Top of feature

Reviews
David Delaney
Phil Evans
Jim Collins
Gord Jantzen
Chris Parsons
Patrick Loiselle
Chris Henrici
Mike Eriksson

Mark 4
Tourdates
Japan tour report
Interview collage
Liverpool 1976

Discuss it
Message boards

Buy it
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.de
Amazon.co.jp
DPAS

Home
Special features

Definitely "Gettin' Tighter"

By David Delaney

It's been a long time coming but the wait has definitely been worth it. I remember the original vinyl LP that made me cringe whenever I put it on, and wonder why the only live legacy to the Tommy era was such a piece of crap.

But Purple Records have done what we all thought was impossible - come up with a double live set that shines and shows just how good Mark 4 really were. Forget the arguments over which is the best line-up, and take this CD as an example of an incarnation of one of the worlds best bands performing a blitzer of a show.

It really is amazing how well the original tapes have been cleaned up. From the opening of "Burn" you know you're in for a bloody good couple of hours. By the time you hit track four it's definitely "Gettin' Tighter" and charging along.

Paicey shows why he's one of the world's best drummers - and along with Lord's keyboards they are the driving force. As for Ian's solo... Well, what can you say? Tommy's guitar work is great, and shines in his solo's.

I've never really gotten used to Mark 4's version of "Smoke On The Water" or the other Mark 2 classics, but the vocals shine on Mark 4's own songs.

Overall an album well worth the wait. It puts paid to all the stories of this line-up not being up to scratch. Whatever form, Purple is Purple, and they've always done their best to deliver a great live shopw to the punters. Finally we've got a live album that does justice to this often underrated line-up.