DEEP PURPLE

CHASING SHADOWS capitalizes on the frenetic drumming. The lyrics deal with one of Jon Lord's nightmares. The end of that song comes as a comlete surprise - either the guys ran out of tape or Jon comes suddenly awake. BLIND is the secret highlight of the whole Purple catalogue. The atmosphere of this song - created mainly by the vocals, the harpsichord and the drumming - is unforgettable. Donovan's LALENA is the only cover version on this album. It is a slow, mellow song that fits Ron Evans' vocals perfectly. Pure beauty, this one. The backwards tape of FAULT LINE leads into THE PAINTER, which sets a faster pace and is a hilarious song with excellent drumming. WHY DIDN'T ROSEMARY is the most obvious rock song of the album with a long guitar solo in the middle and tongue-in-cheek lyrics on birth control. BIRD HAS FLOWN displays a heavy side mostly neglected by DP (I can only think of NO ON CAME from the FIREBALL album as a similar example). And as if all these tracks weren't perfect enough, we are offered APRIL, the much hailed prog suite. What a giant step from the band that relied heavily on cover versions to this daring approach. Here DP show that they got guts.

I think MK I got better from one album to another. The same goes for the artwork. The artwork of the first album I find dull and uninteresting, the second one has an artwork by a modern artist inviting the eye to explore the details. Using a section of a painting by Hieronymus Bosch for the 3rd album we have a masterful artwork for a masterful record.

5 perfect stars.

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