Deep Purple

With their biggest song ever ("Smoke On The Water”) having been written about a major fire in Montreux, it seems somewhat fitting for the band to play the Swiss city’s jazz festival. 1996 saw a rejuvenated Deep Purple — having recently regained their stride with the addition of guitarist Steve Morse after Ritchie Blackmore’s departure — and a new album in Purpendicular that was easily their best since 1984’s Perfect Strangers. Mixing new tracks up with classics such as "Fireball,” "Woman From Tokyo,” "Black Night” and, of course, "Smoke On The Water,” this is a surprisingly good performance by these British dinosaurs. Some of the recent DP archival DVDs, such as the California Jam 1974 performance, have been very disappointing but this makes up for it. Bonus features include five songs from their 2000 return to the festival and a brief interview where they explain the history of, yep, you guessed it, "Smoke On The Water.” (Eagle Rock/EMI)