The Low down- Rock Masters return with first studio album in 5 years. It's the first recorded output with Don Airey in place of Jon Lord.

As with any album bearing Deep Purple's name, the release of the new album "Bananas" has brought forth the expected amounts of love and loathing in equal measures.
It's been 5 years since the solid,"Äbandon"was given to us… but this hasn't meant inactivity on the part of the band. They toured the album for the best part of 2 years and then performed at the 30th anniversary of the "Concerto for Group and Orchestra", then they decided to take that extravaganza on the road,they then did an American jaunt with The Scorpions and Ted Nugent. All of this activity was followed by the departure of original Organist/Legend/Gentleman Jon Lord. He was replaced by noted Organist/Legend/Gentleman Don Airey (Ozzy/Rainbow/Gary Moore) and the band hit the road again to bed him in. His arrival was a contentious issue with some, but to these ears, although Lord was an integral part of the band, it's a bit late in the day for Purple fans to be getting precious over line-ups. Airey has fitted in well, being a master of the classic Hammond sound himself.
And so to the new record……………it's a belter.
Now that we've established that, we can get a better look at it.
The boys set up in L.A at the end of last year with producer, Michael Bradford. The decision to bring in an outsider was a conscious one, as Roger Glover had decided that things were getting too cosy with him at the helm. Bradford was not an obvious choice. His C.V. has an eclectic mix of genres, with his most recent work with American Rap-Rocker (and Dave Lee Roth rip-off) Kid Rock. He was also a 17 stone black man with nailed-on shades and a "too cool for school" look. Hardly the man to lead a group of 50-something white Englishmen to glory. But it has proved to be an inspired choice, he is/was a Purple nut. He has a love and deep understanding of what is needed to enable Purple to make great albums, not unlike the understanding that Martin Birch had in the '70s.He has enabled the band to forget about everything and simply put together the tunes that they want to. He has also added to the song writing, co-writing with Ian Gillan on 2 tunes. The production is clean and crisp, with a nice bottom end.
The album opens up with "House of Pain". A heavy riff, a cowbell and a Gillan scream…. and we're off. The track serves well as an opener, driving along nicely and giving us all a good idea of the vibe of the record. It's one of the Bradford co-writes (not that you would know)..The other being "Walk On", a slow bluesy affair that is a relative of "When a Blind Man Cries" and has an excellent organ solo on the outro. These tunes don't stand out being written by Bradford, they sit in well with the album as a whole.
The album is definitely Gillan's baby. His voice is well up in the mix and there is the same vibe that I get from some of the early "Gillan" stuff and the "Gillan/Glover" album from the late 80's.This is no bad thing, and there is still plenty of opportunity for the others to shine. Steve Morse's guitar playing throughout is absolutely superb, especially on "Pictures of Innocence". Ian Paice drives the band with his usual understated brilliance and we're even treated to a Roger Glover bass solo for the first time in a long time.
There is a relaxed and carefree vibe throughout, and I think that's what caused me to be slightly under-whelmed by the whole thing when I first heard it. It's easy to fall into the whole," That's no IN ROCK…it's shite and they've lost it…Bring back Blackmore" mentality. But that's pointless; they wouldn't even exist if Blackmore hadn't left when he did. And, I defy Purple fans to listen to "Sun Goes Down" and tell me it isn't one of their best ever songs!
This is a band who are enjoying what they are doing, safe in the knowledge that they have nothing to prove to anyone. A good tune is a good tune.
The message boards on Deep Purple websites are full of fans spitting venom at the inclusion of "Haunted" on the album…because it's a ballad. So what! It works!!
" Never a Word" sounds like a Jethro Tull B-Side, but it works!!
"Razzle Dazzle"and"Doing it tonight" have cheap throwaway lyrics. But they work!!
Because Gillan saves them from ever becoming clichéd and tacky. When he writes, they are clever and sharp.
The album is varied and vibrant. Initially, I was comparing unfavourably with"Purpendicular", but that's not fair."Purpendicular"is a classic album that I've had nearly 8 years to live with."
"Bananas" is out a week.
I feel that it has enough about it to become an album Purple will be proud of. Let's face it, there has only been one truly great Purple record since the reformation, and that's "Purpendicular". This release has already surpassed "Abandon" in my mind, and its strength is its diversity.
So there you go, the boys still have it in spades. A great album just released, and as we all saw in Dublin recently (Those of us with taste…), the band still has the ability to deliver in the live arena.
It's all looking good for the Purps.

Contact Dixie with any comments at dixiedixie69@hotmail.com

Read our review of Purple's recent gig in Dublin

Read our reviews of all 16 previous studio albums

Read our "History Of Deep Purple"