Shades of Deep Purple

• Fireball
• House Of Blue Light
• Burn (Expanded)
• Ritchie Blackmores Rainbow
• Perfect Strangers

"And The Address" (4:38) (4/5): A trippy, psychedelic song with driving guitar and organ parts.

"Hush" (4:24) (5/5): What can one say about "Hush"? It is the best Deep Purple song of all time, the best song on this album, and the third-best Hard Rock song of all time. This is a cover of a song by Joe South. This song is where Deep Purple reached its absolute peak, proving that the Mark I Deep Purple lineup is the greatest of all Deep Purple lineups. This surpasses Joe South's version.

"One More Rainy Day" (3:39) (3/5): The second-worst song on the album. This song is a psychadelic/pop song. It's a bit slower than the first two songs on this album.

"Prelude: Happiness I'm So Glad" (7:19) (4/5): This song is a semi-cover of a song by Skip James, and the semi-cover surpasses the original. Becomes a rocking song later on.

"Mandrake Root" (6:09) (4/5): This song is underrated with a hard-rocking, bluesy riff.

"Help" (6:01) (4/5): This song is a cover of a song by The Beatles. This song is slower than the original song, and surpasses the original.

"Love Help Me" (3:49) (3/5): "Love Help Me" is the worst song on this album. It's another psychedelic/pop song. All in all, however, it's a very interesting song.

"Hey Joe" (7:33) (4/5): This song is a cover of a song by Billy Roberts. An extended instrumental sequence is added to the song, with the organ being the main instrument of this sequence. This version surpasses the original version.

"Shadows (Album Out Take)" (3:38) (4/5): This song is a studio outtake that never made it to the original vinyl version of ""Shades Of Deep Purple"". The song is very addictive, especially the chorus.

"Love Help Me (Instrumental Version)" (3:29) (4/5): This song is a version of "Love Help Me" without the Vocals.

"Help (Alternate Take)" (5:23) (4/5): This song is an alternate take of "Help", with the Vocals being different from "Help".

"Hey Joe (BBC Top Gear Session)" (4:05) (4/5): This song is a "BBC Top Gear Session" version of "Hey Joe". This version, however, does not have the extended instrumental sequence, with the Vocals being different from "Hey Joe".

"Hush (Live US TV)" (3:53) (4/5): This song is a version of "Hush" played on "Live US TV". The quality of sound in this version is awful. "Hush (Live US TV)" is shorter than "Hush".

And The Address - The album kicks off with an interesting little instrumental session. In this session, drums and the organ are the main instruments. Surprisingly, this works well. A good openng track.

Hush - Deep Purple's first big hit (and only major hit NOT to feature Ian Gillan singing) was this, a cover of a Joe South song. Evans' vocals are top notch here, and the rest of the band plays well too. This song deserves all the credit it gets.

One More Rainy Day - This one is a bit more on the slow and melodic side than the last two tracks were. The vocals and the organ usage here are very nice.

Prelude: Happiness I'm So Glad - This one kicks off with an extended instrumental session in which the organ is the main instrument (similar to the album's opening track), and then it becomes a psychedelic rocker. Overall, a good track.

Mandrake Root - This blues-based hard rocker is the closest thing on the album to the metal sound that would make Deep Purple popular in the early seventies. ANOTHER excellent track, and a highly underrated one.

Help - Yes, this is a cover of the Beatles song. However, Deep Purple slows things WAY down, and makes the song considerably more gloomy than the Fab Four's original (I feel Deep Purple's sound suits the lyrics a little better, actually.) Once again, the organ is the main instrument.

Love Help Me - This here is my favorite track on the album. It's very interesting, because the sound is something like "Iron Butterfly meets Green Day". It's an interesting track that must be heard to be appreciated.

Hey Joe - This is a cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic. However, Deep Purple has added an extended instrumental opening sequence, in which, you guessed it, the organ is the main instrument. Surprisingly, the main portion of the song isn't too far off from the original.

BONUS TRACKS:

Shadows (Album Outtake) - This here is a studio outtake that never made it onto the final version of the album. Why that is I will never know, because this song is GREAT! The chorus here is priceless. Don't skip this one just because it's an outtake, or you'll regret it!

Love Help Me (Instrumental Version) - To put it simply, this track is exactly what it says it is. It just isn't as good without the lyrics, though, because they were the star attraction of the "normal" version.

Help (Alternate Take) - Once again, this is a track that is exactly what it says it is. It's a less polished version of the "normal" version of the track, with some slightly different vocal delivery.

Hey Joe (BBC Top Gear Session) - There are two main differences between this and its studio counterpart. One, it lacks the extended instrumental opener. Two, the vocal delivery is a little slower. Not as good as the studio one, but still a nice bonus track.

Hush (Live US TV) - Hush is a great song, and this is a good performance, BUT THE SOUND QUALITY HERE IS GODAWFUL! Couldn't they have found a live version of the song with better sound quality?

Overall, Shades Of Deep Purple is an excellent debut album, and is strongly recommended to all fans of the band. Take my advice though - DO NOT GET ANY VERSION OF DEEP PURPLE'S FIRST THREE ALBUMS, UNLESS THEY ARE THE REISSUES! The original versions don't have the bonus tracks, and the sound quality is just terrible. These ones will say "The Original Deep Purple Collection" at the top center of the packaging. To put it simply, if you're a fan of Deep Purple or classic rock in general, this album is highly recommended - just make sure you buy THIS version!

The spaced-out psychedelic funk of "And The Address" is delicious, and it's a perfect album opener. The groove is simply irresistible, especially that driving five-note guitar riff. Blackmore sounds somewhat lethargic, but Jon totally steals the show with the mesmerizing sound of his trippy organ. In fact, this is probably the only Deep Purple song in which the organ actually surpasses the guitar (a very rare occurence, believe me). "Hush" was of course the big hit for the boys, earning them enormous success here in America, but hardly nothing in their native England. But it's a killer song; Nick Simper provides a funky, rock-solid bass line, Rod Evans' vocals are to die for and Jon delivers some of his most amazing organ work. Truly a classic. "One More Rainy Day" is a soothing ballad, highlighted by some vocals from Rod that always put me in a state of euphoria. He really is my favorite singer in the world, and what a sadly overlooked talent he was. "Happiness" is Jon's unbelievable tour-de-force on the organ, and it might just be his greatest moment ever on the instrument (it even rivals his later workout on "Lazy" with mark two, probably even surpasses it). The sheer amount of power and intensity must be heard to be believed, as his organ gets more and more intense, until finally, it's just an onslaught of earth-shattering sound accompanied by guitar and drums. Absolutely devastating! And it leads into their cover of "I'm So Glad", which is more or less the same as Cream's version, but slightly better.We're back to more psychedelic funk on "Mandrake Root", with a riff that many people say was stolen from Hendrix's "Foxy Lady". Well, I don't know about that, but I DO know that this is an excellent tune, with a driving beat that is mostly due to the remarkable rhythm section of Paice and Simper. Simper, in particular, is one of my favorite bass players ever, maybe even my number one, and another extremely underrated musician. Anyway, Rod only gets to sing a few lines before Jon and Ritchie throw in some eerie, trippy solos. Their cover of "Help" is unquestionably much better than The Beatles' version, I don't care what anyone says (I never saw what was so great about The Beatles in the first place). It's much slower and much more emotional. Evans' delivers one of the greatest vocal performances of his career, and the gentle organ and guitar notes are simply breath-taking in their beauty. I heard that McCartney was quite envious when he heard this version. "Love Help Me" is a cool little rocker with one of the greatest riffs that I've ever heard, and some deafening wah-wah licks from Ritchie. And their version of "Hey Joe" is absolutely shattering. Sorry, Hendrix fans, but this version completely blows away Jimi's. For starters, there's the riff. My favorite riff in all of music. It's so powerful, heavy and massive that it probably is the heaviest riff of the 1960's. It simply floors me every time I hear it! God what a riff. Anyway, the song features some dazzling organ from Jon in the beginning, then a few vocals from Rod, then a trippy guitar solo from Ritchie, and then the grand finale - they play that stunning riff again, but only FASTER this time! Holy cow! I love it, I love it, I love it! Sorry, I got carried away for a second there. Play this song at full volume and feel your brain rattle from that crushing riff!

God bless Spitfire for releasing these albums the way they should be released - with marvelous sound quality, detailed booklets and bonus songs. And the bonus songs on this CD are all wonderful, especially the awesome "Shadows". I just can't understand why the band didn't put this on the album when it first came out. I mean - WHAT A SONG! Great riff, intoxicating vocals and a weird wah-wah solo to boot. The instrumental take of "Love Help Me" just chugs along like a monster, and it's very heavy for 1968 standards. The BBC version of "Hey Joe" features even better vocals and guitar playing than it's studio counterpart. The alternate take of "Help" is also much better than the studio rendition. And the live version of "Hush" (recorded at Hugh Hefner's Playboy After Dark Show) is great but the sound quality is iffy.

Overall, an excellent album. And like I said, God bless Spitfire!

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