I remember hearing this for the first time at age 10 and thinking it was pretty cool. This was before I musically matured into the snob I am today, of course, so revisiting Deep Purple seemed a logical choice after so much time.

A while back, I criticized a gushing press release about a new Deep Purple album. The release stated that the band was one of the most important ever in defining the rock and metal art form. But after listening to Made In Japan, that statement makes a little more sense. Often, we look to the obvious metal figures -- Zeppelin, Sabbath, Metallica -- as the ones who inspired the genre, leaving out Deep Purple, Blue Cheer, and even Iron Butterfly, in their own way, as luminaries.

Made In Japan offers all the power that seemed bottled up on the band's previous three albums. In this setting, they can be as loud and overblown as they want, and they succeed on both fronts (the
Guinness Book of World Records once listed them as the loudest band on the planet). Seven songs spread over two albums, but with the exception of two, they entertain all the way through.

"Highway Star" is a logical opener, and remains similar to the studio version, although Richie Blackmore's guitar sounds faster and more urgent, and the rhythm section really carries the song (any nominations for Ian Paice as a top 10 drummer of all time?) "Smoke On The Water" is extended slightly, with a longer introduction and some organ theatrics to close, but it remains fundamentally the same.

Singer Ian Gillan -- who once played Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar -- is in top form here, alternating between a rock growl, shrieks, a falsetto and a smooth ballad voice (on "Child In Time," he does all four). He and Rob Halford probably did more for metal vocals than most other singers, and hearing a genre in effect being defined is something.

"Child In Time" uses Gillan's voice as an instrument against the moody ballad, which gives way to a Jon Lord organ solo, which then speeds the song up and features Blackmore's excellent soloing for three full minutes before ending how it began. Likewise, "Lazy" betters its studio counterpart - minus the annoying metallic keyboard screech at the beginning, the song is looser and funkier. "Strange Kind Of Woman" is carried off well too.

This leaves the two nadirs, "The Mule" and "Space Truckin'." So many live records insist on putting on the drum solo -- think "Moby Dick" or "Perpetual Change" off Yessongs -- and every time it's a momentum killer. Seeing the solo is great, but even the most talented drummer can't sustain interest for that long. True, Paice molests his kit, and he's amazing, but six minutes? After that, it's just about Paice showing off.

And "Space Truckin'" is awesome for five minutes and then falls apart. This one was definitely padded to allow all sorts of solos and to push its running time to 20 minutes, but it ends the album with a whimper because of this unnecessary length. Songs that are this long should be complete pieces, like "Tarkus," and this one is not.

But on the whole, the record is loud, energetic and fun. It was also the last great album the band would ever make, and on that note it's a great way to mark a legacy. Those who want the Deep Purple experience would do well to pick this and Machine Head up, and work backward from there.