Made In Japanby Deep Purple

There are several reasons why Deep Purple's Made in Japan might be considered as one of the best live album in rock history. The first reason is the fact that it captures the band in a serie of spontaneous performances in front of a dedicated audience. The enthusiasm of the Japanese fans welcoming Deep Purple at the top of their fame (and their talent) gathered the conditions for an exceptional recording, initially reserved for the Japanese market. The second reason is named Martin Birch, sound engineer, which managed to reconstitute not only the sound, but the live ambiance on stage during those three nights. Despite being mentioned as a milestone in hard rock, Made in Japan sounds astonishingly jazzy and genuine. No big effects, no fusing lightnings. Just five instruments (including Gillan's vocals) that deliver a very high performance. And there might be the third reason of this album's fame: the music material. The set list was made of numbers from the three previous albums (In Rock, Fireball and Machine Head), including two outtakes (Black Night + Strange Kind of Woman), providing the perfect stuff for the band to show off with their incredible talents and capabilities. Once you listen to Made in Japan, it is difficult to listen to any other live albums without comparing them to it.