In most fans' minds,
Deep Purple and
Rainbow go hand in hand, and with good reason -- up until the early '90s, both were led by guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore. And while
Rainbow was supposed to be a departure from
Deep Purple's sound, it didn't exactly turn out that way. True,
Rainbow became streamlined and "radio-friendly" in their latter years, but there were always a few unmistakable "
Purple" elements present (especially
Blackmore's fluid lead breaks, the presence of organ/keyboard, etc.). The 2003 budget-priced compilation Winning Combinations is split evenly between tracks from both bands -- focusing on
Purple and
Rainbow's '80s-era highlights. Tracks from
Purple's first few reunion albums (1984's Perfect Strangers and 1987's House of Blue Light) make it appear as though the band had picked up exactly where it left off a decade earlier. This was never more evident than on the epic title track from Perfect Strangers, or from the live takes of earlier classics ("Hush" and "Highway Star") that are also included here. The
Rainbow portion of the set focuses primarily on the "
Joe Lynn Turner years," when the group was obviously studying such chart-toppers as
Journey -- "I Surrender" and "Street of Dreams" in particular -- while the early MTV favorite "Stone Cold" and the oft-overlooked "Since You've Been Gone" prove to be the best of the bunch. Winning Combinations is a passable time capsule of '80s
Rainbow and
Purple. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
