Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertfordshire in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock although some band members have tried not to label themselves any one genre.
The band has also incorporated pop and progressive rock elements. It was once listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's loudest band, and it has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. Deep Purple was ranked #22 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock program.
The band has gone through many line-up changes and an eight-year hiatus. The 1968-76 line-ups are commonly labelled Mark I, II, III and IV. Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Roger Glover (bass guitar) and Ian Paice (drums). This line-up was active 1969-73 and was revived from 1984-89 and again in 1993 before the rift between Blackmore and other members became unbridgeable. The current line-up including guitarist Steve Morse has been much more stable, though Lord's retirement in 2002 has left Paice as the only original member.
STUDIO ALBUMS * 1968 Shades of Deep Purple
* 1968 The Book of Taliesyn
* 1969 Deep Purple
* 1970 In Rock
* 1971 Fireball
* 1972 Machine Head
* 1973 Who Do We Think We Are
* 1974 Burn
* 1974 Stormbringer
* 1975 Come Taste the Band
* 1984 Perfect Strangers
* 1987 The House of Blue Light
* 1990 Slaves & Masters
* 1993 The Battle Rages On
* 1996 Purpendicular
* 1998 Abandon
* 2003 Bananas
* 2005 Rapture of the Deep
TIMELINE * 1968 Form initially as Roundabout
* 1969 Vocalist Rod Evans is replaced with Ian Gillan
* 1972 Deep Purple release 'Machine Head'
* 1973 Gillan and Roger Glover are replaced by David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes
* 1975 Blackmore quits and is replaced by Tommy Bolin
* 1976 The band dissolve, Bolin dies at the age of 25
* 1980 Rod Evans tours under the name of Purple until legal action stops him
* 1984 Reform with Gillan, Blackmore and Glover
* 1989 Gillan is fired, then rejoins
* 1993 Blackmore leaves, Steve Morse joins
* 2002 Jon Lord retires and is repaced by Don Airey
Subject: Deep Purple 
Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:00 pm
yep definitely twisted 
