Deep Purple - The Very Best of Deep Purple (Compilation Album) (2000)
Deep Purple – The Very Best of Deep Purple (Compilation, 2000)
A definitive gateway into one of hard rock’s most influential catalogs
Released in 2000, The Very Best of Deep Purple is a career-spanning compilation designed to capture the core identity of Deep Purple in a single, accessible package. By the turn of the millennium, the band’s legacy was already monumental: multiple classic line-ups, genre-defining albums, and songs that had become permanent fixtures of rock culture. This compilation arrived at exactly the right moment — aimed at new listeners discovering Deep Purple for the first time, while also offering longtime fans a neatly curated reminder of why the band mattered so much in the first place.
Unlike some hastily assembled “best of” releases, The Very Best of Deep Purple focuses on the band’s most iconic studio recordings, primarily from the Mark II era (Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Roger Glover, Ian Paice), widely regarded as the group’s classic lineup. The result is a powerful, no-nonsense overview of Deep Purple at their most influential, loud, and unforgettable.
📀 Concept & Compilation Focus
By 2000, Deep Purple’s discography was vast and occasionally intimidating for newcomers. Albums like In Rock, Machine Head, and Fireball were essential listening, but jumping in cold could feel overwhelming. The Very Best of Deep Purple solves that problem by distilling the band’s essence into a single-disc collection of defining tracks.
This compilation leans heavily on:
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Massive riffs
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Jon Lord’s classical-inspired organ work
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Ian Gillan’s unmistakable vocals
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Ritchie Blackmore’s sharp, melodic guitar style
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Songs that helped shape hard rock and heavy metal
Rather than exploring obscurities or deep cuts, the album stays focused on impact and recognition, making it ideal both as an introduction and a reliable “go-to” playlist for fans.
🎧 Mini Album Review
As a listening experience, The Very Best of Deep Purple is tight, energetic, and remarkably timeless. Even decades after their original release, these songs still hit with authority. The production holds up well, and the sequencing ensures that the album never drags — it’s all momentum, hooks, and attitude.
Tracks like “Smoke on the Water”, “Highway Star”, and “Burn” remain untouchable classics, while slightly moodier selections such as “Child in Time” and “Perfect Strangers” add dynamic contrast. What becomes especially clear across the runtime is just how musically advanced Deep Purple were compared to many of their contemporaries — blending blues, classical harmony, and proto-metal aggression long before those hybrids became standard.
If there’s one limitation, it’s that the compilation inevitably favors the most famous era of the band, leaving other lineups underrepresented. Still, for a “very best of” release, that focus makes sense — this is Deep Purple in their most universally celebrated form.
Verdict:
A rock-solid compilation that does exactly what it promises — no filler, no fluff, just Deep Purple at full power.
🎶 Tracklist (Common 2000 International Edition)
(Note: exact tracklists vary slightly by territory)
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Smoke on the Water
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Highway Star
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Child in Time
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Burn
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Speed King
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Black Night
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Woman from Tokyo
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Perfect Strangers
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Fireball
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Strange Kind of Woman
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Space Truckin’
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Hush
This selection spans 1968–1984, touching both the early psychedelic period and the band’s classic hard-rock peak.
📊 Commercial Performance & Grossing
While The Very Best of Deep Purple was not promoted as a major chart-dominating release, it performed consistently well across Europe, benefiting from Deep Purple’s enduring popularity — particularly in Germany, the UK, and Scandinavia.
Key points about its commercial impact:
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Strong catalog sales rather than explosive debut numbers
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Regular reissues and budget-price reprints over the years
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Continues to sell steadily as an entry-level Deep Purple release
Like many legacy compilations, exact global sales figures are difficult to verify, but its longevity and repeated reissues suggest healthy long-term commercial success rather than short-term chart hype.
👥 Album Credits
Core Performers (Track-Dependent)
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Ian Gillan – Lead vocals
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Ritchie Blackmore – Guitar
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Jon Lord – Hammond organ, keyboards
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Roger Glover – Bass
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Ian Paice – Drums
Additional Musicians (Selected Tracks)
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David Coverdale – Vocals (Mark III era tracks)
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Glenn Hughes – Bass, vocals
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Rod Evans – Vocals (early material)
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Nick Simper – Bass (early material)
Production
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Original tracks produced by various producers, most notably Martin Birch
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Compilation assembled by Deep Purple’s label archival team
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Remastered audio used for most editions
🎸 Fun Facts & Trivia
🎶 The riff that launched a thousand bands:
“Smoke on the Water” remains one of the most recognizable guitar riffs in music history — often cited as the first riff beginners learn.
🎹 Jon Lord’s secret weapon:
The Hammond organ wasn’t just a texture in Deep Purple — it was a lead instrument, often competing directly with the guitar for center stage.
🔥 Multiple eras, one identity:
Despite lineup changes over the decades, Deep Purple’s core sound remained instantly identifiable — something this compilation highlights perfectly.
📀 Compilation durability:
This album has been repackaged and reissued multiple times under slightly different artwork and branding, proving its long-term demand.
🤔 Did You Know?
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Deep Purple were once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the loudest band in the world after a 1972 concert in London.
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“Child in Time” was heavily inspired by early progressive rock and classical dynamics, making it one of the band’s most ambitious studio recordings.
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The Very Best of Deep Purple is often recommended as the starting point before diving into albums like Machine Head or In Rock.
🧠 Legacy & Final Thoughts
The Very Best of Deep Purple succeeds because it understands its mission. It doesn’t try to be exhaustive, revisionist, or overly clever. Instead, it delivers a sharp, powerful summary of one of rock’s greatest bands, reminding listeners why Deep Purple remain essential listening decades after their prime.
For newcomers, it’s the perfect entry point.
For longtime fans, it’s a reliable reminder of just how strong the catalog really is.
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