The Battle Rages On...
The Battle Rages On... is the fourteenth studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple, released on 19 July 1993 in Europe.It marked the second return of frontman Ian Gillan and was to last to feature founding member Ritchie Blackmore, prior to his second and final departure four months after release. It is the last album recorded with the band's classic Mk II line-up, which reunited for a second time.
Joe Lynn Turner was fired from the band during the early sessions, with Mike DiMeo initially chosen as his replacement. At the insistence of Jon Lord, Ian Paice and Roger Glover, Ian Gillan eventually returned to the band during late 1992 in place of DiMeo, thus reforming the Mk II line-up. Gillan had to rework much of the material already existing for the album, which had been intended for Turner and/or DiMeo. Ritchie Blackmore allegedly became infuriated by Gillan's re-writes, believing the songs were more melodic in their original versions, and he left the band for the second and final time after a show on 17 November 1993 in Helsinki, Finland. Joe Lynn Turner later quoted Blackmore referring to the album as "The cattle grazes on". American guitarist Joe Satriani joined Deep Purple as a temporary replacement for the remainder of the tour. A handful of working tracks written during The Battle Rages On... sessions would turn up on subsequent solo releases by Turner under different song titles.
Track listing
Personnel
; Deep Purple- Ian Gillan – vocals, congas
- Ritchie Blackmore – guitars
- Roger Glover – bass guitar
- Ian Paice – drums
- Jon Lord – organ, keyboards
- Produced by Thom Panunzio and Roger Glover
- Basic tracks produced by Thom Panunzio at Bearsville Studios in upstate New York
- Vocals and overdubs recorded at Red Rooster Studios in Tutzing, Germany, and Greg Rike Studios in Orlando, Florida.
- Mixed by Pat Regan with Roger Glover at Sound on Sound Recording in New York, and at the Ambient Recording Company in Connecticut
- Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound in New York.
Reception