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Deep Purple: Slaves and Masters

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: RCA Records
Released: 1990
Time:
 46:56
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Roger Glover
Rating: **....... (2/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.deep-purple.com
Appears with: Ritchie Blackmore
Purchase date: 2008.09.18
Price in €: 7,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] King of Dreams (R.Blackmore/R.Glover/J.L.Turner) - 5:28
[2] The Cut Runs Deep (R.Blackmore/R.Glover/J.L.Turner/J.Lord/I.Paice) - 5:42
[3] Fire in the Basement (R.Blackmore/R.Glover/J.L.Turner/J.Lord/I.Paice) - 4:43
[4] Truth Hurts (R.Blackmore/R.Glover/J.L.Turner) - 5:14
[5] Breakfast in Bed (R.Blackmore/R.Glover/J.L.Turner) - 5:17
[6] Love Conquers All (R.Blackmore/R.Glover/J.L.Turner) - 3:47
[7] Fortuneteller (R.Blackmore/R.Glover/J.L.Turner/J.Lord/I.Paice) - 5:49
[8] Too Much Is Not Enough (J.L.Turner/Held/Greenwood) - 4:17
[9] Wicked Ways (R.Blackmore/R.Glover/J.L.Turner/J.Lord/I.Paice) - 6:33   

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Ian Paice - Drums, Center Forward
Ritchie Blackmore - Guitar, Midfeld
Joe Lynn Turner - Vocals, Midfeld
Jon Lord - Organ, Keyboards, String Arrangements
Roger Glover - Bass, Additional Keyboards, Defender, Art Direction, Producer

Nick Blagona - Engineer, Goalie
Raimond D'Addario - Production Assistant, Defender
Colin Hart - Chief, Personal Managenet, Right Wing
Charlie Lewis - Road Manager, Goalie
Artie Hoar - Road Manager, Defender
Wally Waters - Recording
Peter Hodgson - Additional Recording
Mathew Lamonica - Additional Recording
Terry Thompson - Cover Painting
Rapph Wernli - Art Enhancements
Dieter Zill - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Recorded in early/mid 1990 at Greg Rike Productions in Orlando, Florida. Additional recordings at Sountec Studios Inc. and the Powerstation in New York. Engineered by Nick Blagona; assisted by Peter Hodgson and Mathew Lamonica. Mixed by Nick Blagona and Roger Glover; assisted by Don Gelbert. Mastered at sterling Sound by Greg Calbi.



Can this now-flabby arena band of the '70s be as nondescript as any corporate '90s metal act? The ingredients speak for themselves: throaty belter (new lead singer of Deep Purple, Joe Lynn Turner), requisite power ballad, and an undistinguished batch of crotch-grabbing rockers (with such titles as ''Fire in the Basement,'' naturally). Slaves and Masters is pointless professionalism. C-

Copyright © 2008 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc.



This album always inspired something of a feeling of dread within me when I’d pass it by in the CD stores. Maybe it was the cover art featuring a mystical crystal ball and hints of a swords and sorcery theme. Or perhaps it was the dated ‘80s mug shots contained within the liners, with Ritchie Blackmore described as a ‘winger,’ Ian Paice a ‘centre forward,’ and other such nonsense. Right down to the ominous factor of it being Purple’s (un)lucky 13th studio album, there was something precarious about Slaves And Masters that I just couldn’t put my finger on.

At first, it sounds as if the band is trying to recapture the sound of Perfect Strangers. “King Of Dreams” nearly mimics the title track at first, with Jon Lord’s brooding introductory keyboards and Blackmore’s moody guitar accompaniment. When former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner kicks in on vocals, though, one just isn’t sure what to make of him. Faceless and bland, Turner brings his mainstream AOR vocal style to Deep Purple and dilutes the band to a Shallow Grey. The poppy chorus has a good hook to it, but it’s so commercial and so hopelessly ‘80s that it leaves one shaking one's head. Blackmore contributes not so much a guitar solo as an interlude, and Turner's lyrics lack the wittiness that was characteristic of Gillan's.

“The Cut Runs Deep” is closer to what listeners expect of Deep Purple, featuring a catchy, chugging guitar riff from Blackmore, and more of an energetic performance from Paice. A loud chorus gives the song a stadium rock feel, while Lord and Blackmore contribute some nice solos. A bit uneven, but not bad.

“Fire In The Basement” is the first above-average tune on the disc, with Blackmore and the band going for more of a classic rock sound. It could have easily been on a Mark II effort back in the day, and given the lack of originality on this disc, who knows, maybe it was a leftover!

Copyright © Interaction Media Group.



Nach der Live-Scheibe Nobody's Perfect ('88) überwarf sich Gitarrenexzentriker Ritchie Blackmore zum x-ten Mal mit Sänger Ian Gillan und ließ den Frontmann feuern. Hastig schaute man sich nach einem neuen Mann fürs Leadmikro um und wurde schließlich mit dem ehemaligen Rainbow-Shouter Joe Lynn Turner handelseinig. Der hat zwar eine großartige Stimme, kann aber auch nicht verhindern, dass das nächste Deep-Purple-Studioalbum Slaves And Masters als eines der schlechtesten in der langen Karriere der Briten gilt. Die Songs sind recht zahnlos und glattpoliert, Blackmores kreativer Input hält sich in Grenzen, und Turners Timbre passt nicht sonderlich gut zum klassischen Purple-Sound. Das '84er Come-back-Album Perfect Strangers war 'ne ganze Ecke besser, und auch spätere Großtaten wie Purpendicular ('96) oder Abandon ('98) überflügeln diese halbgare Scheibe mit links.

Michael Rensen - Amazon.de



Joe Lynn Turner used to be Blackmore's partner in Rainbow, and he's not a bad vocalist, but if you remember that Blackmore's most notorious vocal partners over time have been Ian Gillan and Ronnie James Dio, he feels pretty awkward jammed in between the two. Nice solid R'n'B-ish/metal vocal, not overscreaming or anything, but lacking any kind of distinction. Just like the entire album. Glancing at the title and album cover, you'd have a feeling that Deep Purple finally made this dubious transition into the world of 'death metal' and 'doom' stuff and wild sci-fi fantasies that the band had thankfully always kept away from over the years. These mystic hands stretched towards the globe... 'Slaves', 'masters'... Titles like 'King Of Dreams'... And look at these band photos! All dressed in black, with grim scary impressions on their faces! And why is Ritchie crossing his arms? Fie, Satan!

But then you actually get the courage to put on the album and you discover that it's actually meek. At least, when compared to all the heavy metal scene happenings in the late Eighties/early Nineties. This sure ain't your Judas Priest or Iron Maiden, not to mention your Slayer or Napalm Death. It's just... just Blackmore and the guys stuck in their time warp, pushing out late Seventies-brand Rainbow-like heavy metal with the novelty factor totally worn off and not an interesting melody in sight. An absolute snoozefest.

Not that it's really bad. Or maybe it is - lately I've been catching myself at having to apologize for every negative review. Seriously, I don't feel like these songs weren't worked on at all. They probably were. But not enough. See, however feeble Perfect Strangers and House Of Blue Light were (although I really like the second of these), they at least had a style. The resuscitated Deep Purple used to have a style - this strange melancholic moody synth-enhanced East-influenced mid-tempo groove that borrowed a lot from Rainbow but wasn't exactly Rainbow because Jon Lord gave it a flavour of his own. Slaves & Masters doesn't have a style, none whatsoever. Just your traditional hard rock - average riffs, run-of-the-mill vocal melodies, energetic flow (I guess). Anybody could have done that. Kiss wrote songs that were pretty similar. And what do I have to do with an album whose innovative value is zero, whose songs all fall into the same style and whose hooks aren't enough for me to want to take off my hat?

Okay, so they don't ALL fall into the same style. One exception is 'Love Conquers All'. I wanted to die when I saw the title on the back cover and I knew I was absolutely right when I heard it. The Scorpions could learn a thing or two from these guys at this point - a wretched five hundred percent generic power ballad. Bring out your lighters, all you people out there! TIME TO ROCK TO THE CLIMAX!

I don't hate the other songs. Like I said, they're not any better than Kiss or anybody else like that melodically, but at least they don't have an offensively dumb atmosphere around them. Perhaps these themes of desperation and anger and [insert favourite negative emotion here] were really important to Ritchie and Joe Lynn Turner at the time. They took some time to work on the riffs. I suppose that on the millionth listen you can actually be entertained by this stuff. But spare your time, there's so much better material out there. I look at the track listing and I really can't tell one song from the other, they're all so dang even. They're even nice to listen to in headphones. And yeah, I really like Joe Lynn Turner's vocals after all. Lord, I shudder each time I think they could have engaged another dickhead singer like Coverdale and then the album would have gotten a five or six at best. Turner at least gives it some human features, that's nice.

But I have to ask - where the heck is Jon Lord? Yeah, I hear him, all right, on most tracks, but the overall impression is still that he's been tremendously subdued on the record; it's the Blackmore show all the way. That cuts out a huge part of Purple's charm - and I don't rejoice at the idea of Blackmore toning down his gimmicky powers either. The solos are restrained, the guitar tones are limited. Blackmore is the guy who used to get away with guitar hooliganry better than anyone since Hendrix at least... so what's happening now?

So for a conclusion, take this: Slaves & Masters is not a complete disaster because the songs were worked on. I give you my intuitive word. But it's totally redundant and doesn't add a single interesting idea to the Purple legacy. It rocks hard though, can't deny it. So if you're a fan of later period Scorpions and late period Rainbow, grab it grab it grab it and disregard my rating. Personally, I consider such records as eatable fodder that can be eaten only when there's nothing better lying around. It's not SHIT (apart from 'Love Conquers All' - you'll hardly be able to move me on THAT one!). But why, oh why can't I remember a single one of those songs? I must really have a bad memory...

Georg Starostin's Music Review
 

 L y r i c s

King Of Dreams

It doesn't matter if I'm right or wrong
It really doesn't mean a thing
It doesn't matter if you like my song
As long as you can hear me sing
'Cause I'm the thorn in every little girl's rose
You know I cut but never bleed
A shadow in the night, pure delight
I can satisfy your every need

I'm a real smooth dancer, I'm fantasy man
Master of illusion, magic touch in my hand
All the stages are empty when I steal the scenes
A beggar of love, second hand hero...King of Dreams

Don't make a difference what you got
It doesn't matter what you lose
Don't make a difference if you like it or not
Baby I'm gonna change your attitude
'Cause all around me there is mystery and wonder
Now can't you see it in my eyes
I'll crack the sky, make you feel the thunder
You'll never see through my disguise

I'm a real smooth dancer, I'm fantasy man
Master of illusion, with my sleight of hand
All the stages are empty when I steal the scenes
A beggar for love, second hand hero... King of Dreams

All around, all around
Emotional squeeze through again and again
I know how to please you, your mind is on the bend
Can't you feel the power, surrender in my arms
Beyond the witching hour we're travelling on and on

I'm a real smooth dancer, I'm fantasy man
Master of illusion, magic touch in my hand
The stages are empty when I steal the scenes
A beggar of love, second hand hero... King of Dreams

I'm a real smooth dancer, fantasy man
Master of illusion, sleight of hand
The stages are empty when I steal the scenes
A beggar for love... King of Dreams


The Cut Runs Deep

Got your finger on the trigger
Your cold eyes taking aim
You took a shot at my heart
Let the bullets fly
Tell me has one of them got my name

What about the heartache
What about the emptiness inside
It doesn't just fade away
Turning the knife
How much can I bleed
The cut runs deep

I can't find no salvation
Can't find no healing touch
Reaching out for mercy
A stranger in your eyes
I want you too much

What about the heartache
What about the emptiness inside
It doesn't just fade away
Turning the knife
How much can I bleed
The cut runs deep


Fire In The Basement

I came 'round to your front door, your back door was locked
Pushed your button, rang your bell, you didn't hear me knock
I saw your window open wide, so I crawled inside
I ran to the top floor, but you were on the ground
I was on my way up and you were going down

Fire in the basement
Burn me up, scream and shout
There's fire in the basement
Only you can put it out

This strange sensation that I'm going through
Sweet infatuation when I get next to you
I know what it takes to be a man, you understand
'Cause when the sparks start flying you'll never be the same
You know I'll hate to leave you girl but I'm so glad I came

Fire in the basement
Burn me up, scream and shout
Fire in the basement
Only you can put it out

Smoky eyes burning bright
Innocence lost, satisfy my appetite
Surrender to the flame, what's your name
Let's get down to business, how can you refuse
Give this boy a helping hand, come on light my fuse


Truth Hurts

You know my will is broken
You've got my heart on hold
I'm lying here in pieces, so cold
It gets so hard to handle
All the things you need to say
But I guess I heard it all before anyway
Is love such a blessing or a curse
Either way
Truth hurts

Well there'll be no more running
Now I've got you face to face
I want to know who you've been loving in my place
You say I had it coming
Try to hold my head up high
Love gave me wings and left me paralyzed

There's nothing left alive
As we watch the spirits die
The world keeps turning
My heart keeps learning
Do you know where the guilty sleep

Babe I've got my pride
Somehow I will survive
The world keeps turning
My heart keeps learning
Do you know where the lonely sleep tonight

Another fallen angel
How far I just can't tell
Living without love is a living hell
Why is love such a blessing or a curse
Baby either way
Truth hurts

Babe I've got my pride
Somehow I will survive
My heart keeps learning
Don't know which is worse
But one thing that I know
Truth hurts


Breakfast In Bed

Woke up this morning, rain coming down
Washing the sin from the street
Sometimes I feel like I'm losing ground
Just trying to make ends meet
Well I work every day to sweat out my dreams
Won't you show me that you understand
It's only my life, whatever that means
And you've got it all in your hands

I need someone to pull me through
Won't you take the pain from my head
Give me all your loving, the way you always do
Give me breakfast in bed

I feel like the good days are numbered
And my nights are getting too long
My hopes and my fears take their toll on the years
And my willpower's almost gone
Well it's a time full of trouble
A time of desperate need
Sometimes life don't make sense
Fighting the anger, jealousy and greed
One day I'll look back and wonder where it all went

I need someone to pull me through
Won't you take the pain from my head
Give me all your loving, the way you always do
Give me breakfast in bed

It don't take much to please me
I'm just a simple man
Won't you please believe me
I gotta tell you
It don't take much - a tender touch
So baby do the best that you can


Love Conquers All

It Feels like the end
When you're closer to losing your dreams
Than losing a friend
Flying blind
I'm shooting into the dark
Who will I find
Oh girl
And if it takes me a lifetime
I swear I'll tear down every wall
Love conquers all

On my way
Tomorrow I rise with the sun
Soon I'll be gone
Words can't say
How the memories of feelings of love
They linger on
Oh girl
And if it takes me forever
I know it's worth every teardrop that falls
Love conquers all

Somewhere there's a place in your heart
Where the wounds never heal
Well you're not alone
That's just how I feel

Love conquers all
This one will last a lifetime
And if love conquers all
This one will last forever


Fortuneteller

Cast your eyes into the crystal
Deep inside the mystery
Is that a vision of a lonely man
I fear it looks a lot like me
Is that a man without a woman
Whose empty life is but a shell
Empty hearts will echo
Forever in the wishing well

Fortuneteller
You've got to help me find an end to the nightmare
'Cause I can't stand this pain and the curse of time
Somewhere in your eyes I'll find the answer
Give me the truth I've been looking for
Be my guiding light, I'll take my chances
Turn the card, seal my fate, close the door

Some days come with a vengeance
Some days I feel so bad
The mirror holds no secrets
I lost the best thing that I had

Fortuneteller
Can you help me to see, is there an end to the sorrow
Or was this slow ride to nowhere always meant to be
Somewhere in your eyes I'll find the answer
Give me the truth I've been looking for
Be my guiding light, I'll take my chances
Turn the card, seal my fate, close the door

She always taking more than she'd need
But we were both to blame somehow
In the heat of the moment I told her to leave
I guess I lost more than I found
But I remember ...


Too Much Is Not Enough

You're so extreme, you're super heavy
You're one step over the line
Not what you seem, don't try and tell me
I know what's really on your mind

Once you get started you're out of control
Don't play that sweet and innocent with me girl
I know you know you want to rock and roll
But I got just what you need

I, I want to feel your love
Too much is not enough
I, I want to feel your touch
Too much is not enough

You've got it bad, you're hopelessly addicted
You're always searching for the cure
Love is the crime, you stand convicted
You keep on coming back for more
Come on admit it, you're over the top

That song and dance won't work with me girl
You just can't quit it, don't know when to stop
But I got the remedy

I, I want to feel your love
Too much is not enough
I, I want to feel your touch
Too much is not enough

Baby stop wasting time
And let me know that you're mine
I need to feel your embrace
How much can I take


Wicked Ways

You're so hot, you're so cool
I can see that you're nobody's fool
Now tell me am I coming through
It's too late, I can't wait
Believe it's gonna be a big mistake
But I'm tempted to believe in you

I don't want to run and I don't want to fight
I just want to be the one you love tonight
Unclose my eyes, let it be

Bring on the band of angels from the great divide
I'll never get to heaven so take me for a ride
Fruit on the tree is shaking, my mind is in a daze
I just want a taste of your love
And learn your wicked ways

You're so bad, it feels good
There's so much I never understood
Oh Mama take a look at me now
I'm hung up, strung out
All I want to do is scream and shout your name
Addicted to you somehow

Electric in your touch there's magic in your kiss
You know I never knew that love could feel like this
Unclose my eyes, set me free

Bring on the band of angels from the great divide
I'll never get to heaven so take me for a ride
Fruit on the tree is shaking, my mind is in a daze
I just want a taste of your love
And learn your wicked ways
 

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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