Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Stormbringer
2. Love Don't Mean A Thing
3. Holy Man
4. Hold On
5. Lady Double Dealer
6. You Can't Do It Right
7. High Ball Shooter
8. The Gypsy
9. Soldier Of Fortune Bonus Tracks
10. Holy Man (Glenn Hughes remix)
11. You Can't Do It Right (Glenn Hughes remix)
12. Love Don't Mean A Thing (Glenn Hughes remix)
13. Hold On (Glenn Hughes remix)
14. High Ball Shooter

Disc 2:

1. Stormbringer
2. Love Don't Mean A Thing
3. Holy Man
4. Hold On
5. Lady Double Dealer
6. You Can't Do It Right
7. High Ball Shooter
8. The Gypsy
9. Soldier Of Fortune

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14529 in Music
• Released on: 2009-02-23
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Original recording remastered, Extra tracks
• Dimensions: .29 pounds

Customer Reviews

Soldiers of Fortune
Stormbringer the second album from deep purple Mark 3, finally gets the deluxe treatment, in this case in the form of CD and DVD (more on eth DVD to follow).
The music is a step up from the slick hard funk sound that characterised the `Burn' album, with the influence of `Coverdale' and `Hughes' in evidence throughout songs like `Stormbringer' and `Love don't mean a thing'. this album also contains probably my favourite Deep purple mark 3 song `Soldier of Fortune', a song a strong as any in the Deep purple cannon, and one which makes me think that if Richie Blackmore had not bailed out after this album a third album might just have been the best of the lot. The album its self is re-mastered on CD in the modern style i.e. squashing the dynamics a bit and making the music sound LOUD. Also on CD are Five bonus tracks the most interesting of which is `Love don't mean a thing' which is around a minute longer.
The best though is the DVD which contains the original Quad mix from 1974 for that alone EMI/Purple records are to be applauded, How many more Quad mixes are their in the record company archives waiting to be released like this. The Quad mix is very old school, i.e. no movement in the instruments and a lot of the time an instrument in each corner, nice. This mix is available to listen to in DTS 5.1 with a different single or album sleeve per song shown on your TV, or as a stereo mix down in PCM. Again applause to EMI for providing a PCM track at better that 16 bit. The one let down is the fact that a full strength DVDA track could have been added there is enough space on the disc; however this should not stop you buying the album. On the whole a nice package with copious sleeve notes and some great hard funk music. Now where is `Come taste the band' anniversary edition?

Leave your prejudices at the door
First off, let me say that giving this title a bad review before release date, and based ONLY on the format, is unfair and misleading.
***In view of some comments and other reviews after I posted mine, I have to add that YES, I DO HAVE A COPY even though I write this ahead of its scheduled street date. Thank you.***

This CD + DVD doesn't feature any high resolution content, but that's not reason enough to give it a one star review and put people off buying it. Not everyone owns a DVD-A or SACD capable machine so, even though I too would have preferred to have the hi-rez option as well, that's where the gripes end.

The DVD on this set will be playable on all machines, whether you're hi-rez equipped or not, and that makes for wider appeal and less of a headache for the consumers who might not be familiar with hi-rez formats.
We can't knock this release just because they didn't cater for the DVD-A and SACD enthusiasts. We represent a very small portion of the market and are in the minority. That may be sad to some of us, but it doesn't make this CD + DVD set any worse!

As for the actual contents of the set, everyone who's been following the previous remasters from Deep Purple already know what to expect. Care and attention to detail are given in both sound quality and presentation, with an informative booklet featuring many pictures and memorabilia.

As usual with the Deep Purple remasters, they also feature some nice bonus tracks and this is where Stormbringer stands head and shoulders over previous re-issues: It features new mixes of some of the album tracks done by Glenn Hughes (interesting for fans of the original album), plus an amazing and harder rocking early version of Highball Shooter, with Blackmore's guitars aplenty and to the forefront. As a Blackmore nut, this track alone made it well worth purchasing, a definite highlight!

But that's not all, because we also get a DVD with the original quadrophonic mix from the 70s! That's a real treat for all of us with a surround system at home and a whole new way of listening to tracks like Lady Double Dealer, Hold On or Gypsy.

If you're a fan of Stormbringer already, this re-issue is sure to give you plenty of listening enjoyment, along with the opportunity to listen to this underrated classic under a whole new light. Don't miss out!

I personally loved this re-issue more than that of Burn itself (arguably an overall better album) and, in all honesty, I have to give it 5 stars for sheer value-for-money. Sure, I would have loved to see hi-rez audio on the DVD (The Beatles' "Love" DVD-A being a great example of how this can be beautifully done), but it could also have been more expensive and, for the price, this new Stormbringer is a real winner.

Don't let the choice of DVD format bring you down, and enjoy the music. :)

Thunder & lightnin's headin' your way!!
Stormbringer is infamous for being the album Ritchie didn't like, although he's also gone on record of his dislike for Fireball, Who Do We Think, Concerto and all the Mk1 albums - most of his own discography! While Blackmore's influence on the songwriting was less on this album he still turns it on with some great soloing and tasteful playing.
The title track, Stormbringer is a classic Purple track and wouldn't have gone amiss on Burn. The rest of the album is a mixture of straight ahead rockers and some funk/ groove rock tracks plus a great ballad in Soldier Of Fortune at the end. Ian Paice and Glenn Hughes are a superb rhythm section and the latter produces some great bass playing, highlighted a little more in the remixes. Blackmore has some great moments, his playing on You Can't Do It Right (rocker plays funk - not a compressor or delay pedal in sight!), his manic solo on Lady Double Dealer and his stunning off the cuff solo on Hold On - just when you thought he was going to busk his way through the entire track he comes up with this great upbeat,melodic solo!
This CD release itself has been remastered, includes bonus remixes by Glenn Hughes and a disc of 5.1 quadrophonic mixes. Once more the whole package has been done very well (as have all the albums in the Purple remastered series) with the only downside being no unreleased tracks, alternate takes etc. The Highball Shooter Instrumental was on the Listen Learn, Read On Box set a few years back. Jon Lord said back in the day there may have been enough for a double album, surely some demos might have been available? That said Coverdale apparently vetoed the use of an early version of Soldier Of Fortune as a bonus track for this release.
All in all, its a great album. Not as aggressive as previous Purple albums, but if you keep an open mind you'll appreciate it all the more. As a band they always get lumped into the 'old heavy metal' category. This album more than any others shows how diverse Purple were and how greatly underrated they are as a band.

Now all they have to do is find the missing masters for the Come Taste The Band album and round off Purples classic remasters program in style, leaving behind a great sounding and well documented back catalogue.