Deep Purple/Greece 1991

The Joe Lynn Turner era has become a singular point in the history of PURPLE, producing the masterpiece “SLAVES AND MASTERS” that Ritchie Blackmore still declares to be his favorite. Two masterpiece live albums that convey the scene will be released at the same time. This work is the second installment. This is an excellent audience recording that tells you the whole story of the first Greek performance “September 26, 1991 Athens”. The two albums released at the same time this week are part of the European tour of “SLAVES AND MASTERS TOUR,” but they are separated by about half a year. In order to understand the situation, let’s look back at the overall picture of the Joe era world tour, which was only done once.・February 2nd – March 17th: Europe #1 (30 performances) ・April 10th – May 15th: North America (9 performances) ・June 24th – July 3rd: Asia (6 performances)・August 16th-24th: South America (7 performances) ・September 14th-26th: Europe #2 (5 performances) ←★Here★ ・September 28th + 29th: Israel (2 performances) This is 1991 DEEP PURPLE of the year. It was only for 8 months from the beginning of February to the end of September, but during that time I traveled all over the world, including Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Israel. The Athens performance of this work was the final day of “Europe #2”. Also, the country of Greece is unique. Since it belongs to Western Europe and also produced Vangelis, it does not have the image of being an underdeveloped rock country, but in fact, British and American bands started touring around the same time as Eastern European countries. The Athens performance of this work was also DEEP PURPLE’s first… no, it was the first Greek performance even including RAINBOW. The recording was not known until now because it was literally a pioneer performance, but with this work it has finally seen the light of day. This work, which conveys the scene of such a first appearance, is an exquisite audience that is not suitable for such a rare level. What is especially wonderful is the strong core. This is probably due to the venue. After all, the “PAO Stadium” where the site was located is an open space with a wide sky above. Although it is called a stadium, unlike in the UK and the US, there are no walls or ceilings to reflect sound, even though it can hold 10,000 people (about the same scale as Nippon Budokan). It directly picks up the echo-free sound of the PA, making it truly powerful and easy to listen to. Such a vivid sound depicts a full show in Greece where he met Ritchie Blackmore, the founder of hard rock, for the first time. The Israeli performance two days after this work is also left on the tour’s best sound board masterpiece “ISRAEL FIRE”, so let’s organize the set while comparing here. 70’s Classics – Phase II: Black Night/Lazy/Highway Star/Smoke on the Water – Phase III: Burn (★) Reunion Era – Perfect Strangers: Perfect Strangers/Knocking at Your Back Door – Slaves and… Masters: Truth Hurts/The Cut Runs Deep/Fire in the Basement/Love Conquers All Others・Difficult to Cure/Hey Joe *Note: Songs marked with “★” cannot be heard on the soundboard version “ISRAEL FIRE” two days later. …and it looks like this. “ISRAEL FIRE” was unfortunately an incomplete version, but this work, which is two days before that, allows you to experience the full show. In fact, that sense of experience is the life of this work. Already, from the opening “Burn”, the enthusiasm at the scene was amazing. I would like to remind you that the sound of this work is mainly the performance sound and vocals. I won’t give up on that. However, within that limit, you can feel the audience’s breath strongly. Moreover, the mood is unique. For example, there is a tremendous excitement from “Burn”, but it is somehow different from the British and American music, where you can think “Okay, let’s get excited!” The audience was shocked and wondered, “This is hard rock!” as they talked about the scene in front of them, unable to believe it. In other words, you feel like you’ve been waiting for something like, “What’s in front of me is DEEP PURPLE?” Although the fresh mood of just meeting for the first time is similar to that of Eastern Europe, it is still different. Perhaps because we live in a country where records are freely available unlike in communist countries, the audience is familiar with the famous songs and sings along. The next song, “Black Night,” is so amazing that I can’t help but laugh. The riff is a big chorus, the beginning of the song is a big chorus, and the chorus is a big chorus. The call and response of “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” was amazing, something I had never heard before even during RAINBOW’s Japan tour in the 1970s, and as soon as the intro of “Child In Time” came on, they sang the melody and the guitar all the way. Ian Gillan of all people shouts a wild “Ah! Aah! Aah!” an octave lower. If you listen to it calmly, it’s funny, but because you can empathize with it, it’s a tsunami of spectacle that gives you goosebumps. First meeting with DEEP PURPLE, first meeting with Ritchie Blackmore. For us Japanese people, that impact was left behind as “MADE IN JAPAN”. There was a sense of tension that was unique to the Japanese people who respect harmony, such as “not to miss a single note,” but this work is different. This is a passionate Mediterranean country. That “joyful and irresistible passion” bubbles out from the speakers, stirring up the joy of empathy and a yearning for honesty. Even after this film, Greece remains unlucky. The next time DEEP PURPLE visited was in 2000, and Ritchie Blackmore had already disappeared. Although BLACKMORE’S NIGHT’s performance in Greece was realized, it was only on one day of this work that Greeks were able to witness “hard rock Richie”. This work is vacuum-packing such a historical show with 1st gene sound. The Greeks will be jealous of us when they hear “MADE IN JAPAN,” but we will be jealous of them with this album. DEEP PURPLE from the Joe era is now treated as a black history, but it stirred up so many people in Greece that we didn’t know about. Here is the truth about DEEP PURPLE’s history that I could not have known from the album “SLAVES AND MASTERS” or the Japanese performance (which I watched half as if I were a critic). This work is not only a wonderful music album in itself, but also a piece of evidence that will tell future generations how British rock has penetrated and spread. This is truly a rock world heritage piece. First audience recording of the first performance in Greece “September 26, 1991 Athens”. There was no reaction because the stadium was an open space, and it was the first sole generation of this work. The fresh direct sound depicts DEEP PURPLE for the first time… no, the full show where I witnessed Ritchie Blackmore. From the opening song “Burn”, you can feel the shock of “This is hard rock!”, and each song has a loud chorus of riffs, a loud chorus at the beginning of the song, and a loud chorus at the chorus. It’s a tsunami of spectacle that sounds funny if you listen to it calmly, but it gives you goosebumps because you can empathize with it.It’s a heart-pounding live album that is a cultural heritage, but you can’t help but be deeply moved. Live at PAO Stadium, Athens, Greece 26th September 1991 TRULY AMAZING/PERFECT SOUND Disc 1 (55:45) 1. Intro 2. Burn 3. Black Night (Incl. Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll & Child In Time) 4. Truth Hurts 5. The Cut Runs Deep (Incl. Hush) 6. Perfect Strangers 7. Fire in the Basement 8. Hey Joe 9. Love Conquers All Disc 2 (50:01) 1. Difficult to Cure 2. Keyboard Solo 3. Knocking at Your Back Door 4. Lazy 5. Highway Star 6. Smoke on the Water (Incl. Drum Solo & Woman From Tokyo) Ritchie Blackmore – Guitar Joe Lynn Turner – Vocal Roger Glover – Bass Jon Lord – Keyboards Ian Paice – Drums