Made In Japan 25th anniversary
a review
I wasn't too sure what to expect: "In Rock 25" set a level
that seemed impossible to top for further releases, and "Fireball
25" finally showed me how brilliant the "Fireball"-recording really
was. First problems IMHO came up with "Machine Head 25" - the
anniversary release of the DEEP PURPLE "hit album" and mega seller -
it was nice to get it in excellent sound and also to get the different
mixes; but I was missing the things that made "In Rock 25" and "Fireball 25"
so exciting - all that stuff that has never seen the light of being
published over the years. And now "Made In Japan 25"...!? I already have
the original CD release, the "Live In Japan" 3CD set - and now again a 2CD
set ahead to buy... sounded a little bit too much to me...
But finally I got the CDs - a typical EMI promotional release - so I
can't say anything about artwork, booklet, etc. The first CD features the
original "Made In Japan" in digitally enhanced sound whilst the
second CD offers "Black Night" and "Speed King" from Tokyo (17th
August) and "Lucille" from Osaka (16th August), all labeled
"previously unreleased".
So I put CD1 into my CD-player, set the amp to "give the
neighbours what they deserve" and enjoyed a really blasting
version of the original "Made In Japan" set. I haven't compared it
to the mixes on "Live In Japan", so I can't say anything about
further enhancement or things like that; but I can say for sure that
it sounds damn fresh for a 25 years old recording.
Then it was time for the second CD. I was a bit disappointed when
looking at the running-time: only about 22 minutes - so it has just the
usual Maxi-CD problem: you put it in the player, press "start" and
don't need to walk away very far, because you have to change the CD
soon again. So I set my CD player to "loop mode" and what should I say? I
didn't change the CD during the next 2 hours. This CD really
rocks! "Black Night" is a really nice take of that song - same goes
for "Lucille"; but the real highlight is "Speed King". Not only
that is is a very electric and dynamic version of that song - it
also captures a moment when something within the audience seemed to
go wrong. I can't exactly say what it is - maybe a struggle
between the audience and security which Ian Gillan tried to solve -
hopefully the booklet of the final release will tell us more.
So at the end there are just five words to say "Buy it, you won't regret!"