Well, a fairly good review of this album and if you`re not seeing it as a Deep Purple album, but more of a funk & soul- inspired rock album, it is actually quite good. But it wasn`t meant to last. The band would soon fold for good and not re-emerge until April 1984. Enjoy!
O Lord, why hast thou forsaken us?
DEEP PURPLE: Come Taste The Band (Purple)
Record Review by Tony Stewart
There are two points to make about this album straightaway. One is that new guitarist Tommy Bolin proves to be a considerable source of material and inspiration and has laid down as many solos in one set as other guitarists would in four.
And secondly that Jon Lord, one of the two remaining originals, is out to lunch throughout most of the set. Which could of course be indicative of disinterest… or because Bolin has the stronger musical personality and is as smart as Ritchie Blackmore when it comes to grabbing the spotlight.
For this, and more, the album is a real curiosity.
It`s probably their best since, let`s say, “In Rock”, epitomising perfectly all the name Deep Purple represented: high energy, barrel-rolling power and uncomprising rock and roll at its very best. But it`s basically the new boys who`ve produced this.
Ian Paice rows himself in once on a joint composition with Bolin and David Coverdale, and Lord teams up with Glenn Hughes for a beautifully mellow track called “This Time Around”, which makes Jon`s trip out to Munich`s Musicland Studios worthwhile after all, while the rest of the album is taken care of by (predominantly) Coverdale and Bolin, with Hughes snatching another two joint composing honours with one or the other.
So you`ve got to agree that it`s a pretty strange situation for three rookies to know more about the concept of Deep Purple than a coupla founding members obviously do.
Paice, however, does show he`s an invaluable member when it actually comes to laying down the rhythms on that kit, and he and Hughes have the kind of professional relationship (at least on record) which can only be described as Hot Shit. There is after all more power and time changing, accent-making ingenuity than ever before in a Purple line-up.
Naturally it then follows that Bolin should play a dual role. One, as “Gettin` Tighter” illustrates, to brace thick, energy-packed chords into the rhythm, and two, as a lead soloist of such tremendous talent that despite the excellent vocal harmonies of Coverdale and Hughes on the soulful “I Need Love”, he again steals the glory for his outstanding work.
This man is an absolute maniac. Not only can he bleed the licks out on an overdrive piece such as “Comin` Home”, but he can restrict what seems a naturally extrovert style (requiring quite frequently double tracking to do what he must do but which isn`t humanly possible with only one outlet) to become almost conservative. When required – as in the dramatic tension of “Drifter”, where Bolin unloops the melody line to allow Hughes and Paice to battle their way through.
And Lord dozes off in the corner.
Well he has one other moment, besides the one mentioned earlier. And that`s during “You Keep On Movin`”, where Bolin effectively cuts a path for the organ to surface and then frames the resulting solo.
Maybe Lord felt he couldn`t contribute much more, even though that one solo is truly worthwhile and something similar elsewhere would have been a welcome contrast. Yet there`s also Coverdale straining for vocal space, and justly getting it, so Lord`s obviously observing the old Too Many Cooks proverb.
Whatever. Deep Purple are alive and well. This album proves it.
I have personally transcribed this from the original paper and you are free to use it as you like. If you use it on your own webpages – please credit me or put up a link to my blog.
This number of New Musical Express also contains articles/interviews with these people: Tina Turner, Graham Nash & David Crosby, The Mika Band, Pub Rock Report 75, Melvin Franklin, The Chieftains, The Who, Hugh Banton (Van Der Graaf Generator), Baker Gurvitz Army.
The original music paper this article came from (pictured at the top) is for sale!
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My Things - Music history for those who are able to read. 