| Slaves and Masters | |
| Type: | Studio |
| Artist: | Deep Purple |
| Cover: | Slaves and Masters.jpg |
| Released: | 22 October 1990 |
| Recorded: | Early to mid 1990 |
| Studio: |
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| Genre: | Hard rock |
| Length: | 46:51 |
| Producer: | Roger Glover |
| Prev Title: | The House of Blue Light |
| Prev Year: | 1987 |
| Next Title: | The Battle Rages On... |
| Next Year: | 1993 |
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Slaves and Masters is the thirteenth studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple, and was released on 22 October 1990.[1] This is the only Deep Purple album to feature former Rainbow lead vocalist Joe Lynn Turner, who had joined the previous year after the firing of Ian Gillan. Before hiring Turner, the band had considered singer Jimi Jamison of Survivor, but other obligations made him unavailable.[2]
Following its release, Slaves and Masters peaked at No. 87 on the US Billboard 200 chart.[3] The album dramatically sold below expectations, as compared to Deep Purple's previous album, The House of Blue Light with Gillan, which charted at No. 34 in the US.[3] A song from the Slaves and Masters recording sessions was rearranged for the soundtrack of the 1990 movie Fire, Ice and Dynamite. Jon Lord did not play on the song, which was performed by the four other members of the Mark V Deep Purple line-up.
Despite underwhelming album sales, Deep Purple had a relatively successful tour in support of Slaves and Masters in 1991, especially for the band's European leg. Turner was still a member of the group when they began writing and recording their next album in 1992, but under duress from managers who were eyeing a 25th anniversary tour, Deep Purple ultimately decided to bring back the Mark II line-up for their 1993 studio album The Battle Rages On... A handful of working tracks originally intended for the follow-up to Slaves and Masters would turn up on subsequent solo releases by Turner.
"Too Much Is Not Enough" had been recorded by Turner for the unreleased follow-up of his first solo album Rescue You, and it was also recorded by Paul Rodgers and Kenney Jones band The Law but they didn't release it, either. Turner's original version can be found on the bootleg Demos '88 - 91 and The Law version on The Law II bootleg. Turner re-recorded the song for his album Hurry Up and Wait (1998).
The album was promoted on television with music videos to the songs "King of Dreams" and "Love Conquers All", both featuring the band. Directed by James Foley, the video for "King of Dreams" was shot at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and featured actress Betsy Lynn George, who had starred in the video for Billy Idol's "Cradle of Love" earlier that year.[4] The video for "Love Conquers All" was directed by Storm Thorgerson, formerly of legendary album cover design team Hipgnosis.
The band played most of the songs from the album on their 1991 world tour, with the set list also including two songs - "Burn" and "Hey Joe" - which had always been vetoed by Ian Gillan. Deep Purple have not played any songs from Slaves and Masters live since the 1991 tour. Joe Lynn Turner has occasionally performed "King of Dreams", "The Cut Runs Deep" and "Love Conquers All" during solo performances. Turner also performed "King of Dreams" alongside another former Deep Purple member Glenn Hughes as part of the set list of the Hughes Turner Project's European and Japanese tours in 2002. This version can be found on HTP's live album Live in Tokyo (2002).
Following its release, Slaves and Masters was met with mixed reception from critics. AllMusic's Alex Henderson gave the album a negative review, saying that "the songwriting is weak and pedestrian, and most of the time, the once-mighty Purple (who were at least 16 years past their prime) sound like a generic Foreigner wannabe". The same concept was expressed in the reviews by journalists Martin Popoff and Joel McIver, who described Slaves and Masters "a bit like a latter-day Rainbow album" and an "extravagant piece of AOR-ness ... incredibly lightweight", respectively. However, they salvaged a few songs, such as "King of Dreams", "Love Conquers All" and "Fire in the Basement", which "make at least a reasonable effort to match Purple’s catalogue". Ultimate Classic Rock dubbed Slaves and Masters as "Deep Rainbow," criticizing the album as "worst of both worlds" for combining elements from Deep Purple and Rainbow.[5]
Jon Lord never recognized this record as a Deep Purple album,[6] a feeling echoed by Roger Glover.[7] Ritchie Blackmore has said that the album is his favourite from the 1984 to 1993 reunion era of Deep Purple,[8] while Joe Lynn Turner openly praised Slaves and Masters by saying it was "probably (the) last great Purple album there was (...) It's a great album, (it) stands up to these days, one of the best recorded, best written (...) I can name every title and just go...who can beat that?".[9]
| Chart (1990-1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[10] | 72 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[11] | 24 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[12] | 17 |