The headline in Austrian newspaper Neue Zeit said it all: ‘Deep Purple in Graz: Ein lauter Abschied [a loud farewell].’ On April 3, 1975 the Mk III line-up of Purple – guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, frontman David Coverdale, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, keyboard player Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice – played a concert at the Liebenauer ice rink, located on the outskirts of mountaincradled Graz, Austria’s second largest city after Vienna. Enthused by Purple’s arrival in town, the local press dubbed the concert ‘das Rockereignis des Jahres [the rock event of the year]’. And it was – in more ways than one. After Graz, Purple would play just two more shows – in Saarbrücken, Germany and Paris, France – before a disenchanted and disgruntled Blackmore left to form his new band, Rainbow. The remaining Purple members would regroup quickly with American guitarist Tommy Bolin in tow, in place of Blackmore. But that’s another story... In order to preserve Blackmore’s final run of Mk III concerts for posterity, Purple’s managers had brought the Rolling Stones mobile recording studio over to mainland Europe It was a difficult time for the band which would seem to indicate that Purple’s Graz performance was a duffer. A dull, flaccid affair with the band going through the motions and a sense of total disconnect between the five members. Wrong of all counts. Graz 1975 is absolutely electrifying. Indeed, it has long been regarded as the holy grail of concert recordings among Mk III connoisseurs. A performance that has never been available in its entirety until now. As soon as you feast your ears on opening track “Burn” (surely the best version of this song, ever) you know you’re in for a wild ride. And so it proves. Blackmore plays with controlled brutality – if he’s pissed off, it doesn’t show; if he’s angry, it most certainly does. The vocal interplay between Coverdale and Hughes has never sounded so good. And, of course, stalwarts Lord and Paice give it a good kicking – and then some. The tracklisting, naturally, is weighted heavily in favour of Mk III recordings, with just two songs from Purple’s previous incarnation with Ian Gillan on vocals and Roger Glover on bass: the iconic “Smoke On The Water” and the almost-as-iconic “Space Truckin’”. Still, it’s true to say that, from beginning to end, Graz 1975 showcases Purple Mk III at the absolute top – and also, ironically, at the end – of their game. As Neue Zeit quite rightly reported in April ’75: ‘Deep Purple gaben sich wirklich Mühe ihr „Abschiedskonzert“ zu einem grandiosen Erlebnis zu steigern [Deep Purple really did make an effort to increase their “farewell concert” to a terrific experience]’.
G**
A brilliant live album made by the legendary MKIII of Deep Purple in the mid-70s
I have always liked Deep Purple's Made in London, Made in Europe and California Jam, which were really valuable items of my collection of their live recordings in the good old 1990s. Of course, being a long-lasting star in the sky of rock music they have made a lot of remarkable studio and live albums with all the excellent reincarnations of the band since they appeared as Roundabout in 1967, and being an immense fan of them, I enjoy listening to anything released by them or one of the record companies they worked with during their colourful history.This live album made by the legendary MK III, which had brilliant musicians like Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Ritchie Blackmore, Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale, was recorded in Graz, Austria. It was one of the last gigs the band gave with the founding member Ritchie Blackmore, who left the band to pursue his solo career and start Rainbow with Ronnie James Dio because he was not satisfied with the musical direction Deep Purple had taken by releasing their latest album Stormbinger.In spite of the musical differences and disagreements about a lot of other more personal things, the band was an extremely tight unit and gave an excellent show in the Austrian city. They played a really nice mix of both MK II and MK III songs like Burn, Stormbringer, Lady Double Dealer, You Fool No One, The Gypsy, Smoke On The Water, Space Truckin' and they played no ballads at all. These take no prisoner attitudes showed their audience that they were still the heaviest rockers in the business and predicted the birth of another hard rock giant, the band Rainbow.Was it a concept enforced by Ritchie? I think so. After all, in my opinion, he had the idea of turning into a slightly different musical direction from the path of Deep Purple with Glenn Hughes wanting to include Georgia On My Mind in Smoke On The Water, and he wanted fans to know what it would be like even without going public on his plans.If you like brilliant hard rock played by Deep Purple, Rainbow or Whitesnake, you'll love this album! Play it loud and enjoy!
D**E
Shameful Performance By Hughes
Although I enjoyed the CD I will never forget or forgive Hughes for the appalling screaming and pathetic noise he felt he had to make at the beginning of Space truckin'Ritchie, Jon or Ian why oh why did you not put a stop to this.Ritchie, considering you were leaving I can understand you not giving a s***The rest of the album is great and does not really deserve it's 3 stars. After all the rest of the album is very impressive but I cannot and will not forget that god awful screaming. So I will give it 3.5.Good grief I swear I have a splitting headache.
R**N
only for the lonely
Having listened to this a couple of times I can understand why Blackmore felt it was time to go..........Mostly the vocals are ok, sometimes they're way off. 2 of the band are clearly thrilled to be in Deep Purple, 2 of the band really should never have been......maybe it's the same 2...........The songs are too contrived - everyone trying to be the next Japan. Mostly the playing is good. It's just not Deep Purple it's a gaggle of guys using the name while occupying the same stage as the name. Disappointed? Not really. Enthralled? Definitely not.If you're a Purple devotee - this is for you. If you just happen to like most of their stuff, maybe not for you. If you're just breaking into the band - definitely not for you.This is a case of the suits promoting a brand name again. But Deep Purple it isn't. A kind of watery thai-dye.......
R**I
Ritchie Blackmores final tour still playing out of his skin!!
This was Ritchie Blackmores final tour still playing with fire in his belly. Not my favorite Purple Lineup. Lord and Paice are brilliant But Coverdale and Hughes vever did it for me. Mark 2 i.e Deep Purple in Rock up to Pre Burn is the Deep Purple in my humble opinion. I beleive there is another Live recording at Paris is similar.
M**A
Five Stars
Can't thank enough for this series. Another colossal testimony of what juggernaut DP live was.
D**O
Not complete concert
The sound is better, the performance fantastic, but the set is not complete!!!!!!
L**B
Mark III on fine form
A real treat, great to hear tracks like Gypsy which didn't make it first time round.
E**N
Five Stars
great!
Trustpilot
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