Though it was considered a disappointment upon its release (indeed, its production was much too sleek at times, and it lacked the creative daring of Perfect Strangers), 1987's House of Blue Light has actually stood the test of time just as well, if not better, than its predecessor.
The second effort from the re-formed Mark II lineup, this album showed Deep Purple searching for an '80s-flavored hit single, and by doing so, sounding uncomfortably similar to guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's other band, Rainbow.
Virtually all of the record's first half suffers from this (especially "Unwritten Law" and "Bad Attitude"), but things improve with the Eastern-flavored melodies of "The Spanish Archer" and "Strange Ways." The eerie sound textures explored on the latter evoke memories of classic Purple, and finally allow some space for soloing from Blackmore and keyboardist Jon Lord.
And the telltale lyrics to the equally interesting "Mitzi Dupree" (based on a true story), are vintage Ian Gillan, as the singer combines James Bond-style international intrigue with high comedy.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bad AttitudeRitchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord | Deep Purple | Play | 05:03 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 2 | The Unwritten LawRitchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice | Deep Purple | Play | 04:54 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 3 | Call of the WildRitchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord | Deep Purple | Play | 04:48 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 4 | Mad DogRitchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover | Deep Purple | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 5 | Hard Lovin' WomanRitchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover | Deep Purple | Play | 03:24 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 6 | The Spanish ArcherRitchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover | Deep Purple | Play | 05:31 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 7 | StrangewaysRitchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover | Deep Purple | Play | 07:35 | 17 MB | 52 MB |
| 8 | Mitzi DupreeRitchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover | Deep Purple | Play | 05:05 | 11 MB | 32 MB |
| 9 | Dead or AliveRitchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover | Deep Purple | Play | 04:59 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 10 | Black & White | Deep Purple | Play | 04:39 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 50 mins | 115 MB | |||||
| 50 mins | 343 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ritchie Blackmore | Composer, Guitar |
| 2 | Nick Blagona | Engineer |
| 3 | Greg Calbi | Mastering |
| 4 | Deep Purple | Primary Artist, Producer |
| 5 | Andrew W. Ellis | Art Direction |
| 6 | Ian Gillan | Composer, Congas, Harmonica, Vocals |
| 7 | Roger Glover | Composer, Guitar (Bass), Producer, Synthesizer |
| 8 | Suha Gur | Digital Remastering |
| 9 | Jon Lord | Composer, Keyboards |
| 10 | Ian Paice | Composer, Drums |
| 11 | Dieter Zill | Illustrations |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |