Live at the Olympia '96

AMG Review of Live at the Olympia '96

Glen Miller
All Music Guide

As a present to their fans, particularly the ones on the Internet, the band decided to put out another live album -- such live releases now tallying in double figures, unprecedented for any rock band. Unedited, undubbed and with a three-piece horn section blowing in on four tunes at the Olympia in Paris, Deep Purple are in their best habitat -- exhibiting raw power, free-for-all jamming and charging into the new numbers culled from Purpendicular. Reinvigorating the classics, namely "Smoke On the Water," "Speed King" and "Highway Star," the veterans still prove they can mess with the best on stage.