voila_la_scorie I am amazed to see how many people raved about this album on Amazon at the time I bought it. Though there is no DP album I don't like, this one is low on my rating list of the 18 studio albums in the band's career. To say it sounds like Rainbow is fair enough as the line up includes three members from the final Rainbow line up (Blackmore, Turner and Glover) of the 80's. It's like Rainbow took a break while Joe Lynn Turner beefed up his vocals a bit and came back with the other DP boys.

Ritchie Blackmore is still distinctive in his playing though the late 80's guitar sound seems out of place for DP and more like Rainbow. The album has great potential with some good songs and catchy choruses. Jon Lord (RIP) contributes some orchestral efforts with a string arrangement and intro for "Love Conquers All", something I believe we haven't heard since 1969, and in a way it's a shame that string arrangements were just not as cool in 1990 as they were back in '69. Jon Lord could have done so much more, I am sure.

I have mixed feelings about this CD. There are a couple of songs I can enjoy but it's hard to consider them a part of the DP legacy. Along with Come Taste the Band (another very different DP album that I still like) this album is one that deviates greatly from the familiar DP sound. But then again, variety and experimentation are two things that Deep Purple have always worked towards.

It's interesting to note that for the most part the band members (other than Blackmore) in retrospect were not thrilled about firing Ian Gillan and doing an album with Joe Lynn Turner, and admit that Slaves and Masters doesn't sound like a Purple album.

SouthSideoftheSky It says Deep Purple on the cover, but it sure sounds like Joe Lynn Turner-era Rainbow!

I really don't like Joe Lynn Turner; I don't like what he did to Rainbow, I don't like what he did to Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force and I don't like what he did to Deep Purple. Turner's voice lends itself very well to slick AOR, but not to Metal of any kind. The real blame must, however, fall on Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover for bringing Turner with them from Rainbow into Deep Purple and also on Jon Lord and Ian Paice for allowing it all to happen! What were they trying to do? Turn Deep Purple into 80’s-era Rainbow? What was the point of that? I’m a big fan of Ronnie James Dio-era Rainbow, but the Joe Lynn Turner-era of that band I find very disappointing. But even those worst Rainbow albums are superior to this “Deep Purple” album. Had Slaves And Masters been released in the mid-80’s, straight after Rainbow’s Bent Out Of Shape album, it would perhaps have been understandable. But to do this Rainbow clone in 1990 after the first reunion that resulted in Perfect Strangers and later House Of Blue Light is strange to say the least.

I will not comment of each individual track here as they all sound pretty much the same to my ears. And if you have heard the 80’s Rainbow albums, you know just what this sounds like (only worse!). However, the closing track Wicked Ways is the best song here having a symphonic touch and with a bit more room left for instrumental work outs. For the rest of the songs, Blackmore, Lord, Glover, Paice and Turner seem to be on autopilot and lacking in inspiration. Not surprisingly, this line-up was a one-off and for the next album Ian Gillan would return once more and the battle raged on…

Had this been a Rainbow album – it sure sounds like one – it would have been the worst Rainbow album. Now, it will have to be deemed the worst Deep Purple album instead!

Avoid!