Deep Purple go back quite some time. Having come from unleashing the world’s most famous opening riff ever upon us with Smoke On The Water, feasting our ears with Child In Time, being the ones who presented Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale to the world on a greater scale than in their previous outfits and, after being dissolved for years, returning with Perfect Strangers, we now find them in a wholly different guise. Sure, the Purple we see nowadays has been around for some years. Long gone are the days of Ritchie Blackmore and, not only did Jon Lord, the master of the Hammond organ, leave the band more than a decade ago, he sadly passed away last year. So now we’re here in 2013 and Purple bring us their latest offering, Now What?!.

With Now What?! appearing on vinyl and in special issues, it seems appropriate to lend an ear to Purple’s most progressive album to date. A Simple Song starts things off, quite like a ballad with Ian Gillan pensive on the matter of time. “Time it does not matter”, he reflects. By then, Steve Morse (guitar) has already provided a neat solo. As Ian tells us of a simple song, the band kick off an out-and-out Purple rock song. Ian Paice (drums) and Roger Glover (bass) are as tight as ever with Morse and Don Airey (Hammond and other keys) really jamming along. Is it me or do we hear Steve Morse give a bit of Stargazer (from Rainbow’s Rising album) fashion? The band rock on and the song ends quite like it started.

Weirdistan pulls you in with its very Perfect Strangers-like sound. Where the young Purple were very much a hard rocking outfit, from the MK II reunion with Perfect Strangers onwards, the keyboards were used even more expressively to add to the mood of the songs, so it comes as no surprise that Don Airey leads the way here. And particularly in the moments where he and Steve Morse join forces, Purple show that they still know how to rock…and then some. Morse’s solo here has a very laidback feel and he plays it magnificently.

 

After that we get Out Of Hand where Don gets another chance to shine during the opening segments of the song. Here we get to hear very Lord-like Hammond parts which Don Airey plays them very well. Ian Gillan does his utmost with the vocals and the pulsating beat we catch in the background really brings the song to life.

Then Purple sets sail for their Highway Star 2013 song, however, it is called Hell To Pay now. We don’t get a Blackmore on speed but a very decent rock song with Morse playing his solo, building it up slowly only to end fast, just like that renowned minstrel used to do. Still, Morse does it his way. This song also features Don Airey going all out in his Lord dedication and even the feeling of a Purple concert in the ’70s springs to mind. Improvisation was something that Purple did all the time, just listen to various live recordings of those days and you’ll find that you need not be a prog band per se to, ahem, prog out. Just have a listen to Above And Beyond, Blood From A Stone or Uncommon Man and you’ll find there is much more to Deep Purple now than you might ever have thought.

Sure, not all the songs are equally good, yet Deep Purple have given us a very inspired and inspiring album. Rock mixed with prog and Messers Gillan, Glover, Hughes, Morse, Paice overseeing the process. You loved Perfect Strangers? You loved Made in Japan? You got over Blackmore being out of the band for years and years now? And you are looking for what might be a fitting tribute to Jon Lord? Then here it is. Now What?! shows that, indeed, “Time does not matter”.