Classic Album Review – Deep Purple : Burn : 1974
Please watch the video for the full review…
In this video I talk about the album, hearing for the first time and going to see them on the tour that year.
I also go through the different versions I have, including the tour program, songbook and suggest which version you should go for.
I remember hearing on its week of release at a friends house. His older brother had a job and had gone out and got a copy from Woolworths.
I was hooked from the moment the riff from the title track Burn started. As many of you know I am a huge fan of all things Purple and back then I had only just heard Who Do We Think We are and a few weeks before that Made In Japan. I was 15 I could not keep up with this fantastic band that seemed to release an album every 6 months (Stormbringer would appear 6 months after Burn).
A few weeks later in May I went to see them at The Birmingham Odeon (Supported by ELF). It was my first gig and the first time I had been allowed to go to B’ham on my own at night. (in 74 there were a lot of worries about IRA bombs).
I bought the program (40p) and a badge (10p) and still have them. I carried the program around with me at school for a week, I felt so cool!
The Burn album is in my top 10 albums of all time and the title track contains all the ingredients required to explain why purple were so popular.
1. Guitar riff from the gods – tick
2. Band come in after riff to add dramatic affect – tick
3. Drummer playing like Keith Moon over verses – tick
4. Sci Fi lyrics that include a line like “the people laughed until she said Burn – tick
5. Song returns to point 1 at every given opportunity – tick
6. Bridge with soaring vocals from Glenn Hughes – tick
7. Jaw dropping neo-classical guitar solo with awesome tone – tick
8. Hammond C3 organ solo – tick
9. Return to point 1 again – tick
10. Dramatic crash ending no fade -tick
Best CD version remaster from 2004
Ritchie Blackmore between 74 – 76 was on fire.
Phil Aston | Now Spinning Magazine