The axiom “Deep Purple are not Deep Purple without Ritchie Blackmore” is an albatross which has hung over anything Gillan et al. produce for what seems like eons, and in truth, given it’s 31 years since Blackmore graced the stage with the original Jesus Christ Superstar vocalist it seems a misnomer to call it an axiom at all and yet, it still is what it is. That I begin this missive with the acknowledgement of such, possibly makes me part of the problem rather than the solution, but wait! Every good story has a beginning, a middle and an end. So let it be with this review!
Jon Lord’s death, now astonishingly 12 years ago, and Steve Morse’s departure in 2022 leaves Purple with Ian Paice, Roger Glover and the aforementioned Ian Gillan as the remaining classic mark 2 representatives, nowadays topped up by the presence of Don Airey on keyboards and Simon McBride on guitar. Airey has played with pretty much every rock and metal band under the sun and is noted for being able to get more entertaining noises out of a Hammond than Jeremy Clarkson, while McBride has supported Beck, Bonamassa and Satriani, along with working on the solo projects
of Gillan and Airey respectively so it was no real surprise to see him become a fully fledged member of Purple after filling in for a while for Morse previously.
What this all means is, when such a collective of creative juices are stirred, there’s always going to be something interesting forthcoming from this amalgamation of talent. If you’re a fan of earlier songs such as “Anyone’s Daughter” from the ‘Fireball’ album then you’re probably going to like the sound of what’s to come. With a vocal centric sound it’s Gillan’s distinctive style which dominates, and with only one song breaking the five minute mark it’s noticeable that there’s nothing even remotely resembling some of the more excentric aspects of early Purple.As it turns out, the album is very easy listening. Songs like ‘If I were You’, lean more towards the sounds of ‘When a Blind Man Cries’ from “Machine Head” rather than anything ‘Speed King’-esque but then Purple have long since left behind that level of intensity, and it occurs to me that these days I listen to that track from the aforementioned 1972 album (25 th anniversary addition) far more than any other. ‘Show Me’, the opening track sets the scene. The intro is sprightly, and continues through the track. As mentioned, the vocal is very much at the front of everything, and ‘A Bit on the Side’ doesn’t deviate from that save for about 3 minutes in where Gillan takes a breather. I have an inkling
this might be a live track where the musicians get a chance to show off their prowess, and having seen them live, albeit not in this line up, I can imagine they’ll enjoy themselves.
The two verse, instrumental, then finale, seems to be the modus operandi for the album. ‘Portable Door’ follows suit. The first single from the album, it’s crisp and sounds like a single should sound.Released in April anyone with an interest in Purple will have been on this like big pharma on an illness so it’s unlikely to need much description, but it is certainly very catchy. There are actually three songs now from the album which have been released, ‘Pictures of You’ and most recently ‘Lazy Sod’ in July being the other two, but of these it’s the first which best fits as a representation of
what’s to be found on “=1”.
On saying that ‘If I Were You’ is gentler in feeling, but not in tone at all. “Love and betrayal are not the best of friends” is a fantastic line. This song is worthy of being included on a break up mix tape right along with ‘Hedonism’ by Skunk Anansie and ‘You Oughta Know’ by Alanis! ‘I’m Saying Nothin’’ also has a hint of sarcasm about it, which is nice! ‘Now you’re Talking’ is probably the fastest most frenetic track, perhaps the closest to ‘Highway Star’ in speed and feel, and they pull it off surprisinglwell. There’s no screams, but the vocal is more than decent, instrumentation fitting to the style,complete with an excellent guitar and organ interaction, often hard to differentiate between whichis which, which is quintessential Purple, as well as a hint of Rainbow from Don Airey’s keyboard at times. This for me would be the track old school Purple people would gravitate to. ‘I’ll Catch You’, feels like the final track. It’s almost Chris Rea speed, and Gillan manages to squeeze “Crucified’ into the lyrics, and it resonates the same way “I don’t want to taste your poison” does in ‘Perfect strangers’. It’s actually rather beautiful as DP songs go, the shortest on the album, and just avery well written love song. In contrast the final song ‘Bleeding Obvious’ is the longest, and I’d suggest they wanted to go out with more of a bang than the previous would’ve given. Personally I’d’ve swapped them over but hey, what do I know? I’m just an old grey euphonium player!
Here’s the thing: Because of all which has come before, there’s always an air of trepidation as to what might manifest in a new release from Deep Purple and that’s fair enough. With a back catalogue big enough to need a jumbo jet to carry it, (especially if you include all the live albums which seem to have moved from bootlegs to actual releases)! In this case what you get is 13 tracks of really good Indigo, Dark Magenta, and Violet. It feels they’ve come full circle, and this album reflects it, but then they couldn’t call it “Shades of Deep Purple”… they’ve used that already as their first album! Which possibly explains the daft title!
Track listing:
1: Show Me
2: A Bit on the Side
3: Sharp Shooter
4: Portable Door
5: Old-Fangled Thing
6: If I were You
7: Pictures of You
8: I’m saying Nothin’
9: Lazy Sod
10: Now You’re Talkin’
11: No Money to Burn
12: I’ll Catch you
13: Bleeding Obvious
