STORMBRINGER

'Burn' was bordering on progressiveness, but "Stormbringer" is just not progressive at all. Most, if not all the songs have a straightforward hard rock structure. There is nothing wrong with this, "Stormbringer" is actually an okay hard rock album and it is enjoyable, to a certain extent. "Stormbringer "heralds the end of the classic Deep Purple era and the albums that followed were low grade and uninspired (some exceptions.) I guess this was brought about by the departure of practically all the original members who created such great works as 'Machine Head' and 'In Rock.'

When compared to other Deep Purple albums like 'Machine Head' or even 'Burn', some of "Stormbringer" is uninspired and bordering on 'bad.' Songs such as "Lady Double Dealer" and "Love Don't Mean A Thing" don't belong under the category of progressive rock, there is really almost nothing progressive about "Stormbringer" at all. There are a couple of highlights, the most prominent being the closing song -"Solider Of Fortune" which is a delightful acoustic ballad and is undoubtedly the best song on "Stormbringer", "Holy Man" isn't too bad either.

1. Stormbringer (2/5) 2. Love Don't Mean A Thing (2/5) 3. Holy Man (3/5) 4. Hold On (2/5) 5. Lady Double Dealer (2/5) 6. You Can't Do It Right (2/5) 7. High Ball Shooter (2/5) 8. The Gypsy (2/5) 9. Soldier Of Fortune (5/5) Total = 21 divided by 9 (number of songs) = 2.333 = 2 stars Collectors/fans only

"Stormbringer" is really not impressive in a progressive sense but as a hard rock album it would be around the three star level. So, the message is clear, I'd only recommend "Stormbringer" if you are a die-hard Deep Purple or hard rock fan.