BURN

Deep Purple

Proto-Prog

3.87 | 940 ratings

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Sinusoid
Prog Reviewer

A mini-revival of sorts. I would have called this a full-fledged revival had the lineup lasted longer than it did, but then again, Purple's lineup has constantly been shaky.

I'm sure Purple fans at the time were wondering how the band would survive without Ian Gillan (and Roger Glover to a lesser extent), but the band brought in two singers in Coverdale and Hughes. BURN has more harmony vocals than anything Purple did earlier, and the tradeoff lead vocals give the band a new freshness to them.

One complaint I have with the vocals is that I find Glenn Hughes to be the de facto better singer; Coverdale sounds like a Robert Plant imitator that's too husky to hit the high notes. The scratches in Coverdale's voice works well on ''Mistreated'', and when he stays in baritone range, he's fine. But hearing Hughes sing is another stratosphere of excellence; I had heard much about how his voice was praised before I heard BURN, and I'm amongst the praising now. The tone and power alone seal it for me.

Most of the rest of what Deep Purple is known for is right here. Blackmore and Paice are still Blackmore and Paice, and the song ''Burn'' is no better example of what they can do on this album. Lord seems to soften his stance on Hammond here (although he tinkered with other equipment earlier in Deep Purple's career like the harpsichord on ''Blind''), toying around with synths on the occasion. Notably is the finale/best track ''A 200''; an opening that could fit nicely into a Tangerine Dream piece along with a crashing main theme is the kick in the pants the band needed.

For prog fans, keep in mind that other than ''A 200'', we're not much into prog territory. Deep Purple have established themselves as hard rock act, and that's pretty much what BURN is. Sure songs like ''You Fool No One'' and ''Sail Away'' see funk creep into the mould, but this is hard rock terra firma.

Sinusoid | 3/5 | 2012-7-22

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