THIS double album contains 13 tracks by Deep Purple (including, naturally, Smoke On The Water), seven by Rainbow, four by both Whitesnake (sadly including the newer version of Here I Go Again) and Gillan (where's No Laughing In Heaven?), three by Dio and Graham Bonnet's Night Games.

So it shows a definite leaning towards the heavier off-shoots of Deep Purple rather than the blues-based bands. There's not enough Whitesnake or Gillian, and many of their good tracks are omitted.

The sleeve notes leave much to be desired because they consist of the track, artist and credits, no more: no pictures, no family tree, no biographies, nothing. Musically it is an excellent album, however.

Updated: 09:36 Thursday, August 05, 2004