Not being a huge fan of Deep Purple I was a little tentative about watching this, but actually found the 58 minutes quite endurable. Whilst not rivetting stuff, it is however an interesting excursion into the roots of rock and roll and today’s heavy metal. It becomes apparent once we have heard the band in action for a while that some current groups are closely related, yet wouldn’t by a long shot be termed heavy metal by today’s standard. The hidden benefit of this is in the slanted view of rock music today and how definitions are changing as music genres bleed freely into one another as newer ideas surface.

Naturally, when viewing such old footage as this, there are the compulsory big hairdos, leather garments galore and sweat-fuelled strutting around the stage as explosions go off behind the performers. The funny thing is that a lot of this looks like Spinal Tap, but the performers are dead serious both onstage and being interviewed years later. Which brings me to the relevance of this DVD. Produced in 1991, I’m not exactly sure what has happened since, but 12 years can make for a lot of change, particularly in rock and roll and what may once have been informative may now be old hat.

However, the music is mostly what this is all about and fans of the mullet-clad super-rockers will no doubt find a lot of fond memories contained within.

The featured playlist runs as:

Featuring several interviews from various cast, friends and followers there is information seen from every perspective throughout the live performances, TV spots and archival footage.

Given that this compilation has been lifted from varying sources, there is little similar about the individual pieces that create the whole. Lighting changes dramatically, colour and resolution go from crystal clear through to blurred flaring and the live performance footage is truly a mixed bag of delights. Mostly okay, the footage supports the music basically, though the music stands well without it. Still I doubt anyone would prefer a black screen with music on as a DVD. But then, who knows what old metalheads want? Some truly magnificent images of mullet-wear and mirrorshades appear frequently and the haircut of the lead vocalist in the last filmclip must be seen to be believed. This dude washed his hair and went to bed with it wet, without doubt.

PCM stereo brings us the eternal sound of Deep Purple on this DVD and it is entirely adequate for the music within. Again, this isn’t studio-recorded stuff for the most part, and so the sound works okay comparatively speaking. The dialogue is all easily understood as well. There are no 21st century Ozzy Osbournes here. There are occasional instances of the music getting a little fuzzy, but this is relatively rare and mostly comes across well.

There are no extras to speak of and a shameful NTSC delivery does not contribute to the value of this DVD in the least, I'm afraid. Perhaps released as a sell job to ride the new wave of Purple release in 1991, this has now lost a little steam since then. However, as mentioned, this is bound to interest fans of the band but won’t have the lasting replay value of a music CD.