Lost Classics - Deep Purple - House of Blue Light

[ElectricWiz]

Deep Purple - The House of Blue Light

Here's the next installment for any who care to comment. This was the record after the big comeback (Perfect Strangers) and I have always thought it didn't get the attention it deserved. Might have been a little more mainstream than Perfect Strangers, but a great record. Gillan sounds awesome (as always) and the songs Spanish Archer, Strange Ways, Call of the Wild, Mitzy Dupree etc., are as good as anything Purple ever recorded.

Anybody else like this record?

 

[Jean-Pierre]

One of the few DP albums I actually haven't heard. The other being Bananas and another one...I forget the name.

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

House of Blue Light and Perfect Strangers are both high on my DP list. Twenty years later I still enjoy listening to them. I thought they dropped off after House but they really rebounded with Bananas in 2003. I still listen to Bananas at least once a month, when I'm in the nostalgiac mood. The songwriting is excellent and Gillan's vocals are godly as always.

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

yeah i like House of Blue Light.. i cant remember exactly but i think this might of been my first DP album... if not it was definetly my 2nd album after Machine Head....

 

[Wyvern]

EW you just earned a silver star with me. HOBL is one of those albums that indeed will survive the test of time.
After PS I patiently wait to see if DP MkII was ready to follow or break, the result was HOBL. I got it as the European vinyl on the day, time when also 'Bad Attitude' was rotated in MTV. College was fine, hair was long and life was bright.
Not a single bad song in the album, great melodies, fabulous vocals, clever lyrics, and the amazing work of Lord and Blackmore, suported by the precise machinery of Glover and Paice.
The years passed by and the album never lost vitality, when the CD came I was delighted as the songs were remastered some were longer and proved the album is indeed a classic.

Recommended cuts: 'Bad Attitude', 'The Unwritten Law', 'Mitzi Dupree, 'Strangeways' and the full impact 'Dead Or Alive'.

@ UM: it was my second, PS was my first (then I went back to the classics)
@ TSO: agree, "Bananas" is their best material since HOBL

 

[Wicked Child]

Dude, i was gonna PM you and request you do this one, if you've heard it! Creepy!

But yeh, i love this album. It does have a more mainstream approach than most of the other albums in the DP catalogue, as a matter of fact, it reminds me most of post-Dio Rainbow, particularly Straight Between The Eyes(another underrated album), but damn it, it has hooks, it has crunch, it has awesome solos by the great Mr. Blackmore, Gillan sounds great, Lord proves once again that he's the best keyboardist in the business when it comes to working WITH the guitar and not against it, almost working like a second guitar, something Lord definitely does best. It's a very solid DP album, and one that should get more positive attention, most definitely.

 

[ElectricWiz]

Dude, i was gonna PM you and request you do this one, if you've heard it! Creepy!

But yeh, i love this album. It does have a more mainstream approach than most of the other albums in the DP catalogue, as a matter of fact, it reminds me most of post-Dio Rainbow, particularly Straight Between The Eyes(another underrated album), but damn it, it has hooks, it has crunch, it has awesome solos by the great Mr. Blackmore, Gillan sounds great, Lord proves once again that he's the best keyboardist in the business when it comes to working WITH the guitar and not against it, almost working like a second guitar, something Lord definitely does best. It's a very solid DP album, and one that should get more positive attention, most definitely.

You know? I never thought of it, but I think Straight Between the Eyes is underrated. I thought that a bit weird when I read it in your post, but the more I think about it the more I realize that people talk way more about the first three....with good enough reason, they are all awesome. Still, SBTE is awesome, and fully deserves a place on any shelf. Fuck yeah, Straight Between The Eyes....

 

[Wyvern]

You know? I never thought of it, but I think Straight Between the Eyes is underrated. I thought that a bit weird when I read it in your post, but the more I think about it the more I realize that people talk way more about the first three....with good enough reason, they are all awesome. Still, SBTE is awesome, and fully deserves a place on any shelf. Fuck yeah, Straight Between The Eyes....

To me SBTE is not a very good album (was my first CD tho'). In general JLT era is the weakest Rainbow era. I like most of the songs but is not a must have album IMO.

 

[Wicked Child]

You know? I never thought of it, but I think Straight Between the Eyes is underrated. I thought that a bit weird when I read it in your post, but the more I think about it the more I realize that people talk way more about the first three....with good enough reason, they are all awesome. Still, SBTE is awesome, and fully deserves a place on any shelf. Fuck yeah, Straight Between The Eyes....

Oh hell yeh, I think SBTE is a great album for what it is, which is mainstream, polished hard rock, nothing wrong with that, when it's done right, and IMO, STBE does it right. I think it's dripping with hooks, stuffed silly with great solos and topped off with a great vocal performance by Joe Lynn Turner. Despite what Wyvern and alot of other people say, i say if you like it's brand of polished 80's hard rock, or you just love the mighty Ritchie Blackmore, pick it up.

 

[Fred B]

I remember liking this record but havent heard it since the vinyl days. Its on my CD list, but i only got around to picking up Perfect Strangers last year. Theres just so much vinyl to replace with CD. What i remember is thinking it was a step down from Perfect Strangers but still a damn good record. Dead or Alive is a solid rocker that i still listien 2 alot on one of the live discs i have. That was my favorite on that record. I think i it got lost in the shuffle of the other music i was listining to at the time, because there wasnt enough to keep me interested

Huge Blackmore fan, my first concert was Rainbow on the DIfficult to Cure tour but it was Straight between the Eyes that really got me that is a great record. 80s rainbow was always a pretty commercial band especially with JLT singing (as Ritchie said he had more of a ballad voice) but that record is really the one that put them to headlining large arena status. Power, death alley driver ,bring on the night Really commercial hard rock with Blackmores fretboard work adding some real great fills and solos along the way. I mean the solos for stone cold is one of my favorites and thats just a simple ballad Death Alley Driver is another one that is amazing. 2 of my favorite Blackmore solos ever are on this record

One of my favorite discs is the Rainbow anthology that i listien 2 a few times a week . Depending on my mood i listien to Dios rainbow or 80s rainbow with JLT and Graham Bonnett. I feel Rainbow is very under appreciated by alot of people especially 70s rainbow maybe if they had more commercial success but it seems no one ever mentions them much and they never played the bigger arenas like Zep, sabbath and the who. Rainbow Rising is one of the best rock records from the 70s

 

[Wyvern]

Rainbow Rising is one of the best rock records from the 70s

Indeed

"Rising" was along my first CDs too. A cousin brought it from USA along with the debut. I still have those editions.

"Rising" is a true jewel, few songs and all count. Even if you take 'Run With The Wolf' and 'Do You Close Your Eyes' as fillers, they are great fillers. The rest pure quality and beyond, 'Tarot Woman', 'Stargazer', 'Starstruck' and my personal favorite 'A Light In The Black' an exercise in the art of soloing by Lord Blackmore.

IMO that album is a MUST be in any metal collection.

 

[ElectricWiz]

Indeed

"Rising" was along my first CDs too. A cousin brought it from USA along with the debut. I still have those editions.

"Rising" is a true jewel, few songs and all count. Even if you take 'Run With The Wolf' and 'Do You Close Your Eyes' as fillers, they are great fillers. The rest pure quality and beyond, 'Tarot Woman', 'Stargazer', 'Starstruck' and my personal favorite 'A Light In The Black' an exercise in the art of soloing by Lord Blackmore.

IMO that album is a MUST be in any metal collection.

I couldn't agree more! Rising rules. The first is awesome too; Blackmore's Rainbow.....

It's funny, but Dio, love him or hate him (I think he's great), was part of one of the best runs of albums by any artist out there, and across three bands. I count in this:
The first three rainbow albums
The three he did with Sabbath (I'm including Live Evil in that)
...and Holy Diver, which is good from start to finish.

 

[Fred B]

Agree 100% on DIO string of classic records Whiz but, id have to keep going with Last in Line as well. Start to finish a great record and a worthy follow up to Last in Line. Heaven and Hell is one of the first DIO albums i ever heard... i love that record. I didnt start getting into 70s rainbow until i started researching the back catalogs after Straight betwwen the Eyes blew me away

Wyvern, i dont consider Do you close your eyes a filler in any way.. but, like you said if it a filler its a great one!!

 

[SoundMaster]

It's funny, but Dio, love him or hate him (I think he's great), was part of one of the best runs of albums by any artist out there, and across three bands. I count in this:
The first three rainbow albums
The three he did with Sabbath (I'm including Live Evil in that)
...and Holy Diver, which is good from start to finish.

Agreed 100%.
Heck, even the live albums from this era are untouchable: Rainbow On Stage
and the imperial Live Evil.


Anyway, regarding the OP, I do enjoy "House of Blue Light", but overall, when I'm in the mood for Purple (which is often!), I tend to reach for anything from 1970-1975 first (yes, I do love the one Bolin record).

"Blue Light" is strong, but, as others have stated, I do find it to be a let-down from "Strangers" which was godly (among the best 'reunion' albums ever released).

 

[SickBoy]

Never got much into that album, especially not Gillan's singing on that one. I've always felt that Gillan's voice went for bad after he left DP for the first time, it became so nasal I almost can't stand it... He should really go check his sinuses...

As for the later works, never liked them as well (except for "Battle..." album and Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming), Bananas was awfully boring for me. Perfect Strangers is their last really strong record IMO...

 

[Wyvern]

Bananas was awfully boring for me.

Cool something that we STRONGLY disagree for once

And just to clear an itsy bitsy point of some post above. "Heaven And Hell" is not a great album with Dio, is not a great Black Sabbath album, is not a great metal album


































IS THE GODDAMN
DEFINITION OF HEAVY METAL!


I hope is clear now

 

[Mxgonzo]

I too was disappointed with Bananas. When I last saw them(2002) they played a rockin' tune that they said was going to be on the new album. BUT it's not on there. Purpendicular IMO is the last great album they put out. Not a bad song on that one.

 

[SoundMaster]

I too was disappointed with Bananas. Purpendicular IMO is the last great album they put out. Not a bad song on that one.

Agreed. "Purp" is great while "Bananas" well, stinks.