Deep Purple ‘A Fire in the Sky’ Anthology Coming

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Deep Purple fans have good reason to mark September 8 on their calendars. The British classic rock band is being celebrated with a new “definite” collection, A Fire in the Sky, as a single CD and a 3-CD set on September 8 via Rhino, in North America. (An international release follows later in the year.) A three-LP version will also be available on November 3. Each version includes a selection of songs chosen from the 19 studio albums that Deep Purple recorded between 1968 and 2013.

The single-disc version of A Fire in the Sky features 20 songs and focuses mainly on the band’s singles including, naturally, their two highest-charting U.S. hits, “Smoke On The Water” and “Hush,” both of which reached #4 on the Hot 100. Gems like “Knocking at Your Back Door and “Perfect Strangers,” from the title track from the band’s 1984 Platinum album from 1984, are also featured. Pre-order it here.

Watch “Perfect Strangers”

The collection’s 3-CD version dives deeper into Deep Purple’s career with 40 songs and includes at least one track from every studio album through Now What?!. According to a press release, the larger set also provides the ultimate showcase for the group’s various incarnations through the years: to date, more than a dozen musicians have appeared on a Deep Purple album. Pre-order it here. (See the track listing below.)

Among the set’s many highlights are: the title track from 2005’s Rapture of the Deep; “King of Dreams” from 1990’s Slaves and Masters; “Bad Attitude” from 1987’s The House of Blue Light; and “You Keep Me Moving” from 1975’s Come Taste The Band. This expanded version also features Kevin Shirley’s 2010 remix of “Dealer,” and the 2012 stereo mix for an early version of “The Bird Has Flown.”

The 3-LP edition of A Fire in the Sky will include 27 songs. Among the highlights are the single edit version of “Woman From Tokyo,” the U.S. single edit for “Burn,” and the radio edit of “Bad Attitude.”

In 2016, past and present members of Deep Purple (Ritchie Blackmore, David Coverdale, Rod Evans, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Glenn Hughes, Jon Lord and Ian Paice) were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame; The band have reportedly sold over 100 million records.

A Fire in the Sky Track Listing

Single-Disc
“Hell To Pay” (Radio Edit)
“Rapture Of The Deep”
“Sun Goes Down”
“Any Fule Kno That”
“Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming” (Edit)
“Bad Attitude” (Radio Edit)
“Knocking At Your Back Door” (Single Edit)
“Perfect Strangers” (Single Edit)
“You Keep On Moving” (Single Edit)
“Soldier Of Fortune”
“Burn” (U.S. Single Edit)
“Woman From Tokyo” (Single Edit)
“Highway Star” (U.S. Single Edit)
“Smoke On The Water” (U.S. Single Edit)
“Fireball”
“Strange Kind Of Woman”
“Child In Time (Part 1)”
“Speed King” (U.S. Album Edit)
“Black Night”
“Hush”

Listen to the band’s first hit

3-CD Track Listing:

Disc One
“Hell To Pay”
“Vincent Price”
“Wrong Man”
“Rapture Of The Deep”
“Sun Goes Down”
“Any Fule Kno That”
“Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming”
“Vavoom: Ted The Mechanic”
“The Battle Rages On”
“King Of Dreams”
“Call Of The Wild”
“Bad Attitude”
“Knocking At Your Back Door”
“Perfect Strangers”

Disc Two
“You Keep On Moving”
“Dealer” (2010 Kevin Shirley Remix)
“Stormbringer”
“Soldier Of Fortune”
“Mistreated”
“Might Just Take Your Life”
“Burn”
“Rat Bat Blue”
“Woman From Tokyo”
“Space Truckin'”
“Smoke On The Water”
“When A Blind Man Cries”

Disc Three
“Highway Star”
“Demon’s Eye”
“Fireball”
“Strange Kind Of Woman”
“Child In Time”
“Speed King” (U.S. Album Edit)
“Black Night”
“Hallelujah”
“Emmaretta” (2012 Stereo Mix)
“The Bird Has Flown” (Early Version – 2012 Stereo Mix)
“Wring That Neck” (aka “Hard Road”)
“Kentucky Woman”
“Mandrake Root”
“Hush”

Earlier this year, Deep Purple released their 20th studio album Infinite and announced a co-headlining North American tour with Alice Cooper, which begins August 12. Tickets are available here and here.

North American Tour With Deep Purple and the Edgar Winter Band:

Aug 12 – Chelsea Theater at The Cosmopolitan – Las Vegas, NV
Aug 13 – The Greek – Los Angeles, CA
Aug 15 – AK Chin Pavilion – Phoenix, AZ
Aug 16 – Isletta Amphitheatre – Albuquerque, NM
Aug 18 – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion – Houston, TX
Aug 19 – Gexa Energy Pavilion – Dallas, TX
Aug 21 – Chastain Park Amphitheatre – Atlanta, GA
Aug 23 – Jiffy Lube Live – Bristow, VA
Aug 24 – BB&T Pavilion – Camden, NJ
Aug 26 – Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre – Wantagh, NY
Aug 27 – Xfinity Center – Boston, MA
Aug 28 – P.N.C. Bank Arts Center – Holmdel, NJ
Aug 30 – Klipsch Amphitheater – Indianapolis, IN
Sept 01 – KeyBank Pavilion – Pittsburgh, PA
Sept 02 – Molson Canadian Amphitheatre – Toronto, ON
Sept 03 – DTE Energy Music Theatre – Detroit, MI
Sept 06 – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – Chicago, IL
Sept 08 – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis, MO
Sept 09 – Blossom Music Center – Cleveland, OH
Sept 10 – Riverbend Music Center – Cincinnati, OH