Say what you will about David Coverdale and his decision to rerecord these Deep Purple classics, but after 40 years of being in the business, singing on the three albums these Purple songs are from, twelve Whitesnake, three solo albums, Coverdale has earned the right to come full circle with where he got his start. I’m glad these songs are getting a second lease on life.

“The Purple Album” features some great music that has been virtually ignored in Deep Purple’s live setlist since these albums came out in the mid 70s. Six are from “Burn”, five off “Stormbringer”, and four (on the Deluxe Edition) off “Come Taste The Band” which features Tommy Bolin who replaced Ritchie Blackmore on guitar. With Reb Beach (Winger) and Joel Hoekstra (Night Ranger, Trans Siberian Orchestra) on guitar, Tommy Aldrich back behind the drums, joined by bassist Michael Devin, these updated versions have the big beefy Snake guitars and rhythm section without losing the original songs melodies or arrangement.

‘Burn’ retains the fire from the original, guitar and keyboard solos, with Reb and Joel (and throughout the album), being respectful to Blackmore’s leads while adding their own flash and pizazz. ‘You Fool No One’ opens with a little down south vibe, and ‘Love Child’ is a solid rocker from the overlooked “Come Taste The Band”. Heart and soul coming through for acoustic ballad ‘Sail Away’, ‘Soldier Of Fortune’, and ‘Holy Man’. And it’s not just classy for Purple, but complimenting and in the family for a Coverdale composition .

‘The Gypsy’ is slow and bluesy and woulda fit nice on a Whitesnake album. ‘Lady Double Dealer’ is classic Purple, and Whitesnake keeps the original’s arrangement, jam feel and groove attack between the riffs, rhythm section, and backing keys. ‘Mistreated’ is all blues and maintains the originals slow energy and melody. Slide guitar and riffs takes center stage in the Snake version of ‘Might Just Take Your Life’ instead of the keyboard, ‘Stormbringer’ closes the regular edition album with hard riffs, soul, and David’s grittier with age vocal.