Mk III: The Final Concerts
| Mk III: The Final Concerts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Live album by Deep Purple | ||||
| Released | 1996 | |||
| Recorded | in Graz, Austria & Paris in April 1975 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Label | Connoisseur Collection (Mk III: The Final Concerts) or Navarre (Archive Alive) | |||
| Producer | Deep Purple | |||
| Deep Purple live albums chronology | ||||
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MK III: The Final Concerts, alternatively entitled Archive Alive, is a live album by Deep Purple, recorded during the band's 1975 European tour in support of the Stormbringer album. It was released in 1996.
This double CD release is culled from the very last performances from Deep Purple MK III featuring Ritchie Blackmore before he left to launch his new band Rainbow with singer Ronnie James Dio. The album features for the most part material from the last concert of the tour held at the Palais des Sports, Paris 7 April 1975, with a few tracks taken from two shows in Graz, Austria, 3 and 4 April.
At the time of the taping of the shows, the rest of the band was unaware of Blackmore's decision to leave the band by tour's end. Managers decided to tape the last 3 shows (Paris, Graz and Saarbrücken) in order to have some product available for release in the event of the band splitting up.
After the end of the tour, and facing the prospect of the end of the band, Jon Lord mentioned to the press the upcoming release of a double live set consisting of performances from the last European tour. However, as the band decided to carry on, the plans for the release were scrapped.
In 1976, after the definitive breakup of the band, the single disc Made in Europe live album was released, using some of the material previously mentioned by Lord (from the Saarbrücken show), but apparently none of the material included on this release. Made in Europe was met with mixed reactions, as some argued that it failed to capture the energy that the band displayed live. Additionally, some resented what they felt was a healthy amount of studio editing.
Blackmore's lack of enthusiasm, as well as band tension onstage, are fairly evident on some of the tracks: Blackmore unexpectedly loses his way on the intro for "Mistreated" and he seems totally surprised by Lord's solo on "Lady Double Dealer" (the studio version of this song lacks a keyboard solo).
The alternate takes of "Mistreated" and "You Fool No One" on disc two are from the Graz shows, and although the liner notes mention "technical problems" on the Paris tapes as the justification for their inclusion, it is more likely that their inclusion has more to do with mistakes by the band.
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