Shades 1968-1998 [Box set]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Deep Purple were grander than grand, with a sound that was kept huge by the band's avoidance of then-popular thematic explorations. They stayed the loud-and-hard course, as evidenced by this lavish four-CD box. A photo-rich booklet accompanies a host of early cover singles ("Kentucky Woman" and "River Deep-Mountain High" among them), a couple of demos ("Shadows," "Love Help Me"), and some belated 1980s and '90s cash-ins on the band's popularity in Japan. But, of course, the meat of this set is heaped on the first three CDs, each of which holds blasting rockers aplenty, including the Beatles' "Help" turned into cranked-up faux psychedelia. Ritchie Blackmore is the centerpiece here, in part because the remainder of the band's "voice" shifted with Blackmore's whims. In fact, the only works featuring the more unpredictable Tommy Bolin are the flawed, funky "Gettin' Tighter" (with forgettable vocals by Glenn Hughes) and the superior "Comin' Home." Ultimately, Shades proves Deep Purple had an astonishing grasp of blaring guitar riffology. Two words: this rocks! --Andrew Bartlett

Tracks:

Hush
Help
Shadows (Demo, 1968)
Love Help Me (Instrumental Demo, 1968)
Kentucky Woman (Single Version)
Anthem
River Deep-Mountain High (Single Version)
Emmaretta
Bird Has Flown, The (Single Version)
Hallelujah (I Am The Preacher)
Speed King (Full-Length U.K. Version)
Child In TIme
Cry Free (Outtake, 1970/Roger Glover Remix)
Black Night (Full-Length U.K. Version)
Jam Stew (Outtake, 1970)
Into the Fire (Live, 1970)
No No No (Live, 1971)

Tracks:

Strange Kind Of Woman
I'm Alone
Fireball
Demon's Eye
Anyone's Daughter
Fools
No One Came
Freedom (Outtake, 1971)
Slow Train (Outtake, 1971)
Never Before
When A Blind Man Cries
Highway Star
Smoke On The Water
Pictures Of Home
Space Truckin'
Painted Horse (Outtake, 1972)

Tracks:

Smoke On The Water (Live, 1972)
Lazy (Live, 1972)
Woman From Tokyo
Mary Long
Super Trouper
Smooth Dancer
Burn
Might Just Take Your Life
Sail Away
Coronarias Redig
Stormbringer
Hold On
Lady Double Dealer (Live, 1975)
Gettin' Tighter
Comin' Home

Tracks:

Knocking At Your Back Door
Perfect Strangers
Son Of Alerik (7in Single Version)
Call Of The Wild
Bad Attitude (Single Version)
Hard Lovin' Woman (Live, 1987)
Hush '88 (Live, 1988)
King Of Dreams (Single Version)
Fire In The Basement
Slow Down Sister
Battle Rages On, The
Anya (Live, 1993)
Castle Full Of Rascals
Seventh Heaven

Amazon.com

Deep Purple were grander than grand, with a sound that was kept huge by the band's avoidance of then-popular thematic explorations. They stayed the loud-and-hard course, as evidenced by this lavish four-CD box. A photo-rich booklet accompanies a host of early cover singles ("Kentucky Woman" and "River Deep-Mountain High" among them), a couple of demos ("Shadows," "Love Help Me"), and some belated 1980s and '90s cash-ins on the band's popularity in Japan. But, of course, the meat of this set is heaped on the first three CDs, each of which holds blasting rockers aplenty, including the Beatles' "Help" turned into cranked-up faux psychedelia. Ritchie Blackmore is the centerpiece here, in part because the remainder of the band's "voice" shifted with Blackmore's whims. In fact, the only works featuring the more unpredictable Tommy Bolin are the flawed, funky "Gettin' Tighter" (with forgettable vocals by Glenn Hughes) and the superior "Comin' Home." Ultimately, Shades proves Deep Purple had an astonishing grasp of blaring guitar riffology. Two words: this rocks! --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

And on the 8th day God created the Fender Stratocaster.......2007-01-05

and it was given to Richie Blackmore to create music and the rest they say is history. And what a history lesson Deep Purple teaches and preaches us over the span of 4 CD's. In my eyes, this is the old testament of Deep Purple, I will dwell and offer comparsions between this box and the new testament which is another Deep Purple box set released around 2002 titled Listen Learn Read On which are both essential.

As many of you may (or may not know), Deep Purple were not a one - trick pony. There is a great deal of masterfully crafted guitar magic beyond that song titled Smoke On the Water. I mean, that is not the Be All to End All of the Deep Purple story. As ignorant as they may come across to the naive, it;s true. Hell, last time Deep Purple came to town in concert, on the Rapture tour, radio was announcing all day Purple is in town, and I'll be damned if they didn't play anything new from the band. Nope, just Smoke and Highway Star. In anycase, I do not want to sidetrack myself from the product I am reviewing.

What is presented here is, in a nutshell, 30 years of Deep Purple. 1968 - 1998. In between that time Purple went through many personel changes. I won't delve into that as it is well covered in other reviews here. For the most part, all the essentials are covered. The early Mark I era is done justice by including 10 tracks. All the hits for that era are included, mainly Hush and Kentucky Woman. Gillan - era (Mark II - BEST) rounds out the 1 CD with In Rock cuts and previously unreleased live and outtakes. Disc 2 is all Mark II and is the meat and potatoes of the collection. 16 tracks all Fireball and Machine Head tracks. Nice to see Fools included, as well as (in 1998 hard to find) outtakes Freedom and Slow Train. Wrapping up Disc 2 is pretty much all the essential Machine Head is included with When A Blind Man Cries. Wonderful song. Disc 3 begins with some songs from Made in Japan, and a few tracks from the last ever Mark II 70's album WDYTWR. Track 7 kicks off the Coverdale/Hughes era and both albums get a fair deal of attention. I would have liked to seen You Fool No One and Mistreated included atleast one of them, and ditto for Soldier of Fortune for Stormbringer. Oh well, keep reading on for some positive information. At long last, disc 3 ends with a pair of terrific tracks from the Come Taste the Band effort from the guitar extrodinaire Tommy Bolin. Comin Home and Getting tighter are no where near in the same league of the Purple you have grown to love and adore, but it is what it is, and these are finally some remastered tracks from the Bolin era, as that album has yet to get any kind of remaster treatment, and I doubt it ever will. :(
CD 4 covers the Mark II reunion to almost present day. Knocking at Your Back Door and Perfect Strangers are just as good as anything the band put out in the 70's. Joe Lynn Turner is represented here extremely well with 3 tracks from the Slaves and Masters album/sessions. Slow Down Sister is a great treat to include. Gillan rejoins again for the Battle Rages on and what a great album that entire thing is. It's a shame Steve Morse is represented not by the 2 tracks but the choice of those 2 tracks. Castles Full of Rascals is perhaps the worst song DP has ever done...why not include Varoom Ted the Mechanic or Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming from Purpendicular, and Seventh Heaven from Abandon! Yikes, another dud. Better off to have included the updated Bloodsuckers. Yeah, that would have been a wiser choice.

All-in-all a great box set, and overview of Deep Purple from 1968 - 1998 with the exception of the last 2 tracks. While this is essential, so is the Listen Learn Read On (6 CD)box set. Don't view this as to which one do I go with or choose, get both box sets as not too much of the same material repeats itself. The Shades box has atleast 1 1/2 CD full of songs not covered on the LLRO Box, and that is not even including CD 4 of this set which is post 70's material. The LLRO Box only concentrates on the classic 60 - 70's periods. So with that being said, I recommend both sets and will review both sets. Listen Learn and Read On.

A box set that shows the magnitude and scope of Deep Purple.......2006-11-05

Don't even bother with a single disc Deep Purple greatest hits if you really like this band; just as the Beatles or Led Zeppelin are worth more than a single disc collection. This box set has so many highlights, it just shows the magnitude and scope of this great band Deep Purple.

The down side, the collection only goes as far as 1998, a bit outdated. But not a problem for those wanting only the Blackmore era. I'd also agree with other reviewers who thought there were too many photos of the Coverdale and Hughes (MKIII) era. That too struck me the first time I looked through the booklet. But, who really sits around just looking at the photos all the time.

The up side, tons of great studio and live performances and the sound quality is really good and consistent, considering all the years and production values.

Disc 1 highlights: Hush, Kentucky Woman, Anthem, Hallelujah, Speed King, Child In Time, Black Night, Into the Fire (Live '70), and No No No (Live '71).

Disc 2 highlights: Strange Kind Of Woman, Fireball, Demon's Eye, No One Came, Highway Star, Smoke On The Water, Pictures Of Home, Space Truckin'.

Disc 3 highlights: Smoke On The Water (Live '72), Lazy (Live '72), Woman From Tokyo, Mary Long, Smooth Dancer, Burn, Sail Away, Stormbringer, Lady Double Dealer (Live '75) and Comin' Home.

Disc 4 highlights: Knocking At Your Back Door, Perfect Strangers, Call Of The Wild, Bad Attitude, Hard Lovin' Woman (Live '87), The Battle Rages On, Anya (Live '93), A Castle Full Of Rascals and Seventh Heaven.

Recommended.

Deep purple box set...a great introduction. .......2006-07-21

There are things that should have done a little differently, such as, less photos of MKIII (Coverdale/Hughes era) and more MKII (Gillan/Glover era), after all, MKII were together far longer, but, you'd never know that by Rhinos booklet. Probably the folks involved in making the booklet, knew very little about Deep Purple.

The good news, the music is pretty spot on. Perhaps a few more from the Steve Morse era (1996-) would have given this collection a better balance. But, that's the way these box set running orders go. Besides, most people will probably want more of the "classic rock" era.

Overall, a great introduction to one of the few, great bands. Think about it, Deep Purple's music continues to fascinate as well as puzzle after all this time is evidence we are dealing with art of the highest caliber.

Now, let's rock!

For the most part, Darth Kommissar is an idiot reviewer!...read on so you can find out why!.......2006-02-01

Let's breakdown Darth Kommissar's review sentence by sentence

Darth writes: For nearly four decades, Deep Purple has been one of the world's finest rock and roll bands - no questions asked. (Insert DT comment here). Yes, I guess the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's would be four decades, not nearly four but actually four decades. And if you are writing your review in 2004, I guess you could say it's five decades now!

Darth writes: The band has released several albums, live albums, compilations, and box sets. This is one of the band's many box sets. (Insert DT comment here) I really cannot counter this because its fact. Usually a box set is released once a band has established itself once they've released "several albums, live albums, compilations".

Let's breakdown the Pro's / Con's
PROS:
-This set spans Deep Purple's entire career, from their debut material in the late sixties right up to material from the Ian Gillan reunion. (Insert DT comment here...Yes it's true he hit the nail on the head with that comment, but actually the Gillan reunion happened in 84 and again in 93 and this goes past that to 98)

-Most of the band's big hits are here for your listening pleasure. (Insert DT comment here...could you mention a few of the hits, I know them but do you?)

-A number of underrated masterpieces are also contained in this set. (Insert DT comment here...could you please name a few of these so-called underrated masterpieces please?)

-There are tons of rare tracks here, including single versions of songs which are otherwise, outside this set, unavailable on compact disc! (Insert DT comment here...I'm confused on this part...read the cons section below)

-The set consists of many discs of Purple classics. (Insert DT comment here...Darth you've kinda pointed this out already, but please mention a few classics)

CONS:
-The band couldn't decide whether they wanted to do a career-spanning retrospective or a rarities set. They should have done both of these things separately, not in the same set. (Insert DT comment here...sounds like a good old Darth whine, can't ever satisfy this reviewer who more than likely didn't pick up this box set)

-Honestly, how many people are going to want to pay this much money for the sake of a few rare tracks? Most big fans already own all of the band's albums. (Insert DT comment here...But wait Darth, just a moment ago you mentioned in your Pro's section the following -There are tons of rare tracks here, including single versions of songs which are otherwise, outside this set, unavailable on compact disc...now I'm confused are there or anren't there rarities...I want to buy this but I'm confused by you!)

OVERALL:
Overall this is a good set, but if you already own all of the band's albums, it's not really worth buying this for the sake of only a few rare tracks. Still, the material featured here is excellent, and stands as solid proof that Deep Purple is one hell of a rock band. (Insert DT comment here...there he goes again...I think he's positive about it only having a few rarities now).

DT's Overall...first off this is an awesome set. Worth every penny...People of have made Darth Kommissar a top 50 reviewer should pull their heads out their butts, and listen to reviewers who actually listen to the music and not just wanting to review every single thing on Amazon like they own it. This guy reviews everything. He'd give a turd 5 stars if he could find something positive and negative to write about it. Reviewer beware!!!

Deepest Purple and then some.......2005-08-26

If your looking for a collection that has a little of everything forget all the single disc collections and buy this. Four cd's containg album tracks rarities and 2 versions of Smoke On The Water (studio & Live). Features all 4 lead vocalists (Nick Simper, Ian Gillan, David Coverdale & Joe Lyn Turner). If you have the extra pocket change and want comprehensive Purple buy this set!!!

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