Slaves and Masters

Deep Purple always automatically evokes a connotation with their astonishingly successful Mark II line-up, which twice reunited in the band’s unstable formation. But there’s more to Deep Purple, and one of the moments to start with is what happened in between the first and second reunion of Mark II. After the rather average The House of Blue Light in ’87, the ever-present rift between Blackmore and Gillan did its usual trick and drove the band apart once again. Gillan’s replacement was ex-Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner, who would again collaborate with Blackmore, forming Purple’s Mark V. It would come to be, however, that the only performance by Turner would be on this 13th Purple album: Slaves and Masters.

Deep Purple Mk. V was:
- Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito ~ Lead Vocals
- Richard Hugh Blackmore ~ Lead Guitar
- Roger David Glover ~ Bass Guitar
- Jon Douglas Lord ~ Hammond Organ, Keyboards
- Ian Anderson Pace ~ Drums

So, did the coming of a new member revitalize the band like happened with Mark III? No, it did not. Instead of helping Deep Purple to start kicking butt again, Turner only leads the further down the generic hard rock spiral. First and foremost, this is caused by his vocals, which lack any sense of identity, sounding like any standard rock singer (if such a thing exists), could have produced. Gillan may have been getting old (Turner is 6 years younger than him), but even that didn’t take away the fact he carried one of the most charismatic voices in rock ‘n roll history. 

But it’s not just the vocals that are bland, no. The rest of the band, although 4 incredibly talented musicians, perform almost as bad as Turner does. I cannot hear Ritchie Blackmore is playing on this record. I sure as hell cannot hear Jon Lord is playing on this record either. No fancy, groovy, fun rock ‘n roll features here. Absolutely not. Deep Purple is more copying rock cliché’s than they try to sound like themselves.

Add to that uncreative song writing, boring lyrics and a rather average production, and you’ve got one bad apple of an album. Slaves and Masters is as low as a band such as Deep Purple should have ever gone, and still is their worst moment by many leagues. Avoid at all costs.


Tracklist:

1. King of Dreams
2. The Cut Runs Deep
3. Fire in the Basement
4. Truth Hurts
5. Breakfast in Bed
6. Love Conquers All
7. Fortuneteller
8. Too Much is Not Enough
9. Wicked Ways