The Battle Rages On...
1993 studio album by Deep Purple
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The Battle Rages On... is the fourteenth studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple, released on 19 July 1993 in Europe.[4]It marked the second return of frontman Ian Gillan and was to last to feature founding member Ritchie Blackmore, prior to his second and final departure four months after release. It is the last album recorded with the band's classic Mk II line-up, which reunited for a second time (the first reunion being for 1984's Perfect Strangers).
26 July 1993 (UK)[1]
- Bearsville (Bearsville, New York)
- Red Rooster (Tutzing, Germany)
- Greg Rike (Altamonte Springs, Florida)
| The Battle Rages On... | ||||
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| Released | 19 July 1993 (EU) 26 July 1993 (UK)[1] | |||
| Recorded | May 1992 – March 1993[2] | |||
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| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 49.26 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Producer | ||||
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| Singles from The Battle Rages On... | ||||
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| Ritchie Blackmore chronology | ||||
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Joe Lynn Turner was fired from the band during the early sessions, with Mike DiMeo initially chosen as his replacement.[5] At the insistence of Jon Lord, Ian Paice and Roger Glover (as well as the band's management and record company), Ian Gillan eventually returned to the band during late 1992 in place of DiMeo, thus reforming the Mk II line-up. Gillan had to rework much of the material already existing for the album, which had been intended for Turner and/or DiMeo. Ritchie Blackmore allegedly became infuriated by Gillan's re-writes, believing the songs were more melodic in their original versions, and he left the band for the second and final time after a show on 17 November 1993 in Helsinki, Finland. Joe Lynn Turner later quoted Blackmore referring to the album as "The cattle grazes on".[6] American guitarist Joe Satriani joined Deep Purple as a temporary replacement for the remainder of the tour. A handful of working tracks written during The Battle Rages On... sessions would turn up on subsequent solo releases by Turner under different song titles.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Battle Rages On" (Blackmore, Gillan, Jon Lord, Ian Paice) | 5:48 |
| 2. | "Lick It Up" | 3:50 |
| 3. | "Anya" (Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord) | 6:28 |
| 4. | "Talk About Love" | 4:05 |
| 5. | "Time to Kill" | 5:44 |
| 6. | "Ramshackle Man" | 5:32 |
| 7. | "A Twist in the Tale" | 4:12 |
| 8. | "Nasty Piece of Work" (Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord) | 4:34 |
| 9. | "Solitaire" | 4:35 |
| 10. | "One Man's Meat" | 4:38 |
Personnel
- Deep Purple
- Ian Gillan – vocals, congas
- Ritchie Blackmore – guitars
- Roger Glover – bass guitar
- Ian Paice – drums
- Jon Lord – organ, keyboards
- Production
- Produced by Thom Panunzio and Roger Glover
- Basic tracks produced by Thom Panunzio at Bearsville Studios in upstate New York (engineered by Bill Kennedy, assisted by Mike Reiter)
- Vocals and overdubs recorded at Red Rooster Studios (engineered by Hans Gemperle) in Tutzing, Germany, and Greg Rike Studios (engineered by Jason Corsaro, assisted by Wally Walton and Darren Schneider) in Orlando, Florida.
- Mixed by Pat Regan with Roger Glover at Sound on Sound Recording (engineered by Pat Regan, assisted by John Siket, Devin Emke and Peter Beckeman) in New York, and at the Ambient Recording Company (engineered by Pat Regan, assisted by Mark Conese) in Connecticut
- Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound in New York.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
| Blogcritics | (mixed)[8] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 8/10[9] |
| Rock Hard | 7.0/10[10] |
| Metal Hammer (GER) | 7/7[11] |
The album received favorable reviews.[12] However, in 2024, Classic Rock magazine ranked it last on their list of Deep Purple albums from worst to best.[13]
Charts
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] | 9 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] | 39 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[16] | 9 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] | 13 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[18] | 5 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] | 9 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] | 8 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] | 7 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[22] | 21 |
| US Billboard 200[23] | 192 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Japan (RIAJ)[24] | Gold | 100,000^ |
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^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||