Milionesimo album live dei Deep Purple. La domanda sorge spontanea: ha senso parlarne? Dipende dai punti di vista. A chi non li adora probabilmente non dirà niente, d'altronde è solo un altro disco dove poter ascoltare "Smoke On The Water". Per chi come me invece prova un affetto smisurato per questa band, questo disco non potrà che essere fondamentale. Innanzitutto è il primo disco live ufficiale dell'ultima formazione (Gillan-Morse-Glover-Paice-Airey) e dovrebbe già bastare. In oltre, cosa che apprezzeranno non poco i fan, compaiono le versioni live del loro ultimo splendido disco "Rapture Of The Deep" e l'inedita "Things I Never Said", brano veramente bellissimo. Poi bisogna dire che i Deep Purple dal vivo sono sempre la miglior band di questi tempi: grande presenza sul palco, brani intramontabili, tecnica impeccabile ed esecuzioni ancora più perfette. Ormai hanno preso un certo andazzo: fanno dischi per poter partire in interminabili tour da un capo all'altro del pianeta.
Uno dei frutti di tale pensiero è senza dubbio questo live, registrato durante il rinomato Montreux Jazz Festival dell'anno passato, evento musicale di cui i Deep Purple sono da sempre ospiti fissi (il testo di "Smoke On The Water" ne è la dimostrazione). Per cominciare, due paroline su Don Airey al quale spetta il gravoso compito di sostituire il leggendario Jon Lord alle tastiere. Airey è sicuramente uno dei più grandi tastieristi di sempre, ha lavorato con i migliori (Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Colosseum II, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Jethro Tull e perfino con Andrew Lloyd Webber [come non ricordare "Variations"]) ed ora con i Purple riscontra enormi successi senza far rimpiangere troppo il sempre grandissimo Jon Lord. Dal punto di vista affettivo le cose cambiano, un conto è vedere Lord in azione, un altro è vedere Airey che ha meno presenza e sembra ancora non integrarsi perfettamente nel gruppo. Lo dimostra il fatto che gli assolo incrociati tra tastiera e chitarra a cui ci avevano abituati da sempre Lord e Morse (e prima di lui ovviamente Blackmore) sono meno "funambolici", quasi freddi, essenzialmente più corti.
La scaletta non risparmia i classicissimi andando da "Strange Kind Of Woman" a "Lazy" passando per un'intensa versione di "When A Blind Man Cries" e una tirata "Space Truckin'". Brani nuovi sono "Rapture Of The Deep", "Wrong Man" e "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye", eseguiti rigorosamente uno dietro l'altro. Il concerto viene aperto nel miglior modo possibile: "Picture Of Man", uno dei loro migliori brani. Rispetto alla versione in Dvd mancano diversi brani e questo purtroppo pregiudica il valore effettivo di questo live. Oggettivamente se al posto di una "Highway Star" non proprio eccelsa a causa di un calo di voce di Gillan (per il resto impeccabile), ci fosse stato l'intero assolo di chitarra di Steve Morse con tanto di "Well Dressed Guitar" (brano riproposto dal vivo e nella versione "Tour Edition" di "Rapture Of The Deep") sarebbe stato decisamente meglio. Il fatto è che la Eagle (la casa discografica), ha mirato ad un prodotto che potesse accontentare tutti, fan e non fan, riassumendo il tutto in un cd solo (mancano del tutto i bis dove eseguono le immancabili "Hush" e "Black Night").
Il voto è dato prendendo come riferimento l'ultimo decennio della band, da Steve Morse in poi, perché i Deep Purple hanno registrato live decisamente più storici (com'era quello? Made In Taiwan? "Made In Japan" ecco). L'esecuzione, l'ho già detto, è perfetta e i singoli componenti della band sono al massimo delle loro prestazione. Ci si chiede come faccia Ian Paice, che ormai non è più uno sbarbato, a suonare la batteria come trent'anni fa! Non manca ovviamente l'improvvisazione, tratto che distingue da sempre i Purple rispetto ad altre band del settore. Bisogna dire, per capire meglio il voto, che il gruppo in passato ha registrato un live fantastico: "Live At The Olympia 1996" dove ripropongono, al meglio, la maggior parte della loro carriera, in due Cd. Se la Eagle avesse commercializzato questo concerto per intero, sarebbe stato addirittura migliore di quello del 96. Peccato, avrei potuto dargli il massimo. Meglio il Dvd dove non manca niente.
Elenco tracce e testi
01 Pictures of Home (03:57)
Somebody's shouting
Up at a mountain
Only my own words return
Nobody's up there
It's a deception
I'm alone here
With emptiness eagles and snow
Unfriendliness chilling my body
And whispering pictures of home
Wondering blindly
How can they find me
Maybe they don't even know
My body is shaking
Anticipating
The call of the black footed crow
I'm alone here
With emptiness eagles and snow
Unfriendliness chilling my body
And whispering pictures of home
Here in this prison
Of my own making
Year after day I have grown
Into a hero
But there's no worship
Where have they hidden my thrown
I'm alone here
With emptiness eagles and snow
Unfriendliness chilling my body
And whispering pictures of home
03 Strange Kind of Woman (05:05)
There once was a woman
A strange kind of woman
The kind that gets written down in history
Her name was Nancy
Her face was nothing fancy
She left a trail of happiness and misery
I loved her
Everybody loved her
She loved everyone and gave them good return
I tried to take her
I even tried to break her
She said, I ain't for takin' won't you ever learn
I want you, I need you, I gotta be near you
I spent my money as I took my turn
I want you, I need you, I gotta be near you
Ooh, I got a strange kind of woman, yes I have
She looked like a raver
But I could never please her
On Wednesday mornings boy you can't go far
I couldn't get her
But things got better, she said
Saturday nights from now on, baby, you're my star
I want you, I need you, I gotta be near you
I spent my money as I took my turn
I want you, I need you, I gotta be near you
Ooh, I got a strange kind of woman
Ooh, my soul, I love you
I want you, I need you, I gotta be near you
I spent my money as I took my turn
I want you, I need you, I gotta be near you
Ooh, I got a strange kind of woman, yes I have
She finally said she loved me
I wed her in a hurry
No more callers and I glow with pride
I'm dreaming
I feel like screaming
I won my woman just before she died
I want you, I need you, I gotta be near you
I spent my money as I took my turn
I want you, I need you, ha ha ha
Ooh, I had a strange kind of woman, yeah
She was so fat
She was the worst thing you've ever seen
Ooh, my soul, I love you, baby
07 When a Blind Man Cries (03:33)
If you're leaving close the door.
I'm not expecting people anymore.
Hear me grieving, I'm lying on the floor.
Whether I'm drunk or dead I really ain't too sure.
I'm a blind man, I'm a blind man and my world is pale.
When a blind man cries, Lord, you know there ain't no sadder tale.
Had a friend once in a room,
had a good time but it ended much too soon.
In a cold month in that room
we found a reason for the things we had to do.
I'm a blind man, I'm a blind man, now my room is cold.
When a blind man cries, Lord, you know he feels it from his soul.
08 Lazy (07:34)
You're lazy Just stay in bed
You're lazy Just stay in bed
You don't want no money
You don't want no bread
If you're drowning you don't clutch no straw
If you're drowning you don't clutch no straw
You don't want to live you don't want to cry no more
Well my trying ain't done no good
I said my trying ain't done no good
You don't make no effort no not like you should
Lazy you just stay in bed
Lazy you just stay in bed
You don't want no money
You don't want no bread
10 Space Truckin' (04:54)
Well we had a lot of luck on Venus
We always had a ball on Mars
Meeting all the groovy people
We've rocked the Milky Way so far
We danced around with Borealis
We're space truckin' 'round the the stars
Come on let's go Space Truckin'
Come on
Space Truckin'
Remember when we did the moonshot
And Pony Trekker led the way
We'd move to the Canaveral moonstop
And every 'naut would dance and sway
We got music in our solar system
We're space truckin' round the stars
Come on let's go Space Truckin'
The fireball that we rode was moving
But now we've got a new machine
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah the freaks said
Man those cats can really swing
They got music in their solar system
They've rocked around the Milky Way
They've danced around the Borealis
They're Space Truckin' everyday
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Space truckin'
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Space truckin'
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Space truckin'
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Space truckin'
11 Highway Star (08:42)
Yeah---
Nobody gonna take my car, I'm gonna race it to the ground
Nobody gonna beat my car, it's gonna break the speed of sound
Ooh it's a killing machine
It's got everything
Like a driving power, big fat tires and everything
I love it, and I need it, I feed it
Yeah it's a wild hurricane
Alright, hold tight, I'm a highway star
Nobody gonna take my girl, I'm gonna keep her to the end
Nobody gonna have my girl, she stays close on every bend
Ooh she's a killing machine
She's got everything
Like a moving mouth, body control and everything
I love her, I need her, I seed her
Yeah she turns me on
Alright, hold tight, I'm a highway star
Nobody gonna take my head, I got speed inside my brain
Nobody gonna steal my head now that I'm on the road again
Ooh I'm in heaven again
I've got everything
Like a moving ground, an open road and everything
I love it, I need it, I feed it
Eight cylinders all mine
Alright, hold tight, I'm a highway star
Nobody gonna take my car, I'm gonna race it to the ground
Nobody gonna beat my car, it's gonna break the speed of sound
Ooh it's a killing machine
It's got everything
Like a driving power, big fat tires and everything
I love it, and I need it, I feed it
Yeah it's a wild hurricane
Alright, hold tight, I'm a highway star
I'm a highway star
I'm a highway star
12 Smoke on the Water (09:11)
We all came out to Montreux
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didn't have much time
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place in town
When some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
Smoke on the water
A fire in the sky
Smoke on the water
They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
Funky Claude was running in and out
Dragging kids out the ground
When it all was over
We had to find another place
Swiss time was running out
It seemed that we would lose the race
Smoke on the water
A fire in the sky
Smoke on the water
We ended up at the grand hotel
It was empty, cold and bare
And with the rolling truck stones thing just outside
We made our music there
With a few red lights and a few old beds
We made a place to sweat
No matter what we get out of this
I know I know we'll never forget
Smoke on the water
A fire in the sky
Smoke on the water
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