The title says it all: the BEST of Deep Purple!
Some bands have far too many "deep cuts" that never get airply to ever be fully represented by just a "best of" collection. Queen, The Beatles, etc. etc. The "hits" are almost a watered down version of what those great bands could really do, so a "Greatest Hits" collection just doesn't cut it for them.
Not so with Deep Purple. While they did many fine songs not on this cd, the BEST of what they did from 1968-1984 is mostly here, and what a collection it is. Easily two of the best songs from the early Rod Evans days are "Hush" and "Kentucky Woman," and they are present and accounted for. "Hush" is probably the better known song, but I've always preferred "Kentucky Woman." The two best known songs from the later David Coverdale era ("Burn" and "Stormbringer") are also here and they blend surprisingly well with the rest of this cd (whereas the Rod Evans songs are most definitely a little "different"; still good though).
In between the Evans/Coverdale songs though lies the heart of this collection, and that's 10 tracks from the vintage "Mark II" lineup of Deep Purple (Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord). As someone who has all the albums Deep Purple has done, I can say that I do listen to the individual albums from time to time. But when I want a cd without a single weak cut and that includes nearly all of my favorites from all of their albums, THIS IS IT. Highway Star, Child In Time, Space Truckin, Strange Kind of Woman, etc. are ALL every bit as good as the overplayed "Smoke On The Water" and "Woman From Tokyo", so if you're looking at this cd for just the "radio" hits, by all means get it, but expect to hear some stuff you probably haven't heard before that you will like just as much as the hits (if not more).
Tacking "Knocking At Your Back Door" onto the end of this collection seems a bit odd, since all the other cuts are from albums recorded more or less continuously in the years 1968-1974 and then this cut comes from an album a full 10 years later ("Perfect Strangers" from 1984). So I'd almost rather have seen "Knocking" omitted and another 70's cut included instead, but hey, it is a great song and the name of this album is... the Very Best of Deep Purple, so I can see why it was included. In reality, their 1984 album is so good anyway that you'll want that too anyway, but THIS cd is a great place to start exploring Deep Purple. From there, check out "Perfect Strangers", "Machine Head" and their classic live album, "Made In Japan". You won't regret it!
All in all, I would strongly recommend this to anyone that likes any Deep Purple you've heard on the radio or any fan of 70's hard rock in general. It's all great stuff from a band that was definitely recognized in their time, yet still has to qualify as a vastly under-rated band.
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Jag snob
I bought it for 'Hush' as I like the Jaguar ad running for the XF, and I own a Jag. Only four good songs on the CD; Hush, Smoke on the Water, My Woman from Tokyo, and Kentucky Woman. The rest are pretty weak. Unless you own a Jag, don't buy it.
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