40 years ago today (10/29/84), Deep Purple released Perfect Strangers. It was the first album to feature the classic “Mark II” lineup (Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice) since 1973’s Who Do We Think We Are. Its nine-year gap from Come Taste the Band (1975) marks the longest between two studio albums from the band to date. Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover arrived from Rainbow, Ian Gillan from Black Sabbath, Jon Lord from Whitesnake, and Ian Paice from Gary Moore’s backing band. When they reconvened, the hard-hitting album revived interest in Deep Purple and had a proven veteran-heavy voice as thrash and other metal forms would soon make its voice known. Watch the official video for the title track..check out Jon Lord’s crazy organ intro…
