Deep Purple Stormbringer: In-depth

I have read many a Deep Purple biography, so I know the pretty well the background to Deep Purple’s Stormbringer album and the fall out.The author did a book on Tommy Bolin’s main recorded output so I am happy to support the author Laura Shelton journey into the world of Deep Purple related output. The quotes from the band members are from the time and also looking back many years later in hindsight. Good to see the album,cassette,8 track variants and so forth. Stormbringer is 50 years old this year so maybe an anniversary box set with a new mix,demos etc will be presented to us in the none to distant. If Laura is reading this review,how about a look at the first three Trapeze albums?

I love Deep Purple Mk3 and Stormbringer, but I don’t think this book fully delivered on the promises. It’s mostly a nice collection of vintage interviews and reviews, which is nice, but nothing much new for old fans like me. There’s LOTS of copy-and-paste from Glenn Hughes’ autobiography, which feels like a cheap trick. The compiling is somehow confused (sometimes you get the feeling that Rainbow’s debut record gets the spotlight more than Purple’s album) and the original content is rarely interesting and often unfocused. All in all is an ok read for fans and for those who want to know a bit more about this era of Deep Purple, but I think potential buyers should wait for a discounted offer.