Deep Purple

Come Taste The Band - 35th Anniversary Edition

"Just thought I'd jot down my thoughts on the brilliant Come Taste The Band Anniversary edition.

The remixes are absolutely fan-bloody-tastic. I've been listening to them non-stop since receiving my copy a few days ago. I've never heard these numbers sounding so fresh and bursting with energy as they do here - even the remastered album sounds dull in comparison... I admit I've only listened to disc 1 once and have dropped it in favour of the remixes. The inclusion of every last note on this remix set gives a strong impression of a live studio recording which only adds to the energy of these tracks. Highlights for me are the Hammond "wind down" ending to Comin' Home - absolutely priceless - and the extended Gettin Tighter and I Need Love. I Need Love has always been an album favourite and this remix has made it even more so. Someone else has said and I have to agree that these are probably the best remixes yet done to any Deep Purple material - at least that I've heard. It begs the question as to what Kevin Shirley could do for other albums. How about letting him loose on Perfect Strangers and House Of Blue Light?

There are however a couple of grumbles. 1. I'm not impressed with the revised running order for the remixed album. I've payed around with running orders on most Deep Purple albums and have several alternative versions saved on iTunes. I've not yet been able to better Come Taste The Band and the swapping of positions for You Keep On Moving and Drifter does not work for me. I've corrected this in iTunes and the album plays a lot better for me in it's original form. 2. I don't like the way Owed to G has been "removed" from This Time Around. They belong together imo But compared to the rush of being absolutely blown away by a 35 year old Deep Purple album that is as familiar to me as the bottoms of my pockets these are minor grumbles. Kevin has done a first rate job.

Well that's the end of an era isn't it? There are no more 68-76 remasters to look forward to.... Can we expect some renewed activity on the Sonic Zoom front?" Steve West

"Looked forward to this but alas I don't feel the re-mixes are up to much at all - Far too much compression, especially on disc 2.

So, unfortunatly for me the remastered version sounds a bit flat. I really loved this album when it came out and I'll stick with the memories thanks. I thought it better than Burn at the time. One thing though, because of the Bolin/Paice jam, hopefully now people will realise that Bolin is a far superior player than Blackmore ever was. More feel and more instant ideas. Blackmore was obviously good but Bolin had more imagination." Michael Jones

"The album remaster sounds great. That buzzy treble frequency over-load on some of Mk4 studio cuts that appreared on the Listen Learn Box Set have been rectified here. Kevin Shirley does a terrific job.

It is like listening to a new album again albeit 35 years later. Favouring Bolin in broad brush strokes but also highlighting Jon Lord & His Pumpin' Piano on 'Comin' Home, where we also get some extra Bolin lead guitar new to my ears. Some extra vocal asides elsewhere add some atmosphere. 'Love Child' has Jon's synth riff up in the mix. You Keep On Movin' has a much bigger guitar crash chords similar to Glenn 's recut in '94. Not sure if David's vocal when he's singing in unison with Glenn is slightly down in the mix? Still, an awesome remix of this track nonetheless. Glenn's Stormbringer remixes, though appreciated, didn't really excite me. But Mr Shirley has done a fabulous job. Another great booklet with rare photos, thanks to our friends at Easy on the Eye!" Simon Ford

"The remix disc #2 offers extended endings plus the 2 bonus tracks - but sadly, the mastering on this disc has squashed it flat.

This is most noticeable on Ian Paice's drums (kick drum most of all) suffering from heavy compression. Yes, this disc sounds louder than the remastered disc #1 but the depth of field is gone. I'll bet the drums were really punchy and had tonal body prior to mastering. I don't know why this happened as Bob Ludwig (credited as mastering engineer) is one of the best." John S

"Come Taste The Band, 35th Anniversary Edition, the remixes are absolutely f***ing awesome!! I can't stop playing them and the bonus tracks, 'Same in L.A..' and 'Jam' are totally addictive, I've never played so much air guitar, wonderful stuff...the best re-release todate!! " Richard Taylor

"Great to hear the two unreleased tracks - "Same in LA" has something of a hint of PAL about it. It's also a rare track on the remixed CD2 which brings Jon Lord to the forefront. "Lady Luck" is built around Jon's chiming keyboard riff, which gets well and truly buried. Weird." Daniel Finn

"So here it is at last, the long awaited Come Taste The Band remaster, what can I say, the sound is marvellous, great packaging as usual, very interesting liner notes and lots of pics in the booklet... a fine companion for the classic Deep Purple collection.

The second disc featuring the eagerly hailed remixes is utterly impossible in my opinion. Now it's clear why every IRON MAIDEN album from BRAVE NEW WORLD onwaards sounds so weak: Kevin Shirley!! Almost everything seems wrong: guitars sound like screaming cats and Hughes' squeaking peeves more than ever before. I don't need these remixes at all! Hail to the original Martin Birch mix!" Bruce Schmidt

"I have to say that the new remix of Come Taste The Band is fantastic. Kevin Shirley has done a good job. Somebody should have him remix the Black Sabbath "Born Again" album, which suffers from a terrible mix." Brendan Jacobson

"Having waiting years for this one to come through the letter box – 34(?!)-  i was well miffed [like others] that the remixes messed with the running order - but it didn’t take long to put that right by burning my own – inserting the bolin/paice jam at the end of the old side one

The remixes obviously have positives and negatives – and some loyal Come Taste The Band fans just can’t seem to get their heads around listening anew to such an old favourite. 

For myself i always dreamed /wanted to hear Jon Lord mixed right up - on [the end of] Comin' Home, on GettingTighter, Drifter and Owed to G  . .. . .  most definitely not mixed down like on Lady Luck and even one synth track completed missing on the end of I Need Love  - as he originally took a back seat to showcasing Tommy Bolin, which was not the case on the rehearsal tapes released a few years ago – organ everywhere!

If anyone out there has copies of the recently released Black Country CommunionCD and Little Steven's Born Again Savage to compare Jason Bonhams contribution, you will understand that Mr Shirley does not know his drum sounds from the bottom of a lake – which is where a lot of the drums seem to being played on his mix!  In his defence i have to admit that his overly base dominated drums has unearthed some fantastic kick drum playing which the original mix [by Ian Paice and Martin Birch] somehow managed to mask / hide and there is a much more ‘live’ feel to the bass / drums, just no real snare to call upon – all you have to do is listen to Comin', Home remaster / remix back to back to hear what I mean!

Where Mr Shirley scores big time though is his work on Tommy Bolin's guitar!  The original was much too squeaky clean – as Tommy fans who have listened to Private Eyes and Teaser will attest – hiding lots of the nuances and subtleties in the man’s playing

Though not perfect overall i would have to say a pretty good job by mr shirley  – and as someone who has been listening to Come Taste The Band since 1976 [on vinyl, imported Japanese vinyl, CD, 2007 ‘remastered’ CD and tape] and still can’t get enough of tracks like Comin' Home, GettingTighter and the near perfection that is Drifter – that's got to be a compliment."

review: Barry Mitchell

Thanks for all of your reviews. Any not here have been put forward for inclusion in the next Darker Than Blue magazine