| The House of Blue Light | |||||
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| Studio album by Deep Purple | |||||
| Released | January 12, 1987 | ||||
| Recorded | 1986, The Playhouse, Stowe, Vermont | ||||
| Genre | Hard rock | ||||
| Length | 46:16 (Original LP) 50:38 (1987 CD edition) |
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| Label | Polydor (UK) Mercury Records (US) |
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| Producer | Roger Glover & Deep Purple |
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The House of Blue Light is the twelfth studio album by Deep Purple, released in 1987. It is the second recording by the re-formed Mark II lineup. The album's creation was an exceedingly long and difficult process, and Ritchie Blackmore has said that much of it was re-recorded.[1] Ian Gillan has remarked on how strained relations within the band compromised the album: "I look back at House Of Blue Light, there are some good songs on that record, but there’s something missing in the overall album. You can’t feel a spirit of the band, you can see or hear five professionals doing their best, but it’s like a football team, it’s not functioning. It’s like eleven superstars that are playing on the same field but are not connected by the heart or by the spirit."[2] Several tracks on the LP version are shorter than those of the original CD released in 1987. The 1999 CD remaster used the original vinyl master tapes, and so its running time is correspondingly shorter than the original CD version as well.
Track listing
All songs written by Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover; unless otherwise stated
- "Bad Attitude" (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover, Jon Lord) – 4:43 (5:04 on original release)
- "The Unwritten Law" (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover, Ian Paice) – 4:34 (4:54 on original release)
- "Call of the Wild" (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover, Lord) – 4:50 (4:48 on original release)
- "Mad Dog" – 4:29 (4:36 on original release)
- "Black and White" (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover, Lord) – 3:39 (4:39 on original release)
- "Hard Lovin' Woman" – 3:24 (3:25 on original release)
- "The Spanish Archer" – 4:56 (5:32 on original release)
- "Strangeways" – 5:56 (7:35 on original release)
- "Mitzi Dupree" – 5:03 (5:05 on original release)
- "Dead or Alive" – 4:42 (5:01 on original release)
Personnel
- Ian Gillan - vocals, congas, harmonica
- Ritchie Blackmore - guitar
- Roger Glover - bass, synthesizer
- Jon Lord - organ, keyboards
- Ian Paice - drums
Additional personnel
- Produced by Roger Glover and Deep Purple
- Engineered by Nick Blagona
