Rhino Records first attracted notice for its ability to assemble good, well-thought-out, best-of and greatest-hits compilations of acts who had enjoyed a chart placement (or two) without ever getting a proper hits package from their own labels; a little later Rhino started their "Very Best Of" series, which managed to be medium-weight but pretty thorough overviews of a lot of major acts (especially in R&B) from the past that needed a fresh look. But in 2000, when they released The Very Best of Deep Purple -- a band that needed no helping hand in the exposure area -- in conjunction with Warner Archives, that was something new for the company. And damned if Deep Purple and their fans, casual or serious, didn't benefit stunningly from Rhino's usual excellence on this CD. For one thing -- and this is pretty amazing -- this disc, with nearly 80-minutes of music, was the most thorough and thoughtful overview of the band's work ever released in the United States; EMI may have come close in England with Singles A's & B's but the sound here is better, to put it mildly. It's not just that Bill Inglot's tape research and engineering are very good -- it's that the sound here is so rich and resonant (as well as -- natch -- loud), that even original lead singer Rod Evans is finally shown at his best, doing what amounted to heavy metal "crooning" next to Ian Gillan's rock-god shrieks. What's more, with the sound as clear and crisp as it is here, one even gets to hear the action on Jon Lord's savage organ cadenzas, which are in-your-face along with Ritchie Blackmore's early but ever-bolder guitar attacks, and one gets some idea of what that version of the band at its best could do. Ian Gillan's arrival and the single "Black Knight" switch the balance away from Lord's classically based experiments in favor of loud, crunchy hard rock, and it's only a step from there to "Speed King," where this band really showed what it was capable of. Even with the volume turned low, you can hear the action on Lord's organ keyboard on "Child in Time," everything else -- including Gillan's falsetto cry -- is close enough to jolt even the most jaded listener -- even 30 years after its release. Mostly it's that classic 1969-73 lineup that's featured, with a two-song acknowledgement of the David Coverdale lineup, and the CD closes with the classic lineup on "Knocking at Your Back Door" from their 1980s reunion. Designed to complement, not compete with, the four-disc box set Shades (1968-1998) that Rhino released the prior year, this is one compilation that will impress hardcore, longtime fans, even as it whets the appetite of new listeners. Rhino Records first attracted notice for its ability to assemble good, well-thought-out, best-of and greatest-hits compilations of acts who had enjoyed a chart placement (or two) without ever getting a proper hits package from their own labels; a little later Rhino started their "Very Best Of" series, which managed to be medium-weight but pretty thorough overviews of a lot of major acts (especially in R&B) from the past that needed a fresh look. But in 2000, when they released The Very Best of Deep Purple -- a band that needed no helping hand in the exposure area -- in conjunction with Warner Archives, that was something new for the company. And damned if Deep Purple and their fans, casual or serious, didn't benefit stunningly from Rhino's usual excellence on this CD. For one thing -- and this is pretty amazing -- this disc, with nearly 80-minutes of music, was the most thorough and thoughtful overview of the band's work ever released in the United States; EMI may have come close in England with Singles A's & B's but the sound here is better, to put it mildly. It's not just that Bill Inglot's tape research and engineering are very good -- it's that the sound here is so rich and resonant (as well as -- natch -- loud), that even original lead singer Rod Evans is finally shown at his best, doing what amounted to heavy metal "crooning" next to Ian Gillan's rock-god shrieks. What's more, with the sound as clear and crisp as it is here, one even gets to hear the action on Jon Lord's savage organ cadenzas, which are in-your-face along with Ritchie Blackmore's early but ever-bolder guitar attacks, and one gets some idea of what that version of the band at its best could do. Ian Gillan's arrival and the single "Black Knight" switch the balance away from Lord's classically based experiments in favor of loud, crunchy hard rock, and it's only a step from there to "Speed King," where this band really showed what it was capable of. Even with the volume turned low, you can hear the action on Lord's organ keyboard on "Child in Time," everything else -- including Gillan's falsetto cry -- is close enough to jolt even the most jaded listener -- even 30 years after its release. Mostly it's that classic 1969-73 lineup that's featured, with a two-song acknowledgement of the David Coverdale lineup, and the CD closes with the classic lineup on "Knocking at Your Back Door" from their 1980s reunion. Designed to complement, not compete with, the four-disc box set Shades (1968-1998) that Rhino released the prior year, this is one compilation that will impress hardcore, longtime fans, even as it whets the appetite of new listeners. false 2023-01-16 09:44:09 6 2000 2000-05-09 2000-05-09 11 Hard Rock Rock 111846 2157602 bd56462c-bd14-4228-b749-221de8a9f73d 79491354-3d83-40e3-9d8e-7592d58d790a bf01cafa-5bb0-33af-aecd-8a4011bc7fef /media/data/media5/Music/Deep Purple/The Very Best of Deep Purple (2000)/folder.jpg Deep Purple AlbumArtist Deep Purple Artist Deep Purple Deep Purple 2 04:44 4 05:55 Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally formed as a psychedelic rock and progressive rock band, they shifted to a heavier sound with their 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock. Deep Purple, together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, have been referred to as the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-seventies". Listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records as "the globe's loudest band" for a 1972 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre, they have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Deep Purple have had several line-up changes and were broken up for eight years from 1976 to 1984, with drummer Ian Paice being the band's only constant member. The first four line-ups, which constituted the band's original 1968–1976 run, are officially indicated as Mark I (1968–1969), Mark II (1969–1973), Mark III (1973–1975) and Mark IV (1975–1976). Mark I comprised the founding members of Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Rod Evans (vocals), Jon Lord (keyboards), Ian Paice (drums) and Nick Simper (bass), while Mark II was the most commercially successful line-up, with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover replacing Evans and Simper respectively. Mark III saw David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes replace Gillan and Glover respectively, while Mark IV featured Tommy Bolin replacing Blackmore. The band split in July 1976, and Bolin died from a drug overdose five months later. Deep Purple reformed in 1984 with the Mark II line-up, which remained in place until Joe Lynn Turner replaced Gillan in 1989. Gillan rejoined in 1992, with Blackmore leaving for the second and final time the following year. He was replaced temporarily by Joe Satriani and then permanently by Steve Morse. In 2002, Lord retired and was replaced by Don Airey, which saw Deep Purple settle into its longest running line-up, unchanged for the next twenty years, until Morse announced his departure from the band in 2022. His place was taken by Simon McBride. Paice, Glover, Gillan, Airey and McBride comprise the current line-up of Deep Purple. Deep Purple were ranked number 22 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock programme, and a poll on radio station Planet Rock ranked them 5th among the "most influential bands ever". The band received the Legend Award at the 2008 World Music Awards. Deep Purple (specifically Blackmore, Lord, Paice, Gillan, Glover, Coverdale, Evans, and Hughes) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. Rhino