Summary
The Very Best of Deep Purple is a single disc compilation album by the English hard rock band Deep Purple. It was released in 2000 by Rhino Records/Warner Bros. Records. It features tracks by the Mk. I, Mk. II and Mk. III line-ups of Deep Purple.
| The Very Best of Deep Purple | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | 9 May 2000[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1968–1974, 1984 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock, heavy metal | |||
| Length | 79:02 | |||
| Label | Rhino, Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Deep Purple, Derek Lawrence, Martin Birch, Roger Glover | |||
| Deep Purple compilations chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Sputnikmusic |  [3] |
Production edit
This compilation is supposed to be a single disc alternative to the more comprehensive Shades four-disc collection. All the tracks were remastered simultaneously for inclusion in both sets. The set is essentially a new version of previous compilation Deepest Purple: The Very Best of Deep Purple, which was released in 1980, with three additional songs, two from Mk. I and one from the reunited Mk. II. The disc bypasses the material from the Mk. IV line-up, and features slightly different versions of a few of the tracks.
Track listing edit
All tracks written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice, except where noted
| No. | Title | Place of Origin | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hush" (Joe South) | Shades of Deep Purple – 1968 | 4:26 |
| 2. | "Kentucky Woman" (Edited mono single version; Neil Diamond) | The Book of Taliesyn – 1968 | 4:14 |
| 3. | "Black Night" | Non-album single – 1970 | 3:27 |
| 4. | "Speed King" (US album version) | Deep Purple in Rock – 1970 | 4:21 |
| 5. | "Child in Time" | Deep Purple in Rock | 10:19 |
| 6. | "Strange Kind of Woman" (US album version) | Fireball (US version) – 1971 | 4:02 |
| 7. | "Fireball" | Fireball | 3:24 |
| 8. | "Demon's Eye" | Fireball | 5:20 |
| 9. | "Highway Star" | Machine Head – 1972 | 6:09 |
| 10. | "Smoke on the Water" | Machine Head | 5:41 |
| 11. | "Space Truckin'" | Machine Head | 4:34 |
| 12. | "Woman from Tokyo" | Who Do We Think We Are – 1973 | 5:49 |
| 13. | "Burn" (Blackmore, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Paice, Lord) | Burn – 1974 | 6:01 |
| 14. | "Stormbringer" (Blackmore, Coverdale) | Stormbringer – 1974 | 4:08 |
| 15. | "Knocking at Your Back Door" (Blackmore, Gillan, Glover) | Perfect Strangers – 1984 | 7:07 |
Personnel edit
- Ritchie Blackmore – guitar
- Ian Gillan – vocals
- Roger Glover – bass guitar
- Ian Paice – drums
- Jon Lord – organ, keyboards, backing vocals on tracks 1-2
- Rod Evans – vocals on tracks 1-2
- Nick Simper – bass and backing vocals on tracks 1-2
- David Coverdale – vocals on tracks 13-14
- Glenn Hughes – bass and vocals on tracks 13-14
Year-end charts edit
| Chart (2002) | Position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Metal Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[4] | 83 |