I\'m A Badass Caption: I can haz links, style or anything that is valid markup :)

CD/DVD Releases: Deep Purple: ''Icon'' Best-Of Compilation Due In January

Posted on Saturday, January 07 @ 18:00:00 UTC by nightowl

Deep Purple is featured in a new series of albums "featuring the greatest hits, signature tunes and fan favorites of the most popular artists in music history," which promise to offer "unprecedented value to consumers." The aptly named Icon series from Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) launched in August 31, 2010, with releases from 30 major artists spanning rock, pop, R&B and country. [In fact, I picked up the Rush set several weeks ago - ed.]

Each album, at a "great price," includes roughly a dozen hit tracks. Due on January 10, 2012, the Deep Purple Icon compilation will feature the following songs:

01. Smoke On The Water (live)
02. Hush (live)
03. Woman From Tokyo (live)
04. Knocking At Your Back Door
05. Call Of The Wild
06. Perfect Strangers
07. Bad Attitude
08. Nobody's Home
09. Black Night (live)
10. Child In Time (live)
11. Strange Kind Of Woman (live)

Durung a recent interview with U.K.'s Express & Star, Gillan was asked when fans might be able to expect Deep Purple's follow-up to 2005's Rapture Of The Deep album. "The fact is that we've been touring flat out," said Gillan. "We did 48 countries last year. We're getting so much off on that we just don't feel the drive at the moment for writing."

Gillan did reveal, though, that Deep Purple convened for a mini writing session earlier in the year. "We were in Spain for a little while and we had a week off," he said. "We spent most of the time in the bar, to be honest with you. It was a good session, but nothing absolutely dynamic came out of it.

"I think to get some progress as far as an album's concerned you've got to have a target, you've got to work to a date, and that gives you pressure. If you've got the pressure, you get stuff done. We don't have a plan, to be honest.

"Things have always been chaos, certainly since I joined, and we've never been able to plan anything. If we'd been able to make plans, we'd probably have retired by now!

"People like to do stuff that they're good at, that they enjoy, that they get something out of. So while it's fun and we're all getting older and bits are dropping off here and there, it's still great. I think there probably will be another album.

"And because we're not doing an album (right now) doesn't mean I don't write every day. It's a day off today and for me it's a full day at the office. This morning is interviews and this afternoon I've got two or three interesting pieces I'm working on at the moment. I write every day and so when I do come round to making an album there's never a shortage of what I call colour material."

In a related item: Gillan has narrated a Polish documentary on the life of Frédéric Chopin, a Polish composer, virtuoso pianist, and music teacher of French-Polish parentage. Produced by TV Project and directed by Jerzy Szkamruk, Chopin's Story By Ian Gillan From Deep Purple aired on the Polish channel Discovery Historia on June 21 and has won four international awards, including "Best Documentary" in Florianopolis, Brazil.

Chopin's Story By Ian Gillan From Deep Purple clocks in at around 23 minutes, and is accompanied by a 10-minute bonus interview with Ian focusing on his involvement with the project.

Official film description: "The movie is about the rise of extraordinary artistic genius of Frédéric Chopin and documents his Polish years. Ian Gillan, the singer of rock band Deep Purple, takes you on the journey around Poland to show how his home country and the local people helped creating one of the most prominent artists in the history of music. The movie is contemporary take on how a piece of local culture morphed into beloved treasure of European heritage."

For more information on how to obtain a DVD copy of Chopin's Story By Ian Gillan From Deep Purple, go to this location. You can also visit the movie's official Facebook page.

[Source: Blabbermouth.net]

Posted in Album Release News