I know the album since 1977 (I was 13) and always found it great. Burn and Stormbringer, I did not stop until about 5 years later. Despite some highlights on these albums, reaps CTTB me clearly better.
The opening track "Coming Home", despite the somewhat unusual backing vocals a gifted uptempo number that plays with the Mk.II classics Highway Star, Fireball, Speed King, etc. in the same league. To open up albums standesgmäß, but was always a Purple-strength.
And since one of the Deep Purple About numbers is still with "You Keep On Moving" at all. As with the other soul / funk-tinged pieces (eg I Need Love, Love Child), I find that here the symbiosis with rock is far better managed than in the barren Stormbringer album. On CTTB that sounds consistent and no longer so attached and disoriented.
In addition, this is the 1.Album on the Coverdale consistently really good singing for the first time. Here the interaction with co-singer Glenn Hughes is far more integrated coherent than before.
If the Bolin Blackmore question. Bolin is quite different from Blackmore. However, each guitarist is otherwise quite different from Blackmore. What Bolin makes here is therefore also quite different, but absolutely fine. It also fits better to the radio influences than what Blackmore since playing on Stormbringer.
Bolin & Hughes were often referred to as the coffin nails from Deep Purple. That is certainly true, but refer to their behavior on the subsequent tour and not what they are offering on that here on this plate. The album is really good and would certainly not alone the reason for the breakup in 1976 been.
Jon Lord also said decades later on the Phoenix Rising DVD, that it was good, "but it is not Deep Purple". Yes, I think so. It's fitting it was to Burn and Stormbringer absolute step in the right direction: a symbiosis of Mk.II and III. Better it would have appeared right after Burn. And even better, it would have been if Bolin and Hughes would have had less of a few drug problems. Then there might have been something more.
