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Alive, kicking and in the zone
Blabbermouth reviews the new album =1 in most glowing terms:
When you have a legacy as indisputably colossal as DEEP PURPLE’s, making new music could easily be an afterthought. But tasked with producing new albums to rival the immortal likes of “Machine Head”, “Burn” and “Perfect Strangers”, the hard rock legends have done a solid job of keeping their creative fires burning. From 2005’s “Rapture of the Deep” to 2020’s “Whoosh!” , latter-day PURPLE records have been feisty and imaginative, while always keeping a toe or two in that classic, organ-driven sound. The follow-up to the surprisingly great covers album “Turning To Crime” (2021), “=1” continues in a similar vein, but with an even more relaxed attitude towards embracing the past. The first DEEP PURPLE album to feature new guitarist Simon McBride (who replaced the great Steve Morse in 2022), it could hardly be a more joyous return.
Continue reading in Blabbermouth.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I still have to wait 16 hours to buy it, as soon as I get off work…!!
July 18th, 2024 at 21:24Yo,
@1…
Unless it’s sold-out before you get there, it’s a better alternative than waiting for the postman with no tracking…
According to JB-HiFi, my package was delivered back in May, go figure LOL !
Peace !
July 19th, 2024 at 00:01Sensational album.
July 19th, 2024 at 05:44moi je ne l’acheterai pas….
July 19th, 2024 at 07:52I’m informed that DHL will deliver my box set by the end of the day. I could be sat here waiting hours and hours yet!. Meantime I’m reading some great reviews for it so that makes it even more painful!!
July 19th, 2024 at 08:30The album is superb. It goes back to the seventies, soundlike. Which is a very good thing. A lot of rythm with a couple of beautiful slow tunes. I sincerely didn’t expect it to be so good. Anything below average would have been enough for me but they outdone themselves. McBride is different from Morse (who i liked very much), and brings his flavour to the music. It seems he rejuvenated the band. Simply put, a great album.
July 19th, 2024 at 09:33Yo,
Yes, it is an exciting time. I must admit to not being this excited since awaiting the arrival of “Longbeach 1976 & 1971” or even “Private Eyes” on CD. Good stuff !
The way things flow-in-the-post here in Tas., I’d suggest Tuesday is the day…
Peace !
July 19th, 2024 at 09:38@ 2 Gregster
I don’t buy anything online. It is the ruin of the world.
July 19th, 2024 at 10:06Btw, in Finnish the title =1 is pronounced onyx. What a great title for this album.
July 19th, 2024 at 10:23After a first listen through headphones, the sound of this album is strange. Very raw – very different from recent albums. However, I feel there is a lot of hidden depth that I will discover in time.
I’m “Steve’s baby” – all my Deep Purple listening for over 30 years has been Morse on guitar. So I’ll always be looking for his distinctive sound in new recordings. His “American Music Man” is the signature Deep Purple guitar sound for me.
And I could hear that several times on this album – as I wrote earlier in this forum, there are moments when Simon plays like Steve and these tracks could actually be played together on stage one day – such a dream of mine….
Have fun listening!
July 19th, 2024 at 10:56Much better guitar tone than that of Morse’s.
July 19th, 2024 at 11:02If you can’t wait for the physical media then large chunks of the album are available from the Deep Purple Official YouTube account.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aG0X81aCF0
https://youtu.be/8QyTJLtZDwE?si=FcgjgbvkocnVIvZ2
https://youtu.be/qoKqGo06VTo?si=dmdCRg5V3F2dunlq
https://youtu.be/4qeUjPNuR3A?si=yhtGaJRb5n9BZIqr
https://youtu.be/6m50jzXrO8U?si=4AM3f4ir1icAf5Xe
https://youtu.be/asGBL_ZEEEM?si=93ULySFeKatEwTpR
https://youtu.be/Ajs6FutnMuU?si=0tepWpFK8ZU7Uxrt
Weirdly they don’t seem to show when you go to the account itself, not sure what’s going on there. I’m looking forward to giving it proper listed once the CD gets here.
July 19th, 2024 at 11:13It’s a good album, I’m not sure it’s a great one (yet).
July 19th, 2024 at 12:04Some good songs and some average songs.
Ian Gillan sounds very good on this.
The drum sound is a bit flat and the keyboards are uninspired.
The new guitarist adds spark on some songs but not all.
I will have it on heavy rotation this weekend to assess further.
Royal Mail says mine won’t be coming until tomorrow – which probably means I’ll get it about next Wednesday if I’m lucky.
July 19th, 2024 at 12:10After a few listens: einfach great. Easy to love it. My only observation: with a different choice of vocal melody and delivery, Bleeding obvious could have been a true classic track.
July 19th, 2024 at 12:39Just now found it: deluxe version. Now now straight home like speedy gonzales
July 19th, 2024 at 13:53Best since Purpemdicular, at least.
July 19th, 2024 at 13:54I don’t want to be offensive.. but if you like Simon’s tone you probably only have a wire inside your head that holds your ears..
July 19th, 2024 at 15:20Fantastic! A record that sweeps away the last 20 years. Too bad the drums sound like shit.
July 19th, 2024 at 15:45@17 Attila
SURE!!!!!
July 19th, 2024 at 15:45💣
@12 … i discovered the album under the ‘video’ tab on their official page =)
July 19th, 2024 at 15:46@AndreA. The Cymbals sound light shit indeed. A mistake? But how can you make a mistake like this? Incompetence? Impossible. I do not know, but something happened and nobody cared. These buzzing cymbals are the only complaint I have. Somebody along the production line didn’t care anymore about the cymbals. Still the album is great.
July 19th, 2024 at 16:04My 1st impression listening to the whole album is really positive. I think that three songs (tracks 6, 7, & 12) are meh, but the other 10 are good rockers that had me wanting more when each song ended. What stands out to me is that these songs are more riffy than they were in the Morse era – which is what I prefer. Not sure if that is Simon’s contribution or not but I am really digging his solos.
I am looking forward to listening to this another dozen times in the next week or so.
July 19th, 2024 at 16:14@AndreA. In 1973 drums were clean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp_t4S3Shkg
In 2024 this is a mess.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=old+fangled+thing+only+drums
But why?!?!?!? What is Ezrin there for? And the guys? I am appaled. Again forget these buzzing cymbals and the album is great but…it is hard NOT to hear them.
July 19th, 2024 at 16:15First impression of half of it: for me, the musical feel is like Purpendicular rather than the classic Mk. 2 albums; there are riffs that (as in Portable Door) aren’t in the usual pentatonic with diminished fifth scale; there’s some explosive drumming; so far, Lazy Sod is the most conventional rock song, while the rest at some stage deliberately break away from that; there are some really interesting bits that I can imagine will become favorite passages for me.
July 19th, 2024 at 16:24I♡Gillan 😥
July 19th, 2024 at 16:31In “I’ll catch you” he reminds to me Jesus Christ Superstar..
I am surprised, astonished by Gillan. In this album his singing is powerful, pure energy. Sing with belly sweat the blues, the rock. In the last three he was sad, spoken, shy, submissive..
July 19th, 2024 at 16:40“A Bit on the Side”
July 19th, 2024 at 16:50They hadn’t released a record like this in many years!!!!
July 19th, 2024 at 17:20@ 22 Pier
for me too: the drums is my only complaint. The album is fantastic!!!! Yeeeeaaaahhh! 💣
July 19th, 2024 at 17:33for me this album eats up all those with Morse
July 19th, 2024 at 17:42Best DP album since Turning to Crime.
I like the songs, but the sound is bad, especially the drums (like in all DP Ezrin records). Is it the recording technique the issue? Mixing? Honestly, you’d think these kinds of things would get better, easier, and cheaper over time.
I want sound quality comparable to Who Do We Think We Are and Come Taste The Band, both recorded ~50 years ago. Surely this can be achieved with current technology?
July 19th, 2024 at 17:57It was a dream I heard a voice
I put it down to wishful thinking
It was a dream a silent scream
Out of the blue a new beginning
Heaven
July 19th, 2024 at 18:16I’m in heaven
I’m in seventh heaven now
Seventh heaven
For all the cymbal and production specialists: IMHO Paice bas never been this good (and himself) since CTTB.
July 19th, 2024 at 18:28Very nuce, cool interview
https://www.virginradio.it/video/video/1372273/deep-purple-guarda-l-intervista-a-ian-gillan-e-simon-mcbride.html
July 19th, 2024 at 18:50Couldn’t do the Box Set on this one unfortunately, so I ended pre-ordering the CD/DVD version off (Evil) Amazon. They are normally pretty good at getting new releases out quickly in my experience so hopefully it shows up earlier than they said and I get a chance to listen to it by Monday!
July 19th, 2024 at 19:14The albums songs are posted on youtube and from my first hear I like. I could compare it with Rapture of the Deep style with some Abandon maybe?? It is good solid album
July 19th, 2024 at 19:19When I read things like “drums sound like shit” and “buzzing cymbals” I wonder abouit the quality of some listener’s hi-fi or their hearing. I’ve listened to it through 24 year old JPW’s, fairly modern Q Acoustics and various headphones by AKG and Audio-Technica. It sounds great and I prefer it to any of the previous Ezrin albums
July 19th, 2024 at 19:52Arrived at 9;10 gmt this morning. Played it once straight away and there were 2 tracks that I was not sure of. I won’t mentioned which ones here so no one can be influenced by my opinion. after 2 more listens everything was purple. Very happy with this record. There’s a bit of both Blackmore and Morse in here but there is also a lot of Simon in there as well. As it should be seeing as he would have written a lot of it. Putting it on the turn table again. Enjoy.
July 19th, 2024 at 20:23Lovely interview with Big Ian
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rollingstone.it/musica/interviste-musica/deep-purple-andiamo-avanti-per-i-soldi-ma-certo-anche-da-giovani-lo-facevamo-per-i-soldi/932281/amp/
Tonight I am living purple..
July 19th, 2024 at 21:11Sorry for my spamming..
I am 56 but I feel excited like a teenager..
I agree with most people : Gillan in astounding shape and an incredible album.
By far the best since Purpendicular (and I really love Bananas and the fab Ezrin trilogy).
I just can’t believe how good the album si and how great Simon plays on this
July 19th, 2024 at 21:32It sounds like they released online the best three songs before the official album release for a reason. Not to worry, I will take a little extra time to ‘digest’ some of the other songs & see then. Didn’t they record in Toronto instead of Nashville, I could be wrong on that. And they have new management also from what I thought I read here somewhere. A new guitarist & also new label isn’t it. Four out of Five ain’t too bad in some instance. We KNOW what the new fifth element should have been & I am taking aim at the producer big time. Gillan’s vocals sound strained, he is 78 after all, but he sort of sounds awkward in a way. Cheers.
July 19th, 2024 at 22:12@ 34 – I sounds like you are talking about Ian’s playing, not the sound of the drums. By the way, all those ‘cymbal & production specialists’ have ears too. Cheers.
July 19th, 2024 at 23:13@ 24 – good comment & I agree. However as the recent Record Plant studio closing story highlights, things have changed. I doubt that producers, engineers & artists have any choice these days with the technology & all. As Ian Paice says in that recent interview, He does miss the old recording days & as well as other things and laments the fact that ‘it is the way it is unfortunately’, something like that. And as we all know Ian Paice does know how the drums ‘should’ sound. I guess at the end of the day some of us are sort of living in the past just like the people who fawn over Bob Ezrin’s production are. He used to to be one of the best, in the 1970’s & 80’s etc. These days he sounds like anyone else it seems. Can we just blame the technology & studio setups? Cheers.
July 19th, 2024 at 23:28#38 Robin:
Think exactly like you.
first listen for me too…I confirm that from my point of view it is the best Purple album since the beautiful Abandon.
the reasons are a bit like what was said above: there are more riffs (the lack of effective riffs has always been Steve’s weak point).
the songs are catchier, there’s more melody, Gillan finally speaks less and sings more!…it’s been too many albums since he’s been deviating into spoken words!
Paice has finally started doing more fills on the skins, after the too much relaxation of the last 4 albums.
I feel like Don’s solos are a little too bland, but I only did a quick listen.
however in general a great album, which makes it clear (if ever there was a need) that the number ones are still our Deep Purple!
July 19th, 2024 at 23:32Can we once and for all separate the producer from the engineer? With some exceptions, the producer is not an engineer. The producer helps the band by being an extra ear. “How about going to that chord after the chorus instead of this? This song isn’t strong enough, cut it or write a new chorus. Can we try to play that solo on a Moog instead of the Hammond?”, and so on. The recording and mix engineer (not necessarily the same person) makes the cymbals sound dull, compresses the hell out of everything and decides how wide the stereo image of the Leslie should be.
July 20th, 2024 at 00:16I would have thought Bob Ezrin would be overseeing the whole ‘production’ of the album as a producer usually does. Of course that can vary a lot depending on the scenario with different producers, engineers & also the artists themselves. But Ezrin also gets involved in the mixing, so one would think that he has a final say in how it all sounds before it goes for mastering. Surely he would comment if something didn’t sound right to what he thinks & how he would like it to sound. There are engineers & assistants a plenty on these later DP records according to what I have read. However uncle Bob would be the one to please & hopefully also the band themselves. Maybe the drums sound great in the studio. The engineer & the assistant engineers are trying their hardest to get everything right. The final mix & how do they sound overall. Then onto the mastering after the final whistle blows. From the modern day recording studio & peoples perception of what sounds good all the way out to the wide world & peoples listening devices & their ears & also their expectations. It is a hard life in that aspect. Cheers.
July 20th, 2024 at 02:04Just few first conclusions:
1.) it is heaviest album since Abandon,
2.) it is great album, but please – its way too soon….. and my first guess, its definately not the best album produced by Bob Ezrin – this title will remain with Now What?!
3.) I have two critical points….. one minor and “nostalgic”….. one major. Minor one is that I lack a variety of guitar sounds which Steve always brought up on records. From his final albums with Purple “All The Time In The World vs. Out Of Hand, Time For Bedlam vs. Surprising…. I would say that Man Alive alone contained more varied styles and sounds, than this whole record in my opinion. Its not meant as critic, its just…. I miss that. Major critical point? Gillan sings great, BUT (and that´s major point) he didnt get a space to SHINE, like he got on previous albums. When IG said DP are instrumental band with vocal accompaniment, he always had HIS own moment on record where is pure natural voice got space to shine…. All The Time In The World on Now What, Surprising on Infinite, Throw My Bones on Whoosh….. he didnt get such a space where HE would make song outstanding. He is singing great, but when I heard those previously mentioned songs for the first time on album…. I immediately got goosebump due to special moments from IG…. when I heard =1 for the first time yesterday, that moment never came up. He sings great, but he has no shining moment where his voice would MAKE a song special here.
July 20th, 2024 at 09:16one thing is clear from Gillan’s interviews:
he had long been missing harder, simpler and more immediate songs, where he could build more melodic vocal lines on top of them, the one where he feels most at ease.
he also said that it’s been a long time since they were spoiled for choice about new songs to play live, and that they plan to always play more than 2 (which was the average of the last few tours)
I’m sorry for Steve, I always wanted to have him in the band, but I think that his abandonment was a blessing, and I think that the band itself is happier this way, that it has rediscovered a remote taste in playing, and that they themselves didn’t insist a lot to keep Steve (and if I remember correctly in an online interview Steve mentioned something about this)
July 20th, 2024 at 11:50I’m listening to the album for the fifth time since yesterday. Coooooool!!! 😎🎵🎶 💣
July 20th, 2024 at 12:31Everybody and his brother has the album, just not me, I ordered it months ago in several formats and won’t be getting anything before Monday. Ämäzön vill liff tö regret zisss …
Well, some consolation, I saw them Thursday night in Schloss Salems (see the gig review).
Petr, Steve Morse was a magician of different sounds, almost like a keyboard wizard, we‘ll never have that again with DP. And while young Simon likes his stomp boxes, by and large he plays with the same sound and doesn‘t overthink it. But then Blackmore was like that too.
Svante, re engineers and producers, yes and no! It‘s a different job description and different skill sets are required. But a lot of producers started out as engineers: Martin Birch was Derek Lawrence‘s engineer, Geoff Emerick George Martin‘s and Jack Douglas Bob Ezrin‘s. Alan Parsons got an engineering credit for Dark Side Of The Moon, but was miffed because he thought he deserved a producer‘s credit – Roger Waters, however, did not want to relinquish control though DSOTM sounds very Alan Parsons‘ish to me. There is a lot of grey area between the two and Martin Birch especially was essentially always an engineer, albeit a very good one, even when he was labeled ‘producer’. All through the 70s, DP did not really have (and did not really want) a producer, not like George Martin produced The Beatles, Roy Thomas Baker produced Queen or The Cars, Bob Ezrin the Alice Cooper Group or Tony Visconti David Bowie, T. Rex or Thin Lizzy.
July 20th, 2024 at 17:02@ 48 : funny because I would say quite the opposite : I love Whoosh! for example but Gillan has no room such as Now you’re talking, I’ll catch you or If I were you to SHINE as he does on those songs…
Incredible vocals on the album…
July 20th, 2024 at 17:57Their best album in the last 30 to 40 years – currently tied with Purpendicular and In Rock for my #1 Deep Purple record. For me it is that good, simply incredible!!
Simon is that perfect blend between Steve and Ritchie, and Gillan sounds the best he has in years! Don is asserting himself with the mini moog, which I love! The rhythm section is thundering again and Paice is letting loose – and the songs are strong and fantastic!
The only downside is the production – far too much compression like on the last four records. I agree, the drums sound squishy and compressed, hence the buzzing cymbals. Bob needs to be fired, it’s time for a new producer and the band has become too reliant on him, I think.
Production issues aside, it’s their best record in a long, long time – so good, that I give it a 10/10, production be damned! Long live DP!
July 20th, 2024 at 22:07#51 Uwe:
July 20th, 2024 at 22:23I missed your review of Schloss Salem, where can I find it?…link?…thanks
@ 48 – I know what you mean regarding Gillan’s vocals. It is an age related thing & naturally it has happened to many lead vocalists & not only in rock or pop music. The nuances are not as prevalent, that warmth in his voice is fading. He sounds a lot more ‘nasally’ to me, for want of a better description. I do wish there was a instrumental or two on this new album, just to break it up a little from the vocal songs. Whoosh had that. Not to worry. As for the songs I am still taking my time with the ones I am not as familiar with. The ballad sounds nice as I thought it would. I learnt many years ago to let music come to me, rather than me go to it, if that makes any sense. Pictures of You did the ‘earworm’ thing to me after only two or three listens a few weeks ago. Always a good sign when a song does that. The strongest song so far to my ears. Portable Door is good rock song. Cheers.
July 20th, 2024 at 22:52@ 48 55
July 21st, 2024 at 10:35for me in this song Gillan sings much much better than the previous three. Co puts in more energy, sings from the gut. beautiful choirs, wonderful melodies. He’s a hard rock Javelin, he has fun. In previous records he was modest, sad like mysica: more reflective and even spoke. There’s really no comparison: here he looks 30 years younger. I really don’t agree with you two.
@Petr Čejka
There was so much talk about Steva always playing the same thing. It’s only now when I hear a different guitarist on a Deep Purple album that I can appreciate how varied Morse played. It’s amazing these albums with him.
IG must have a brilliant guitarist next to him so he can shine with genius himself.
“If the times gone by hadn’t been so low.
Best laid plans come apart at the seams
Aaah…
Shatter my dreams”
Morse solo…
“Sometimes I feel like screaming, close my eyes.
It’s times like this my head goes down”
They were amazing together!
With purple greetings! Simon
July 21st, 2024 at 13:02Fla76, here you are:
https://www.thehighwaystar.com/events/2024/07/18/2024-07-18-deep-purple-salem-baden-wurttemberg/
July 21st, 2024 at 15:54Steve was sophisticated and versatile – also inventive, but he never ever was raunchy or took risks, his rigorous practice regime made sure of that. But that was no surprise as he was (i) a Yank, they like to be good at things and not leave matters up to chance —> controlled environment, (ii) he had spent 30 years playing intricate, painstakingly rehearsed music when he joined Purple, it is telling that at one point when he was asked whether he found anything he played with DP demanding, his reply was: “The amount and length of improvisations I have to do, I have never had that with any music I played before. I really had to get used to that.”
In a few years from now, I would really appreciate a “The Morse Code”-entitled lavish boxed set with work from his DP era remastered/remixed (by him, with extensive track-by-track commments) plus outtakes and demos how he went about in the studio plus any unreleased tracks smoldering in the vaults plus unreleased live stuff. It would find its faithful fans I’m sure.
PS: A limited edition should include a muscle T-shirt with one of those horrible animal and/or mock-Native American kitsch color prints he was/is (to the fashion despair of my wife) so fond of! 😂🤣🤗
July 21st, 2024 at 16:24I always find at least one number on an album being weak. On this album there none..
July 21st, 2024 at 17:10*Micke @60
July 21st, 2024 at 19:46Well said👍
#43. No question about it. And I acknowledge, I have no ear to rock music production. The only thing I know is how Paice was drumming on CTTB (how ‘production’ was done then, no clue, and am Ok with it).
July 21st, 2024 at 22:02@43: my point was: this musical journey covers almost 60 years. We have seen so many trends in the so called sound and production. But what remains is the raw feeling. So I am not so much devastated about the garage feel of in rock, the hollow sound of burn, etc.
July 21st, 2024 at 22:22Those guys yearning for the clean drum sound of WDWTWA: I hear you and I liked that unmessy sound too, but it went out of style as a production benchmark long ago, blame Nirvana/Grunge or Metallica’s St. Anger. Modern drum recording prefers a dirtier and hissier sound, as if the drums were set up in your living room and your son was banging on them. Bob Ezrin is just being contemporary. Whenever I hear a rock recording from present times with a clean drum sound, it’s almost always a budget recording.
I had a telling experience in a recording studio 15 years ago or so: At that point I played in a Brit Pop band, very Oasis-inspired. The drummer demanded to produce his drum sound himself and after he was done mixing the drums without any other instruments audible, they sounded squeaky-clean like a percussion demonstration record – it didn’t fit our music one bit and stood out like a sore thumb. So when the drummer left for dinner, happy with his work, I said: “Let’s redo the drum mix and bring them into this century!”. And we did, giving it a nasty garage sound (the studio guy joked I had given it a “Howie Weinberg sound”, the man who mastered Nirvana’s Nevermind and also Billy Corgan’s Zwan). It gelled beautifully with the music. “He’s gonna kill us when he finds out …” one of my bandmates said, but I reassured him: “He won’t even notice.”
Next day the drummer returns with a fresh set of ears and listens to the rough mix of the COMPLETE music – everyone is biting his lip waiting for him to explode. But after he’s done listening through, he just says: “That sounds great, also the drums, I told you my mixing work yesterday would be really worth it!”
Why should we have destroyed his illusions?! 🤗 There is no point in being needlessly cruel even to drummers. Deception is a gentle art.
July 21st, 2024 at 22:52@ 64 – “Why should we have destroyed his illusions?! 🤗 There is no point in being needlessly cruel even to drummers. Deception is a gentle art”.
July 22nd, 2024 at 00:08Shame on you for altering that poor drummers concept of reality Uwe. I am appalled & I probably will never ever again be able to look a bass guitarist in the eye, let alone attempt to play some music with one. The things we hear every day in this world, I don’t know, what is it all coming to, he he he. That drummer might have been influenced by Cozy’s attitude to what a drum sound should be, bless him for trying. Cheers.
Love the album very much. It’s great, it’s amazing. By the fourth listening to I’ll catch you I could keep my eyes dry for the first time. Mr Gillan is superb in this song. What a great singing and Simon plays his hart out in the emotional solo. No fillers, just killers.
July 22nd, 2024 at 10:31@ 66 Purpleray
July 22nd, 2024 at 11:33It moved me too
♡
@65: Quite right, he had mixed himself a perfect Cozy Powell/Simon Phillips late 70s/early 80s drum sound – except that we were in the middle of the Noughties and playing Indie/Brit Pop stuff! It was as if I had opted for a Chris Squire sound on a Blues record.
July 22nd, 2024 at 13:32