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Never say never
Australian outfit Noise11 has interviewed Simon McBride. Simon talks about his early influences, working with Bob Ezrin, making up for the Australian dates that fell through, possibility of another Purple album, and many other things.
Thanks to Tobias Janaschke and Mike Whiteley for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Yo,
Good interview, with 1/2-decent questions asked & answered imo. And it’s awesome to know that there’ll be at least another album to be considered towards the end of this year, since the boys had so-much-surplus from their 1st writing stint, but were forced to pick 13-tunes only. Let the creative juices keep flowing yo !
On this basis, I’d be expecting at the least 3 albums from this line-up once a live album is included in the next 12-months or so.
When I first listened “=1”, I immediately thought to myself afterwards that these tunes would all work well live, & the people that want to see a change in the song-list might find that every-tune on the album is a live arena contender. Interesting to hear Simon suggest the same thing lol !
Looking forward to 2025 & well beyond !
Peace !
July 31st, 2024 at 06:22Stop press, this surely is the news of the year: second album by the present lineup possibly coming! We barely have survived the blow of =1. What a great album it is. I did not expect it to be THIS good. Thank you.
July 31st, 2024 at 10:38Deternity Purple! 😎
July 31st, 2024 at 13:15Try again asda?
July 31st, 2024 at 16:28I occasionally view a interview or two on this Australian guys site & also to keep an eye on Oz music. He gets excited. ‘There are songs on this new album that could easily fit onto In Rock, Fireball etc’. Good humour & talk about not keeping things in perspective. As for a so called ‘new’ or ‘another’ album in six months. There are too many ‘fillers’ on this latest album to my ears. Perhaps wait a while & see if they can come up with a few extended ‘Purplish’ tunes before rushing back into the cauldron. However as we know, time waits for no one. Cheers.
July 31st, 2024 at 22:00Yo,
@2 said…
qt.”Stop press, this surely is the news of the year: second album by the present line-up possibly coming”!!!
+1 here !!! Let the good-times-roll & keep rolling !
Peace !
July 31st, 2024 at 23:47First impression: Not everyone looks cool with a baseball cap. 🤣 I will not comment further 🤐, but Simon’s wife perhaps should have a word with him.
I’m surprised to belatedly find out that Journey and DP toured together in Australia in 2013! I would have seen them together in a heartbeat, two great bands. This place here swarms with Aussies like a badly air-conditioned restroom does with flies, and they never even mention a word! Also intrigued that Journey weren’t a name Downunder, I always thought they were popular with you guys and only so-so received here in Germany. (Back in the 70s and 80s, Journey concerts in Germany were mainly frequented by GIs from the US Armed Forces we then still had in abundance statiuoned in Southern Germany. Their presence led to US bands regularly touring with us that really didn’t mean all that much to German listeners.) Journey have written stadium anthems galore, what’s not to like?! And they can rock out too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LatorN4P9aA
Steve Perry was likely the best AOR/melodic rock singer ever.
There is another site
https://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=56754
that discusses the tour and also features concert reviews (both Journey and Purple) plus an interview with Joanathan Cain (ex-Babys, Journey tunesmith & keyboard player) where he mentions that (i) he bought his first Hammond after having become addicted to it after hearing Jon Lord on Hush, a song Jonathan Cain would cover with his then-band for years, (ii) he met Ian Gillan and got along wonderfully with him when Ian’s wife Bron dragged her hubby to a European Journey gig – she was a fan of the band.
August 1st, 2024 at 00:10@ 5 MacGregor-I agree,there is too much filler on the new album,The 3 advance tracks were well chosen,and A Bit on the Side is a fine tune,but I’m not sure = 1 will stay in my CD player beyond another month or so. It’s almost like a bunch of leftover ideas from the inFinite sessions.
August 1st, 2024 at 00:56Yo,
@7…
Journey did have a number of followers here in Oz, as I used to give a lift everyday to one from Geelong to Melbourne-town in my 5.0-ltr Commodore towards the late 1980’s or so. He loved the live album, & so did I, thinking RB has some major competition lol ! “Oh Sherry” was a massive hit, always on the radio, but post Journey. I actually bought a boxed-set of Journey recordings, but it hardly gets played…I might have to revisit, but I tire of Joe Perry’s voice for some reason, in similar ways to John Anderson. Too much is too much sometimes, though there’s no doubting the ability or range.
I can’t believe people suggesting there’s too much filler on =1…Every tune is a 1st Class assault on your senses, even the ballads…
Turn the friggin’ volume level up lads… =1 was not meant for pussies !!!
Peace !
August 1st, 2024 at 10:34@ 7 – steady on there Uwe. A year or two ago I was talking about hearing something along the lines of Purple touring here sometime during the last 20 years or so & hearing about a possible back up vocalist on stage (or off stage) for Ian Gillan. And I thought I mentioned that if that did happen (which I couldn’t find any information confirming that it did) was it when they toured here with Journey as a double billing. Unless I was thinking about Journey at the time & didn’t mention them in the actual comment, but I am sure I did. Anyway here is a forum where a few aficionados are discussing the tour. Us poor convict stock out here in Oz are still getting flayed by some it seems. Oh well, as Ned Kelly said approaching the gallows, ‘such is life’. Cheers.
https://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=56754&start=60
August 1st, 2024 at 10:53Accidentally found it & guess where. 2001 here at THS. The three back up singers mentioned along with a small brass ensemble. I thought a while ago I had read this somewhere in the past but couldn’t find it online anywhere & gave up. Thanks Uwe for spiking my interest in this query. Memory eh, tricky at times especially these days. Cheers.
https://www.thehighwaystar.com/reviews/static/01-1/01-1_reviews4b61.html
August 1st, 2024 at 11:35Your research, Brother MacGregor, though not faultless, improves. I will continue to monitor your progress.
“Up here in space
I’m looking down on you
My laser’s trace
Everything you do
You think you’ve private lives, think nothing of the kind
There is no true escape, I’m watching all the time”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMJF37BVGTA
***********************************************************
I share the dissenting opinion of my favorite and esteemed Glenn Hughes-critic magnifique Gregster, the fillers on =1 are far and in between. We’ve been (mis)treated worse by Purple. And even the more mediocre/Purple-by-numbers tracks have a certain charming freshness to them.
No baseball caps in future though, please. It’s enough if Joe Bonamassa does it. There should be a rule that musicians outside of Molly Hatchet are prohibited from wearing baseball caps at all times except under the shower.
August 1st, 2024 at 14:00What Simon brought back to DP was a healthy dose of joyous and reassuring dumbness. DP aren’t AC/DC or Status Quo, but they’re not YES or Genesis either, they are somewhere in the middle, slightly inebriated thinking man’s heavy rock so to say. 😂 Steve wasn’t the type of guitarist to provide that through no fault of his own. But somewhere it’s part of the DP basic recipe.
August 1st, 2024 at 18:21Does that mean I can refer to Uwe now as the SENTINEL? At least Simon wears his cap the correct way. I liked his interview by the way, he has a glorious Irish accent as others have commented on & he has always appeared as a down to earth chap. Pretty hard to beat that as well as his guitar playing. He has done well in his life so far. Cheers.
August 1st, 2024 at 22:12Sworn to avenge, condemned to hell, tempt not the blade, all fear the SENTINEL !!!
Unlike Dio’s dragons & damsels lore, Halford‘s Marvel Comic type lyrical escapism always puts an idiot grin on my face. 😆
All that spirited nonsense about Exciters ( “Fall to your knees and repent if you please!“), Grinders, Killing Machines, Steelers, Rippers, Jawbreakers, Night Crawlers, Sentinels, Metal Gods, Painkillers, Hellions, Metallians, Redeemers of Souls and Flamethrowers. 🤣
And ‘Last Rose of Summer’ of course, which even Roger Glover as the producer thought bewilderingly twee at the time! 😎
https://youtu.be/zVCB581Ibpc
August 2nd, 2024 at 13:40Regarding Journey, the album I used to own on vinyl is Departure from 1980. Listening to it now online for the first time since the 1980’s & I would say it has stood the test of time very well. I have to get it on cd. That early Journey was a stellar band with wonderful songs. And I agree with the sentiment that Steve Perry was a superb vocalist indeed, probably the best at that time. Neal Schon is a demon guitarist, I forgot how good he sounds & he plays so well for the song. Schon & Perry seemed to gel well together in that songwriting partnership. Regarding the AOR style, it isn’t as AOR this album as I thought it may have been. I was worried that it may have been a red flag to my non AOR leanings these days, but I am pleasantly surprised. Maybe some of those other songs & albums from certain bands from that genre are not that ‘commercial’ & AOR after all. Good rock songs performed by stellar musicians. From progressive leanings earlier on to this album, their sixth. Wonderful. Cheers.
August 3rd, 2024 at 04:18@ 15 – a lovely song it is too, Last Rose of Summer. Many thanks for that as I listened to a few songs from this album a little while ago following those early Priest live videos, but I obviously didn’t land on this song. Very English & pastoral in it’s delivery & rather melancholic. A bit too ‘twee’ though Uwe for your new role as the SENTINEL. Simon Phillips also on drums before he went left right, right left with his technique. Regarding Roger Glover & apparently it was he who suggested Priest cover Joan Baez’s ‘Diamonds & Rust’ for some possible commercial exposure, which worked to an extent. Cheers.
August 3rd, 2024 at 06:18Journey had a couple of unique selling points that differentiated them from most other AOR bands: the fact that they were West Coast (Bay Area), basically a Santana (always an eclectic band) split-off, both Rolie and Schon having played there, or that they had sophisticated drummers like Aynsley Dunbar and Steve Smith in their ranks. Steve Perry was initially a drummer and also instrumental in the change from Dunbar to Smith: When Dunbar missed a soundcheck, Perry grabbed the drum sticks and played more song-serving drum parts which had an eye- and ear-opening effect on the others and cost Aynsley subsequently his job.
Priest are hilariously Brit/Midlands and, yes, LROS is pastoral and a lovely song. Not that they didn’t have that in them sometimes:
https://youtu.be/1Qjoffl_Lgo
Glover was confused by it because Priest had told him in advance how they wanted their first album for new record company CBS “heavier” than their releases for Gull Records. That said and even though Priest called him to the rescue for a salvage job after having initially decided against him and having a failed go at production themselves, his production of Sin After Sin is among his finest.
It has long been a rumor that Roger proposed Joan Baez’ Diamonds & Rust to Priest to cover, but they had actually already recorded a different version for Gull Records before they even met Roger (and released by Gull only many years later). That said, the resemblance to Nazareth’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s This Flight Tonight is of course blatant as regards the 16th note gallop of the rhythm guitar. And that was after all a Roger Glover production too (though, again, covering that song was a Nazareth idea).
Joan Baez has sometimes humorously introduced Diamonds & Rust in her concerts with “I usually don’t do a lot of Judas Priest songs, but this one is special …”. 😂 And when Priest played Live Aid, Halford almost peed his pants when he found a note that he should see Ms Baez in her trailer. Expecting derision and an admonishment for soiling her song, she greeted him warmly and said she always wanted to meet him because according to her son Priest had done the by far best cover of one of her songs ever and that she liked the Priest version too. Halford, who has a thing for women artists, was suitably chuffed.
Priest would sometimes do acoustic versions of it too.
https://youtu.be/eHyl8a394-M
Re Simon Phillips: He’s actually proud of his (excellent) work on Sin After Sin to this day, it has become a benchmark for sophisticated heavy metal drumming. Priest offered him a job after the sessions and he said he would have taken it (he found them easygoing and promisingly hungry & organized), but at this point had already signed up as a member of the Jack Bruce Band. Priest had a hard time finding someone who could replicate his parts and finally got lucky with Les Binks who stayed with them for three albums until they decided to simplify their music for US appeal, found Les overplaying and had fellow Brummie Dave Holland from Trapeze willingly adapt his style to their needs (he played with Priest nothing like he had done with Trapeze or Glenn’s Play Me Out, with Priest he turned into a drum machine).
August 3rd, 2024 at 13:37@8: Fillers and leftovers? Are you serious, man? Everyone’s got one – an opinion, that is. You must have blown that one out of your portable hole!
August 3rd, 2024 at 16:35Uhum, ‘portable hole’ sounds like a travel sex toy. I’m at a loss what to say further, Enan!
August 3rd, 2024 at 23:25Hello Enan.
August 4th, 2024 at 12:34Seriously,I still give the new album a 7/10.I know that my opinion is not worth much. Just a fan.
Understood, Mike. I am just so grateful for every single thing the band does for us fans after 56 years. To me, they can do no wrong. Every new note, song, or album is an amazing gift. Even the outtakes are a treasure. I was listening to Freedom from the Fireball album recently as I was celebrating the release of the hostages. Gillan reaches high notes comparable to Child in Time.
August 4th, 2024 at 15:13=1 ≠ Sgt Pepper, to make a mathematical statement, but it’s an inspired piece of quality work. That is plenty fine for me. As good and varied as Purpendicular and Now What?!, a touch better than Whoosh! (which I liked), more varied than the dark Abandon and considerably better than the not quite up there Rapture of the Deep and Infinite. Much better production than the abrasive-sounding Bananas.
I see no point in comparisons to DP’s 70s releases. It was a different era, they were young men back then and many of us impressionable teenagers.
August 4th, 2024 at 15:15Hello again,@22,
August 4th, 2024 at 22:09“Fireball,Freedom,Hostages,Child In Time, Portable Holes…”and gratitude,
I definitely am grateful that THS allows us to post such different discussions.
@ 18 – I do think that the Journey drum seat was aptly suited to Aynsley Dunbar when they were at their most experimental & ‘progressive’. So while it surprises me that Perry was a drummer of sorts (I never knew that) the fact that they had Perry in the band & were looking at more ‘sophistication & polish’ for the commercial aspect, out Dunbar goes. He probably wouldn’t have minded as he is a ‘avant garde’ drummer. Probably a bit like Cozy in Rainbow, not loving the spit & polish of ‘catchy’ shorter songs etc. Regarding Joan Baez, yes she is a classy easy going & very talented lady. I could imagine her enjoying that with the Priest & Halford & anyone else for that matter. Wasn’t she at the R&RHOF induction for Yes & Rick Wakeman whilst playing the ‘keytar’ went down into the audience & singled her out for a kiss on the cheek, she loved it, a nice moment it was. Regarding Simon Phillips I thought he said in a interview years ago that he was getting into music production & also the Jack Bruce band & that is why he didn’t accept the Priest drumming job. He had his eye on other aspects in music & knew that a permanent position in a band would get in the way at that time. Anyway yes indeed he is a mighty drummer & I don’t doubt that they could have had a difficult time getting someone to fill those fills. Phillips also said that he was initially inspired by Tommy Aldridge’s double kick drumming. Regarding Phillips production in music Mike Oldfield called about that. Phillips thought that he wanted him for his drumming, but no it was his take on production that Oldfield wanted, the drumming just happened along after that. A similar story to Roger Glover with Rainbow. Cheers.
August 4th, 2024 at 22:26