Deep Purple - Burn - guest review
Deep Purple - Burn - guest review
Tracklist
01. Burn02. Might Just Take Your Life
03. Lay Down, Stay Down
04. Sail Away
05. You Fool No One
06. What's Goin' On Here
07. Mistreated
08. 'A' 200
Guest review by
ScreamingSteelUS September 28, 2012
The new arrivals have roots in funk, R&B, and soul, a drastic departure from the classical/blues/hard rock mix for which Deep Purple had become known. Glenn Hughes had taken the position only upon learning that he would be joined by David Coverdale, because this meant he would have a musical counterpart to back up his creative input. He certainly wasted no time in taking an active role in the songwriting process, evidenced by the noticeable presence of the aforementioned funky and soulful elements. Sometimes, Burn almost sounds like Deep Purple accidentally walked in on a gospel choir. Put simply, there is very little of the heavy, exciting, groundbreaking Deep Purple to be found on Burn. The title track is a marvelous exception, embodying everything that this album could have and should have been, but there are few other positive aspects. "Sail Away" and "Mistreated" are decent, but not great.
Ritchie Blackmore is still present, but his riffs are not as engaging or memorable, and he sounds as if he, too, is bored with this album. Ian Gillan's absence is hard to look past; despite the admirable efforts of Coverdale and Hughes, both accomplished vocalists, not even two singers can make up for the loss of such golden pipes. The space left by Roger Glover is not adequately filled either, as Hughes did not consider himself a bassist so much as another singer, and had no intentions of continuing Glover's complex machinations. By far, however, the most noticeable and disappointing change is the lack of The Beast, Jon Lord's Hammond organ. Lord does perform on this album, but for some reason he entirely abandons the loud, aggressive sound that made him a force to be reckoned with on previous albums. Instead of the loud, distorted monster that turned the organ into a lead instrument, Lord uses an "average rock and roll keyboard" sound that does nothing to enhance the album. On some tracks, he even uses a basic piano sound, which only reinforces the aspects of funk, R&B, and soul brought in by Coverdale and Hughes.
David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes are both very talented musicians, but they were brought in to replace two vital cogs in the Deep Purple machine. The styles that they took with them do not gel very well with the classic sound of Deep Purple, and the result is a mundane tour of perfectly standard 1970s rock and roll. There is nothing special or interesting about it.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 6 |
| Songwriting: | 5 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by ScreamingSteelUS | September 28, 2012
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments:
8
Visited by
67 users
 Posts: 1361 |
Posts: 1361
6.5? Burn might their best heavy metal track. My favorite with "Space Truckin'". 6.5 means its a really bad album and Burn was definitely one of their successful albums but of course everyone has their own opinion...
Loading...
|
 Posts: 6699 |
Posts: 6699
6.5 means it was between "average" and "good." I don't think it's really bad, it's just nothing special/mediocre/okay. The title track, though, is fantastic.
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
|
 Posts: 314 |
Posts: 314
Although you fundamented your rating, i don't agree at all with it.. I gave the album an 8, despite the difference in style, Deep Purple were able to mantain an amazing level of hard rock, with some funkie tunes here and there. It's a great album, definitely the best of Mark III, Hughes and Coverdale were great substitutes to Glover and Gillan, in my opinion, they weren't worst or better..they were different
---- greets, kual21
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 82  |
Posts: 82
I think it's a fair review. The album has some of the greatest stuff they ever released; the title track, Sail Away, Mistreated, but on the flip side a lot stuff which I can barely listen to, like Lay Down, Stay Down and What's Goin' On Here.
Loading...
|
 Posts: 206 |
Posts: 206
I think that performance of this album is at least 9....album is lso a least 8....one of the best with MH, In Rock and Stormbringer....
Loading...
|
| JohnDoe
Account deleted |
JohnDoe
Account deleted
I disagree with both rating and review; there is a whole story how this line up and album came into being. Initially, Blackmore almost gave up DP, wanting to make an album with Phil Lynott; it did not happen; then he wanted Paul Rodgers as lead vocalist (Rodgers formed Bad Company). It was Ritchie especially that wanted some new blood in the band, and fortunately Coverdale (22 years old at the time) and Hughes brought some energy to the band. Ritchie tried to play the dictator, rejected some ideas that came from the young ones  (some of them would be used later on Come Taste the Band, as I heard Hughes say it in an interview). The chemistry among musician worked out fine, unfortunately only this time as turmoil started again to happen when they recorded their next album, Stormbringer (Ritchie left and formed Rainbow).To me, Burn is one of DP's best albums, I understand the disappointment that some have with Stormbringer or CTTB, but not with Burn.
Loading...
|
 Posts: 1464 |
Posts: 1464
Good review. Reckon the rating given is almost spot on, because there are some weak tracks here. I love the title track on this album but not much else is memorable.
---- The sun shines over The Fool...
Loading...
|
| Posts: 6699 |
Posts: 6699
I wouldn't necessarily say I was unjustly critical in this review (in fact, I actually disliked it much more than I let on, because I did have a tendency to overrate things), but I do think there's an adjustment of expectations that has to be made in listening to this album. Today I revisited Burn in full for the first time since writing this review and while I like it a lot more than I did back then, it's a very different sound from Mark II, so I can understand what I disliked; I initially went into this knowing only the title track and hoping for something that would, in that same way, stand up to the Mark II era even without some of its key components, and this album on the whole isn't trying to recreate those albums. I wanted more Machine Head and this isn't it. I think now I have an easier time of looking past that disappointment. Coverdale and Hughes are talented vocalists, even if I'd still take Gillan by a country mile, and for one other thing I've come to appreciate Ian Paice's drumming much more. He's the one member of Deep Purple whose contributions I have most severely undervalued over the years; the more I actually pay attention to him the more impressive he becomes, and that now makes a big difference to me here. Blackmore and Lord aren't slacking either, if I just listen more closely (though I will say the fact that I have to listen closely still bugs me). The songs are energetic and fun, and even though there are definite peaks and troughs, I'm not finding the totally slow moments I used to. I still miss the strong bass counterpart and the overt heaviness of Mark II, and I still think nothing else on the album comes close to the fantastic opener, but I'm much more inclined to enjoy this bluesier, more laidback version of Deep Purple now. Perhaps it took more engagement with their recent material, which is closer in temperament to this than to Machine Head.
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
|
Hits total: 5403 | This month: 1