Deep Purple
=1
Go figure. Your contemporaries have long since thrown in the towel, they were always the real pioneers in the eyes of the general public… And you? It is 2024 now, those other bands simply no longer exist, well, some of their members may still be making music, but the bulk of them are well past their last tour.
That is far from the case with you guys. And it’s not as if there weren’t times when it would have been perfectly natural to stop. There was Ritchie’s departure, Jon leaving the band and finally master guitarist Steve Morse’s final retreat from the band. Yes, with Don Airey you got Jon’s blessing, but after Steve’s departure could you muster the resilience to fill the guitar position again?
Fortunately, Don and Ian had worked with Simon McBride before and you did not just find a new touring mate in the young guitarist from Belfast, also the one to become a permanent member when Steve definitely left the band . And that’s not all, the youngster wanted to work with you on new music. And that feeling was mutual. On July 19, 2024, the album you made together will be released. It is nothing short of stunning! The first punch was already a fine one which most certainly made an impression. That is the incredibly tight Portable Door.
Yes, the Blackmore-afficionado’s will undoubtedly and sometimes rather ferociously mutter “No Blackmore, No Purple,” resigning themselves to the antiquity of hard rock. So did they ever really listen to the albums without the minstrel in black? Just listen to the new album; as with earlier albums with Steve Morse and, even earlier, Come Taste The Band with Tommy Bolin, their adagium turns out to be nothing but the hollowest of phrases. Well, Tommy did get Ritchie’s blessing and, though there are those who reckon Tommy unfortunately failed to master his addiction, and in that, together with Glenn Hughes nearly causing Purple’s demise, he was a very unique guitarist and the music back then was wonderfully funky and Purple sounded like reborn. Regardless of the tragic personal circumstances that may well have affected his playing, Tommy had an impact on the band’s sound and on many of us who fell for his playing. Just as your music regained momentum with Steve at the time of Purpendicular. And it most certainly felt like a rebirth! After all, the recipe for great Deep Purple songs includes, above all, a passionate guitarist. Nodding through life, whether that is what you truly feel or just a gimmick and being dressed in black never were requirements for a perfect Purple song.
What Deep Purple delivers on =1 simply sounds as fresh and vital as ever. Perhaps even more so. It shows that you as a band are still far from the end of your rope. Of course you may say that Ian doesn’t reach the high notes anymore and hey, how is that bad, for a 78-year-old? Even so, the screams are back! Different from how they once sounded, but very, very effective and cool. Just listen to how eager the band sounds. Whether it’s the ever driving rhythm section of both Paice and Glover, Airey’s sparkling keys, Gillan’s vocals, with lyrics as if he were many years younger than his actual age, on this album he really shines! And to top that off, Simon’s riffs and solos make you feel like the band could be around for years to come.
Show Me has the eagerness of the time-honored Highway Star, just listen to Paice and Glover, but Don and Simon’s playing and Ian’s vocals bring it to the here and now. Simon fits right in from the get-go. A Bit On The Side is a song in which Paicey gets to let himself go with Roger at his side and Simon underlines again why he just had to become Ritchie’s, Tommy’s and Steve’s successor ánd yet with a sound of his own! Yes, Simon, your playing here is just awesome. Your contributions to the songs on this album, make the band as a whole sound far more eager and driven than anyone might have expected.
The way the five of you worked together in the studio, you can hear it both in the playing and in the singing, was both enthusiastic and very relaxed, almost casual. Simon and Don, both your playing feels both free and driven, Paicey and Glover, your playing perhaps never was tighter than this. And with your relaxed yet energetic singing, lyrics and vocal lines, Ian, your singing is reminiscent of your days with Gillan (the band). You wrote thirteen songs and here you perform them with a panache as if you were just getting started. In doing so, you are very far from being sedate. Far from being a Lazy Sod, as a matter of fact.
The vast majority of the songs rock and feature really brilliant duels between you, Don with really very inspired keyboard playing and Simon’s unadulterated strong fretwork. It doesn’t matter whether you listen to Sharp Shooter, Portable Door or the even more rocking Old-Fangled Thing, no matter how good the albums with Ritchie and Steve were since the comeback with Perfect Strangers, you guys haven’t been as downright rocking as you show here for a long time. Not even mentioning the fantastic Now You’re Talkin’: what a tremendously cool song that has become with great playing from the whole band and an energetic and blazing Don and Simon.
Sure, you took breaks in the studio and that’s a good thing, but the screams are back again, Ian. Totally appropriate for the album and it is amazing how terrific they sound. You sell yourself short by emphasizing the instrumental side of the band, as your lyrics have always had a very fine balance between humorous, lyrics centered on women, or love, while you also very much point out social aspects or reflections on life. And you’re back at that here again. And, man, at 78, you are still singing like this! How great is that! Your enthousiasm, your vocal lines, you really make an impression. Listening to If I Were You, Pictures Of You and I’m Sayin Nothin’ illustrates that perfectly.
Thirteen songs. And you finish the album with two tracks like I’ll Catch You and especially Bleeding Obvious, where did you guys even get the inspiration? You really show you are still on top of your game, even 56 years after you started. And you do that with an awful lot of eagerness, enthousiasm and joy in playing. It is very typical of Ian to close the album with the words and title of that very last song, but playing the song, and singing it this way, you simply all show your class.
Zeppelin haven’t gotten off the ground for years and will quiet likely never again do so, Black Sabbath have had their farewell and you guys are still here, alive and kicking. And rocking. Very much so. Yes, you did immortalize yourselves as a band with your heads chiselled out on In Rock. Clearly as a monument in time. Still, when you release =1 after 56 years of rocking all over the world (sic), with all its dynamics, panache and eagerness, you just don’t need to underline your own class with an iconic cover. With a very strong balance between the songs, prog, blues and even light jazz influences, always grounded in rock and a very clear and outstanding production, again by Bob Ezrin, you made a monumental album to show just where you’re at. What if we were to read =1 as Deep Purple is number one? Perhaps you guys wouldn’t even want us to. Yet, which ever way you interpret the album’s title, this is an album that leaves nothing to be desired. You have honed your trade, very much so, we can only take a deep bow to honour you. This is one very impressive and stunning album.
