This one deserved a sonic massage and got it! Interesting package - the first CD has a crisp remaster, the second has a remix in which the bass and drums have much more oomph and the songs go all the way til the actual end rather than fading out, so you get some extra Tommy Bolin guitar in there. That adds to the enjoyment. The 2 bonus tracks are fun also; one is a big fat crackling riff with a nice little Jon Lord keyboard solo. The other song is just Ian Paice drumming away while Tommy Bolin throws a barrage of guitar licks at him. Very free-spirited and a taste of what should have been had this line-up lasted....

Talk about your "sleepers"! It's almost taken 35 years for this Deep Purple release to find it's share of mass acceptance, however the 35th Anniversary Edition of "Come Taste The Band" shows that Purple was indeed alive and well following Ritchie Blackmore's 1975 departure. Replacement guitarist, the talented yet tragic Tommy Bolin, pretty much established a "Ritchie WHO?" attitude from the opening Echoplex blast on "Comin' Home", to the last fading solo notes of "You Keep On Moving".

Bolin's whiplash lasso funk chops on "Getting' Tighter" create an infectious swagger, but his lead guitar improvisations that conclude the song are flat out mind boggling. Obviously this release is a must-have for Bolin fanatics, but really it needs a second chance for long time steadfast Deep Purple and Whitesnake fans as well. Vocalist David Coverdale and drummer Ian Paice are at the top of their game, and even while Glenn Hughes and Bolin were both in a pattern of serious drug usage, the recorded tracks on "Come Taste The Band" are all unquestionably brilliant.

Of particular note here is the second CD featuring the entire album remixed and re-sequenced by Kevin Shirley, who also recently worked with Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa on their Black Country Communion project. Shirley's new mix brings every last detail and nuance of the "Come Taste The Band" sessions to the surface, and the presence of additional and alternate tracks, especially of Bolin's guitar, are a delight. It's fun to hear some songs run to the end of the tape also! It's like the train runs right off the track! Completely off the rails is the bonus song titled "Bolin/Paice Jam"... it's too bad MORE studio moments like this weren't captured on tape!

Keyboardist Jon Lord is also pulled into the new mix, which was a common criticism upon the original album's release. Lord's honky tonk piano solo on "Comin' Home" and Hammond B3 on "Love Child" pour right out of the speakers, indeed enticing the listener to come taste the band!

(This review originally appeared on Maximum Ink's website. Used by permission.)

Even 33 years after its initial release this is a difficult album to review.

I don't think many Deep Purple fans gave Mk IV much of a chance when "Come taste the band" was released. It was nothing like "In rock", "Machine Head", or even "Burn". By the time I got interested in rock music in the late 70ies the verdict was that the album was crap, and that Mk IV was a crap live band (the horrible "Last Concert in Japan" seemed to provide the evidence), and so I never bothered with them.

Somewhere along the line I heard "Lady Luck" on the radio on thought "not bad". I bought Billy Cobham's "Spectrum" with Tommy Bolin on guitar and thought it was so good that I even bought Tommy Bolin's first solo album and thought it was very good too. But I still didn't feel like tasting the band.

In 2006 I read the reviews of "On the wings of a russian foxbat" and got interested enough to buy it. To my surprise I enjoyed this Mk IV more than "Live in Paris" recorded with Richie Blackmore less than a year before.

In 2007 the remastered version of "Come taste the band" was released, and finally, after only a year of hesitation, I got a copy.

I admit that it was not easy at first to listen to the CD. The music was nothing like Deep Purple. But then I somehow I got over the hump. I kept playing the CD in my car for days (I wouldn't want to try this with any other Purple album), got to like it, and finally to love it. There is not a single weak song to be heard, even though it took me a long time to fully appreciate the ballad "this time around".

No, it's not a Deep Purple album. Not really. But a great rock album it is for certain. I can't stop wondering what might have been had Bolin and Hughes not been drug addicts and the band had gone on. Man, they were good.

There is only one more thing to say: come taste the band!

"You Keep On Moving" is worth the price of admission alone. One of the great songs from the 1970's, and one of Deep Purple's best songs ever. The rest of the album is also fine. A great "lost' 70's hard rock classic.

Deep Purples last with Coverdale & Hughes was probably not popular with

die hards but is still one of the best. With Tommy Bolin on guitar this

has more funky/blues & slow numbers but still rocks. Its worth a listen

just for the classics Gettin' Tighter, This Time Around & You Keep on

Moving which is one of my favorites. The band still plays great & this

music should not be dismissed. I'm sure fans of Coverdale & Hughes love

this as I do! It's a must for any fan of all!