![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/mcbride1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey2.jpg)
Far from spent and endured
Several more =1 reviews from around the web.
Musically, Deep Purple pushes an aggressiveness that rivals contemporaries in their field; Airey and McBride bring homage but never sink to nostalgia (check out their keyboard and guitar interplay on “A Bit on the Side” and “Sharp Shooter”). The 78-year-old Gillan can’t hit those celebrated high notes these days, but he delivers his lines with a suitable slippery wink. Though =1 sags a bit in the back half and could be trimmed by a few songs, the album furthers a career renaissance for Deep Purple that shows few signs of waning.
Whether we like it or not, McBride and especially Airey are as much the soul of Deep Purple as the three highway stars that command the rich purple palette. If this revitalised line-up is anything to go by, retirement seems a long way from lurking around the corner. You can’t beat class, and this fine equation of melodic hard rock is just that.
The Review: 8/10
The band’s 23rd LP, it plays to well-established strengths, mixing punchy hooks with moments of sensitivity and detours into progressive rock. Fans expecting them to break fresh ground should look away, but there’s still plenty to admire.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Yo,
The article stated…
qt.”Fans expecting them to break fresh ground should look away, but there’s still plenty to admire”.
DP are DP…There’s a general core formula to the song writing that’s a std format for everyone involved in popular-music…DP have always had a more expressive & instrumental edge over most bands however…
I have no idea of what “breaking new ground” is supposed to mean with only 5-musicians, since Jon did that with the band & orchestra in the late 60’s, whist Steve helped give the band direction, a fresh approach to modern music & much higher musical ability, that Simon is maintaining, via playing all-the-past licks & phrases whilst adding a few of his own.
To do more than this upsets people too much, as one only has to look at the lack of respect accorded to producer Bob Ezrin at times…But I suppose something has to be written, its just an explanation of the claim should be added for such claims imo.
Peace !
July 20th, 2024 at 01:24I wouldn’t say Steve brought a much higher musical ability, I mean Jon was easily his equal on that score, and while not as much of a technician (although was clearly the more technical of the 1970’s heavy rock guitarists) Ritchie also brought performance, aggression, wonderful melodies and great songwriting skills to the table. Both Steve and Ritchie are wonderful musicians, and where I think the former has the edge over the latter is that Steve carried on developing and refining much of his playing whereas Ritchie kind of stopped once the 1980s kicked off, which is a shame as his already immense legacy could have been even greater. Love them both.
July 24th, 2024 at 10:44