The Deep Purple Mk 7 live compilation 'Around The World 1995-1999' appeared in 2000, and was an enjoyable collection mostly comprising live tracks recorded by a variety of TV stations. It was also largely redundant within a year, available as VHS only at a time when DVD was making serious inroads into the market. Subsequently deleted, it remains of interest because a handful of the tracks have still to be upgraded to DVD.

Even when it was first released, 'Around The World' contained footage which had already come out on other Thames Thompson products. The whole operation seemed to work by getting stuff out as quickly as possible (probably accounting for the slapdash artwork), and jamming in content, irrespective of quality or availability. 'Anya' and 'Space Truckin' from India 1995 were already on 'Bombay Calling', 'Child In Time' from Seoul 1995 has since been added to the 2004 edition of 'Bombay Calling'. 'Smoke On The Water' from Melbourne 1999 is the same music as the 'Total Abandon' DVD, but is listed as a 'director's cut' on the video sleeve. It hasn't been upgraded to DVD in that guise, but I don't regard it as essential.

Of the other tracks, six were slipped unannounced onto 2001's 'New Live And Rare - The Video Collection 1984-2000' DVD (with dates and places vagued up), but those are at least taken care of. Sadly the opportunity to upgrade the rest wasn't taken, and so the only place to find them is on this long deleted video.

Aside from the director's cut of 'Smoke..' we have:

• 'Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming' from the LA House Of Blues on January 30th 1998. Other tracks from the show are sprinkled around New Live & Rare, and Total Abandon.

• 'Hush' from Istanbul on June 2nd 1998, the first date of the Abandon world tour. It's a one camera job, shot at some distance, but comes across very well, having an edge that's often missing from slicker productions.

• 'Watching The Sky' and 'Fingers To The Bone' are from Bucharest on November 26th 1998. The film quality is a bit grainy, but it looks like a powerful show. 'Around The World' remains the only place to pick up a live version of the latter track.

review: David Browne

The full track-listing of 'Around The World'
plus current availablility on DVD:

1. Child In Time (Seoul. March 19th 1995)
2. Anya (Bombay, April 8th 1995)
3. Space Truckin' (Bombay, April 8th 1995)
4. Speed King (Moscow, June 22nd 1996)
5. Fireball (Sao Paulo, March 19th 1997)
6. Bloodsucker (Los Angeles, January 30th 1998)
7. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming (Los Angeles, Jan 30th 1998)
8. No One Came (San Jose, Costa Rica, February 8th 1998)
9. When A Blind Man Cries (San Jose, Costa Rica, Feb 8th 1998)
10. Hush (Istanbul, June 2nd 1998)
11. Watching The Sky (Bucharest, November 26th 1998)
12. Fingers To The Bone (Bucharest, November 26th 1998)
13. Lazy (Sofia, November 28th 1998)
14. Smoke On The Water (Melbourne, Apr 20th 1999) 'director's cut'
.......

• on 'New Live & Rare - The Video Collection 1984-2000' DVD
• on 'Bombay Calling' DVD (both editions)
• on 'Bombay Calling' DVD (2004 edition)
• not available on DVD