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Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Entertainment
Paul Brannigan

"In terms of live hard rock and roll, this is as good as it gets." Metallica's Lars Ulrich salutes one of the greatest live albums ever, a record he says he's listened to "about 18,000 times"

Lars Ulrich.

Metallica's Lars Ulrich has recorded a video saluting the timeless majesty of Deep Purple's Made In Japan album, a record he describes as "the best hard rock live album ever".

Recorded over three nights on the English band's first Japanese tour - two shows at Osaka's Festival Hall (August 15 and 16, 1972) and one night at Tokyo's famous Budokan venue (August 17, 1972) - Made in Japan was originally released in the UK on December 22, 1972, and on March 3, 1973 in the US.

On August 15, the 53rd anniversary of their first Osaka concert, Deep Purple released a 50th anniversary edition of the classic album, remixed by Stephen Wilson. And Lars Ulrich reckons it's well worth your time, as he explains in a video uploaded yesterday (August 19) to Deep Purple's official YouTube channel.

"Hey, everyone, Lars here," the drummer says by way of an introduction. "I just wanna take a brief second and say... 53 years ago, this very weekend, Deep Purple were in Japan for the very first time, and those three concerts were recorded - two nights in Osaka, one night in Tokyo were recorded - and eventually became the Made In Japan album, in my humble opinion, hands down the best hard rock live album ever.

"I have heard it just about 18,000 times, and every time I hear it, it just gets better and better and better, and it's so crazy cool. It's so lively, it's so energetic and just, Duuuurrrghhh! You know what I mean? You know what I mean?

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