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Deep Purple The Complete Deep Purple by Michael Heatley Reynolds & Hearn / ISBN 1-903111-99-4 / Released: July 7, 2005 The essential guide to one of the world's best-loved rock groups.  The story of Deep Purple is one of the most compelling sagas in rock history. Formed in the late 1960s, Deep Purple became heavy metal pioneers in the 1970s with a string of bestselling albums that are now considered classics. Torn apart by personal and musical differences, the group reformed in 1984, only to find their status as elder statesmen compromised by renewed in-fighting. The Complete Deep Purple traces the turbulent history of this enigmatic band and assesses its creative achievements. The book includes eight pages of rare stills, a rundown of band members' solo projects and a track-by-track analysis of every studio album, from 1968's Shades of Deep Purple to 2003's Bananas. Review: The is a nice read, but not a biography as such. So the title is a little misleading by calling it the Complete Deep Purple. This don't come close to the word complete. Still it's not bad, just a bit limited. It rushes through the story of Deep Purple and also briefly of the split groups like Rainbow, Whitesnake, Ian Gillan Band plus Paice, Aston & Lord. There are 8 pages of colour photos, without having any rare ones included. And it ends with a nice track-by-track analysis of every Deep Purple studio track. Although sometimes they take only a line or two to get through a track. Still this is a very nice addition to this book. It ends with a short bibliography which the writer used for this book. I've seen this advertised with a different cover (with a dull group shot), but got surprisingly a copy (ordered at Amazon UK) with a cover with the well known photo of Ritchie shot by Fin Costello (on Deep Purple's USA Tour 1974). Short summary: 256 pages plus 8 pages of Colour photos. List with track-by-track analysis of every Deep Purple studio track. Short bibliography included. Rating: **** [4 out of 5]  |