Burn [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster] (CD - 1974)

Liner Note Author: Nigel Young.

Recording information: 11/1973.

Photographer: Fin Costello.

The first Deep Purple album to feature Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale, resulted in a much more bluesy effort all round. Coverdale's throaty roar, combined with Hughes' soaring vocal, made for a heartfelt, rootsy record. 'Might Just Take Your Life' was a hit single, and the album featured a series of extended jams, which worked most spectacularly with the elongated 'Mistreated', later resurrected by Coverdale as a live favourite with Whitesnake. The title track and 'Lay Down, Stay Down' gave vent to their more familiar refrains and emphasized the strength of their songwriting.

The departure of vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover seemed to rejuvenate Deep Purple, and 1974's Burn was a huge improvement over their previous effort, the lackluster Who Do We Think We Are. In an interesting twist, new recruits David Coverdale and ex-Trapeze bassist Glenn Hughes share lead vocals on virtually every track: an enviable tag team, as both possessed exceptional pipes. The title track starts things off at full speed thanks to the phenomenal drumming of Ian Paice, and the intro to "Might Just Take Your Life" is one of organist Jon Lord's finest moments. Full of starts and stops, "Lay Down, Stay Down" features a fantastic solo from guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who, as usual, serves as the band's primal force. "What's Going on Here" is about as good a single as Purple ever wrote; "You Fool No One" is compelling in its intensity; and the funky "Sail Away" is a sign of the band's future direction. "Mistreated," a fantastic slow blues, closes the album proper (just ignore the boring instrumental "A 200," the record's only throwaway) and showcases Coverdale on his own for the first time. So impassioned is the singer's performance that the song would remain his concert trademark long into his post-Purple career with Whitesnake. [The 2005 reissue of Burn contains copious liner notes and five bonus tracks. Along with "Coronarias Dedig," an instrumental B-side, these tracks are all remixed versions of album tracks. The mixes were done in 2004 and sound true to the originals, only cleaner. Their value is somewhat negligible and as the liner notes almost say, they seem to exist only to pad out the running time of the disc.] ~ Eduardo Rivadavia minimize