This year, the underappreciated Deep Purple live compilation album, Made In Europe, turns 50 years old. Originally released in 1976, the album was trying to cash in on the previously successful 'Made In Japan' which is often regarded as one of the best live albums of all time. Sadly, Made In Europe did not share the same success. But it was great to see a Deep Purple MK 3 version of the album, even though it was mostly made for commercial purposes.
The album contains a compilation of recordings of concerts from Paris, Graz and Saarbrücken in 1975 of their European tour featuring David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Ritchie Blackmore (mistakenly spelt "Richie Blackmore" on the album cover), Jon Lord & Ian Paice. A further recording of these concerts would be released on the 1996 collection "MK III - The Final Concerts". It wouldn't be until 2012 that the full length recording of Live In Paris 1975 would be released for the first time on the Deep Purple (Overseas) Live Record label, in then a new initiative to release "Up to 10 remastered live albums in 2 years". Paris 1975 was famously the last concert featuring the MK3 lineup & Ritchie Blackmore before he quit the band to form Rainbow. Graz would be released next in 2014, but partially instead of complete. It felt like they only included the edited recording to fit on the one CD, The drum solo for You Fool No One had been edited out, and the encores were missing. Saarbrücken 1975 was apparently recorded in full length but remains unreleased.
In 2014, a new Super Deluxe Edition Boxset of Made In Europe was announced that would feature a remixed version of the original album, remastered recording for the first time Saarbrücken 1975 and a new documentary release of the era. It was due for a 2015 release but this never happened. Possibly also due to the shut down of the Deep Purple (Overseas) Live record label in 2017, only 5 Deep Purple live sets were released (Paris 1975, Graz 1975, Copenhagen 1972, Long Beach 1976, Long Beach 1971) before the DPO label went bankrupt. the Made In Europe boxset remains unreleased and the rest of the 10 albums in the updated remasters set were cancelled. It was a big disappointment to many fans around the world, as there hasn't been a new Deep Purple live album from this era in over a decade.
There was a new push to release the Made In Europe Boxset in 2025 but sadly it seems current Deep Purple management are not interested in releasing it at all.
Despite its position, Deep Purple's Made In Europe is an interesting release and a must have for any hard core Deep Purple fan. It's a big shame the Made In Europe Super Deluxe Edition got shelved, as did the Deep Purple (Overseas) Live Series. I feel like Made In Europe must be avenged, and still have a false hope that the boxset could be released one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment