Anyone who has ever heard the infamous album LAST CONCERT IN JAPAN must listen to this brand-new 2 CD set. It is a true eye-opener to hear this complete Deep Purple show, recorded with the Mark IV lineup including Tommy Bolin in Tokyo on December 15, 1975. Received wisdom has long held that Bolin's playing was severely hampered this evening due to a drug overdose or sleeping on his arm funny--take your pick. As a result (the story goes), he could only play basic chords while Jon Lord held down the sonic fort on a painfully abbreviated set list. Listening to LAST CONCERT IN JAPAN would seem to bear this out, but this new album shows that LCIJ was a heavily edited, at times misleading affair.

No, this is not a superior Purple performance, or even a great one. Still, the band played a full set that night, with a fairly frantic energy level and seemingly good spirits. Bolin played well enough that evening, although arguably his performance on the King Biscuit CD (recorded 2 months later) is better from a technical standpoint. His guitar is louder in the mix here than on LCIJ (and yes, he did actually play the main riff to "Burn"), and his solos are often quite exciting (especially on "Gettin' Tighter" and "I Need Love.") In fact, it can be argued that Bolin always sounded good on his own material from COME TASTE THE BAND, while the earlier Blackmore stuff was treated with a much more tentative hand. It doesn't help that Bolin had ostensibly no background in classical music, unlike Ritchie "I had classical training for a year when I was 11" Blackmore.

The others turn in decent performances for the most part. Paice is incapable of a bad night, it would seem; Lord never fails to impress; Hughes--although occasionally in need of a muzzle--is a vastly underrated bassist with a robust sound. Coverdale does not deliver one of his penultimate performances, but he carries a lot of conviction throughout, and his stage introductions are often a hoot. And no one will ever hear as many "Domo Arigato, Tokyo's" in one place ever again!

Other pluses include the packaging and the liner notes, although the latter seem to be missing a chunk of the story for the earlier parts of the 1975-76 tour.

Being one of the hugest concert acts of the 70s, Deep Purple had set a high standard for itself, which is why many DP live sets without the title "Made In Japan" often go unclaimed. But the rambunctious performance of "This Time Around" captures a blaze of musical and emotional fire, and also serves as a time capsule for this particular period of the band; Deep Purple had been put through a slow and agonizing series of line-up changes, when they hit the jackpot with their best line-up (the so-called MkII line-up); Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice. But the ultimate cliche of rock and roll unravelled as both Gillan and Glover exited, followed soon by Blackmore (after he completed work on 1974's "Stormbringer"). In them, Deep Purple had lost a great frontman, bassist/arranger, and a guitar hero, respectively. Paice and Lord (both of whom have always been brilliant even on their own) kept the band together and recorded three respectable albums and keeping itself alive by connecting to audiences in lifehouses captured here on "This Time Around."

Fever-burning, blistering, trademark Purple attacks on many songs from their post-MkII's success era give them a whole new breath of life. Anyone who complains that the recordings on the 1974-75 albums lack spark should definitely hear "This Time Around"; it will give them a chance to hear those "need-improvement" versions brought back to life and beyond, such as 'Burn,' 'Stormbringer,' 'Drifter,' and 'You Keep On Moving.' And it's always nice to hear any live version of 'Smoke on the Water' and 'Highway Star,' while Deep Purple never forgets to boggle the musical senses with complex solo spotlights. It's hard to ignore the fact that these, some of Deep Purple's last concerts before splintering for nearly a decade, are marred by the personal state of the band; drugs and a heavy schedule took their toll, but not before DP had one last punch.

Having already heard, and even bought at great expense the notorious "Last Concert in Japan" set, I was somewhat dubious about this one. However, it is not necessarily as bad as it seems. While undoubtedly Tommy Bolin was a great guitarist, there is also no doubt that he was not a great Deep Purple guitarist. And there is also something not quite right about David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes singing "Lazy".

There are some good moments on this album. Tommy's "Wild Dogs" has always been a favorite of mine, and Jon Lord's keyboard solo is as impeccable as ever.

But, unfortunately, the low points somewhat outweigh the highs. The riff to "Lazy" being played mainly on keyboards, Glenn Hughes' hoops'n'hollers, and I for one am getting tired of hearing Coverdale saying "it's a rock'n'roll song" (which the songs on "Come Taste The Band" clearly weren't!

This is infinitely better than "Last Concert In Japan" however, all the way down to the packaging, and it is nice to hear a lot more of the "Come Taste The Band" tracks getting a live airing. I would really have liked to hear "Comin' Home" though, as that was always one of the high points of that particular album.

Three months later the band were gone, and based on some of the live albums we have been hearing lately, it is not too surprising. This was not the same band that recorded "Machine Head" or even "Burn".

I'll lay good money on the fact that if there are any tapes of Liverpool in March 1976, they will never be released!! Buy this for completeness.

Some years ago I bought the LP "Last Concert In Japan", and was amazed at how bad it sounded. I couldn't believe that this was the Deep Purple I have "fallen in love with" (in the summer of '81).

Well, now they have finally released the whole show on double CD, and I have to say that I am very surprised. This is in fact, all in all, a great Purple concert. There are weaknesses here that you don't find in the MKII and MKIII line-ups, but you have to remember that this is "MKIV on drugs"... Deep Purple were always a drinking band, but with MKIV the drugs entered through Bolin and Hughes. Drugs always brings out weaknesses in a band, and Purple was no exception to the rule.

The best songs are the songs written by MKIV. During those numbers they really ROCKS, but the afore mentioned weaknesses comes through in the "older" MKII and MKIII numbers. It sounds like they didn't fit Tommy Bolins way of playing the guitar, and Glenns vocals are...errr...well, you have to buy the record.

I wonder where Purple would have gone if not for the drugs...??

All in all, it's worth buying, and if you are one of those who only have heard the awful LP-version- BUY IT!!!

this double cd is a remastered version of the long ago Last concert in japan Lp, who rushed out in 1977. The LP mix was at that time very poor and had a low quality.

And today the purple record has released again in a double cd set with the whole unrealased materials which were not appeared in the old lp.

A must of Purple fans,...David coverdale & co were in the top form at that time. You can also call this one as a Tommy bolin remade in japan 1975