Deep Purple – Made In Japan
The NME is running a poll on their website to determine the best live album of all time; with Made In Japan currently at number one slot. Not sure when the poll ends (maybe it’ll roll on for ever, they update it every half hour), but it’s easy to enter and you do not need to register on the site to vote.
http://www.nme.com/ratemy/208067/greatest-live-albums-ever
Thanks to Stephen Clare for spotting this. A ticket for the original show has been added to our growing Concert List section as well.
Tags: deep purple, Made In Japan
darker than blue 
August 23, 2015 at 10:19 pm |
Kev says “Made in Japan” was #1 But # 2nd Best was ” Full House” by “J Giels Band” Band!!! Give it a listen . 2nd best live album of all time in my opinion. Funny but both came out the same year. 1973
September 10, 2015 at 11:18 am |
There’s one for me to investigate; amazing how much is still out there which deserves a listen / look / read.
October 8, 2015 at 11:59 pm
Can’t believe Simon Robinson hasn’t heard “Live: Full House” by the J. Geils Band. Certain ranks in the Top 5 all-time.
It is only natural to regard the music of one’s youth as the best that ever was. But, after all these years, one could make a very good argument that the decade 1968-78 really stands out, and it has nothing to do with the endless repetition of music from that era on so-called “classic rock” radio.
It was an era where anything seemed possible, musically speaking, and the most adventurous musicians were really stretching boundaries and creating sounds that would later be used and abused by record company and radio “marketing” mavens to narrowly define specific genres.
No one gave a sh!t about genres back then. You could listen to your local stereo FM station and hear Jimi Hendrix, James Taylor, Sly and the Family Stone, Deep Purple, Carole King, and Led Zeppelin, all in the same commercial-free set. If you were a fan of one of those artists, you most likely were a fan of all of them. I know I was.
August 5, 2015 at 7:35 pm |
It`s quite easy! 1: Deep Purple MIJ. 2: Uriah Heep Live ’73. 3: Rainbow on stage. 4: West, Bruce & Laing: Live`n Kickin. 5: Blue Öyster Cult: Extraterrestrial Live. 6: Deep Purple in Concert. 7: Jimi Hendrix Live at Winterland. 8: Status Quo Live at Glasgow Apollo 1977. But! Black Night from live in Japan, probably the best live rock song ever; it`s not my favourite DP song (Who Do We… contains the best material), but that song on high volume feels like a train running over you.
June 16, 2015 at 6:32 pm |
Guess I’m a couple years late here, but… 40 years ago I’d have called it the best but I guess I now have the in-my-mid-50s can’t really get behind calling anything “the” best live album of all time. An Allman Bros fan could credibly make a case for the Fillmore East, a Humble Pie fan for Rockin the Fillmore; I’d forgotten about Slade Alive; Crimson’s USA; Get yer Ya Yas Out; anybody remember Vital by Van der Graaf? As far as Zep, I think they were (on the testimony of others as unfortunately I never caught them) great to see live, but while I enjoyed some live recordings I was never blown away. Ditto Tull (who I did see c. 75). Neither SRTS or Bursting Out are in the same category.
On the other hand, I certainly don’t think there are any other live albums from the period that are easily better– and it was largely MiJ (with a little help from Hofstra U, which a friend of mine had recorded by sticking a little tape recorder up to the TV speaker– my very first bootleg tape!) that nudged Deep Purple into bona fide favourite band status for me.
I do make an admittedly 100% artificial distinction between albums from the period, that were released/approved as “official” live albums when the bands were at their creative peak– you know, the days when a band would have a spread of studio albums and then “the live album” (unless you were the Dead, I guess)– and long after the date archive releases. Inclusive of these, I suppose I’d say MiJ is superseded by the triple CD (are we ever going to see the full actual sequence shows?). As far as the other post-MH shows I’ve heard, I like the Japan shows the best. The BBC “In Concert” show is a close second– the playing is probably a wee bit tighter, but the manic energy level on the Japan shows (esp. the 2nd Osaka night and Tokyo) puts them ahead for me. Neither the Copenhagen show or any of the 73 shows I’ve heard (Boston, Long Beach, Tokyo, or the alas! truncated Hofstra U) quite touch them– which doesn’t mean I haven’t really gotten into those! The 69-70 shows I think are kind of another kettle of fish– a little less frantic, and more open ended. I think the cleanest and best recorded is the Stockholm show (which I remember from the single LP boot “Murky Waters” from around 76, the the double album c.89, and now the superb CD version– thanks Simon!), which is a great performance. Performance wise I really like Aachen (which I also remember in part from “Darker Than Blue” then “Sonic Zoom” c.75; I missed H-Bomb and so had to wait several decades to hear Blackmore’s part of Mandrake Root– thanks again Simon!) and the Montreux 69 (entirely new to me when I got it a decade and a half ago) shows more, though. The 71 shows I’ve heard are really good, but I don’t think up to the best of 69-70 or 72-3.
Nice to see someone else remembers Lester Bangs cover feature on Purple for CREEM during the Burn tour– Bangs was one of the best matches for Blackmore interview-wise I can remember (I recall him discussing being taught to play guitar by someone without any hands.)
June 24, 2015 at 8:49 am |
Really interesting read James. Funny what you say about Zepp live; I did see them and it was a great show to witness, but the tape I made was less great. I must check out that live Crimson set too, I’d forgotten about that. Though I should hunt for a tape of their Hyde Park set – the clips I’ve seen floor me. We actually play bits of DPs In Concert set more than we do MIJ, but you’re right about the sheer blast of MIJ – it really captures them as a proper fully functioning musical unit in full flight.
January 21, 2015 at 5:55 am |
I just saw someone mention the Stockholm show. I agree. Not as good as Deep Purple In Concert but that’s another one I recorded onto cassette. Again not Made In Japan. Stockholm is also one of the greatest rock performances of all time. Never released on vinyl I believe so I’m not sure if it counts. I think they said LP. I may be wrong. Anyway there you go another great rock performance of all time by Deep Purple. No wonder why we’re all on here writing this stuff. They’re great!
David Drennon
March 30, 2015 at 10:23 am |
I got the Stockholm 1970 gig on vinyl when it was released officially in the late 80s. It is also my favourite Purple show.
January 21, 2015 at 5:42 am |
Of the live Deep Purple LPs I personally like the Deep Purple In Concert LP the best. Better version of Space Truckin’ and the root of the Space Truckin’ jam in Mandrake Root is there in it’s glory to appreciate. I bought the LP and that’s what I recorded onto cassette to jam to down the highway up to last year when the car I bought no longer had a cassette player.
Don’t get me wrong. Made In Japan is one of the greatest rock albums of all time. I just feel the performances on the Deep Purple In Concert album are superior. Since it wasn’t a major label release I don’t think people are as familiar with it so it gets bypassed. Deep Purple In Concert IS one of the greatest rock albums of all time. An incredible history bookmark for the band.
Greatest live LP of all time? Now that’s a different issue altogether. How can that question really be answered? There are so many live performances by so many great bands to fill a particular mood I could never answer that question.
A must mention performance though is the Deep Purple Extended Sessions CD w/Steve Morse. The Steve Morse jam in Fools is a masterpiece. The studio rendition on Fireball is nowhere near as good. Although Blackmore is my favorite rock star and a master I find Morse to be more versatile. In my opinion a superior player. John McLaughlin is my favorite technical guitarist; The Light Master. Robert Fripp, The Dark Master. I heard a version of The Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Trilogy played by Morse. I thought it was McLaughlin. Do I have to say anymore.
Blackmore should be quite happy Morse has filled his shoes in Purple for so many years. At least in playing. Performance is another matter. No one excites a stage like Blackmore. There is only one.
David Drennon Age:54
January 22, 2015 at 9:35 am |
Thanks David; nice to know all that hard work back in the early 80s digging out the BBC stuff resonated with a few people. It is also one of my favourites, and I think it’s because it is in effect the band in a small club with no massive pressures, and the music is fresh. It is as we later realised the first live cut of Smoke ever done. I also like the 1970 set as well, really gothic in places. I remember being quite nonplussed when Roger Glover told someone the album was “shit” at the time! The first EMI 2CD edition of this material sounds wonderful. The LP did come out in America but only for a short time and the band were off the radar by then.
As for the Extended Versions CD, it is US only and I never did get around to picking a copy up. Nothing unreleased on there as far as I know, but the live tracks are from more obscure releases.
July 21, 2014 at 11:22 am |
Looks like its closed now, cant find the results.
Does anyone know??
July 29, 2014 at 3:27 pm |
No, I can’t see them now you mention it.
March 23, 2014 at 9:48 pm |
I have to buck the trend here. MIJ quite rightly does enjoy its iconic status, but ever since Stockholm 1970 appeared, I consider this to be a better performance. The intensity of Stockholm and so many other adjectives that should be applied places it higher than MIJ. Take Child in Time. By the time MIJ was recorded, the song had been stripped back to almost its original format. Whereas (on the older show) the sheer intensity of and the three solos extend it to almost 18 minutes. There is a sense of of improvisation on the whole performance which was somewhat watered down by the time of MIJ.
March 30, 2014 at 10:45 am |
Yep, DP 69 / 71 was a very different animal and while I love MIJ those earlier intense performances are my favourites.
March 4, 2014 at 11:35 am |
SPEAK IN FRENCH, PLEASE.
March 6, 2014 at 12:30 pm |
Pourquoi?!
March 3, 2014 at 11:15 pm |
Went to the site only to find I’d already voted! Must’ve been months ago. Interesting to see how far ahead MIJ is; the next few are quite close, but it’s up there on its own, & deservedly so. An absolute masterpiece.
December 3, 2013 at 1:52 pm |
I also see that Thin Lizzy’s ‘Live & Dangerous’ is close to the top as well – but to be honest, the music on this album was so heavily overdubbed in the studio with the help of my friend Tony Visconti, that by rights, calling it ‘live’ these days, when so many people know the truth behind it, is a little misleading…
December 3, 2013 at 1:46 pm |
I remember buying this when it first came out as a double-vinyl set, and even now the live renditions remain mind-blowing. A tremendous live album which deserves to be top of the poll!
October 26, 2013 at 1:05 am |
A lot of great choices & nice to see MIJ at no.1, but where is Judas Priest – unleased in the east? Not even an option to vote for?
October 9, 2013 at 4:14 pm |
Purple’s Made In Japan and Iron Maiden’s Live After Death are two of the greatest live rock/metal albums ever.
October 2, 2013 at 11:06 am |
Not to mention (as well as Made In Japan and UFO’s classic live album), Humble Pies’ Performance Rockin’ The Fillmore, a huge 4cd box set, Ten Years After Recorded Live deluxe edition, Thin Lizzy Live & Dangerous, Lynyrd Skynyrd One More For/From The Road, The Who Live At Leeds…
September 30, 2013 at 9:10 am |
To me MIJ is the most ‘live’ album I have ever heard for a rock band, sheer animal adrenalin and I got to write about it in General Studies A level exam! To me Blackmore’s Stratocaster has never sounded sweeter as well as full and brutal, but the whole band are, as Jon L said once, on fire.
I believe that unusually it is totally live, no overdubs at all (the evidence is the ‘Live in Japan’ triple set?). I have a cockeyed theory that is what annoys R Plant so much that Zeppelin could not sound as mighty as DP here – but then again they never sounded like it again?
I agree with Roy but also Simon as the NME did feature them in the early seventies but the change of writers meant maybe around 1976 everything not ‘hip’ or liked personally by the staff writers. I do remember a very entertaining Lester Bangs article on Mk IV in US.
September 27, 2013 at 1:15 pm |
MIJ certainly is the best. Can’t believe LZ The Song Remains the Same is in the top 20. Boring as heck. They were great in the studio but live, not so great.
October 1, 2013 at 4:11 pm |
I completely disagree with you. LZ was far better live than in the studio, that´s out of the question. The new (2007) edition of TSRTS is pretty good, although heavily doctored (again) and far from the MIJ quality.
December 4, 2014 at 9:55 pm |
I’d check out the release of a few years back ‘How the west was won’, which Jimmy Page put together. It really shows Zeppelin at their best live.
September 26, 2013 at 9:35 pm |
MIJ is the best live album, no question. Surprised that ‘Slade Alive’ isn’t worth a mention though (and it has a Deep Purple reference on the cover). For anyone who hasn’t heard it, forget about the glam rock Slade, this is the rock Slade before they were famous. Great album.
September 27, 2013 at 9:10 am |
Must say Slade were very much a love them or hate them band at our school, many put off by their skinhead roots. Watching the film Slade In Flame recently was certainly an eye opener though, a really clever and authentic look at grassroots rock and roll in the late 60s, and I did find a mint copy of Slade Alive recently to check out…!
November 6, 2014 at 5:56 pm |
I’d have to agree with Slade Alive, it rocks like a bitch. Their version of Born to be Wild just blows Steppenwolf out of the water. Highly under rated as a kick ass rock’n’roll band were Slade. I’d also have ‘It’s Alive’ by The Ramones very close to the top. I was at the gig.
The quality of MIJ speaks for itself of course.
November 11, 2014 at 9:50 am
Yep, The Ramones were something to behold live. Always nice when you end up on part of a live album too! I think the best I did was Gong and a bit of Hawkwind. Unless you count some of my early Purple cassettes which later got bootlegged (mutter mutter).
September 25, 2013 at 12:19 pm |
Rather ironic that back in the 70s-80s the NME wouldn’t have given the time of day to hard rock, Deep Purple or any of the spin-off bands in general. Maybe circulation is slipping to such an extent they need to attract the older ‘Classic Rock’ reader??
September 26, 2013 at 11:22 am |
I think to be fair to the NME (there’s a phrase you don’t hear often!) certainly in the first half of the seventies they were covering bands like Purple. It sorted of started to go a bit strange around 1974 when the career forging journos got their agendas going. Purple were still covered but it always seemed to turn into a verbal wrestling match with the paper trying to score points. I do love looking through the early issues from mid 60s to early 70s though.
September 24, 2013 at 11:48 am |
Massively in the lead at the moment and rightly so! Second best live album is currently second place too (Live and Dangerous) but somewhat surprised not see UFO’s Strangers In The Night in the top 20. For me, these three make up the holy trinity of all time best Live Albums.
September 24, 2013 at 1:30 pm |
Yeah, not sure how the selection they give us was arrived at, as there seems to be no way to add a new album only vote for what is there. Mind you I doubt they’d allow “Pinky” by Pink Floyd.
September 23, 2013 at 8:48 pm |
Lost the will to live waiting for it to load. Fuck NME anyway, MIJ just IS the best live album no matter what anyone says!
September 24, 2013 at 1:33 pm |
S’funny, it booted up right away for me and usually it’s Macs which have issues with badly coded sites.