Nine years after Come Taste the Band, the Mark II lineup returned for Perfect Strangers. This was the most successful album recorded by the lineup. Three singles were released: “Knocking at Your Back Door”, “Nobody’s Home”, and “Perfect Strangers” . The album peaked at #17 in the US and #5 in the UK. At the time, each of the 5 members had played in other bands, making it a supergroup of sorts. Ian Gillian was in Black Sabbath, Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover were in Rainbow, Jon Lord was in Whitesnake, and Paice was backing Gary Moore.
Members:The
Ian Gillian: vocals
Ritchie Blackmore: guitar
Roger Glover: bass, synthesizer
Jon Lord: organ, keyboards
Ian Paice: drujs
The Tracks:
- “Knocking at Your Back Door “: The album starts off strong with this banger, and a killer Blackmore riff. The song was used by the Seattle Supersonics in their line-up intro at home games.
- ” Under the Gun”: Some great guitar and bass here.
- “Nobody’s Home” : This is the only song credited to all 5 members. Lord has an excellent keyboard riff and Paice does some great drumming. Best song on the album.
- “Mean Streak”: This is about average.
- ” Perfect Strangers “: This song kicks off side 2 with a good bass and rhythm section.
- ” A Gypsy’s Kiss”: I didn’t like this one much.
- “Wasted Days”: Some more great drumming and a killer solo from Blackmore.
- ” Hungry Daze”: The worst song on the album for me.
- “Son of Aleric”: This is a cool instrumental song.
Final Verdict: The album is pretty front -loaded, and winds down towards the end. It’s an excellent comeback.
Grade: A-
Aspie Catholic 
Okay, I hate being That Guy, but you know I will be when it’s called for. First of all, my favorite song on the album is “Wasted Sunsets.” There is no “Wasted Days” anywhere on here. Secondly, although PERFECT STRANGERS is Purple Mk II’s highest charting album in the US, if you check for facts, I think you’ll find MACHINE HEAD is overall still their best-selling album. I prefer PERFECT STRANGERS, but we’re talking facts about sales (and facts about song titles).