DEEP PURPLE – THE END: FINAL EDITION (2 CD)

Description

Koseinenkin Kaikan, Osaka, Japan 29th June 1973 TRULY PERFECT SOUND(from Original Masters)
★2026 TRANSFER & UPGRADE!!
★The sound quality and content are amazing, like an official live album.

　This cultural heritage album, which has conveyed the “final night of Phase II,” has been revived in its ultimate form, the best it could possibly be. A newly digitized and latest-mastered version has been created, resulting in the ultimate finished product.

　The recording permanently preserved in this release is, of course, the one from “June 29, 1973, Osaka Kosei Nenkin Kaikan.” This is the definitive recording of the final night in Osaka, which has undergone numerous upgrades since its initial release in 2006. It is a superb audience recording praised as “just like a soundboard.” After being newly digitized from the original tapes once again, it has been thoroughly mastered until “GRAF ZEPPELIN” declared, “There is nothing more that can be done. We have truly done everything we can this time,” making it a truly final edition.

[Detailed mastering that completely restores the sound of the original recording]
　While various methods have been used to update this recording, what makes this version truly complete is the stability achieved through precise, fully mono conversion. As I’ve mentioned before, audience recordings from the 70s typically used a “monaural microphone + stereo tape” setup. This means the same sound was recorded on both the left and right channels. However, differences arose between the left and right channels due to the dubbing process and tape deterioration over time. These differences included phase shifts and the inclusion of individual noises and distortions in each channel. For example, this recording also had dropouts in one channel at the beginning of the live performance and around the two-minute mark of “Highway Star.” In this version, these minute imperfections have been thoroughly repaired. The noise and damaged sections have been transplanted from the other channel to recreate “one perfect recording.”

　It sounds simple in words, but in reality, it’s quite a difficult task. Simply performing this task would result in the aforementioned “difference between the left and right channels” becoming very noticeable. Phase shifts would result in time gaps, hiss noise would be introduced only in the transplanted section, and the frequency balance would change. Of course, these are minor discrepancies that would normally be tolerated, but GRAF ZEPPELIN’s meticulous mastering doesn’t leave them unaddressed. Even for a fleeting part, the phase is aligned to within 1/1000th of a second, and the frequency balance and equalization are precisely matched before transplantation. They are reconstructing the “perfect original monaural recording” without any sense of incongruity whatsoever.

[The “real 70s” revived in unprecedented high definition]
　Of course, it’s not just talk; the precision delivers an unprecedented listening experience. The greatest appeal of this recording is the excellent recording quality from the original tape stage; the audience is surprisingly quiet during the performance, creating an immersive feeling like an insider recording or a soundboard recording. The phase correction in this version makes the vocal positioning even clearer, making “Gillan’s Last Battle” feel more vivid and impactful. Furthermore, the sound, which pursues a natural feel, may sound similar to previous versions at first listen, but in reality, it is more powerful. From the beginning of “Highway Star,” you can feel the dense sonic impact, and the power has been increased.

　While previous releases used fade-ins to mark the beginning and end of the tape, this release preserves the entire cassette master in its original, unprocessed state. The track divisions have also been revised, with “Keyboard Solo” and “The Mule” now as separate tracks.

　The tape-like quality unique to vintage recordings imbues them with a sepia-toned melancholy, yet each note is crisp and clear. To use a visual analogy, it’s like a “4K digital remaster” of a classic black-and-white film. Without destroying the texture of the original sound, it extracts the maximum amount of information it contained within. That is the pinnacle of this work.

[Gillan is the star, but the real focus should be on John Lord.]
　The final night, revived with that final sound, is truly breathtaking. On this day, perhaps due to fatigue or the mental pressure of it being the final performance, Gillan couldn’t quite hit his high notes at key moments, and there were times when his voice just wouldn’t come out. At times, his singing sounded more like spoken dialogue than melody. However, that too is part of the document of June 29, 1973. His singing in “Child In Time,” imbued with a sense of tragedy, is all the more heartbreaking because of its imperfection. Ritchie, too, while having moments of almost giving up, as seen at the beginning of “Child In Time,” still manages to unexpectedly insert brilliant playing, as expected.

　While Gillan and Ritchie are both prominent figures, it might be John Lord who truly steals the show on this album. On a night when Gillan and Ritchie are inconsistent, John delivers a series of brilliant performances throughout. His organ playing from 2:30 onwards in “Highway Star” is overwhelming with its pleasantly distorted tone and incisive fingerwork, and from 7:15 onwards in “Smoke on the Water,” he takes the lead role in place of Ritchie. In “Child in Time” and “Space Truckin’,” his determination to support the band is palpable in his intense playing, and the realism of the organ at the beginning of “Lazy” feels completely superior to the soundboard recording thanks to this mono version.

　In “Space Truckin’,” riffs from “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” and “Sunshine of Your Love,” as well as “Happy Birthday” (which was Paice’s birthday), and many other phrases that have been highlights of the final shows, are revived in a realistic sound. It tends to be overshadowed by the fact that it was the “end of the second phase,” but in reality, it was a live performance that showcased the true essence of Jon Lord.

[A final speech that will evoke renewed emotion with new sound]
　The scream after the performance of “Space Truckin’,” and the whispered “The End” at the beginning of “Applause”—Gillan’s historic final speech is also brought back to life with sublime sound. After more than five minutes of thunderous requests for an encore, Gillan finally appears and speaks his final words, uttered with anguish. The sound of this album vividly captures even the nuances embedded in each and every word.

“All I want to say to…. all of you, is thank you very much, you’ve been great. Thank you for everything you’ve given us in Japan. And thank you, really you’re the representatives of the whole world as far as we’re concerned. Thank you and God bless you for everything you’ve ever given us. Um, this is the last night. The end. God bless ’em. Thanks a lot. Goodnight.”

“I want to say thank you to everyone, to all of you. You guys are the best. I’m grateful for everything that Japanese fans have done for us. You really are representatives of fans all over the world. Thank you and God bless all the memories we have with our Japanese fans. Yes, today is the last day. It’s over. Thank you so much. Goodbye.”

　The audience is momentarily stunned, unable to grasp the situation. Applause and cheers erupt without understanding why. Soon, voices of anger and screams from female fans arise as they realize there will be no encore… How many of the audience members truly understood the meaning of Gillan’s words? It’s a famous scene that we’ve heard countless times, but the freshness and naturalness of this version rekindles that emotion.

　”There’s nothing more we can do. We’ve done everything we could.” — This is the final form of the last night of the second incarnation of Deep Purple, as declared by “GRAF ZEPPELIN.” Newly digitized from the original tapes, phase correction and complete mono conversion have been achieved to extract the truth of the original sound to the extreme. Experience the glory, anguish, and separation condensed into “June 29, 1973” in unparalleled quality and engrave it in your heart.

★This is the final edition, deepening the legendary audience recording of the last night of the second phase, “June 29, 1973, Osaka Kosei Nenkin Kaikan.” The sound, created through new digitalization, detailed correction, and complete mono conversion of the original tape, is so perfect that “GRAF ZEPPELIN” said, “There’s nothing more we can do.” This final edition will make the emotion of the historic last speech all the more renewed.

REMASTERED BY GRAF ZEPPELIN
★Newly digitized from the original tapes and remastered with the latest technology!
★Phase correction and complete mono conversion. The sound dropouts at the beginning of the live performance and around the 2-minute mark of “Highway” have been largely eliminated.
★Bandwidth correction is applied, but excessive processing is not used.

Disc 1 (41:28)
1. Intro.
2. Highway Star
3. Smoke On The Water
4. Strange Kind Of Woman
5. Child In Time

Disc 2 (45:31)
1. Keyboard Solo
2. Lazy
3. Drum Solo
4. The Mule
5. Space Truckin’
6. Applause
7. Ian Gillan Closing Speech

“All I want to say to…. all of you, is thank you very much, you’ve been great. Thank you for everything you’ve given us in Japan. And thank you, really you’re the representatives of the whole world as far as we’re concerned. Thank you and God bless you for everything you’ve ever given us. Um, this is the last night. The end. God bless ’em. Thanks a lot. Goodnight.”

“I want to say thank you to everyone, to all of you. You guys are the best. I’m grateful for everything that Japanese fans have done for us. You really are representatives of fans all over the world. Thank you and God bless all the memories we have with our Japanese fans. Yes, today is the last day. It’s over. Thank you so much. Goodbye.”

Ian Gillan – Vocals
Ritchie Blackmore – Guitar
Roger Glover – Bass
Jon Lord – Keyboards
Ian Paice – Drum