The House of Blue Light
The House of Blue Light is the twelfth studio album by The British rock band Deep Purple, released in 1987. It is the second recording by the re-formed Mark II line-up, and the sixth studio album overall by this formation of the band.
Recording
The album's creation was an exceedingly long and difficult process, which singer Ian Gillan compared to the recording of Who Do We Think We Are in Rome. Gillan has remarked on how strained relations within the band compromised the album: "I look back at House Of Blue Light, there are some good songs on that record, but there’s something missing in the overall album. I can’t feel the spirit of this band. I can see or hear five professionals doing their best, but it’s like a football team, it’s not functioning. It’s like eleven superstars that are playing on the same field but are not connected by the heart or by the spirit". Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore has said much of it was re-recorded, and confessed, "I think I played like shit on it, and I don't think anyone else really got that into it." Added organist Jon Lord, "House of Blue Light was a weird album and hard to put together. We made the massive mistake of trying to make our music current. We discovered that people didn't want us to do that."Despite the band's concerns, House of Blue Light sold well. It hit No. 10 in the UK charts, No. 34 on the Billboard 200 in the US, and reached the top ten in six other countries.
Promotion
Two promotional videos to the songs "Bad Attitude" and "Call of the Wild" were produced. Both of them feature members of the band.Track listing
Several tracks on the LP and cassette versions are shorter than those of the original CD released in 1987. The 1999 CD remaster used the original vinyl master tapes, and so its running time is correspondingly shorter than the original CD version as well.All tracks written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, except where noted.
1987 CD edition
Vinyl, cassette and 1999 CD edition
Personnel
;Deep Purple- Ian Gillan – vocals, harmonica
- Ritchie Blackmore – guitar
- Jon Lord – keyboards
- Roger Glover – bass
- Ian Paice – drums, percussion
- Produced by Roger Glover and Deep Purple
- Recorded at the Playhouse, Stowe, Vermont, with Le Mobile operated by Guy Charbonneau
- Engineered by Nick Blagona
- Mixed by Harry Schnitzler at Union Studios, Munich, West Germany
- Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, New York
Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
| 1987 | German Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1987 | Swedish Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1987 | Norwegian Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1987 | Swiss Albums Top 100 | 3 |
| 1987 | Austrian Top 40 Albums | 5 |
| 1987 | Japanese Albums Chart | 9 |
| 1987 | UK Albums Chart | 10 |
| 1987 | Dutch MegaCharts | 11 |
| 1987 | Italian Albums Chart | 15 |
| 1987 | New Zealand Albums Chart | 25 |
| 1987 | The Billboard 200 | 34 |
| 1987 | RPM100 | 51 |
;Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1987 | "Call of the Wild" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 14 |
| 1987 | "Call of the Wild" | UK Singles Chart | 92 |
| 1987 | "Bad Attitude" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 14 |