‘Everything Louder Than Everything Else’ - Deep Purple Conquers with “Made in Japan”

Steven Wilson works his remixing magic on the archetypal hard rock double live album

Deep Purple’s Mark II lineup of Blackmore/Lord/Paice/Gillan/Glover, strayed from the group’s psychedelic origins, adapting to the harder-rocking style of contemporaries like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, which became the pillars of what became heavy metal. Fueled by lengthy and dynamic improvisations, the group was an untamable force on the live stage, something that worked in favor of their reputation and against the notion that it would translate efficiently on record. Bootlegs were starting to dominate the market, and Deep Purple were finally persuaded that a live album would be a commercially viable option. 

There was a significant amount of hype surrounding Deep Purple’s inaugural tour of Japan in August 1972. The Japanese division of Warner Bros. was eager to capitalize on the opportunity and release a live album exclusively within the country. Purple agreed under three stipulations: they approved the gear, longstanding engineer Martin Birch oversaw the recording, and they had final say as to whether it was released or not. Birch was concerned about the inadequacy of the recording equipment, but all the band was conscious of was the quality of their performance. 

From the revving introductory vamp of “Highway Star” to the galactic climax of ‘Space Truckin’,” Made in Japan successfully captured the essence of Deep Purple in the environment in which they thrived the most. The renditions of their revamped live repertoire at the time, drawing heavily from the then-new Machine Head and favorites from Fireball and In Rock, are delivered with a sense of ferocity and looseness that make their studio counterparts so timid in comparison. Made in Japan also stands out because it avoids the trappings of studio trickery and overdubs that other live albums of this period succumb to. It also retains this ‘in the moment’ quality with brief segments of tuning and banter, especially when Ritchie Blackmore quips infamously to their monitor engineer, ‘Can I have everything louder than everything else?’ Made in Japan is Deep Purple at its rawest and most honest. 

What was intended to be a regionally exclusive release morphed into a worldwide phenomenon when Warner Bros. released Made in Japan worldwide in December 1972. The US followed suit four months later due to a staggering amount of imports, and it became the album where Deep Purple reclaimed America with an impressive No. 6 chart position. Keyboardist Jon Lord described the album as ‘a beautiful snapshot of the band in all its glory.’ It was the live version of “Smoke on the Water” that gave the group their first Top 5 hit in America since 1968’s “Hush,” thus cementing it as the group’s signature song. Many beginner guitarists still take the oath of learning its memorable riff, and to this day it still drives Guitar Center employees nuts. 

Over 50 years on from its release, Made in Japan hasn’t been spared from a bevy of noteworthy reissues. Multitracks for the three shows recorded for the album were polished off and released as Live in Japan in 1993. It questioningly removed some tracks that appeared on the final album and only featured a portion of the shows' encores. Peter Mew’s 1998 remastering of the original album unintentionally rewrote history by editing and crossfading all the tracks together to make one continuous performance as opposed to the individual fades on the original. In 2014, a box including the three shows available in their entirety for the first time was released; the original album was notably missing. Now, in 2025, the deluxe anniversary edition features BOTH the original album, remixed by Steven Wilson, and the three shows, remixed by Richard Digby Smith. Wilson’s remix has been given a standalone release as part of Rhino’s 2025 Rocktober campaign. 

A new mix also needs a new look. Steven Wilson’s remix of Made in Japan is presented in a jacket that bears a close resemblance to the original royal gold cover, now featuring live shots that were exclusively included on the original Japanese pressing of the album. The purple border around the rising sun motif in the gatefold brandishes some freshness to the artwork. Warner Bros.’ Burbank palm label would’ve been the era-appropriate one to use. This pressing instead utilizes a fittingly purple custom label. 

As always with Steven Wilson’s remixes, he remains faithful to the original but provides more air with the application of artificial reverb. One facet that’s NOT faithful to the original is the decision to crossfade the tracks together, à la the Mew ‘98 remaster; it might be nitpicky of me to single this out, yet it doesn’t detract from sonic enjoyment. What's unique about Made in Japan’s mix is that it goes against the typical representation of a live album being heard from a spectator’s point of view. This album puts the listener on stage with Deep Purple, centering vocals/drums/bass and placing guitars and keyboards at their respective left and right stage positions. 

Even if live recordings don’t typically render the intricacies of exquisitely engineered studio recordings, this pressing of Made in Japan has incredible dynamics. Ian Paice’s drums and Roger Glover’s bass create a subtle, sinister atmosphere on “Child in Time.” When Gillan’s faint falsetto turns into a banshee-like scream, the entire band crescendos and becomes a bellowing monster! One of the advantages of Wilson’s remix is that while the group jells perfectly together, he leaves enough space to single out solo spotlights. “Strange Kind of Woman” has always been a crowd pleaser, but the dueling call-and-response between Blackmore and vocalist Ian Gillan alone is a favorable fixture. A bluesy track like “Lazy” sounds more playful when guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and keyboardist Jon Lord trade off solo licks.

Japanese audiences tend to be more conservative and tamed compared to more raucous Western audiences. On Made in Japan, they play just as big a role as the band does. Their exercise of total silence and discipline makes way for total focus on the band’s performances. It leaves enough room for them to clap along when Blackmore starts “Smoke on the Water” unaccompanied. Any passion or enthusiasm they retain gets unleashed with a deafening wave of applause after the dissonant climax of “Child in Time” and the abrupt ending of “Space Truckin’.”

Steven Wilson’s take on Made in Japan doesn’t take as many radical liberties as did last year's Dweezil Zappa’s remix of Machine Head. One can hope Wilson's remixing magic in the foreseeable future will grace the other classic Deep Purple Mark II albums, Fireball and In Rock.