Tommy Bolin had already achieved a great deal by the time of his death at the tender age of 25, and one can only wonder what he might have gone onto in later life. I personally always thought that ‘Come Taste The Band’ was, and is, a vastly overlooked album in Purple’s canon, yet I really enjoyed it from the first time I heard it not long after its release, and would have loved to have heard more from the MK IV line-up. As he has been busy in different bands, Bolin did not record much solo material, and only released two albums, one prior to joining Purple and ‘Private Eyes’ afterwards.

Subtitled ‘The Lost Sessions’, this set has been licensed directly from Bolin’s estate and with informative liner notes from rock journalist Dave Thompson, these recordings offer both acoustic, instrumental and alternate versions of some of Bolin’s best-known tunes including his most popular song, “Bustin’ Out For Rosey.” The problem with “lost” tapes is that they were often lost for a reason, with the artist not happy with something, yet for fans they are a goldmine in hearing an artist working through material in different manners, getting an insight into what was going on. One thing which is really interesting is that it does not sound like the production has been cleaned up in any way, it sounds throughout like a demo tape, of what the basic tracks sounded like, but would be further worked on and cleaned up. This really is an album for fans only, as it is not a thought-out collection of songs but rather what could be put together to make a somewhat coherent album. I found it interesting, but nothing more than that, but I am sure that anyone looking to hear more from this musician will welcome this with open arms.

Rating: 6/10

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