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“Almost triumphant”
The Highway Star reader Roska Posti reviews =1
I became a Deep Purple fan in about 1997, and the two first current albums, Abandon and Bananas, blew me away. The problem was that while Rapture of the Deep is half-great, half-baked, those two left me waiting for them to follow up every time a new Purple album comes around.
While neither is perfect, Now What?! (All The Time In The World is probably their best latter-day song) and Infinite (Time For Bedlam blew everything out of the water and set the bar *too* high for the rest of the album) delivered more than enough to keep me happy. Whoosh had me questioning my wits, as my favourite band failed to come up with a great song. It took me over a year and many restless listens to get to Nothing At All, which then, luckily, became that one great song. I was afraid it would be the last.
I am happy to say the new album is major improvement over Whoosh. The truly great songs are still yet to reveal themselves, but once I heard Pictures of You, I knew the record would be worth waiting for. And it is.
While all age-related caveats apply – and how could they not – the band have come up with several real songs, and not just jams and middle-parts. There are some things that could have been done slightly differently in lyrical terms (Sharp Shooter being the main offender here, AC/DC releasing “a shot in the dark beats a walk in the park” as their lead single from their last album), and some (I’m guessing idiosyncratic Ezrin) production and structure choices come off as unnecessary …
Nevertheless, especially the two slow songs appeal to me, and I’m inclined to think balladeering is where Gillan’s voice works best these days. I am also happy he doesn’t try to hard. There are several false starts for another Time For Bedlam or House Of Pain, with Now You’re Talkin’ and No Money To Burn getting the closest to what I was hoping to hear. Bleeding Obvious is another song worth mentioning, closing up the proceedings in an almost triumphant way.
=1 is not a necessary or revelatory album at any point, but in anticipation of the next Bananas (which will never come), it’s good enough to be a new Deep Purple album.
Roska Posti
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Yo,
Good for you Roska ! It’s good to hear what people who when Steve Morse joined as their reference-point have to say, as that’s when the band really took-off musically, in a big way.
“Rapture of the deep” kicks major-butt imo, so I’m not sure why you only half like it. A lot of the Morse-era albums can fall-short in some way in their delivery, but I’m sure that’s all about production techniques where IG is generally up-in-the-mix, leaving the band at a lower volume threshold, & I’m not sure that works as well as it could. It’s better to hear him fighting for a spot to be heard imo, & everyone else at equal volume levels, so they have to fight for the sonic spotlight, so-to-speak…But that’s what live albums are for, & good ones really deliver.
Every album has an overall characteristic that will flow through it, since its a time-capsule of a band captured during the recording event. It’s better to appreciate a whole album on that merit, then to look for a couple of songs that you might like imo. This way, all the tunes will shine brighter, & earn more appreciation.
Thanks for your review.
Peace !
July 22nd, 2024 at 12:54thanks for the review Roska!
July 22nd, 2024 at 16:46I think exactly like you, including the judgment from Rapture of the Deep onwards, and understanding that “All The Time In The World” is perhaps the most beautiful song of the entire Morse era
Hi Roska, good to see a refreshing perspective like yours, although I don’t share much of it.
Your opinion reminded me how much beef I have with Bananas, the worst Morse Era album for me, the biggest number of pointless songs that I just dread (Haunted never saved by Beth, the pointless drag of Walk On, or the Rainbow hit clone of House of Pain). However it also has the two songs that I will eternally praise and love – the marvellous stomp of Picture of Innocence (my God, how much I’d like it to hit the stage and be played with some improvised fun). The other gem is Never A Word – which will remain to me a long lost most beatiful melody of Morse era – forever. I sometimes feel like only I and Tomek K love it – most everybody else ignore it.
I would never call Rapture a half baked album – here’s where the songs hit the strength of Purpendicular for me on some of the tracks. The triade of Rapture of the Deep, Clearly Quite Absurd and Before Time Began – they will always be the diamonds on the Morse Era crown. But that’s just me! Thank you for the review!
July 22nd, 2024 at 18:08Gregster @1,
Couldn’t agree with you more. The one song in which Steve is buried in, among others, is Time For Bedlam. It’s such a great song, fast paced for an opener at that, but bugs the heck out of me the fact that Steve is so low in the mix. Can in no way comprehend with Bob’s overall brilliance.
Peace,
July 22nd, 2024 at 18:30Ted
Ezrin very much looks at the overall picture, not individual instrument sounds. He’s an orchestral producer, he always made the Alice Cooper Group or Kiss or Hanoi Rocks – essentially all garage bands – cinemascope stylish widescreen.
July 22nd, 2024 at 20:46Thank you all for your kind words!
Specifically @3 (and a bit @1):
In my defence, by “half-great, half-baked” I, a non-native English speaker, was aiming at a half-baked pun. What I was trying to say, was that half of the tracks on Rapture of the Deep are indeed great, while the other half sound “pedestrian” (for want of a better word). It is telling that a fan who can list the tracks on most other DP albums by heart had to google the names for this reply; but here I am naming and shaming practically all the faster songs; Money Talks, Wrong Man, Girls Like That, Back To Back and Don’t Let Go. The ones you listed, then again, are indeed crown diamonds!
Other than it being a personal experience at a very delicate time in the development of my musical journey, I have never quite been able to put my finger on it why I enjoy Bananas so much. But I think you finally found the words for it: in addition to being very Purple, there is something Rainbow-y about it (and I happen to love both bands). It just might have something to do with Don Airey joining the fold? Anyway, 21 years on, I am enjoying Walk On as much as Never A Word, which is indeed a fantastic little thing, to make an understatement. And, to quote a fictional Ian, “every cut on this album is a hit”.
Now about =1, which I apparently ended up reviewing by mostly talking about other albums; with more listenings under my belt, and the songs are taking shape in the way most songs on Whoosh really never did, and it feels great. Someone else said somewhere that Simon sounds like Morse and Blackmore, only at different times, and I think that was well put. Some of the soloing has the feeling like Steve was still there, but at other places, it’s evident he is not. What everybody has been saying about McBride giving the band new energy … well while that was notably missing from the band on Whoosh, and maybe also subdued by production – looking at you, What the What – it can indeed now be heard again.
On a completely personal note, several of the hooks are now officially stuck in my head, and that gives me hope on the album growing on me even further, even if the instant hit refused to materialize.
July 22nd, 2024 at 21:58#3 Thorsun:
Haunted, Walk on and House of Pain are really great for me, and in general better than what I listen onto Rapture.
Clearly Quite Absurd is a diamond in Gillan’s crown
from Rapture I save only 4 songs.
different points of view,
July 22nd, 2024 at 23:50the world is beautiful because it is varied, said the proverb 😉
Yo,
@4 No worries Ted !
The sound can be improved where IG voice remains the same, but the bands volume increases, but you have to use your computer as a playback device…eg, When playing through Windows, you can click on the upper-blue part of the screen, & a small window will appear, that offers lost of modifications, including EQ etc etc. Through looking at what is offered, you will come across a window that offers “SRS” enhancement.This lifts the volume of the far left & far right panned audio, & may improve your listening enjoyment.
Alternatively, simply playing through a 5.1 system (or 7.1 system ) seems to offer a more balanced & likeable sound than a regular stereo set-up, but not everyone has these home theater systems, yet alone like them when they have, as they do take some getting-used-to.
Peace !
July 23rd, 2024 at 01:14@Thorsun
> Bananas, the worst Morse Era
You think wrong about this album. This is the first album without Jon! It’s more than just “Morse Era”.
Panic on board, Steve did what he could to save the situation. “Contact Lost” is not only a song about that shuttle crash, but also about Jon’s absence…
July 23rd, 2024 at 07:14@Uwe
> He’s an orchestral producer
This explains a lot. Thanks.
July 23rd, 2024 at 08:55