''The House of Blue Light'' is the twelfth studio album by English rock band

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

, released on 12 January 1987 by

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

. It was the second recording by the reformed Mark II line-up, and the sixth studio album overall by this formation of the band.

Recording

The album's creation was an exceedingly long and difficult process, which singer

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is an English singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

compared to the recording of '' Who Do We Think We Are'' in Rome and Frankfurt. Gillan has remarked on how strained relations within the band compromised the album: "I look back at ''House Of Blue Light'', there are some good songs on that record, but there’s something missing in the overall album. I can’t feel the spirit of this band. I can see or hear five professionals doing their best, but it’s like a football team, it’s not functioning. It’s like 11 superstars that are playing on the same field but are not connected by the heart or by the spirit." Guitarist

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English lead guitarist. He was a founding member and the guitarist of Deep Purple, one of the pioneering bands of hard rock. After leaving Deep Purple in 1975, Blackmore formed the band Rainbow ...

has said much of it was re-recorded, and confessed, "I think I played like shit on it, and I don't think anyone else really got that into it." Organist Jon Lord later said, "''House of Blue Light'' was a weird album and hard to put together. We made the massive mistake of trying to make our music current. We discovered that people didn't want us to do that." Despite the band's concerns, ''House of Blue Light'' sold well. It hit No. 10 in the UK charts, No. 34 on the ''Billboard 200'' in the United States, and reached the top 10 in six other countries.

Promotion

Two promotional videos to the songs "Bad Attitude" and "Call of the Wild" were produced, both of which feature members of the band.

Track listing

Note: Several tracks on the LP and cassette versions are shorter than those on the original CD released in 1987. The 1999 CD remaster used the original vinyl master tapes, meaning its running time is also shorter than the original CD version. All tracks written by

and

Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and Roll ...

, except where noted.

1987 CD edition

Vinyl, cassette and 1999 CD edition

Personnel

;Deep Purple *

– vocals, congas, harmonica *

– guitars,

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnership) such as ...

– bass, synthesizers, bass synthesizer, sequencer, sampler * Jon Lord –

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

, synthesizers,

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

, sampler *

Ian Paice Ian Anderson Paice (born 29 June 1948) is an English musician who is the drummer and last remaining original member of the rock band Deep Purple. He remains the only member of Deep Purple who has served in every line-up since the band's incep ...

– drums, percussion ;Production * Produced by Roger Glover and Deep Purple * Recorded at the Playhouse, Stowe, Vermont, with Le Mobile operated by Guy Charbonneau * Engineered by Nick Blagona * Mixed by Harry Schnitzler at Union Studios, Munich, West Germany * Mastered by

Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bishop ...

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He attended ...

, New York

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:House of Blue Light, The Deep Purple albums 1987 albums Albums produced by Roger Glover Polydor Records albums Mercury Records albums