THE VERY BEST OF DEEP PURPLE

Another Deep Purple compilation, that, to my surprise, wasn't in this site. As I expected, almost all the songs are from the "classic" line-up (Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice), which was obviously the most sucessful one and (IMO) the best period on DP's career. From that period here are some great classics like "Black Night", "Highway Star", "Strange Kind Of Woman", "Speed King", "Child In Time", "Demon's Eye" (a song I do not consider a classic, so I don't know why it is on this compilation), "Fireball", "Woman From Tokyo" and obviously "Smoke On The Water". From the very early years of the band, we've "Hush" and "Kentucky Woman" (single version that really does not represent the sound of the band from that Psychedelic (Prog) Pop era). "Burn" and "Stormbringer" are good selections for the Coverdale/Hughes era. From the 80s period we've "Knocking At Your Back Door", which I personally'd prefer "Perfect Strangers" instead of that one, because represents exactly the sound of the band in the 80s. Also, the CD booklet contains lengthy liner notes and photographs from various periods in the band's history.

Overall, this is a decent compilation, 79 minutes of lots of Deep Purple's classics, that could serve as an introduction to the band for those who have never heard of them. But there's the problem that DP has so many good songs that some of them have been omitted for this compilation, for example "Lazy", "Pictures Of Home", "Wring That Neck" and others. Also the last era, with Steve Morse, is missed. So, if you haven't heard DP before, the "30: Very Best Of" is an excellent compilation that also features the story of the band (on the booklet). This is a good but non-essential compilation.

P.S: You can't miss (if you haven't them yet) "Machine Head", "In Rock" and "Burn"!

Rating: 3.0/5

As expected, virtually every song on this compilation is from the classic line-up with two exceptions that feature Coverdale on vocals. Almost 80 minutes of music, this is an excellent compilation in the way of songs, containing some of their biggest hits including "Hush", "Highway Star", "Child In Time" and "Smoke On The Water". I don't agree with "Demon's Eye" being present, but one not so great song can't ruin an excellent overall compilation. And, like Barla said, the whole Steve Morse era is missing here so the studio albums will have to be substitutes if you want to find that era of Purple.

All in all, a good introduction to the sound of Purple, but some eras are completely unrepresnted here, so if you are looking to further your collection of the Purple this isn't a must have.

Probably the best DP compilation there is, but it's still not perfect because it's only one disc and they couldn't fit everything. It's packed with most of their classics, but the two tracks that are glaringly missing are "Soldier of Fortune" and "Perfect Strangers". Of course there would be plenty to fill up the second disc with after that, although it wouldn't be such a lean to-the-point compilation. Highly recommended though as an intro to the band, if it's $12.99 or lower.

This is a very good starting point for people looking to get into Deep Purple that might already own an album or two, otherwise there isn't much point in buying it.

The compilation just contains hits for the most part and as a result almost all of the songs are from the classic Mk II era. There are four songs by different eras, with "Hush" and "Kentucky Woman" featuring Rod Evans and Nick Simper on vocals and bass, respectively, and "Burn" and "Stormbringer" featuring David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes. The song selection is pretty good in that they cover just about every essential song in the band's catalog and "Demon's Eye" is the only really expendable selection. The track order works well and the CD is packed at almost 80 minutes so you're certainly getting your money's worth with this purchase.