on that Wacken show! Spoke to someone at Eagle Rock the other day and it sounds like this is indeed coming out on DVD in 2014.
And, looking back, perhaps my statement of 'technically much superior' was overstating it a bit...
I think Ritchie should join forces with Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman and call themselves The Outcasts.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
I just meant "BS" as more of a general reaction to that assertion, as I thought I'd seen a couple of other people mention it and maybe you put me "over the top."
Keep in mind that I never stated that Morse wasn't a great player, but while I'm aware of his "reputation" that doesn't hold a lot of weight for me. I actually think a lot of musicians are clueless about musicianship.
I'm aware of Blackmore's "machine gun" picking but I see his as far more a part of his comical arsenal. Blackmore was not just a guitarist, but a flat out musical comedian. This is perhaps not understood by "non-believers" but I'm sure you know that of which I speak. Not that this was always him being "silly" when he did it but his style of "fast picking" is quite different to Morse. Morse comes from the McLaughlin school in this one respect. Blackmore comes from the Blackmore school in this and nearly every other respect.
In the end, I simply don't understand how anyone with deep knowledge of the guitar could find Morse a technically superior player to Blackmore. I can understand if someone prefers his style, but "technically?" No way. Blackmore is a man in complete control of his instrument. His single note vibrato technique alone is virtually peerless.
Well, I see Steve as one of those guys whose technique is perfectly suited to his own composition, but doesn't really translate well to the rest of the musical world in general. Like Steve Howe in many respects.
Actually, given their common influences and styles if Steve Morse were to join Yes I would literally sh!t in my pants. I'm cool with DP hiring Satch fulltime..
BTW, I would rate Morse's vibrato as better than Blackmore's, myself.
Sounds pretty "clichéd 80s metal" to me.
He does have very good root and fourth vibrato, but I don't hear his single note vibrato as even within the same universe of innovation and mastery as Blackmore.
Last edited by JeffCarney; 11-04-2013 at 02:41 PM.
Yes, and it only adds fuel to my sighing.
I actually like the four "reunion" albums from 84 to Blackmore's exit, but I have to say Blackmore was falling into some samey guitar patterns. Those Eastern-sounding leads were cool, but it seemed like he was doing them all the time towards the end. And yet, those same Eastern sounds could come up with some killer tunage... I think "Wicked Ways" is a jewel on the otherwise denigrated "Slaves and Masters." "Anya" is pretty fantastic. But then he'd try to "rawk" and come up with a dreary retread like "One Man's Meat."
Is it me, though, or is Gillan really nasal-sounding on "The Battle Rages On" (the album)... whereas for "Purpendicular" his voice became crisper and more varied? To me that speaks volumes about the level of inspiration involved.
Is the Morse/B;ackmore debate anon-guitarist can chime in on? ; )
Like most, I prefer Blackmore in DP and Morse in Dregs/SMB. Not surprising as a) those guys wrote a lot or all of the tunes and b) that's how I/we grew up with them in those bands. However, Morse has been with DP for 19 years. Blackmore is unlikely to return. They made a brave choice in not getting a Blackmore sound-a-like, something that Yes gets slammed a lot with their Anderson replacements.
As for who's a "better" guitarist, I'm obviously biased. Let's just say they're both great (which they are) and enjoy the music they're each making. Who knows how many more albums/concerts they each have left???
Anyone criticising another guitarist to prop up Blackmore has a cheek to mention sloppy right hand picking technique.
Blackmore was a prime offender of that for most of his peak years.Maybe not so much in the studio, but live he was often as sloppy as they come when he played fast.And i've never heard any "machine gun picking" from him in the McLaughlin style or any other, i'd be interested in hearing some examples as i'd be pleasantly surprised he had the technical facility to pull of that kind of alternate picking.There was certainly none on display with 60s\70s purple or rainbow.
I've always preferred Ritchie's slower and medium tempo melodic phrasing and bluesier playing.When he attempted to play really fast he was often messy and unconvincing, especially compared to what someone like Akkerman was doing in a similar classical influenced + pentatonic shredding kind of framework during the same era.Now that guy was a versatile beast.
Wow, Ritchie's vibrato is legendary.
TOTALLY AGREE!!
Wow, I have quite a few live recordings and saw him five times, and I've never come to that conclusion. Every guitarist has off nights, including Ritchie. Except for those instances and when he's mailing it in, I hear impeccable playing for the most part.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Agreed.
And to use Akkerman (whom I adore, mind you) as an example of "clean" playing by comparison is easily in the lead for the strangest thing I've read here this month. My guess is that it won't stand but it might just have some legs, because that is out there.
After reading this thread I'm beginning to hate both guitarists.
I'm not the biggest DP fan. I really liked a couple early albums (Machine Head, Made In Europe, Made In Japan, the one with the Hieronymus Bosch cover art), but picking up some other older albums (which I'd never owned in my youth) in recent years I didn't find much that grabbed me. Generally "meh"...not terrible, not too exciting.
And that describes my reaction to the songwriting (and pretty much every other aspect) of the newer stuff as well (I gave Purpendicular many, many spins - Rapture Of The Deep not so much). Really can't stand Gillan on the newer stuff and the guitar playing is far too freeze-dried - which is one thing the old stuff did not suffer from, IMO. There was a little less polish and more seat-of-your-pants and risk (I'm not just talking guitar here) on the older stuff which I liked.
But I can respect the musicianship of the recent albums even if the overall result isn't for me. Maybe the fact that I don't feel that same sense of risk shows just how masterful these guys are, but...oh well.
Last edited by Plasmatopia; 11-04-2013 at 08:13 PM.
<sig out of order>
After reading this thread I'm beginning to hate both guitarists.
It's too bad Satriani didn't join DP, as the bootleg I have is pretty damned killer but that's the way things go. I do feel he was a better fit than SM and while they aren't the Purple I grew up loving, it's great IMO that they are still alive and kicking. While Abandon and ROTD aren't the greatest the other three are pretty good rock albums, Purpendicular especially.
It's somewhat disappointing that SM is so different from Blackmore as I miss the solos in the classic songs but Morse is no slouch so I adapt. It's a different band now and it would also be disappointing to hear Blackmore's leads done note for note like some tribute band. I'm so used to hearing the originals that sometimes I wish SM would just do his take on Blackmore's leads instead of something entirely different.
All that said, there are numerous tunes never played BITD that have been resurrected in the 8a/b era and that's a huge plus. We also would never have gotten Ted The Mechanic which I find a killer tune. I remember the first time I heard it, knowing that Morse was in the band but not knowing what they would sound like and it killed me.
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