The Deep Purple Project continues! Join me for the next week (plus?) and see more rock majesty than you can shake a purple stick at!
DEEP PURPLE – The House of Blue Light (1987 Polygram)
The Deep Purple reunion was the success beyond what anybody hoped for. The band had revitalized after many acrimonious years apart. They were fresh and rejuvenated, and the resultant album Perfect Strangers was the proof. If the live recordings are anything to go by, then the tour was also dynamite. Obviously the next thing to do would have to be a second reunion album.
According to Ian Gillan’s autobiography Child in Time, things went south very fast. He found Ritchie Blackmore increasingly difficult to work with, refusing even to record guitar for one song. Gillan admits he was no treat either, so it was the band that suffered. Ian compared Deep Purple to a beautiful meal, a plate full of gourmet perfection — that’s Roger Glover, Ian Paice and Jon Lord. Ian and Ritchie were the fork and knife on either side.
The House of Blue Light (title taken from Little Richard via Purple’s own “Speed King”) was not a fun album for anyone to make. Some hold it in high esteem today, such as renowned writer Martin Popoff, who rated it 10/10 in Riff Kills Man (as he did Perfect Strangers). While I believe Perfect Strangers is easily a 10, I don’t find The House of Blue Light to be its equal. The band may agree; none of its songs have been performed live since this tour. That also just could be residual hard feelings.
There is no mistaking the organ of Jon Lord on “Bad Attitude”. What an opening statement this is. Just as strong as the best songs on Strangers, “Bad Attitude” rules. It’s all about the spaces between, but Ritchie ensures there is a catchy trademark Deep Purple riff involved. His solos are exotic delight. Even in 1987, Purple weren’t afraid to load their single down with solos! Jon Lord’s synths are perhaps more prominent than they were in ’84. This is not a bad thing, because Jon Lord makes synth sound good. Synth and electronics take center stage on “The Unwritten Law”, powerful both because of and in spite of it. The pulse and beats give it a dramatic chase-like feel. Its drum outro is very reminiscent of “Chasing Shadows” from album #3 in 1969! It’s also the only Ian Paice co-write. In the 80’s, instead of splitting the writing credits five ways as they always had, Purple changed to awarding individual credits (and royalties). This led to petty squabbles and infighting.
“Call of the Wild” was a single and (pretty terrible) music video, and didn’t really make much of an impact. Too bad. It’s one of Purple’s more pop songs, but that’s just fine by me. Purple have occasionally forayed into commercial songwriting, but have always done so with class. This one sounds like a Rainbow song circa the Joe Lynn Turner years. “Mad Dog” blows away all three of the previous songs. With a killer, choppy Blackmore riff right up front, it sounds vintage. Gillan gets to play some bluesy harmonica on “Black & White”, a good mid-paced groove but not an outstanding one. Something like this needs a timeless Blackmore solo to drive it home, but the fire fails to light.
There’s a natural split between side one and side two, which still comes across on CD. “Hard Lovin’ Woman” (supposedly a sequel to “Hard Lovin’ Man” from In Rock) is one of the few songs that was played live, probably because of its energy. It has the pace of an old-school Purple rocker, but not the timelessness. It’s largely forgettable and really only notable because it’s on the live album Nobody’s Perfect. Back to regal sounding Deep Purple, “The Spanish Archer” could really have been something had they bothered to play it in concert. It has a drama to it that is one of Purple’s strengths, but a lot of its strength is sapped by 80’s production values. Glover’s bass doesn’t have enough meat to it, and there is a hint of electronic effects on the drums.
Onto “Strangeways”, the only long song (7:35). Its vibe is very much in tune with “Hungry Daze” from the previous album. The lyrics are unusually topical for Gillan and Glover. “Have you seen the headlines? Princess engaged. Three million out of work, but that’s on the second page.” Its length is taken up by some of Ritchie’s most subtle playing, but if you listen carefully, you can hear Ian Gillan on the congas. Just like old times. “Mitzi Dupri” is the one that Blackmore refused to record. The guitar you hear on the album track is taken from the original demo. Once Ian came up with the lyrics, Blackmore proclaimed he did not like it and would not participate in recording it for the record. I think he found the words a bit dirty. Closing the record is “Dead or Alive”, speedy Purple in the classic fashion. If only the production of this album were a bit tougher, that song would be mercilessly heavy.
The House of Blue Light is not the equal of its predecessor. Given some better production and perhaps one or two different songs, it could have been. Someone in Purple (I think it was Glover) said that every other Purple album was “difficult”. Perhaps there’s a smidgen to truth to that, because The House of Blue Light does not sound like the same confident band that recorded Perfect Strangers.
3.5/5 stars
Totally agree with you on the two albums. PS was classic…this one could have been should have been. I did go to this tour but don’t even remember what songs they played.
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Well lucky for you Mike tomorrow I’m reviewing the live album Nobody’s Perfect, so you will get a free refresher course. I’ll be curious if that album matches your memories.
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I’ll look for it! I tuned out after HOBL. Don’t think I listened to anything until Purpendicular which I really like!
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There was definitely a return to quality on Purpendicular!
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Very rare live version of “Mad Dog”.
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Seems like a fair review based on what I can remember… this album just never grabbed me much at all. I can only even remember the first couple of songs. Probably due a revisit when I’m in the mood. I enjoyed rediscovering Slaves and Masters lately so this could be next!
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If you split it into sides, side one was amazing. Side two could have used some work. Too bad! It was like they were just incapable of doing any better at the time.
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Bad sound of this album.. Maybe It was recorded / mixed on DAT…
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Maybe, still Deep Purple and still necessary.
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Oooft. The dreaded royalty disputes and refusal to play on songs. That’s got all the signs of trouble there! Sounds like an interesting enough album, though.
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After Blackmore quit, they went straight back to splitting credits five ways.
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That Blackmore sounds like trouble!
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I have long maintained that he is a genius but that they are better off without him. He in turn is better off running his own band!
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I do like that deep blue jewel case tray!
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We used to sell them in rainbows of colours so you will often see things like this in my collection. Others like the Gemini Suite which you will see later this week I ripped off of a Lisa Loeb album! It just matched my CD better!
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Your right Bad Attitude is a corker of a track. I just could not get into anything after the first song. Perfect Strangers I would just always resort back to for listening pleasure. Glad you visited this one Mike….enjoyed the read
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Oh man, Mad Dog is killer! Here, try that one again. Just one more time for Uncle Mike!
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Songs not bad I didn’t even remember it! Dude did a good job with the collage of pics! Was that Gillian with a chilli pepper crotch cover up sock in one pic! Hahaha…
Maaaaaad Dog…..Howling!
Watching Bad Attitude next ..love that tune!
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Probably! There is a picture in his book of him meeting George Harrison wearing nothing but a sock.
We’ll get more into Naked Ian Gillan tomorrow, and yes that’s actually relevant to tomorrow’s review. sadly!
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Yes, confirmed. That’s sock picture with George Harrison, from the Gillan book. Yes. That was George Harrison sitting down next to Ian Gillan and pointing at his one, lonely cock-sock.
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I thought that was Beatle George! When we was fab!
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Haha I have both of those albums… ON CASSETTE! I should get around to playing them, at some point!
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I may not attempt to shake any such purple stick but I’m certainly up for a week or more of such majesty!
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Brilliant album, this one. Brilliant. Maybe not a 10/10 but damn sure a nine. Every song on this record is a total killer, except maybe Hard Lovin’ Woman – good, but not great.
Ever thought about the title The Spanish Archer? I read in an interview that Gillan said that that title actually means elbow! El Bow. Spanish Archer. Haha, it’s so far-fetched it really cracks me up. That’s my kind of humor…. :-D
Also, The Unwritten Law brings up the subject of STDs. I took out much more than I put in… Fantastic.
The only thing I’m having a hard time with when it comes to this record is the production. It’s just a little too thin to cut it.
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I hated this when I first heard it because it wasn’t ‘Highway Star’ or, even ‘Knocking at Your Back Door’ and it was the first LP the band brought out after I’d got into them – classic bands had a real habit of doing that to me back then.
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