Made in Japan (Deep Purple album)

Made in Japan
Live album by Deep Purple
Released December 1972 (UK)
April 1973 (US)
Recorded Festival Hall, Osaka, 15 and 16 August 1972
Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, 17 August 1972
Genre Hard rock, heavy metal
Length 76:44 (Original 2LP)
98:06 (1998 2CD edition)
Label Purple (UK and Europe)
Warner Bros. (US, Canada and Japan)
Producer Deep Purple
Deep Purple live albums chronology

Concerto for Group and Orchestra
(1969)		 Made in Japan
(1972)		 Made in Europe
(1976)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone (favorable)[2]
Sputnikmusic [3]

Made in Japan is a double live album by English rock band Deep Purple, recorded during their first tour of Japan in August 1972. It was originally released in December 1972, with a US release in April 1973, and became a commercial and critical success.

The band were well known for their strong stage act, and had privately recorded several shows, or broadcast them on radio, but were unenthusiastic about recording a live album until their Japanese record company decided it would be good for publicity. They insisted on supervising the live production, including using Martin Birch, who had previously collaborated with the band, as engineer, and were not particularly interested in the album's release, even after recording. The tour was successful, with strong media interest and a positive response from fans.

The album was an immediate commercial success, particularly in the US, where it was accompanied by the top five hit "Smoke on the Water", and became a steady seller throughout the 1970s. A three-CD set of most of the tour's performances was released in 1993, while a remastered edition of the album with a CD of extra tracks was released in 1998. In 2014, a deluxe edition was announced with further bonus material. The album had a strong critical reception and continues to attract praise. A Rolling Stone readers' poll in 2012 ranked Made in Japan the sixth best live album of all time.

Background and live bootlegs

Deep Purple "Mk II" formed in July 1969 when founding members, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, organist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice recruited singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover to progress from their earlier pop and psychedelic rock sound towards hard rock.[4] They began touring extensively, becoming a well received live band,[5] and had recorded several shows either to broadcast on the radio or listen to privately.[6] However, they had rejected the idea of releasing a live album commercially as they believed it would be impossible to reproduce the quality and experience of their stage act on an LP.[4]

Consequently, there was a demand for bootleg recordings of the band. The most notable of these was an LP entitled H Bomb,[6] recorded at Aachen on 11 July 1970,[7] which led to a subsequent court case when Virgin Records' Richard Branson was prosecuted for selling it.[8] An article in Melody Maker that examined the bootleg phenomenon claimed that H Bomb was the best selling one at that time.[7] This success, along with albums from other artists such as the Who's Live at Leeds and the Rolling Stones' Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out convinced the band that an official live album would be commercially successful.[9][10] At the time, Glover told Sounds magazine that "there are so many bootlegs of us going around, if we put out our own live set, it should kill their market."[11]

Tour and recording

By 1972, Deep Purple had achieved considerable commercial success in Japan, including several hit singles, so it made sense to tour there.[12] Three dates were booked; the Festival Hall, Osaka on 11 and 12 May, and the Budokan, Tokyo on 16 August,[13] though these were later changed to the 15 and 16 August, and 17 August respectively due to an earlier US tour being rescheduled.[14] The dates sold out almost immediately, and consequently the Japanese arm of the band's label, Warner Bros. Records, wanted to record the tour for a live album to be released in the country.[12] The band eventually agreed to the idea, but insisted if it was going to be released, they wanted it to be done properly.[15] Gillan recalled, "we said we would have to OK the equipment, we wanted to use our own engineer and we would have the last say on whether the tapes were released".[16] The band enlisted producer Martin Birch, who had worked on previous studio albums, to record the shows onto an 8-track recorder so they could subsequently be mixed.[10]

The band's live setlist had been revamped at the start of the year, immediately after recording Machine Head, and that album made up a substantial proportion of new material. Although the setlist remained the same for most of the year, opening with "Highway Star" and closing with "Lazy" and "Space Truckin'", the band's musical skill and structure meant there was sufficient improvisation within the songs to keep things fresh.[17] The original intention was the stage act would be used for about a year before being dropped,[11] but Gillan and Glover both resigned from the band in June 1973.[18] When this line-up reformed in 1984, the 1972 setlist made up a significant amount of material performed in concert.[19]

The band's favourite gig of the tour was at the Nippon Budokan on 17 August 1972

The band arrived in Japan on 9 August, a week before the tour started, to a strong reception, and were greeted with gifts and flowers.[12] Birch was not confident that the recording quality would be satisfactory,[10] since the equipment supplied by Warner Bros. did not have any balance control and that the recorder's size did not appear big enough on sight to capture a commercial quality recording.[20] The band were uninterested in the end result, concentrating on simply being able to deliver a good show. Lord later noticed however that he felt this attitude meant the spontaneity of the performances and interplay between the band members was captured well.[10]

The second gig in Osaka was considered to be the stronger of the two, and indeed this show made up the bulk of the released LP. Only one song, "Smoke on the Water" from 15 August show was used, and this may simply have been because it was the only gig that Blackmore played the song's opening riff as per the studio album.[17]

The band considered the gig at Tokyo on 17 August to be the best of the tour. Glover remembered "twelve or thirteen thousand Japanese kids were singing along to 'Child in Time'" and considered it a career highlight,[21] as did Gillan.[17] At the venue, a row of bodyguards manned the front of the stage. When Blackmore smashed his guitar during the end of "Space Truckin'" and threw it into the audience, several of them clambered past fans to try and retrieve it. Blackmore was annoyed, but the rest of the band found the incident amusing.[20] The gig was not as well recorded as the Osaka shows, though "The Mule" and "Lazy" were considered of sufficient quality to make the final release.[17]

There were no overdubs on the album.[15] Lord claimed once in a magazine interview that a line from "Strange Kind of Woman" had to be redubbed from a different show after Gillan had tripped over his microphone cable, but no direct evidence of this was found when the multitrack tapes were examined.[17] According to Lord, the total budget for the recording was only $3,000.[10]

Release

"That double album ... wasn't meant to be released outside of Japan. They wound up putting it out anyway and it went platinum in about two weeks."

Jon Lord[22]

The band did not consider the album to be important and only Glover and Paice showed up to mix it. According to Birch, Gillan and Blackmore have never heard the finished album.[23] The band did not want the album to be released outside of Japan and wanted full rights to the tapes, but it was released worldwide anyway.[22]

The album was released in the UK in December 1972, with a special offer price of £3.10, the same as a typical single LP from that period.[11] It reached number 16 in the charts. The cover was designed by Glover and featured a colour photo of the band on the front and rear covers, and black and white photos in the inside gatefold.[24] The release in the US was delayed, until April 1973, because Warner Bros. wanted to release Who Do We Think We Are first. They were motivated into releasing it due to a steady flow of UK imports being purchased,[21] and it was an immediate commercial success, reaching number 6 in the charts.[25] Warner Brothers also released "Smoke on the Water" as a single, coupling the live recording on Made in Japan with the studio version on Machine Head, and it reached number 4 in the Billboard charts.[11] A recording of "Black Night" from the Tokyo gig, one of the encores that was not on the album,[17] was released as the B-side to the single "Woman from Tokyo" in Europe, and as a single in its own right in Japan.[24]

The Japanese release was titled Live in Japan and featured a unique sleeve design, with an overhead stage shot of the band, a selection of photographs from a gig at the Rainbow Theatre in London, and an insert with lyrics and a hand-written message from each band member.[26] The first pressing came with a 35mm film negative with photos of the band which buyers could develop into their own prints.[24] The sleeve notes claimed that the recording only contained the Tokyo gig, though in fact it was musically identical to the version released in the rest of the world.[24] Phil Collen, later to play in Def Leppard, was in the audience for the Rainbow gig as captured on the sleeve.[27]

In Uruguay, the album was released in 1974 as a single LP (with just the first two sides) on Odeon Records. It used a simplistic sleeve design unlike any other release, with a rising sun on the cover.[28]

Reception

The band as a whole had mixed feelings about the album. Gillan was critical of his own performance, yet was still impressed with the quality of the live recording.[29] Paice gave a very positive impression, suggesting that the shows were some of the best the group had performed, and the album captured the spirit of them well.[16]

The response from critics was favourable. John Tiven, writing in Rolling Stone said "Made in Japan is Purple's definitive metal monster, a spark-filled execution ... Deep Purple can still cut the mustard in concert".[2] Subsequently, a readers' poll in the magazine declared the album to be the sixth best live album of all time, adding the band have performed "countless shows since in countless permutations, but they've never sounded quite this perfect."[30]

Recent reviews have been equally positive. Allmusic's William Ruhlmann considered the album to be "a definitive treatment of the band's catalog and its most impressive album".[1] Rock author Daniel Bukszpan claimed the album is "widely acknowledged as one of the greatest live albums of all time".[31] Goldmine magazine said the album "defined Deep Purple even as it redefined the concept of the live album."[32] Deep Purple author Dave Thompson wrote "the standing of Deep Purple's first (and finest) live album had scarcely diminished in the quarter-century since its release".[32]

Reissues

The original LP was a steady seller throughout the 1970s and remained in print.[24] The first reissue on CD was in 1988 which contained the complete double-LP on a single CD.[33]

The 8-track tapes of the three shows were carefully put in storage by Warner Bros. Japan for future use. For the album's 21st anniversary in 1993, Deep Purple author and archivist Simon Robinson decided to enquire via the band's management if the tapes could be located.[34] He discovered the entire show had been recorded well, including all the encores.[17] In July, Robinson and Darron Goodwin remixed the tapes at Abbey Road Studios for an expanded edition, that was then mastered by Peter Mew in September.[35] To compromise between including as much of the shows as possible and setting a realistic price that most fans would accept, they decided to release a 3-CD box set, titled Live in Japan. This included all of the three main shows except for two tracks already available on the original album. In their place were two previously unreleased encores.[17]

Robinson subsequently oversaw a new reissue of the original album in 1998 on CD, that was also remastered by Mew. This version contained an extra CD with three tracks that had been left off the 1993 set. The colour scheme of the cover was reversed to show gold text on a black background. The remastered Made in Japan has further edits to make a contiguous performance, making it shorter than the original release.[36] At the same time, a limited edition of 4,000 double LPs was released on purple vinyl,[37] while in Spain, EMI added the studio versions of the tracks making up the original album, aside from "Strange Kind of Woman", to the second CD.[37]

In 2014, Universal Music announced that the album would be reissued in a number of formats in May. The deluxe option will be a set of four CDs or 9 LPs containing a new remix of the three concerts in full, a DVD containing previously unseen video footage, a hardback book and other memorabilia. The original LP will also be reissued in 180g vinyl as per the original release with the original 1972 mix,[38] and the audio will be available for digital download through popular providers.[39]

Cover version

On 13 January 2006, progressive metal band Dream Theater played the original album in its entirety at Kokusai Forum in Tokyo, and also on the 15th at NHK Hall in Osaka.[40] Both performances were recorded, and the latter of the two shows has been released through the band's YtseJam Records label.[41] It was mixed for release by Glover.[40]

Track listing

All songs written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice except where indicated.

Original release on vinyl (2 LP)

Side one
No. TitleRecording date and location Length
1. "Highway Star"  Osaka on 16 August 6:52[nb 1]
2. "Child in Time"  Osaka on 16 August 12:25
Side two
No. Title... Length
3. "Smoke on the Water"  Osaka on 15 August 7:32
4. "The Mule"  Tokyo on 17 August 9:50
Side three
No. Title... Length
5. "Strange Kind of Woman"  Osaka on 16 August 9:36
6. "Lazy"  Tokyo on 17 August 10:51
Side four
No. Title... Length
7. "Space Truckin'"  Osaka on 16 August 19:42

Live in Japan 3CD set

Titles already released on Made in Japan are in bold.[35]

Disc 1 
Good Morning

Recorded in Osaka on 15 August 1972

No. Title Length
1. "Highway Star"   7:37
2. "Child in Time"   11:51
3. "The Mule"   9:36
4. "Strange Kind of Woman"   8:50
5. "Lazy"   10:26
6. "Space Truckin'"   21:35
7. "Black Night" (Encore) 6:25
Total length:
 76:22
Disc 2
Next week, we're turning professional

Recorded in Osaka on 16 August 1972

No. Title Length
1. "Highway Star"   7:07
2. "Smoke on the Water"   7:25
3. "Child in Time"   12:30
4. "The Mule"   10:22
5. "Strange Kind of Woman"   10:35
6. "Lazy"   10:21
7. "Space Truckin'"   20:13
Total length:
 78:35
Disc 3 
Can we have everything louder than everything else?

Recorded in Tokyo on 17 August 1972

No. Title Length
1. "Highway Star"   7:14
2. "Smoke on the Water"   7:06
3. "Child in Time"   11:32
4. "Strange Kind of Woman"   11:26
5. "Lazy"   11:16
6. "Space Truckin'"   19:19
7. "Speed King" (Encore - recorded in Osaka on 15 August 1972) 7:55
Total length:
 75:52

The remastered edition (2CD)

Disc One
Made in Japan[43]
No. Title Length
1. "Highway Star"   6:43
2. "Child in Time"   12:17
3. "Smoke on the Water"   7:36
4. "The Mule"   9:28
5. "Strange Kind of Woman"   9:52
6. "Lazy"   10:27
7. "Space Truckin'"   19:54
Disc Two
The Encores
No. TitleRecording date and location Length
1. "Black Night" (An edited version had previously appeared on single B-sides.)Tokyo on 17 August 6:18
2. "Speed King" (Previously unreleased.)Tokyo on 17 August 7:24
3. "Lucille" (Albert Collins, Richard Penniman; Previously unreleased.)Osaka on 16 August 8:03

Personnel

Taken from the sleeve notes:[44]

Deep Purple
Recording Unit

Charts

Chart performance

Year Chart Position
1973 Austrian Albums Chart[45] 1
German Albums Chart[46] 1
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[47] 1
US Billboard 200 Chart[48] 6
Norwegian Record Charts[49] 7
UK Albums Chart[50] 16

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Argentina (CAPIF)[51] 2× Platinum 120,000x
Austria (IFPI Austria)[52] Platinum 50,000x
France (SNEP)[53] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[54] Platinum 500,000^
Italy (FIMI)[55]
25th Anniversary edition		 Platinum 100,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[56] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[57] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Kerrang! United Kingdom "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time"[58] 1989 75
New Musical Express United Kingdom "50 Best Live Albums"[59] 2011 13
Rolling Stone reader's poll US "10 Best Live Albums"[30] 2012 6

(*) designates unordered lists.

References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ The original LP does not list track times. These are taken from the 1988 CD reissue, which is a straight transcription.[42]
Citations
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ruhlmann, William. "Made in Japan – Deep Purple". Allmusic. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tiven, John (24 May 1973). "Deep Purple : Made in Japan". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  3. ↑ van der Lee, Matthijs. "Deep Purple : Made in Japan". Sputnik Music. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Robinson 1991, p. 3.
  5. ↑ Robinson 1991, p. 2.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Robinson 1993, p. 6.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Thompson, Dave (12 July 2011). "How does Deep Purple really feel about bootlegs?". Goldmine magazine. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "International News Reports". Billboard: 66. 29 January 1972. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Heylin 1994, p. 400.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Thompson 2004, p. 137.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Thompson 2004, p. 138.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Thompson 2004, p. 136.
  13. ↑ Robinson 1993, p. 3.
  14. ↑ Robinson 1993, p. 7.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Bloom 2007, p. 161.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Robinson 1993, p. 8.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 Robinson 1993, p. 15.
  18. ↑ Thompson 2004, p. 145.
  19. ↑ Robinson, Simon (1992). In Concert (Media notes). In Concert. EMI. p. 4. CDEM 1434.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Robinson 1993, p. 2.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Robinson 1993, p. 10.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Jon Lord's Purple Reign". Modern Keyboard. January 1989. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  23. ↑ Thompson 2004, p. 139.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 Robinson 1993, p. 14.
  25. ↑ Dimery & Lydon 2011, p. 727.
  26. ↑ Robinson 1993, p. 14-15.
  27. ↑ "Made in Japan". Classic Rock Magazine. September 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  28. ↑ Robinson 1993, p. 17.
  29. ↑ Robinson 1993, p. 8,10.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Live Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  31. ↑ Bukszpan, Daniel (2003). The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal. Barnes & Noble Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-7607-4218-1.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Thompson 2004, p. 294.
  33. ↑ "Made in Japan (1988 CD)". Allmusic. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  34. ↑ Robinson 1993, p. 4.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Robinson 1993, p. 19.
  36. ↑ "Made in Japan (1998 CD)". Allmusic. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 "Made in Japan". Deep Purple Appreciation Society. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  38. ↑ "Deep Purple To Issue Deluxe Editions Of 'Made in Japan'". Classic Rock Magazine. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  39. ↑ "Universal Announce Deep Purple 'Made in Japan' Live Album in Multiple Formats Out 19th May 2014". Contact Music. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 "Dream Theater – Made in Japan". The Highway Star. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  41. ↑ "Dream Theater Official Bootleg: Made in Japan". Allmusic. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  42. ↑ Made In Japan (Media notes). EMI. 1988. CDP 7 48050 2.
  43. ↑ "Made in Japan - The Remastered Edition". Allmusic. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  44. ↑ Made in Japan (Media notes). Purple / EMI. 1972. TPS 351.
  45. ↑ Austrian chart archive Made in Japan 1973
  46. ↑ German Album Charts 1973
  47. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 February 2012
  48. ↑ Billboard Albums Chart
  49. ↑ Norwegian record chart 1973
  50. ↑ UK Album Chart 1973(Link redirected to OCC website)
  51. ↑ "Argentinian album certifications – Deep Purple – Made in Japan". Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers.
  52. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Deep Purple – Made in Japan" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Deep Purple in the field Interpret. Enter Made in Japan in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  53. ↑ "French album certifications – Deep Purple – Made in Japan" (in French). InfoDisc. Select DEEP PURPLE and click OK
  54. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Deep Purple; 'Made in Japan')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  55. ↑ "Italian album certifications – Deep Purple – Made in Japan" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Deep Purple in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
  56. ↑ "British album certifications – Deep Purple – Made in Japan". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Made in Japan in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  57. ↑ "American album certifications – Deep Purple – Made in Japan". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  58. ↑ "Kerrang – 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time – January 1989". Kerrang. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  59. ↑ British Albums "New Musical Express – 50 Best Live Albums – March 2011". New Musical Express. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
Books
  • Bloom, Jerry (2007). Black Night : Ritchie Blackmore. Music Sales Group. ISBN 978-0-85712-053-3.
  • Dimery, Robert; Lydon, Michael (2011). 1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-1-84403-714-8.
  • Heylin, Clinton (1994). The Great White Wonders – A History of Rock Bootlegs. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-670-85777-7.
  • Robinson, Simon (1991). Deep Purple Anthology (Media notes). Deep Purple. EMI. 152 Y 79 6130.
  • Robinson, Simon (1993). Live in Japan (Media notes). Deep Purple. EMI. CDEM 1510.
  • Thompson, Dave (2004). Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55022-618-8.