Deep Purple Releases “Perfect Strangers Live” DVD/CD

1984 was a big year for Deep Purple fans. The band, notorious for personnel changes, announced a full-scale reunion with its classic “Mark II” lineup of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, singer Ian Gillan, keyboardist Jon Lord, drummer Ian Paice and bassist Roger Glover. The resulting Perfect Strangers album was the lineup’s first work together since 1973 and ultimately led to a worldwide tour.

Now the excitement of the era has been issued as Perfect Strangers Live, a DVD and two CD set containing footage and audio from the reunion trek. Recorded during their Melbourne, Australia performance, the setlist mixes their Perfect Strangers material with classic ‘70s Deep Purple songs like “Highway Star” and “Smoke on the Water.”

The DVD also contains a 23-minute tour documentary chock full of media interviews, rehearsal footage, and behind the scenes film from the tour. A recurring question the band received was the reason for reuniting at that time. Glover succinctly explains money was not the factor.

“I had no misgivings after the first time we played together,” Glover says during an interview in the tour documentary. “I went into the initial meeting feeling 50/50 [about reuniting], and I came out of it 75%. And when we decided to have a jam, after ten minutes of that I was on board. I felt like what we were doing had some relevance and not just a nostalgic, flash-in-the-pan, round-the-world tour to make a million dollars. Forget it. It had to be more than that. It had to be for the music, which is of paramount importance. It wasn’t until we played together that that became apparent.”

Glover’s sentiment is proven in the concert itself, which shows the band in top form. His snarling bass and heavy groove lays the foundation as the band cooks through their set.

Perfect Strangers Live is available as an audio CD/DVD box set, vinyl and digital formats (iTunes and Amazon MP3).

Perfect Strangers Live Track List:

Disc 1:

1. Highway Star
2. Nobody’s Home
3. Strange Kind Of Woman
4. A Gypsy’s Kiss
5. Perfect Strangers
6. Under The Gun
7. Knocking At Your Back Door
8. Lazy

Disc 2:

1. Child In Time
2. Difficult To Cure
3. Keyboard Solo
4. Space Truckin’
5. Black Night
6. Speed King
7. Smoke On The Water

DVD:

1. Concert Footage
2. Tour Documentary