Turning to Crime

[Zzzptm]

I've got the album (yay the speed of MP3 files) and I'm enjoying it a lot.

HOWEVER, there are some "howevers" with these tunes... there are some strong country-rock elements in a number of tunes, particularly Dixie Chicken and Watching the River Flow. The horn arrangement/mix is awful - it's Vegas when it should be New Orleans, but can be ignored. DP has their prog side restrained most of the time, but it will peek around the corners and jump out to show itself here and there. (I like the prog, but I know that's not what everyone else is guaranteed to like.) DP does not go for the throat on any track - this is not metal up your ass, by any measure. It's not even metal near your ass. It's mostly their versions of tunes from the 50s-60s- early 70s. Some hit the hard rock buttons - 7 and 7 Is, Shapes of Things, and White Room do that very well. Others are party tunes where they get a little silly, like Dixie Chicken and The Battle of New Orleans.

The strongest tracks are where DP does the hard rock thing: the three tunes I mentioned above plus the ending medley Caught in the Act, which has some badass crunchiness with Going Down and Dazed and Confused. Watching the River Flow is very country, but that's Bob Dylan's fault - all the same, it's another of the top tracks on the album. Lucifer is another one that's good and hard.

I like the other half as well, but I'm also very much into the oldies. Rockin' Pneumonia, Si Si Rider/Jenny Jenny, Let the Good Times Roll are three fun tracks that take me back to the golden age of Rock and Roll. The Battle of New Orleans, well, that's almost a novelty tune, but it's better than Johnny Horton's whitebread and mayo original with DP adding a healthy dash of zydeco to their arrangement.

Oh Well - it's modern country meets old Fleetwood Mac. We've already passed judgment on that track here, and I've been open with my like for it. It's not representative of the hard rock covers in terms of overall sound. I'd also say that the version I have sounds much heavier than the one from the YouTube video - something's lost in the translation to the video, I suppose.

If I had to drop one track from the album, it'd be Dixie Chicken. It's not bad, but it's the weakest of the 12 tracks on offer in the album.

If you want a hard rock masterpiece, buy the hard rock tracks and call it an EP. If you want a bunch of great musicians having a ball recording a bunch of songs that they love, then get the whole album. I'm in the latter group, so I got it and I'm really enjoying it.

[Zzzptm]

The album is fun in another direction in that it not only makes me go seek out the originals for comparison, but the broader work from those bands.

And in the course of those searches, I found that Fleetwood Mac opened up for Deep Purple on a major tour, so Oh Well would be a song that Paice/Gillan/Glover would be very familiar with, it being played often on their tour. So chalk up another song pinched from an opening act!

[Vyn]

You're commentary has prompted me to want to check this out. Dixie Chicken is the only song from Little Feat that I like, and I cannot imagine what Deep Purple's spin on it would sound like.

[Zzzptm]

You're commentary has prompted me to want to check this out. Dixie Chicken is the only song from Little Feat that I like, and I cannot imagine what Deep Purple's spin on it would sound like.

It's not bad at all. I'm thinking it was one that Steve Morse picked.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I was short of things to put on my Xmas list so I put Turning to Crime on it, if I don't get it for Xmas I'll buy it in the new year.

[Charger]

I think I'll be buying this for xmas too...

[Zzzptm]

I think both of you will enjoy it overall. For me, it's definitely a keeper. I'm playing 7 and 7 Is right now because it's such a great song.

[Charger]

Been listening to this quite a bit lately and I have to say I'm really liking it...eventhough I knew very few of the songs here...which is probably more of a good thing.

The one thing you can hear right away is that Purple made these songs their own...there is no doubt that it's Deep Purple playing here.

So far I'd say my favourites are 7&7 Is, Oh Well, Watching The River Flow, Let The Good Times Roll and the super fun Battle Of New Orleans.

The one I'm not crazy about is Dixie Chicken...just not a good song.

[Zzzptm]

Yeah, that Dixie Chicken must be a song the band all liked to play and it's there for them to listen to.

7&7 Is is a helluva opener, for sure!

[Charger]

It sure is. Works great.

Oh Well is the #1 track here for sure...what a great track and what a great version...beats the original easily I have to say...

Caught In The Act is a bit of a strange medley...It's not bad it's just strange.



Now that Steve was forced to leave I do ponder if this will remain the very last Purple album...if it does, I'm actually quite okay with that...it's kind of like closing a circle...Purple has influence 100s of bands in their insanely long career and in turn Purple was influenced by all of these guys they are paying tribute here...it's kind of fitting actually.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Not a huge fan of "7 & 7 Is", but it's certainly better than the original!

The thing about "Oh Well" is I prefer the Fleetwood Mac version (I've been a fan of it for over 40 years!), however, I prefer the ending by DP, the acoustic ending by FM seemed out of place.

The rest of the album I haven't heard enough to make an opinion. Playing it today!

[Zzzptm]

I really enjoy the medley at the end, it's like the ending of their live set in the middle of Speed King.