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Shades 1968-1998

Deep Purple - Shades 1968-1998 Audio CD

A fair review of the Deep Purple "Shades 1968-1998" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Deep Purple reviews here, or go back to the Deep Purple tabs.

Band: Deep Purple
Title: Shades 1968-1998
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-03-16
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Hush 2: Help! 3: Shadows [Demo 1968] 4: Love Help Me [Instrumental Demo 1968] 5: Kentucky Woman [Single Version] 6: Anthem 7: River Deep, Mountain High [Single Version] 8: Emmaretta 9: Bird Has Flown, The (Single Version) 10: Hallelujah 11: Speed King [Full Length UK Version] 12: Child in Time 13: Cry Free [Outtake 1970][Mix] 14: Black Night [Full-Length U.K.version] 15: Jam Stew (Outtake, 1970) 16: Into the Fire (Live, 1970) 17: No No No (Live, 1971) 18: Fireball 19: Demon's Eye 20: Anyone's Daughter 21: Fools 22: No One Came 23: Freedom (Outtake, 1971) 24: Slow Train (Outtake, 1971) 25: Never Before 26: When A Blind Man Cries 27: Highway Star 28: Smoke On The Water 29: Pictures Of Home 30: Space Truckin' 31: Painted Horse (Outtake, 1972) 32: Strange Kind of Woman 33: I'm Alone 34: Fireball 35: Demon's Eye 36: Anyone's Daughter 37: Fools 38: No One Came 39: Freedom [Outtake 1971] 40: Slow Train [Outtake 1971] 41: Never Before 42: When a Blind Man Cries 43: Highway Star 44: Smoke on the Water 45: Pictures of Home 46: Space Truckin' 47: Printed Horse [1972 Outtake] 48: Smoke on the Water [Live 1972] 49: Lazy [Live 1972] 50: Woman from Tokyo 51: Mary Long 52: Super Trouper 53: Smooth Dancer 54: Burn 55: Might Just Take Your Life 56: Sail Away 57: Coronarias Redig 58: Stormbringer 59: Hold On 60: Lady Double Dealer [Live 1975] 61: Gettin' Tighter 62: Comin' Home 63: Battle Rages On, The 64: Knocking at Your Back Door 65: Perfect Strangers 66: Son of Alerik [7'' Single Version] 67: Call of the Wild 68: Bad Attitude [Single Version] 69: Hard Lovin' Woman [Live 1987] 70: Hush '88 [Live 1988] 71: King of Dreams [Single Version] 72: Fire in the Basement 73: Slow Down Sister 74: Battle Rages On 75: Anya [Live 1993] 76: Castle Full of Rascals 77: Seventh Heaven

Insane. Totally enjoyable. A must have.
I'm not bored with it yet. I have this four CD set burned to my MP3 player and have listened to it on the way to work every day for months. Those recordings that were made live are just astounding. Slow Train is an absolute favorite as is Anya. Amazing how the set is versatile enough to fit my every mood. Sometimes I want old Purple, sometimes the newer stuff, maybe the cheesier 80s popular sound, the psychedelic 60s sound, maybe I want just instrumentals, or the old favorites (Hush, Highway Star, Woman from Tokyo, Space Truckin'). The long history of the band and its unique sound really comes across in this set. I'm totally pleased with my purchase and recommend it highly. The brochure that accompanies the CD is well done. Listening to this music makes me so happy.

Shades Of A Great Box Set
It has the selected album tracks, some rarities and the singles. I collected up Deep Purple for years and this is a fine representation of the career of this bands beginning to 1996. I read about the pro's and con's of this one and it seems like no one is ever happy with a box set, well, maybe get this one and the "Listen Learn" box too and that should make those doubters a bit happier but really, this one really packs in as much material as possible. It also shows you the differences the band goes as members change which goes in "Marks" as most Purp fans are fully aware of so, as most every reviewer has recommended, buy this one and if not totally happy, get the "Listen Learn" box set if you have the extra bread. This one I "Highly Recommend" for anyone considering a Deep Purple box set.

Check out my website sometime and drop by and say "Hi" Google "Judemac Forever".

A box set that shows the magnitude and scope of Deep Purple
This box set has so many highlights, it just shows the magnitude and scope of this great band Deep Purple. Don't even bother with a single disc Deep Purple greatest hits if you really like this band; just as the Beatles or Led Zeppelin are worth more than a single disc collection.

The down side, the collection only goes as far as 1998, a bit outdated. But not a problem for those wanting only the Blackmore era. I'd also agree with other reviewers who thought there were too many photos of the Coverdale and Hughes (MKIII) era. That too struck me the first time I looked through the booklet. But, who really sits around just looking at the photos all the time.

The up side, tons of great studio and live performances and the sound quality is really good and consistent, considering all the years and production values.

Disc 1 highlights: Hush, Kentucky Woman, Anthem, Hallelujah, Speed King, Child In Time, Black Night, Into the Fire (Live '70), and No No No (Live '71).

Disc 2 highlights: Strange Kind Of Woman, Fireball, Demon's Eye, No One Came, Highway Star, Smoke On The Water, Pictures Of Home, Space Truckin'.

Disc 3 highlights: Smoke On The Water (Live '72), Lazy (Live '72), Woman From Tokyo, Mary Long, Smooth Dancer, Burn, Sail Away, Stormbringer, Lady Double Dealer (Live '75) and Comin' Home.

Disc 4 highlights: Knocking At Your Back Door, Perfect Strangers, Call Of The Wild, Bad Attitude, Hard Lovin' Woman (Live '87), The Battle Rages On, Anya (Live '93), A Castle Full Of Rascals and Seventh Heaven.

Recommended.
.

Deep purple box set...a great introduction.
Probably the folks involved in making the booklet, knew very little about Deep Purple. There are things that should have done a little differently, such as, less photos of MKIII (Coverdale/Hughes era) and more MKII (Gillan/Glover era), after all, MKII were together far longer, but, you'd never know that by Rhinos booklet.

The good news, the music is pretty spot on. Perhaps a few more from the Steve Morse era (1996-) would have given this collection a better balance. But, that's the way these box set running orders go. Besides, most people will probably want more of the "classic rock" era.

Overall, a great introduction to one of the great rock bands.

.

For the most part, Darth Kommissar is an idiot reviewer!...read on so you can find out why!
(Insert DT comment here). Let's breakdown Darth Kommissar's review sentence by sentence

Darth writes: For nearly four decades, Deep Purple has been one of the world's finest rock and roll bands - no questions asked. Yes, I guess the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's would be four decades, not nearly four but actually four decades. And if you are writing your review in 2004, I guess you could say it's five decades now!

Darth writes: The band has released several albums, live albums, compilations, and box sets. This is one of the band's many box sets. (Insert DT comment here) I really cannot counter this because its fact. Usually a box set is released once a band has established itself once they've released "several albums, live albums, compilations".

Let's breakdown the Pro's / Con's
PROS:
-This set spans Deep Purple's entire career, from their debut material in the late sixties right up to material from the Ian Gillan reunion. (Insert DT comment here. . . Yes it's true he hit the nail on the head with that comment, but actually the Gillan reunion happened in 84 and again in 93 and this goes past that to 98)

-Most of the band's big hits are here for your listening pleasure. (Insert DT comment here. . . could you mention a few of the hits, I know them but do you?)

-A number of underrated masterpieces are also contained in this set. (Insert DT comment here. . . could you please name a few of these so-called underrated masterpieces please?)

-There are tons of rare tracks here, including single versions of songs which are otherwise, outside this set, unavailable on compact disc! (Insert DT comment here. . . I'm confused on this part. . . read the cons section below)

-The set consists of many discs of Purple classics. (Insert DT comment here. . . Darth you've kinda pointed this out already, but please mention a few classics)

CONS:
-The band couldn't decide whether they wanted to do a career-spanning retrospective or a rarities set. They should have done both of these things separately, not in the same set. (Insert DT comment here. . . sounds like a good old Darth whine, can't ever satisfy this reviewer who more than likely didn't pick up this box set)

-Honestly, how many people are going to want to pay this much money for the sake of a few rare tracks? Most big fans already own all of the band's albums. (Insert DT comment here. . . But wait Darth, just a moment ago you mentioned in your Pro's section the following -There are tons of rare tracks here, including single versions of songs which are otherwise, outside this set, unavailable on compact disc. . . now I'm confused are there or anren't there rarities. . . I want to buy this but I'm confused by you!)

OVERALL:
Overall this is a good set, but if you already own all of the band's albums, it's not really worth buying this for the sake of only a few rare tracks. Still, the material featured here is excellent, and stands as solid proof that Deep Purple is one hell of a rock band. (Insert DT comment here. . . there he goes again. . . I think he's positive about it only having a few rarities now).

DT's Overall. . . first off this is an awesome set. Worth every penny. . . People of have made Darth Kommissar a top 50 reviewer should pull their heads out their butts, and listen to reviewers who actually listen to the music and not just wanting to review every single thing on Amazon like they own it. This guy reviews everything. He'd give a turd 5 stars if he could find something positive and negative to write about it. Reviewer beware!!!.

You can see a complete list of all Deep Purple discography, or go back to the Deep Purple tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.