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| Deep Purple - The Platinum Collection |
 Released: 2005 Label: EMI Records Cat. No.: 7243 873577 2 3 Total Time: | |
Reviewed by: John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, April 2005 By now literally hundreds of Deep Purple compilation albums and greatest hits packages have been creeping out of the woodworks. I honestly don't have a clue for which kind of fan this new triple CD set has been compiled. By now every well respected Purple fan must have a zillion versions of "Smoke On The Water," "Black Night" and "Child In Time," so unless other versions appear here why bother? If you aim at the occasional buyer who has nothing from Purple in his/her collection yet, but wants to add at least one slice of Purple magic to their CD-rack then surely there are plenty of single discs to choose from. Issuing a 3CD set mainly is not for the occasional buyer but more for the avid fan. Sadly for EMI's marketing strategy these fans already have all of the included material on offer here. To be honest with you the tiny letters on the back of the booklet make my eyes water as the print is so small. Maybe in that miniature text lies the key to my questions. Maybe this set does include some brand new stuff after all? If this is correct then surely it must be the live versions of both "Perfect Strangers" and "Ted The Mechanic," which were recorded live in Paris in 1996. If this set is aimed at the rock lover who wants to add a decent portion of Purple material to his/her collection, then why have they replaced "Highway Star," "When A Blind Man Cries" and "Space Truckin'" (which is way too short) with their 1997 remix versions? We all know how the legendary originals sound, meaning that no remix should have been made in the first place. Both "Black Night" and "Burn" come as a single edit with "Lazy," "Never Before" and "Mistreated" showing up as live renditions. Looking closer at the entire set, it looks like disc one contains more of a psychedelic feel with Paice's drum sound sounding like he's hitting a selection of tins and cookie jars. On disc two, the sound of Blackmore's guitar sound is more prominent with Ian's drum sound sounding much better, delivering the kind of hard rock music we grew up with in the seventies. Disc three contains material pulled from various line-up changes including the arrival of Coverdale and Hughes, the short stint with Tommy Bolin and the latest incarnation with Steve Morse. The booklet contains a very well written essay by Hugh Gilmour, although personally I would have liked to see a detailed description telling me from which original album the 41 tracks have been taken. Compiling a greatest hits package by any band that's been around for well over thirty years surely is not an easy thing to do. Selecting material by the likes of Deep Purple for a single disc is next to impossible. The idea of a 3CD package, which retails for little less than a single disc, appeals to me and hopefully will find its way to new fans around the globe who will be so impressed after hearing the variety on offer here that they'll delve into the band's rich history searching for the actual albums. It's in that respect that I find it a great loss not to have the info behind each track on which original album it was to be found in the first place. More about The Platinum Collection: Track Listing: CD One: Hush / Mandrake Root / Hey Joe / Kentucky Woman / Wring That Neck / Shield / Bird Has Flown / Emmaretta / Hallelujah / Black Night (single version) / Speed King / Flight Of The Rat / Child In Time Musicians: Contact: Website: www.deep-purple.com Discography
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