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Best in years

DeepPurple =1 cover art zoomSomeone calling themself The Elitist Metalhead reviews =1 for Metal-Rules.com:

Obviously I knew Don Airey’s capabilities but I am extremely unfamiliar with Simon McBride but when the teaser single, “Portable Door” came out I was floored! Not only is he skilled soloist but he knows how to write riffs that sound like classic Purple. This track gave me a Perfect Strangers vibe which made me instantly need to hear the full release. Once I got my hands on that bad boy, “Show Me” jumped out at me and I knew that the teaser was a rather accurate reflection of what will be going on here. Ian Gillan sounds pretty much the same but stays in his lower register mostly, no epic screams here. You may hear his age in certain spots on certain tracks but for the most part, his skills are still intact. There’s some keyboard/guitar battles going on here showing both Don Airey’s skills as well as McBride’s. “A Bit on the Side” follows and has some more cool riffs and a lot of great melodies. Some cool keyboard and guitar solos on this track as with most of the tracks on here. McBride brings a little old school style but mostly he’s a seriously skilled shredder.

Read more on Metal-Rules.com. And once you’re at it, might want to check out their review of McCoy The Sound Of Thunder box set, recently released by Cherry Red Records.



44 Comments to “Best in years”:

  1. 1
    Uwe Hornung says:

    See what I told you?! Simon’s more simplistic approach wins favors. DP is a riff-oriented band, it’s the Blackmore legacy (and honorary mention: Tommy Bolin had a hand for catchy riffs too).

    Always cute how John (McCoy) downplays his jazz origins, long before he turned to heavy rock (you see him kneeling with full and curly hair, trying to strangle his innocent bandmate!):

    https://alexgitlin.com/npp/zzeb-port.jpg

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osUW02ovn7Y

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q69-1jfzfVM

    John Gustafson was a rocker, yet turned jazzy with the Ian Gillan Band, and then along comes John McCoy from a bonafide jazz rock/ethno band (consisting of If and Osibisa members) as his replacement and turns into this wild (if not exactly hairy!) heavy rocker. I(r/c)onic.

    Both were/are excellent bassists. McCoy had a machine-gun-like right-hand technique with his plectrum and would play sparsely but profoundly, Gustafson played all these innovative embellishments and had a great sense of funk.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSRzlcsVZBA

    Gustafson gets more close-up shots in this studio performance, he was the only one of the many Roxy Music bassists to ever receive an offer to join the band as a true fulltime member (he played on three consecutive Roxy albums as a session bassist); to the bafflement of Ferry and Manzanera he declined, wishing to play harder music (and then goes off to join jazzy IGB, go figure …):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n3OepDn5GU&list=RD0n3OepDn5GU&start_radio=1

  2. 2
    Gregster says:

    Yo,

    I only read the posted paragraph, but it appears to be an honest appraisal for sure.

    Peace !

  3. 3
    Georgivs says:

    This is a good one!

    There are also generally positive reviews from this prog/AOR/glam/sleaze Website that normally does not favour DP:
    https://www.rockreport.be/albums/deep-purple-1

  4. 4
    Gregster says:

    Yo,

    Leiber Uwe said…

    qt.”See what I told you?! Simon’s more simplistic approach wins favors. DP is a riff-oriented band, it’s the Blackmore legacy (and honorary mention: Tommy Bolin had a hand for catchy riffs too)”.

    I would hardly call Simon’s approach as simplistic, & the honour of the “riff oriented” rock has to likely go to Chuck Berry or Bill Haley & his Comet’s yo…

    People in the filthy-press have to print something, & it typically ( but not always ) refers back into a bands history as reference-points.

    Popular music was what we now call Jazz back in the 1920’s-50’s, before simplistic though energetic Rock ‘n’ Roll & Elvis ( plus the others mentioned above ) caught everyone’s attention. And since that time, Jazz has definitely morphed into intellectual music, that is a very-hard-studied art-form. Just because Tommy played on a couple of so-called “Jazz-fusion” records does not make him a a Jazz musician, he even states that he only ever learned 4-chords from a teacher. The same goes for Jimi…These chaps had an intuitive melody in their heads that they could play over music that was set-up for them to do so. And they found success too, since the time was right for their presence to be regarded & recorded.

    The thing I’m getting at, is that Jazz today takes a life-time to understand & play, which is why the market is small & exclusive. As an example, if you can’t even tell me what the II-V-I chords are for the key of Bb, then you have no idea what I’m talking about, or what Jazz is about…And yet, you can still enjoy the music !…

    Be careful when you gauge or label someone a Jazz musician is my point, as the last laugh may be actually on yourself !

    Peace !

  5. 5
    Uwe Hornung says:

    I didn’t mean simplistic as an insult, in rock it’s an art in itself. Most stadium-filling mega-popular rock bands are simplistic: Stones, U2, AC/DC, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Springsteen …

    C-F-Bb, am I right, lieber Gregster? 🤓

    Not that I‘m a Jazz musician in any way, it‘s something you learn when you play with keyboarders who like to think that way, or read – who‘d have thought? – Gene Simmons interviews who also likes to break down song structures like that. Behind all the blood, fire-breathing, make-up and mouthing off, there is a real musician lurking.

    You‘re right, Tommy didn‘t really know what he was doing on Spectrum, but he had innate musicality and feel.

    Simon caught my attention already with Don Airey, I saw him at club gigs and was impressed how he would play an abstract and complex Colosseum II number in one minute (ok, more like ten minutes with Colosseum II 😂) and Since You‘ve Been Gone, Still Got The Blues, Mr Crowley or Here I Go Again in the next. But even when he played pronounced Jazz Rock lines, it was clear where he came from. He had/has a rock, not a Jazz feel.

    Steve is to my ears not really that jazzy at all (I think Neal Schon of Journey often sounds jazzier in his flurried approach than Steve), there are all these other C&W, Bluegrass, Classical Guitar Music and New Age influences in his playing. But by his very nature, he‘s not a raunchy rock‘n‘roller. That must have been clear to the rest of DP when they hired him in 1994, yet perhaps it wasn‘t as high on their agenda after bad boy Ritchie had just ditched them. They were looking for stability and they found it with Steve – on a musically exquisite level.

  6. 6
    AndreA says:

    in SHARP SHOOTER bomb song I love the rhythms during the moog and then guitar solos. What a bomb!
    💣

  7. 7
    Fla76 says:

    positive review,
    but in my opinion the guy has hearing problems if in Portable Door he hears something from the Perfect Strangers period.

    even Show Me has nothing classic about it, starting from the very modern initial riff!

  8. 8
    Gregster says:

    Yo,

    Leiber Uwe, yes, you are correct in-part, with the chordal qualities being the most important aspect however, but it’s all good. ( These being, II = min 7, V = Dom 7, & I = Maj 7 ).

    At the time of Spectrum, there was a genuine effort to combine free-jazz ( anything goes ) from a lot of people, such as John McLaughlin, Frank Zappa, & more importantly Miles Davis, who essentially laid the foundation with albums such as “Bitches Brew”…And the real idea behind this movement was the incorporation specifically of electric instruments played at loud volumes, to thousands of people at-a-time in stadiums etc etc, which were dominating the music scene in general, as they were exploding through the air-waves, & like “Jazz”, elements remain to this day, though limited. People like John Scofield & Robben Ford really ride a knife-edge between genres depending on the recording, but all this is long-gone history, & they are hardly filling stadiums or headlining out-door-gigs…

    Playing a chromatic line here & there does not equal a jazz-line or make one a jazz musician, though it may sound jazzy per-se.

    DP have survived well for a hard-rock band, where their “label” as chosen by the people / fans hasn’t changed too much, & yet elements of almost full-blown Jazz has been presented by Don ( & Simon ) on this new album, where Don, through the climax of a solo on a couple of tunes, blows through the cycle-of-4th’s-&-5th’s in an extraordinary explosion of a musical cadence & climax…Great stuff…And there a few tunes however, where Rogers lines are very-much played in the jazz train-of-thought, where he walks all around the chords & links them together, like on the Fireball album. I certainly can hear Mr.Ezrin’s influence here & there too, when the musical mood & sound shifts to weird & even scary, like in his historical past. ( I’m deliberately not naming tunes, so people listen more intently & appreciate what’s possibly DP’s most musical album made ever )…IMO, this record has all the musical adventure of Mk-I, but delivered by top-notch & experienced musicians.

    @6…

    The whole album is the bomb for sure !!! What a great eruption of fine music ! And soon to be continued with the next effort too !

    Peace !

  9. 9
    AndreA says:

    This album reminds me of the sensations of the Machine Head and Firebell years, so if this album had been released in those years, it would have been a real FM radio success. There are songs on this album that could be interchanged with those on those two albums. HardcRock not studied but very instinctive compared to the refined and twisted constructions of the last three where studied constructions prevail because they are records more aimed at prog sounds (which tire me even if I appreciate them), sounds where technique prevails to the detriment of direct impact. In short, it looks more at rock n roll blues than at progressive hyperbole and this is what I prefer. Listening to this album seems like the band has become forty years younger, the band has and delivers (I’m sure) the feeling of pleasure and fun, not staid, sober things. No: here they let themselves go without frills and frames. A philosophy closer to AC/DC than Rush or Dream Theater (how boring these are…). Yes: the best in years (many years).

  10. 10
    AndreA says:

    the only thing I regret about this album is that there is not harmonica.

  11. 11
    Uwe Hornung says:

    I don’t disagree, good Gregster, though by that definition Jeff Beck isn’t a jazzer either, just a rock guitarist who sometimes visits jazzy environments. Which is entirely a fair assessment.

    Who said “chromatic”? 🫢

    https://youtu.be/1E2V7Aoa6Mk

  12. 12
    Gregster says:

    Yo,

    @11…I agree with you Leiber Uwe…The music we hear from the likes of Tommy & Jeff back in the 1970’s was the combination of the so-called “free-jazz & rock”, the “Fusion” of the two elements…Free-jazz because it was generally a loose & unconventional arrangement /composition when compared to “regular tunes” that were played on radio, & Rock because it was the loud new wave of electric instrumentation, from electric guitars & basses to synthesisers. And though these boys do play their stuff well, it’s likely in Tommy’s case, he wouldn’t have a clue what to do or play with a chord chart & melody-line in front of him. Santana could live in this conversation too, though the Latin-percussive-vibe dominates the so-called jazz chords used in his tunes, & often like Zappa, a 2-chord vamp is played for the solos.

    The Jazz musician knows pretty-much all the variables & possible harmony within a tune, & picks at will a melody for a solo. And can do it convincingly each time, through very complex tunes, seamlessly making all the key-changes as they pass, so that you wouldn’t even know they’ve been played through.

    This doesn’t make a player better than another one who doesn’t know his / her way around a tune, but it’s a big limitation.

    Chromatic lines are played quite often by many people in many genres, I only brought-it-up so as to not have it mean a person is necessarily playing jazz or is a jazz musician. My hang-up is when someone suggests / hints that someone is a Jazz player. I studied the subject full-time for 2-years for a (another) Diploma, & learned a great deal about music & Jazz, & also very soon realized that I’m not a Jazz musician, though I have some knowledge about music & its harmony / mechanics. It’s all kinds of music that moves me & makes me want to pick-up the guitar & play. My teachers through that time-period were pretty anal about Jazz & its elitism, & I’m happy to leave them there lol, but have to by default acknowledge the differences. Just like RB, their attitude sucks, & that makes them assholes…( This doesn’t mean a Jazz musician is necessarily an asshole btw ).

    Jeff was a master-player, & had unbelievable control / command of his guitar. His music was years ahead of the pack & futuristic per-se imo, & yet he rarely gets heard here at my place for reasons unknown, even though I have a few recordings. I think I simply have acquired too-much-music over-the-years…But there’s a rather large group of favourites that always gets air-time, & if DP keep making records like they have for the last 30-years, they’ll continue to get their air-time LOL !

    @10…I can’t hear any conga’s in there either…I’ll spin-it-again to makes sure !

    Peace !

  13. 13
    Uwe Hornung says:

    “… even Show Me has nothing classic about it, starting from the very modern initial riff!”

    I’m Fla(76)bbergasted: What did poor Survivor, Loverboy, Legs Diamond or Judas Priest do to no longer be regarded as classic with their chugging intros? 😯

    https://youtu.be/btPJPFnesV4

    https://youtu.be/5Qp8QEMnTpk

    https://youtu.be/eNSne3IJPt4

    https://youtu.be/coA75uoMF40

    I agree that Blackmore would have considered such a rhythm guitar intro beneath him (he who even had to be coaxed into being Rick Parfitt for a verse or two in Space Truckin! 😎) and Steve Morse likely pointless, but “very modern”? Is there anything more trrraditionally cock rrock than penetrrrative eight- or sixteen-note rrrhythm guitarrr?

    https://youtu.be/_EBvXpjudf8

    Ok, I’m excited now, need to cool down, Cherie always does that to me …

  14. 14
    Uwe Hornung says:

    OMGofThunder 🫣, how could I distill the term “cock rock” from the cavernous depths of my corroded vocabulary and not point to this here?

    https://youtu.be/Gcj34XixuYg

    Forgive me Herr Eisen, Chaim, Eric & Vinnie!

    That vid encapsulates everything that was fun about the early 80ies!

  15. 15
    Uwe Hornung says:

    Chromatic Non-Jazz! You can even bluff your way into the charts with it, at least in the 80s you could … 😂

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2zxzaWgVRA

    I miss Steve Harley.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLktwloscrU

    Cracker of a guitar solo by Jim Cregan, a man even Ritchie appreciated.

  16. 16
    Fla76 says:

    #13 Uwe

    honestly, far from making a controversy, in my opinion I find nothing to do between the beginning of show me and all the songs you linked, both as the intention of the riff itself, and with the song that contextualizes it when the whole band starts….. distant worlds, and the Purple world is a separate story.

    I respect the Runaways for their story, but they leave me with nothing, I can’t stand songs with punk vocals, more or less canonical, in all its shades and nuances, a poor genre for me… even the heavy punk of Motorhead live bored me after the third song…

    when I talk about the modernity of show me, I mean in the discography of Purple themselves, it’s not a comparison with other bands, of which I don’t really care about their current discography.

    I can say that Judas and Survivor can’t even imagine a song like Show Me in their minds, clinging as they are to their clichés.

  17. 17
    Gregster says:

    Yo,

    Herr Uwe, that tune “Make me smile” was played-to-death on the radio over here in Oz it was so popular…I had no idea it was Steve Harley, & simply thought it was some local-band getting extraordinary air-time with their country-ish tune…In fact, I’m starting to think that someone over here did, & had success covering it.

    Who’s Ritchie however ???…

    Peace !

  18. 18
    Georgivs says:

    @16 I’m not into punk either, generally, but if only for the sake of curiosity I’d recommend you to check out New Model Army. A very good band, musically.

  19. 19
    Uwe Hornung says:

    Esteemed Fla76, when I first heard =1, my immediate thought was “wow, that is très simplistic for DP, but in a good and effective way”. Did they ever start an album with the guitar where it did not play a riff (KOYBD doesn’t count, that started with a keyboard intro and once Blackmore came in the riff was of course there)?

    “when I talk about the modernity of show me, I mean in the discography of Purple themselves …”

    Oh, now I geddit, yes it was new for Purple, schism resolved, we were actually thinking the same thing! 😘

    *****************************************

    I was never a Punk hater … Ramones, Stranglers, The Jam, I could see (and hear) the appeal. I loved the New York Dolls, widely perceived as Punk progenitors.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvmvMFXWzc8

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aQTGqqXHw4

    There is something life-affirming about a bar chord guitar doing chugging eighths! 😍

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpNw7jYkbVc

    There is a place were primal garage hard rock like early Kiss and Punk meet and all is good.

    I might as well out myself … Guess where I was yesterday evening: in Mannheim. No, not Glenn Hughes this time, but one of his (many) former short-term girlfriends …

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAjyKs2RCTw

    I finally saw her live. 48 years after the BRAVO poster of her and bandmates graced my bedside wall, I was privileged enought to witness the one and only Madam Cherie Currie at a tiny club. And what can I say: Dame Cherie still looks great (i.e. not really pretty, with a bit of a hard/mean streak, just like as a teenager ;D) and she can just as well NOT sing today as she used to. With an alto range of three-and-a-half-notes (but very convincing at those!) over some of the most primal and barely musical punkish garage hard rock imaginable. 🤣

    It was mind-numbingly juvenile effing great. How fate has spoiled me. 🙂 One item off my bucket list.

    *******************************

    New Model Army are perfectly fine, Georgivs, they had a spin-off a band I really dug in the 90ies called Loud, this really should have been a hit, a riff-happy catchy-fest with Glam Rock influences.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ictO1zMxPs

    ********************************************************

    Good Gregster, given Ms Quatro’s undiluted popularity on your home isle, you probably heard Suzi’s cover version, right?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EbSYeh4LLk

    That song is so misunderstood with its jaunty little melody! The lyrics are spite- and vengeful, caustic and downright nasty. Harley wrote them when he had fallen ill while in Cockney Rebel and his bandmates visited him at his bedside in hospital only to reveal to him that they wanted to write songs too going forward which he of course – in true John Fogerty mode – would have none of, deeming them ungrateful sods for the success he had so far provided for them as the sole writer. So the band dissolved there and then in his mind and Harley gloated while recovering, predicting (accurately) that the rest of his former band (only the drummer Stuart Elliott stayed on) would go nowhere.

    I have no idea what possessed Suzi to cover the song which lyrically is a vicious pile of hateful bile (Harley was good at that!). But earworm-catchy of course!

    “You’ve done it all
    You’ve broken every code
    And pulled the Rebel to the floor

    You spoiled the game
    No matter what you say
    For only metal, what a bore

    Blue eyes, blue eyes
    How come you tell so many lies?

    Come up and see me, make me smile
    Or do what you want, running wild

    There’s nothing left
    All gone and run away
    Maybe you’ll tarry for a while

    It’s just a test
    A game for us to play
    Win or lose, it’s hard to smile

    Resist, resist
    It’s from yourself you have to hide, oh

    Come up and see me to make me smile
    Oh, or do what you want, running wild

    There ain’t no more
    You’ve taken everything
    From my belief in Mother Earth

    Can you ignore
    My faith in everything?
    ‘Cause I know what faith is and what it’s worth

    Away, away
    And don’t say maybe you’ll try

    Oh, do come up and see me, do make me smile
    Or do what you want, just running wild

    Ooh, la la la
    Ooh, la la la
    Ooh
    Come up and see me, make me smile
    Or do what you want, running wild”

  20. 20
    Gregster says:

    Yo,

    @19…I did a quick search & discovered that over 120 people have covered that tune, so I can’t tell you who did it locally here in Oz, except that it was very popular, & sounded quite similar / identical to the original. And I can’t even give you a time-frame, perhaps in the 1990’s…It just always seemed to be played & on the radio.

    =1 is far better listening however !

    Peace !

  21. 21
    Georgivs says:

    @19 Herr Uwe, Suzi’s version is more mainstream and ultimately pleasant to my year. But Steve, gosh, he sounds so mean on this song, he gives it such a cold revenge feel that I’d think ten times before agreeing to be in the same band with him. Not that I’m likely to have been invited…

  22. 22
    Uwe Hornung says:

    I’ve got everything from Harley and seen him twice, but he could be incredibly snide and scathing, especially as a young man, he was initially a music paper journal after all. I guess suffering from polio as a child and being tied to your bed for a year with too much time on your hands plus the derision from classmates about your physical handicaps do that to you. He mellowed out with age and even said he wouldn’t write the Make Me Smile lyrics that way again, but he was of course stuck with the hit.

    Suzi can generally do no wrong with me and the half-time part in her version is a nice touch, but otherwise it’s a bit pedestrian and really those lyrics can’t be sung by anyone else but Harley. She probably thought they were about cheating in a boy-girl relationship. Most people didn’t get that the “rebel” in the lyrics was actually a reference to Harley’s own band and “for only metal, what a bore” was a swipe at his band mates for wishing to earn songwriter royalties too.

  23. 23
    MacGregor says:

    The Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel original was a huge hit at the time, mid to late 1970’s here in Oz & is still played on radio today. How many times have I heard that whilst in a store or at parties and everywhere else it seems. I have always liked the stop starts in that song, that worked very well. It always brings a smile actually, it is indeed a nice song & does the trick. The only trouble is I now cannot get it out of my head. Thanks Uwe. I suppose it could be worse. And DON”T send any ‘different’ links, please. Cheers.

  24. 24
    MacGregor says:

    Interesting short interview with Steve Harley from Rick Wakeman & Tony Ashton. Talking about the 70’s of course. I listened to the song Judy Teen & we do hear a Roxy Music influence there & talking of influences that song sounds like what Split Enz were influenced by. Very early Split Enz. Cheers.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZf0xiKYoe4

  25. 25
    Uwe Hornung says:

    Yeah, the Split Enz comparison is apt. Never thought of it that way, but it is.

    It really was a chore to get their albums in Europe, but I succeeded a couple of times. I like what Tim Finn’s little brother Neil (who also played with later Split Enz) did/does with Crowded House too. I used to hate them initially, but came round, it’s just to well crafted sophisticated pop.

    Thanks for that Gas Tank interview, that was Harley still in all his blasé glory (you can easily understand how he rubbed people the wrong way though it was mostly an act) and I love how he switched from interviewee to interviewer towards the end!

  26. 26
    Skippy O'Nasica says:

    Steve Harley, what a unique songwriter. Wonder if Johnny Rotten was listening and taking notes.

    And that first lineup of Cockney Rebel (electric guitar-free, like Sailor) had a unique sound.
    “Mirror Freak” was perhaps their most hypnotic song, sometimes heard on late night radio.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCxXd_FNK1A

    Star in her own right, the highly prolific Tina Charles was one of the backing singers on “Make Me Smile”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNZhpklucFM

  27. 27
    MacGregor says:

    I will have to admit to not knowing Harley’s music at all, other than ‘that’ song we all know. I watched 2015 interview with him & he is a keen observer of human life & all it’s interactions etc. Fascinated by it & he talked about The Human Menagerie album & the theatre of it all. Thanks for the link Skippy. Always good to hear good music, especially from that era. The 50 minute interview below. Cheers.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8T3lDUBMpg

  28. 28
    Uwe Hornung says:

    Oh my, Skippy, another Harley fan here on a Purple site!

    And fearless enough to mention even Tina Charles! OTOH, I’m convinced that the ‘Tina Charles sound” inspired Ian Gillan to this little ditty here which I personally love …

    https://youtu.be/qX3H_SPTkwk

    Ideal for ‘disco fox’ partner dance classes!

  29. 29
    AndreA says:

    @ 28
    Ciao Uwe,
    that Gillan’s stuff is the same very cool on Cherkazoo And Other Stories
    ?
    That’s I possed..
    Ciaooo
    🖐

  30. 30
    Skippy O'Nasica says:

    @27 Thanks for the interview link!

    @28 Never heard the Gillan song before; that title usually brings Michael Franks to mind.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wfi8DqTaKc

    The IG tune is catchy, and it’s a very smooth-sounding record. Surprised to see him credited as sole composer… One pretty sophisticated change in there, at “I would be so low”.

    Yes, the song does have that soul / proto-disco feel to it. Wonder who did the arrangements?

    As different from what he did with Purple as Rod Evans’ Partridge Family-like solo single was from MKI.

  31. 31
    MacGregor says:

    That is a return to his roots if ever there was one. Ian Gillan has always been a song man & no surprises there with that lot. Some good performances in places. So many of the wonderful rock vocalists from that era were influenced from their parents & grandparents & other earlier music. Ozzy possibly excepted. I don’t know who could have influenced his Ozzness. Not to worry. David Byron also recorded a few older songs back in the day. Cheers.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDR9YX1mXeA

  32. 32
    Rost says:

    Are everybody deaf here?
    Crap, crap and another crap.
    Crap-1: album design – cheap.
    Crap-2: Sound – the worst produced album in the band history. Even the RoTD produced away better.
    The replace the wrong guy, instead of Morse they should replace Ezrin.
    I’ve got my vinyl version this week, and what I heard…Only Gillan and background noise, there is impossible to hear where the bass and where the guitar, the drums somewhere behind and all these produce only noise, nothing related to music or instrumental playing.
    At the beginning I was thinking maybe something with my vinyl version, but than I download the digital version of the album and it’s the same shit.
    Crap-3: In general, most of the songs too short and undeveloped. Looks like they tell to themselves, OK we have a new guy on board, let’s play something.
    No groove, no inspiration, nothing.
    I do not understand what the buzz?
    This album on the honorable second place from the end after “Slaves and Masters.

  33. 33
    Rost says:

    I apologise for my previous post.
    The problem was with the vinyl that I received from Amazon.
    I waited for its arrival and do not want to listen to any digital version of the album.
    Today I found online version of the album and was blown away. Really one of the best in years including production.
    And vinyl I will return back to Amazon.
    Please let me know if somebody have a vinyl version with the right sound. Just curious to know if reorder it again.
    Thank you for understanding.

  34. 34
    Uwe Hornung says:

    Rost is still rather emotional about =1. 😎 Can’t you hear the joy in the tracks?

    I didn’t think Slaves & Masters was horrible when it came out nor do I think so today. Except for the lyrics maybe, but that is where any DP singer other than Gillan will have issues.

  35. 35
    AndreA says:

    No, no. The drums sound terrible. The toms seem “out of tune”, they are out of tune. The rolls clash. I’d be curious to know what Paice really thinks…

  36. 36
    Uwe Hornung says:

    I’m amazed that there are so many vinyl mispressings circulating these days, has producing them flawlessly become a lost art? Sure, back in the day you would sometimes have a hissy copy, a warped one or one where the needle might skip or get stuck, but a total crap pressing like the one Rost reports about? Strange.

    Anyway, I’m happy you’ve seen (or heard!) the light, Rost.

    So much about a production is a matter of taste. Sure, if Bob Ezrin had asked me, some things might have sounded differently (if not automatically better), but that is not really the point. The question is rather, does the production as a whole transport the spirit of the band, and I think Bob’s productions do that with DP.

  37. 37
    Uwe Hornung says:

    “Ozzy possibly excepted.“

    Really? I always thought that it was very audible with Ozzy that he is a Beatles/Lennon buff.

    https://youtu.be/0Nltmw4uhDI

    https://youtu.be/pYomVbcJKhI

    https://youtu.be/LCCiwPEdEpg

    Ozzy era Sabbath’s charm was that Ozzy had the ability to develop and deliver these wailing, elongated, almost childlike naïve melodies over the Italian’s doomsday riffs, that made Sabbath accessible and even commercial at times. Ozzy is not the most tonally accurate live singer in the history of rock, but he can always come up with a melody that sticks. Simple, but catchy and often endearing.

    And right down to the way he multitracks his solo singing voice, Ozzy’s delivery is very Lennon’esque. Mind you, that is not a bad role model to have. Dio btw preferred McCartney’s voice and singing style to Lennon’s.

  38. 38
    Rost says:

    Hi Uwe,
    I already appologize for my previous post, please see exactly below :).
    Something with quality of the vinyl sound that I received.
    Before I got it I didn’t hear any digital version of the album, therefore was thinking that very emotional and wrong.
    Since yesterday, my opinion about the new album is completely opposite.
    Regarding Slaves and Masters my opinion doesn’t change :).

  39. 39
    MacGregor says:

    @ 37 – I was thinking older than the Beatles, old school rock ‘n roll as many vocalists are influenced by that. Little Richard, Elvis etc etc. We are well aware Ozzy was a Beatles nut & influenced by them, particularly on the ‘ballads’ in Sabbath & also solo. Dio as we know came from that earlier era, doo-wop & rock ‘roll, a crooner even. Have to enjoy that aspect to him. Cheers.

  40. 40
    AndreA says:

    S&M is the only one I don’t have and never wanted to buy.

  41. 41
    Uwe Hornung says:

    No need to apologize for being disappointed about an album because they sent you a mispressing, Rost. It’s a scandal that there is so little quality control from the pressing plant.

  42. 42
    AndreA says:

    Rost,Uwe.
    but I didn’t understand: where did Amazon get that disc? I have always boycotted Amazon.

  43. 43
    Uwe Hornung says:

    The Most Honorable Convict @39: Perhaps a bit from Sam Moore’s tenor voice of Sam & Dave? Ozzy was an ardent Sam & Dave fan.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fowldx4hRtI

    He loved James Brown too:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJgkuyJ8NLo

    And then of course (who didn’t from his generation?):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm5HKlQ6nGM

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t6LzTbItY8

  44. 44
    MacGregor says:

    As you can tell I am being lazy in not looking up Ozzy & his vocal influences. I was going to yesterday afternoon, then doing a few outside chores etc & I forgot about it, again. Thanks for the reminders. Cheers.

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