Just the existence of a book covering the very interesting period of Deep Purple after the Mk.II reunion is a very big motive to purchase it.
“A Castle Full Of Rascals” follows the Canadian writer’s classic recipe packing in loads of interviews that he did with the band members and beyond. Obviously, the most interesting part is the break-up after the “House Of Blue Lilght” and of course the second reunion in 1993 which led to Blackmore’s exit. You will read tons of gossip, each side’s opinions about everything and that’s very positive. On the other hand, the down side of it is as it often happens in Poppof’s books the repetition of the same stuff through the interviews. However, the value of reading direct slamming of Gillan to Blackmore and vice versa is priceless and needs repetition!
Obviously, Steve Morse brought peace and harmony to the band’s ranks and that’s why the respective chapters are not that interesting as we get to read again and again how great the feeling is within the band and how the members were allowed to push the envelop.
At the same time with the historical timeline there is also the writer’s evaluation of each album and the band members views as well, which are surprising sometimes. Surely, this is a book that will appeal to the band’s fanatics that look for something extra to “spice up” their knowledge on their favourite band. Those will find a lot of interesting material in this book.
