oh yeah....THIS is why I always liked Purple more than Led Zep, nothing against Zep mind you. This has got to be one of the all time great live recordings by a rock band. For me, 'Highway Star' says it all. This version makes the one on MACHINE HEAD pale by comparison, and that WAS a good version! They are simply firing on all cylinders on this track, the big Purple sound in all its glory.

Jon Lord is one of my all time favorite Hammond players, he just makes the damn thing breath fire. His playing on this track and CD just goes to confirm why the Hammond organ, in the right hands, is one of the greatest instruments ever created. It is such a powerful instrument and Lord takes full advantage. He was the X factor in this band, the perfect compliment to Blackmore's fiery guitar work, what a duo! Gillan's voice is in great form and what can I say about Ian Paice on drums, one of my favorite drummers ever since I was turned on to the IN ROCK recording way back when. And of course, Roger Glover is the glue that holds it all together. For me, they just don't make bands like this anymore. The MKII version remains one of my favorite bands beacuse I loved the songs and they had the musical chops to back it up. THIS is what good, solid hard rock music is all about. Oh yeah, one of the highlights of my life was to actually meet and talk with Ritchie Blackmore back in the 80's. Crank this bad boy up and stand back, no turkey is served here, LONG LIVE PURPLE!!!

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This is the only live document of Mark 2 Deep Purple you'll ever need. The superb improvisational skills of each member of the band are constantly on display; these are long sprawling jams travelling at breakneck speed. I can't even begin to describe how enjoyable this record is to listen to. Sure, these songs are incredibly long but excess was what hard rock in the 1970s was all about. Each band member shines here.

There is one thing about this package that is a little bit confusing, though. Even though I do own the 25th Anniversary Edition, the edition I own contains remastered versions of the studio tracks played here live. I have looked but I can't seem to find it. That's a good thing, however. I felt the studio tracks were somewhat unnecessary and detracted from the whole experience, anyway. Buy this set now, especially because it doesn't have the annoying and somewhat superfluous remastered studio tracks.

What's the long and the short of all this, I hear you ask? It is that no self-respecting hard rock fan or Deep Purple fan should be without this set. 100% classic!

THE BAND: Ritchie Blackmore (guitars), Ian Gillan (vocals), Jon Lord (keyboards), Roger Glover (bass), Ian Paice (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (1973) Originally 7 songs clocking in at 77 minutes; 2 vinyl album presented on one disc. This digitally remastered "25th Anniversary" edition (1998) contains a 2nd disc with 3 bonus songs, "Black Night", "Speed King" and a 50's cover "Lucille". Disc-2 clocks in at approximately 21 minutes. Included with the discs is a 14-page booklet with original artwork and bonus color band photos, song titles, song times, and a brief 3-page intro. Songs recorded live in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. There is also a (most complete) rare 3-disc version availabe as well. Originally on Warner Bros label, this remastered edition is on Rhino.

COMMENTS: "Made In Japan" is perhaps one of the best live recordings of a hard rock / heavy metal act ever. Think of the other classic acts that had great live albums from the past... Peter Frampton, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Foghat, UFO, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc. "Made In Japan" offers the complete package - excellent sound quality/production, emotion, energy, excitement, audience participation, and a great selection of songs. The audience was respectfully quiet during the songs and really let it out in between them. Incredibly, no added audience filler noise! The slower parts of "Child In Time" - you can hear a pin drop. It's interesting to listen, when "Smoke On The Water" is introduced by Gillan the crowd is silent... almost like they're not sure what they're about to hear. The 6 minute drum solo on "The Mule" was enthralling from Ian Paice - one of my favorite all-time rock drummers. Jon Lord's keyboard work is 2nd to none. His best work on this album is on the songs "Lazy" and "Child In Time". Seems that Lord and Blackmore had some great fun dueling back and forth. Some of the tunes, like "Strange Kind of Woman" and "Child In Time" sound better here than on the studio album. Gillan's interaction with the audience at the end of "Strange Kind Of Woman" is priceless. Ritchie Blackmore's trademark guitar sound and blistering solo's are amazing. 7 total songs - short track list but 6 of the 7 songs are 9+ minutes or longer. Two songs ("The Mule", Strange Kind Of Woman") from "Fireball"; one song ("Child In Time") from "In Rock"; and four from "Machne Head". The album closer is the marathon "Space Truckin'" clocking in at just under 20 minutes. "Made In Japan" is a highlight reel of two great shows on the "Machine Head Tour" in '73. The only thing wrong with this original issue is that it's just not long enough. Now, with the remastered "25th Anniversary" edition you can buy more of the show. Classic disc (5 stars).

Why, you might ask, is a lover of Jamaican reggae and ska, and of 70s Black American music, writing a review of a heavy metal band?

Well firstly because I love music of all types, and secondly, quite simply because this is the best live recording of any genre that money can buy!

It is THE definitive live album bar none, and one that every serious lover of music must have in their collection. It documents one of those once-in-a-lifetime occasions when a group of people come together (and here I must include the recording engineer and the audience) and produce something really special. This is metal's finest moment and one Deep Purple or indeed any other hard rock/metal band have never managed to equal, let alone surpass.

Here is an album that somehow manages to capture what most live recordings don't. It hasn't been fiddled with later in the studio so play it loud through a set of headphones and you are there. Sure, everything may be louder than everthing else but that does not mean that any one instrument drowns out any other. The recording engineer did a fantastic job in this respect - truly amazing given its thirty-four year vintage.

As for the content, yeah, some of the solos went on a bit by today's standards, but then the likes of Blackmore and Paice (who incidentally as a drummer I rate just marginally behind the truly great and highly creative Ginger Baker) were so damn good as musicians that they had every right to be a bit self-indulgent. That said, I think Ian Paice could have demonstrated his prowess on the drums in two minutes rather than six or seven. Space Truckin' also goes on way too long and the quality of recording is not as good as the other tracks. But I quibble.

These were real musicians playing real musical instruments before a live audience, nothing else, - surely what rock music was supposed to be all about! Gillan gets the vocal balance just right, Lord is the only person in the history of rock music that can get one of those god-awful '70s organs to sound anywhere decent, while Glover drives the whole thing along with a good thumping bass. These guys played so well that you have to keep reminding yourself that this is a live album. That's the difference between truly professional musicians and all the other the second-raters. Listen to Blackmore about five and a half minutes into "Child in Time" and you'll see what I mean. I don't care what genre it is, to hear someone play any instrument as well as this before a live audience is quite simply awe-inspiring!

The second CD in the remastered set is a bit of a waste of space however. The tracks are fine as pieces of musicianship go, but the sound quality is very poor and no amount of remastering can make them better. Still, as it's a bonus it shouldn't detract from the overall rating. They must have been the tracks rejected the first time around.

So there you have it. If you are a next generation metalhead and haven't heard this, I suggest that you fork over the few bucks and invest in a bit of metal history. Bands like this are where it all started. Play it a few times, compare it to today, and then like me you'll probably wonder where it all went wrong!

Rarely does an album so completely succeed that it becomes the benchmark by which all others are judged. Even though it was released in 1972, it continues to impress and amaze listeners some 30 years hence.

One of the most important charactoristics of this album is the sound. For a live recording, the mix on this album is just about perfect. Ritchie's guitar pierces through the wall of sound like a knife's edge. John Lord's hammond is captured well from it teeth rattling lows to its distortion tinged highs. Roger's bass chuggs along and supplies the low end for Ritchie and John to work. And Ian Paice, long known as the fastest drummer in hard rock hits with an authority rarely captured live.

The show starts with the legendary opening song, Highway Star. A song with an excess of speed and a tongue in cheek comparison between a hot rod and a woman. "Child in Time" allows Ritchie and singer Ian Gillan to extend themselves. "Smoke on the Water" proves to be just as heavy now as it was then. "The Mule" allows drummer Ian Paice to demonstrate his drumming skills with great speed and fluidity. "Strange Kind of Woman" is the showcase for Ian Gillan's vocals as he and Ritchie trade off lines in one of the classic moments of live performances. "Lazy" is the mostly instrumental workout for John and Ritchie and shows the absolutely evilest sounds ever wrenched from an hammond organ. The set closes with a 20 minute cruise through hard rocks outer space on "Space Trucking" incorperating elements of songs from previous albums.

This mix has become "sacred" to Deep Purple fans over the years. This version doesn't change the sound at all, just remasters from the best mixdown master tapes. The included extra disc contains songs from that live performance that hadn't been released to complete the show. This is the best live album ever recorded, and one would be hard pressed to find a better or more definitive live recording. This recording is the Benchmark Standard!