STORMBRINGER

This is a particular album in Deep Purple's eventful career. I think here, with Coverdale and Hughes on the band, they started experimenting with poppier sounds, and the result is an enjoyable pop album, with the exception of 3 songs that would be classified as Hard Rock. In fact, I have always liked Deep Purple for their more rocker/hardrocker period, in other words, the beloved MK II. I don't think their change to a poppier sound would be necessarily for good, and, to my ears, this is not Deep Purple, not only for the vocals, but also for the music, as I explained before.

The inclusion of Coverdale and Hughes involved two excellent vocalists (!), of course, and a correct bass player, but here it also involved this musical change. The best song here, IMO, is "Stormbringer" which has clearly more power than any of the other songs, combining emotion and heavyness, and resulting an exceptional Hard Rock song, with a guitar solo that reminds me of the old Deep Purple. The other highlights are: "Soldier Of Fortune", a ballad that concentrates so much emotion inside, and the vocals are very very good, but I would have loved if they made this song longer (only 3 minutes!); "Holy Man" and "Hold On" which are great pop tracks, with nice Coverdale-Hughes vocal duo, and a fantastic guitar solo on the latter one. Anyway, Blackmore doesn't shone as much as he should, and the same with Lord, who could only contribute with a couple of good solos, like on the other highlight, "High Ball Shooter", which remains of the other side of Deep Purple. Also, Paice is as correct and groovy as always.

Overall, a not remarkable album in Deep Purple's history, not exceptionally good but enjoyable and catchy. Recommendable for those who want to get more into the band, and to fans of poppier music.

Rating: 3.2/5