After hearing the title track and also liking the previous 'Purple' release, I thought 'Stormbringer' was going to be something special. Boy was I wrong, other than the opening track the rest is a blend of weak uninspired hard rock, and only occasionally are we treated with glimpses of their former glory. 'Ritchie Blackmore' jumped ship shortly after this offering and formed 'Rainbow', I can see why now!

It's not that I have a problem with 'David Coverdale' and 'Glen Hughes' vocal talents, they are both more than competent, Its the poor laid back approach to the music that grates me. 'Burn' had great variety, interesting arrangements and was akin to the brilliant 'Ian Gillan' led Purple we all loved, this album seem happy to chug along without any recognition of their past conviction to 'Hard Rock'.

The title track is easily the best on the album, with its mesmerising rhythm, great lyrics and all round polished style- one of my favourites from Deep Purple. The majority of the other tracks feel like early 'Whitesnake' offerings as they are very 'blues' based and as 'David Coverdale' is sharing the vocals its not really surprising. Other notable songs are 'Lady Double Dealer' with its rowdy approach and heavy chorus, and 'You Can't Do it Right' which has a nice groove. There are aspect of other tracks that are strong such as the well penned 'Gypsy' and nice guitar breaks from 'Blackmore', but there's not enough of them to make the tracks notable.

Fans of 'Coverdale' Purple might want to hold on to a copy of this, but occasional Purple listener might want to skip this and the next album (that doesn't even have 'Ritchie Blackmore')!