Deep Purple - Listen, Learn, Read On

A trolley-dash of Purple treasures: quad remixes, B-sides, bootleg live tapes, pre-Purple beat boom embarrassments and much more. Few comparable products better illustrate a band's growth, and this is the ultimate testament to just what made Deep Purple that little bit classier than their metallic compadres, Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy aside.

"Highway Star" and "Lazy" remind one just how unflaggingly inventive an improviser Ritchie Blackmore could be, and how lan Paice was probably Britain's finest straight rock drummer ever. Flamboyant, excessive, expensive, but never less than compelling. Very Purple, really.

Rating: 5 / 10