This is sure an odd release. It is on a major label (BMG) yet I cannot believe this was authorized by the band or the Tommy Bolin estate. The packaging contains no information whatsoever as to where and when these performances were recorded, and the two photos of the band are just horrendous. Everyone looks wasted out of there minds, especially poor Tommy Bolin (RIP).

Furthermore, the title "Extended Versions" makes no sense. Virtually none of the songs would qualify as extended, especially by Deep Purple standards. There are almost no real jams or improvisations to speak of and the average track length is only around 6 minutes.

I am not familiar enough with the King Biscuit/Foxbat release to say for sure, but I believe this may just be a repackaging of some of the same material. In any event, it is not a complete show as Coverdale makes reference to playing material from Stormbringer and Bolin's Teaser album and the band never plays it. (As if having two versions of "Highway Star" in the middle of the disc is not clue enough. . .) Anyway, on to the actual content:

These performances are sloppy to say the least. Even the usually reliable Ian Paice sounds kind of erratic in places. Most of the vocals sound pretty poor, of course. Coverdale is not yet in command of his voice (have to wait for until Whitesnake for that) and he insists on butchering Gillan's lyrics. Glenn Hughes inserts his usual quota of irritating yowls into random places, and his singing on "This Time Around" is a real disaster.

Bolin, bless his soul, just doesn't have the right sound to play Blackmore's riffs. The way he plays "Burn" robs the song of all its power. During "Smoke on the Water" his guitar simply disappears for a while as if he accidentally became unplugged. He sounds much better on the material from Come Taste The Band, but his lengthy intro to "Love Child" goes nowhere and does nothing.

I like Bolin, but Purple live without Blackmore is just not the same. I think Mark IV is much better heard on their studio album. Still, the sound quality is reasonably good and there are enough interesting solos from Bolin and a few other moments to make this marginally worthwhile for fans of Bolin and Mark IV, if no one else. It's sure hard to beat the price.

Long-time DP fans will be disappointed at this remarkably sloppy set from Coverdale, Bolin, Hughes, Lord, and Paice, a talented lineup captured on a particularly bad night. It sounds as if the band were all too tired or drunk to play competently. David Coverdale's vocals are consistently off, as are those of Glenn Hughes. Tommy Bolin does not handle Blackmore's riffs well at all, and even the (usually) superb rhythm section of Jon Lord and Ian Paice turn in substandard performances. There are songs which are very badly played, particularly "Smoke on the Water" and "Highway Star", which inexplicably appears in two versions, both of which are played atrociously. Additionally, the inclusion of "Georgia on My Mind" is a mystery, as it isn't really DP's kind of song, and is also played horribly. There is an extended guitar solo by Tommy Bolin (misspelled as "Tomy" on the back cover), but this is nothing more than an exercise in pure tedium, with Bolin seemingly striking the strings at random. In all, it is a bargain-priced disc, but hardly a bargain when one considers the dreadful performances contained therein. This one is worth owning only as a curiosity, and is far from being a worthy document from one of DP's least-known lineups. Unless Rod Evans' bogus DP recorded anything during their mercifully short career in the early 80's, this one stands as the worst DP set ever.

I have been an avid admirer of Deep Purple from the beginning, and have always had great respect for the talents of Ian Paice, Jon Lord, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, and the late Tommy Bolin. However, despite the superb aggregation of talent here, the performances on this disc are dreadful. The boys must have been seriously intoxicated for this set. Depite his admirable talents as a guitarist, Tommy Bolin seems not quite able to properly handle Ritchie Blackmore's riffs. Similarly, David Coverdale fails to do justice to Ian Gillan's material, and is frequently out of tune and/or key. Glenn Hughes, himself a good vocalist, pops up frequently with screeches and howls, usually at the wrong times; in fact, Coverdale and Hughes just can't seem to get their voices synchronized at all. It gets so bad that even Ian Paice, arguably the steadiest drummer since Charlie Watts, gets sloppy from time to time, and the staunch Jon Lord sounds somewhat lost at times.

The track selection is also a mystery; in fact, it's downright ludicrous. There are two renditions of "Highway Star," but neither is particularly good, "Georgia on My Mind" doesn't really belong here (or on any DP album), and "I'm Going Down," although a fine song, was pretty shopworn by this time, a musical cliche; they also manage to mangle Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away." The track entitled "Tomy [sic] Bolin" contains too much aimless noodling and quickly becomes an exercise in tedium. The worst track of all, however, is the horrible rendition of "Smoke on the Water," which is so poorly executed that it would embarrass a teenage garage band. Between the discordant vocals and the hackneyed instrumental work, this track is virtually unlistenable. The notation on the back cover should be changed from "Recorded Live" to "Recorded Dead Drunk".

Although it is hardly a classic, it is somewhat interesting as an historical document of one of the lesser-known DP lineups. The performances are lousy, but the price makes it slightly more palatable.

These definately are not great performances at all. David Coverdale is a great singer, and I like Glenn Hughes and Tommy Bolin as well. However on this set they are absolutely, regretfully awful. These guys must have been waisted. A rather poor performance by such a talented team.

I can't decide with version of "Highway Star" is worse, "This Time Around" should have been left off, and I can't understand this infatuation with "Georgia On My Mind", it appears on every Deep Purple live album during the Tommy Bolin era right after "Smoke On The Water". I think the only song that I could tolerate is "I'm Going Down"; maybe "Lady Luck" as well.

Do yourself a favor and skip this one and stick with "Made in Japan" if you want a quality live cd from Deep Purple.

If you are into pristine sounding live albums, this is not for you, but who can argue with a CD at this budget price, featuring music by one of the most obscure Purple line-ups, featuring the late guitarist Tommy Bolin. It just has to be picked up. The material from Come Taste The Band is the best stuff here. Coverdale and Hughes' voices don't suit the Gillan era material very well. I don't understand why two versions of "Highway Star"(one is a medley with 'Not Fade Away')were included; something else from the same shows had to be more interesting. Just to hear what this line-up sounded like in concert is worth the price. Definitely not the greatest addition to your Deep Purple collection, but not a bad one either that doesn't hurt your wallet.