"The Complete Deep Purple" is as complete a book about Deep Purple as you will currently find. It starts even before the formation of Purple, and goes all the way to the Bananas album, in chronological order. Author Michael Heatley writes objectively, by letting the members of DP critique or just as often, praise their work. I have been a Purple fan since the early 70s and I hadn't previously read most of the quotes in the book. Either he actually talked to the various members, or else he has a large collection of Purple articles and stories from which he can delve. I particularily enjoyed the numerous quotes from Mark I bassist Nick Simper. Usually Purple books skim through Mark I but Heatley doesn't. He gives them their just due. The book is a good, fun, comprehensive read. But don't expect much behind the scenes gossip in regards to family or friends. That said, there is some dialogue concerning various musicians that the members know or knew. For instance, I didn't know that Jon Lord was close friends with George Harrison. I also liked the in-depth information about the time Ritchie got sick and Randy California took his place for one show. The end of the book has an album by album, song by song, review by the band themselves via quotes (unlike a fanzine, Heatley never actually talks about how great someone is prefering, as a said before, to let the band critique themselves. At times, you want him to just say that the guitar solo in Child in Time is unbelieveable, but he quotes Ritchie saying something to the effect that it isn't all that special, which everyone knows isn't true. It is one of the very first really long, complex guitar solos that has probably inspired thousands of people to pick up the guitar). Too bad it only includes studio albums. I would've loved reading about all the live albums that have cropped up in the last few years. Also, if a newer edition comes out, DVD's should be included.
