Deep Purple - Slaves And Masters (CD 1994)

I bought the vinyl when it was first released, & it's about the only Purple album I hadn't yet got on CD. It came in for a bit of a panning when it came out, but...
Get over the blasphemy of Joe Lyn Turner replacing Gillan, & in fact there's some pretty damn good stuff here. One of Turner's best vocal performances - maybe the exalted company repressed the worst of his bubble-gum American excesses.
Songs like King Of Dreams, Truth Hurts, Wicked Ways, & even Fortune Teller have true majesty, with great guitar & keyboard production. The Cut Runs deep & Fire In The Basement rock, especially the former, of which they made a cracking job live. OK, Love Conquers All's a bit syrupy, but at least Lord's string arrangement lifts it somewhat above mawkish. Too Much Is Not Enough is about as commercial as they get, with a good groove; & that leaves Breakfast In Bed as the real 'filler' on the album.
Production's good, Blackmore & Lord are great. It doesn't really come through as Rainbow-by-another-name, as some have said, & whilst you could never say it's a Purple classic, buy it with an open mind & you might be pleasantly surprised. There's a lot of class, & a lot of quality rock on there.