Deep Purple: Perihelion

Deep Purple's reign continues with this 14-song, 102-minute concert performance (the DVD includes an additional 30 minutes of interviews), recorded in 2001. Although DP has been at it since the ‘60s, the four original members still on hand (hotshot guitarist Steve Morse replaced Ritchie Blackmore in the mid-‘90s) bring admirable energy and surprisingly sharp chops to the stage. True, there's something slightly discomfiting about watching singer Ian Gillan try to shriek his way through riff-heavy standards like “Woman From Tokyo,” “Hush,” “Highway Star,” and the inevitable “Smoke on the Water” as if he were still just a lad, but for the most part he pulls it off; meanwhile, Jon Lord's keyboards and Gillan's efforts to write lyrics about something other than sex and partying help separate Deep Purple's sound, presented here in Dolby Digital 5.1, from the rest of the metal throng. Recommended, overall. Aud: P. (S. Graham)