Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse recalled enduring a backlash from Ozzy Osbourne fans who hated the cover versions released on Living Loud's self-titled 2004 LP.

The supergroup featured Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake, who wanted to revisit six of the songs they co-wrote and recorded for Osbourne’s solo LPs Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman.

“We tried out some different things with the songs, which Bob really liked, and ended up with something a little bit different,” Morse told Classic Rock in a new interview. “And my God, the floodgates of Hell opened up! Some people absolutely lost their minds, and we received all manner of abuse.” He added that the experience meant he was prepared for some negativity over Purple’s new covers album, Turning to Crime. “But there‘s always the possibility that some people might like it, I suppose,” he said.

In the same interview, Purple frontman Ian Gillan admitted he was “totally against” the idea of recording other artists’ songs to make a new album.

“I thought the purists, and myself, would see something like this as criminal, metaphorically,” he explained. “it’s awfully cheeky to think that you can improve on the originals, which are embedded in everyone’s mind.” But he continued: “I really love this record. You can always tell if you feel proud of a record if you play it a few times afterwards and really listen to it, which isn’t that case with all the records that I’ve made! But I have played this one, and I’ve played it to my pals, and I played it in a bar, and I’m very happy with it. It’s harking back to why we do what we [do].”

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