Description

Smoke On The Water (imaginative title) is a star-studded tribute album dedicated to the world’s pre-eminent progressive/metal/classic rock band, Deep Purple. All the artists involved are no doubt huge fans of Purple’s unique sound, and all of them are great players, but I find that for the most part this album lacks a lot of spark. It’s a typical Varney project, shred guitar placed over a perfect but pedestrian rhythm section, and boring packaging. Many big name guitarists are on this: Yngwie J Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, Richie Kotzen, Paul Gilbert, Reb Beach, John Norum and Vinnie Moore. For vocalists, one time Purple voice Glenn Hughes, Don Dokken, Kelly Keeling, This is a terrific disc with performances that will knock you over. Almost all of the guitarists involved play it too close to the belt–in fact, Russ Parrish who does Smoke on the Water plays the solo note-for-note. If there is any exception, it is the opening number, Speed King. Yngwie Malmsteen absolutely burns on it, and Kelly Keeling sounds exactly like Ian Gillan. Malmsteen also does a version of Lazy which are another highlight of the disc. Glenn Hughes does a killer rip on Strombringer with John Norum providing the guitar. Don Dokken teams up with Reb Beach, many years before Reb would join Dokken, coincidence? They do Fireball, which of course smokes. Richie Kotzen does a fine job singing and playing guitar on an obscure Deep Purple track, Rat Rat Blue. Vinne Moore joins voice Tony Harnell for Woman From Tokyo, another highlight. All-in-all this is a fantastic tribute, fans of the above mentioned artists or fans of Purple will want to pick this one up.

Track listing:
1. Yngwie J Malmsteen and Kelly Keeling -Speed King
2. Tony MacAlpine and Kip Winger -Space Truckin
3. John Norum and Glenn Hughes -Stormbringer
4. Richie Kotzen -Rat Bat Blue
5. Yngwie J Malmsteen and Joe Lynn Turner -Lazy
6. Paul Gilbert -Maybe Im A Leo
7. Russ Parrish and Robert Mason -Smoke On The Water
8. Reb Beach and Don Dokken -Fireball
9. Mike Varney and Jeff Scott Soto -Hush
10. Vinnie Moore and Tony Harnell -Woman From Tokyo