I've heard most of their cd's except the new one and find them pretty repetitive -- there's probably one great cd to be built out of each couple they release. Ritchie Blackmore's acoustic work is a little difficult to get into as he has a very busy style and the recordings don't really let the guitar sing as it should. I also find the singer to be quite limited in ability. That said, some folks love it, others think it's a pastiche, but I enjoy many of their songs and I think their live album is a good intro. It also has the bonus of extra cuts with RB hamming it up and cracking jokes. For studio cds, I'd chose the Village Lanterne as a decent one to start with, a mix of folk and rock, with a couple of covers thrown in and enough of Ritchie on the strat to remind you of his former glories.