4.5 stars - The reunion is at hand

Review Score: (8/10)
Perfect Strangers (1984.) Deep Purple's eleventh studio album. This is a reunion album, which reunites the classic Mark Two lineup.

Deep Purple hadn't released a studio album since 1975's Come Taste the Band. Its members had all gone on to new projects, and thus many fans thought the band was dead. Ritchie Blackmore was playing guitar in his new band, Rainbow. Ian Gillan sang lead vocals in his own band, as well as for Black Sabbath on one album. Roger Glover had continued doing something he loved to do - produce records. Ian Gillan's inital vocal replacement David Coverdale became the lead singer in a new band called Whitesnake. But finally, in the early-mid eighties, Deep Purple's classic Mark Two lineup reunited. At long last Gillan, Glover, and Blackmore were reunited, and ready to rock the world once again. In 1984 the band released its first studio album in nine years - Perfect Strangers. Read on for my review of this album.

The Perfect Strangers album isn't necessarily a return to normalcy for the band, nor is it a shift toward the rock trends that were emerging supreme in the eighties - it's a perfect mix of the two. The big hit to come off of this album was Knocking at Your Back Door. The opening to this track with the low-pitched violins is priceless, and the rest of the song is even better. Even after a decade away from the band, Ian Gillan's voice has not diminished at all. Mean Streak takes us back to the classic rock stylings the band used heavily in the early seventies, most notably in the Fireball era. Fans of classic Deep Purple are sure to love this track. And then, of course, we have the slower but still excellent Wasted Sunsets. This track shows the band's musical diversity very well. Hungry Daze is another excellent rocker, which features some of the band's best keyboard work ever. And who could forget Not Responsible? This track sounds very similar to the title track from 1974's Stormbringer album, and any Deep Purple fan knows that can only be a good thing. Although this was Deep Purple's first studio album in nearly a decade, it sounds just as good as anything they did back in the old days.

Some versions of this album feature a bonus track - a lengthy instrumental entitled Son of Alerik. This is the way rock instrumentals are supposed to sound, no questions asked. When you purchase the album, make sure the version of the album you are buying is one that has this track.

Overall this album was surprisingly good. I was surprised that the band was able to stay so close to their classic hard rock roots - even though they hadn't released a studio album in nearly a decade! If you're a fan of Deep Purple, you've gotta add this one to your collection.

More Reviews:

• Decent stuff here
• Even better 18 years later
• Great Music, Hit & Miss Lyrics
• Deep Purple Being Honest With Themselves
• Begin Second Round
• An amazing come back
• Too good to be true?
• It couldn't really have been any better at the time
• The Return of the Kings!
• Great Comeback!
• A Superb Album
• Best
• reunion DEEP PURPLE MK II era
• Almost there
• reunion of the the Hard Rock Dinosaurus in 1985.
• Best Deep Purple of the 1980's... (that's not saying much)
• I USED TO LIKE IT , BUT NOW I DON'T
• The classic lineup returns.
• Steady If Not Spectacular
• Wishing for more
• a very commercial reunion album 1985
• Legendary...
• "Perfect". That says it all.