Is "Burn" Deep Purple's Best Album???

[Guitarplyrjvb]

I remember when Ian Gillan left Purple for the first time I thought the band was done. I kind of reluctantly bought Burn and liked it, but didn't love it. The shared vocals of Hughes/Coverdale and the newfangled, at least for Purple, synthesizer stylings of John Lord turned me off.

Over the years, I've come to appreciate it more and more, to the point where I now think it's the band's best. Stormbringer was a huge dropoff, for me, so Burn is kind of like a brief stop at Mount Everest before coming back down to sea level.

[Progatron]

Absolutely not, but it's got some good tracks.

[spacefreak]

No. That's Fireball for me.

[JJ88]

No. It's better than Who Do We Think We Are (which is thoroughly tired sounding, IMHO), and also better than the two which followed. The title track is an all-time classic. 'Mistreated' is an excellent showcase for Coverdale and would become a live favourite for both Coverdale and Blackmore in later years. I like the Cream-esque 'You Fool No One'. 'Might Just Take Your Life' and 'Sail Away' work fairly well, and showcase the newer more soul-influenced direction.

However, I don't think it's anywhere near the 1970-2 Mark II albums. I'm also not a big fan of Lord's taste in synth sounds...'A 200' is filler, IMHO.

I like Coverdale but others are more of a fan of Hughes than I am. I can handle his singing here, but not so much live, including songs which he originally sang on (see his yelping all over 'Burn').

[Guitarplyrjvb]

^^ Probably because it was the first Purple album I bought, "Who Do We Think We Are" is one of my favorites. There's not much Blackmore soloing, but I love the songs. Mary Long is a great cut!

[Plasmatopia]

The first I owned (and loved) was Machine Head. I like pretty much every song on it. I had the self-titled album on vinyl and really like that one. I also had Live in Japan and Live in Europe and played those quite a bit ages ago.

I picked up Burn, Fireball, Come Taste The Band, Perfect Strangers, Purpendicular, and Rapture Of The Deep in recent years and aside from a track here and there couldn't get into them much. I could get rid of those and never miss them.

[Zappathustra]

No. That's Fireball for me.

Again we agree! In Rock is also close.

But I can't deny that Deep Purple have lost their power on me. I hardly ever play any of their records.

[ronmac]

IMHO, their best studio album is the self-titled third one. I would put "In Rock" right behind it.

[Progatron]

The title track is an all-time classic.

For sure. A killer track, belongs on any DP compilation/playlist.

Mary Long is a great cut!

My favourite from that album, a great track!

I had the self-titled album on vinyl and really like that one.

The self-titled third album is one of my top 3 DP albums - I love it from beginning to end. I don't think there's another album they made that sounds like that one.

I picked up Burn, Fireball, Come Taste The Band, Perfect Strangers, Purpendicular, and Rapture Of The Deep in recent years and aside from a track here and there couldn't get into them much. I could get rid of those and never miss them.

Of the post-70s albums you list, I like Perfect Strangers and Purpendicular the best, but it's been the last two with Bob Ezrin at the helm that have really wowed me - Now What?! and especially Infinite. To me, these are the best albums they've made since Perfect Strangers. Infinite actually made my "Best of 2017" list, and I even bought the CD singles to get the b-sides, etc. I interviewed Don Airey last year and made sure to tell him just how much I loved the album, and we talked about Ezrin's impact, and how he brought out the best in the band as a whole unit, not just as individual players.

[ronmac]

The self-titled third album is one of my top 3 DP albums - I love it from beginning to end. I don't think there's another album they made that sounds like that one.

It's one of my desert island discs.

[GuitarGeek]

Mary Long is a great cut!

Well, if you're gonna take a shot at Mary Whitehouse, you'd better make it good. And I think they rose to the occasion quite well.

The other song on that album I like a lot is Our Lady.

Of the MKI albums, I still prefer Shades Of Deep Purple.

[Scrotum Scissor]

No. That's Fireball for me.

+ 1. Their most refined, self-assured and plain original outing. "No One Came" is one of the greatest closing-tracks from any British rock album of the 70s, and it's arguably one of the lesser known DP songs overall. But the cynical/satirical lyrics (in one of Gillan's best ever vocal performances) paired with an irresistible groove makes it a feast for the 'cerebral' rocker. This kind of übercoolness was something they absolutely had in them and which they should have explored much further; "Living Wreck" and "Maybe I'm a Leo" are other examples of it.

They were my fave band in the whole world before I discovered psych and "prog". Burn is, along with In Rock, probably their most 'metallic' offer. Some of it I still like, much of it I don't. As with the rest of their roster, and as with Zep and Sab and Free etc.

[Halmyre]

+ 1. Their most refined, self-assured and plain original outing. "No One Came" is one of the greatest closing-tracks from any British rock album of the 70s, and it's arguably one of the lesser known DP songs overall. But the cynical/satirical lyrics (in one of Gillan's best ever vocal performances) paired with an irresistible groove makes it a feast for the 'cerebral' rocker. This kind of übercoolness was something they absolutely had in them and which they should have explored much further; "Living Wreck" and "Maybe I'm a Leo" are other examples of it.

Agree with that. Ritchie of course didn't agree and thus Machine Head, which I think is only Mark 2's third best album out of four (although I haven't heard WDWTWA in many long years).

[miamiscot]

In Rock
Machine Head
Fireball

Burn is a nice record but the three above LP's are better (IMHO.)

[Jerjo]

Deep Purple, In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head > Burn

[Zappathustra]

This kind of übercoolness was something they absolutely had in them and which they should have explored much further;

Very well put. Maybe they mixed ubercoolness with uberpretentiousness at some point.

To me they're not right up there anymore with Zeppelin and Sabbath. A band like Atomic Rooster sounds more interesting to me.

[Scrotum Scissor]

they're not right up there anymore with Zeppelin and Sabbath. A band like Atomic Rooster sounds more interesting to me.

Hey, if Rooster had enjoyed, say, a couple of world-wide hits in the wake of Death Walks and/or In Hearing, they would possibly have been remembered as the coolest of British hard-rock groups from the 70s altogether. Instead of merely being a cult phenomenon and stoner pionéers, I mean. They were more successfully corny and quirky than Sab but still not as cryptically weird and clunky as someone like High Tide.

"Sleeping for Years" is still one of the tuffest tracks from the ruffenuff-puffrockin' of the 70s UK.

[JJ88]

Agree with that. Ritchie of course didn't agree and thus Machine Head

Gillan always used to cite Fireball as his favourite. I didn't take to it from the off like In Rock, but I came to enjoy it just as much. The most adventurous record that line-up made, particularly (what was) Side 2.

The first album I heard of theirs was Stormbringer. Not a terribly auspicious start. I still don't like it much beyond 'Stormbringer' itself, 'The Gypsy' and 'Soldier Of Fortune'. It's a very lightweight record IMHO. Perhaps Lord's keyboards are a factor; a fair amount of synths and electric piano, I preferred him on the Hammond. And Blackmore was phoning it in.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Yeah, I dig me some Fireball, too. Love "Strange Kind of Woman". "Anyone's Daughter" is the sour track for me and I think it ruins one whole side of the record. Kind of corny for Purple. In the LP days, there was no excuse for including this as a substantial part of side 1. I have to give the self-titled one a listen. Have never heard it! I always thought Rod Evans was trying too much to be Elvis, so I never bothered much with the first 3. That said, I love his work in Captain Beyond.

I guess I always thought Burn was a huge letdown after Gillan and Glover left, but as I age, I find I like it more on its own merits. The playing is very nuts!

[Supersonic Scientist]

I might get top-level-shit for saying this....but here goes...

To my ears, In Rock, Machine Head, Fireball & WDWTWA could have been recorded/performed better. They all lack a certain "polish" (not sure if that is the exact term I'm looking for) I really love the "sound" of the Burn album. Those other albums lack that to certain degrees...many of the songs on those studio albums sound somewhat "flat" to my ears. I would LOVE to hear a new Metal/Heavy band cover; Pictures From Home and a host of other DP tunes from that era to hear what these songs' potential really could be.

For the record: I love DP & Blackmore was a pivotal guitar player for me in my early guitar-learning years. The MKII version of DP was untouchable as a LIVE unit back-in-the-day!!!!!!

[SteveSly]

I think "Burn" is a great album, but not my favorite. Most people would not pick it, but "Perfect Strangers" is my all time favorite Purple disc. I played the hell out of it when it came out and saw the tour which was my first live Purple experience. Their most recent one "Infinite" is also excellent and ranks right up with the band's all time best to my ears. From the Mark II era, "In Rock" would probably be my pick.

[Progatron]

Their most recent one "Infinite" is also excellent and ranks right up with the band's all time best to my ears.

I'm glad to hear someone else say this.

[Zappathustra]

Is Strange kind of woman in Fireball? I thought it was a single.

[Plasmatopia]

I might get top-level-shit for saying this....but here goes...

To my ears, In Rock, Machine Head, Fireball & WDWTWA could have been recorded/performed better. They all lack a certain "polish"...!

Well, we know who is NOT Skullhead in disguise.

[progmatist]

+2 for Fireball. When arguing with someone about just how underrated a bassist Roger is, I play then No No No and win the argument.

I too love In Rock, but would caution anyone here in the US to look for the British import and skip the Warner Brother's US release. WB hacked off the intro to Speed King.

My favorite live album is Made in Europe, although it's more of a recompilation than a true live album. It features Mark III performances after Stormbringer, but before Richie left. It also contains the best performances of Burn and You Fool No One I've ever head.

When Perfect Strangers came out, I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Now it sounds a little old and stale to me, much like the Neal era Spock's Beard albums do.