Live in California 74

Everytime someone says "oh, the quality of this thing sucks, Blackmore is always on the back, we can't see enough of Paicey's drumming..." I start laughing out loud, as people sometimes forget that the important stuff here is the music.

Classic rock fans are used to see overrated performances of guys doing excentric stuff while making blurp rubbish noises in their auditoriums. I mean, I really liked Led Zeppelin until I saw a couple of live performances, in almost full HD, mind you, where the band, instead of performing and doing it well, just simply go for the stupid showmanship without even attempting to remember that music was the deal. There is when you figure out, if you do realize, from a metalhead point of view, why is such ridiculous to praise Jimmy Page when he grabs a violin arch and plays his guitar with it. Stupid noise and extreme pretentiousness. Yeah, you may call that "experimentalism", but I rather go for Rush instead, those are real experimentalists.

So, fortunately, here we have a nice piece of early heavy metal with a little visual help (not the opposite) and that assure us complete joy. Here, the thing is to do what Deep Purple is supposed to do: performing and doing it well, the most powerful, the most clear and passionate as possible. The fresh blood injected by Coverdale and Hughes was a new breath for the power trio behind them. A new perspective, a new sound, a new power and the same approach.

From the very beginning we know what we must wait of this thing. Ballsy traditional metal in the most pure shape. No cuts, no editions, no arrangements. It's Deep Purple, ruling the early metal world in 1970-1975, at the peak of their popularity in America and beating all the numbers in Europe and the rest of the world. The setlist contains several Mk III classics from the "Burn" album, that masterpiece unfairly forgotten by Gillan and then, a couple of "known ones", like Smoke or Space Truckin. This can't fail at all. If we add to this that Blackmore and Paice were at their highest moment ever (never ever they sounded so solid, united), we can almost give to this release a perfect note.

Unfortunately, and yes, the VHS from where this DVD came was really hurt and it can be noted. The image contains a latent opacity which barely can be ignored. That's why some points must be taken away. The sound, as well, even if clear and polished, sometimes has a dull touch. Those are production issues, yes, and they hurt the final quality of the product. Slightly, but they do.

And, as a bonus track, an insane and REALDEAL showmanship performance takes place at the very end of it. You probably know of what I'm talking about. But if you don't, hey, dude, YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS! (Spoiler alert, stop reading here if you want to keep the surprise).

"Those stupid producers, I hate them. I shall do something, I'm evil. I'm the greatest guitar player of the world, my band is the greatest band in the world and they even try to give us orders and to tell us what to do! No way, I'LL MAKE THEM PAY THEIR INSOLENCE".

BOOM... KADABOOM...!! Fire in the sky!!

And that's it, fellas. A real metalhead can't miss this DVD, is a must have!

Excellent DVD release of the legendary perfomance of Deep Purple mark-III era in the California Jam festival. I own the Connoisseur collection VHS version, in which some angles and songs aren’t filmed, so I was really impatient for this DVD to be released. The image is great and the remastered dts sound, along with the extras (bonus tracks, alternate camera angles, commentaries, image galleries) make this DVD special.

About the gig, what can I say? It can’t be missed on the videography of any Deep Purple fan, specially because the final and spectacular Blackmore’s guitar smash. But also because the great quality of the live versions of “Burn”, “Mistreated” (the version in this concert is probably the finest ever played live), “Smoke On The Water” or the epic “You Fool No One”, which include the guitar,drum,keyboard and vocal solos.

The contribution of every member of the band is awesome, Hughes specially is in a fine moment, along with David Coverdale. Together they built a incredible vocal work. About the Ian Paice solo, just say it’s one of the fastest and furious ever. Lord and Blackmore with their combination and solos define a solid metal sound which remains as one of the best of all rock/metal history. So this DVD is one of the best live gigs filmed of the band and from the seventies, I definitively recommend it for any metal fan.