RAPTURE OF THE DEEP

Deep Purple. A long and hectic history at times. I guess it is one of the remaining dinosaurs that still produce studio albums on a regular basis. This is their nineteenth studio effort in twenty eight years of effective years (they had a long, nine year break between 1975 and 1984). Countless official live albums and compilations as well (not always great, though).

I was quite disappointed with "Bananas", so : are we going to get a good (à la "Perpendicular") or a bad ("Abandon" style) surprise ?

I wouldn' t have chosen for "Money Talks" as an opener. This track is not bad but it belongs to the genre "heavy - slow paced" like "Bloodsucker" or "Maybe I'm A Leo" which were never my cup of tea. Lyrics though are quite interesting. It tells us the story of a very wealthy guy rather pretentious : "I had rising stock, So I got more pockets, I knew somewhere to stick it, Where no-one would nick it". But the main character will be drawn down back to earth before the end of the track : "The structure was shaking, Was there for the taking, I had the resources, But then, oh no, Someone outbid me, I can't take it with me? Then I will devour it, I can't go without it, It's simply a question of Market forces" Good for the reflection about money and its use, right ?

"Girls Like That" starts almost in a pysche mood, but it soon turns into a classic Purple track : good rythm, great chorus, a key solo (but no guitar one). Lyrics, again, are rather sexually oriented (it's not the first itme). Talking about some "call girl adventure". Good track.

Back to the heavy one (à la "Abandon" if you see what I mean) with "Wrong Man". One of the poorest track of the album. One can not really say that this album starts in a great way.

Finally, the first great track is around the corner. The title track with its Oriental flavour is fantastic. Very nice melody, heavy keys in the background. Ian (Paice) and Roger providing as usual a good rythmic. This song is quite hypnotic (not a speedy one) and reminds me of "Kashmir" (you know, the Led Zep one). Almost the same beat and the same Oriental influence. I quite like this combination (Tull will mix this quite extensively in "Roots To Branches" BTW).

"Clearly Quite Absurd" is one of the very few romantic ballad from Purple (together with "A Blind Man Cries" back in .. 1972). Very nice break and a bit surprising in this ocean of hard to heavy ones.

"Don't Let Go" is rather pop/rock oriented. Good keys and great guitar solo from Steve. Not too bad.

"Back To Back" is a heavy funky one that would have fit better during the Mark III/IV era. Hughes would have been great on the vocals here. Just average (although the instrumental in the middle section is quite good. Thanks again Steve).

Back to a highlight with "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye". This is a great Purple song in all its splendor. Hard-rocking like crazy, catchy melody and great backing band. Should have been the opener IMO.

On the European version of the album, there is a bonus track : "MTV". This is an acid critics not only for MTV but to most of the talk shows we can see on telly or listen to the radio and journalists in general.

I quote the lyrics: "Mr. Grover 'n' Mr Gillian, You musta made a million, The night that Frank Zappa caught on fire, Could you tell us all about it, Keep it short and use my version, Or everyone out there'll think I'm a liar, We can speak about bananas for one second, Just because I understand, You have to get them off your chest But in the meantime while your talking, Could you do some more of these here ID's, And then this station might maintain some interest".

There is a part of the song which I directly relate to myself.

"Let's not talk about MTV, I don't even want to start, I want to take a look at Classic Rock Radio, We're talking about the state of the art".

This is exactly how I feel. Fortunately we have a fantastic radio station here in Belgium called "Rock Classic" (merci Marc). Its director is a founder member and drummer Marc Isaye (from the Belgian band Machiavel). It is probably one of the very few radio stations where you could listen to "Kashmir", "The Cinema Show", "Shine On You - Part I to V", "Child In Time" and zillions of other great numbers in their entirety, without bla bla overdubbing the track. And this, the whole day long.

"Junk Blues" is on par with the other regular songs. Average hard-rock. Not less, not more. "Before Time Began" is a good closing number. Quiter than most of the songs here, just to breathe a bit. Short, but good guitar and keys breaks. Very nice.

Three stars for this effort combining some great osngs (but not enough, with average to good other ones). You should try and get hold of the European release fro "MTV".

Purple have released an extended version in 2006 (money talks...) called : "Tour Edition". I guess that by the end of year, we'll get a DVD as well (money re-talks).

I have not got hold of this one, so I can not yet judge its musical value. Its commercial value reaches 21 - 22 ? (thirty bucks) making this version not a cheap one (studio edition can be purchased for less than ten ?). I find it quite boring for the fan that only a few months after the official release of their studio work they put another packaging on the market. I have said it because I really feel like it (P.O., actually).

So, I do not know if this will be the last studio release for Purple (I have read somewhere that there is a project for a new one, so let's wait). They will more than probalby (do you wanna bet) release "A Forty Years Purple Collection" next year. A triple CD at least, I guess : with a great packaging with photos, interviews from most of the band members since Mark I, one or two "lost jewels" (you know the type of numbers no-one needs to listen to but that will push the sales a bit more). Price will probably range 35 - 40 euros (add 30% to get the $ value). And I tell you right now : I am NOT going to buy it.

I will just do what I wrote in my review for "30:Best Of": I will do my own compilation (actually, I already did it and I called it "The Ultimate Compilation" (tracklist available in my review for ""30:Best Of"). So, maybe it is time to thank those guys for the inmense joy they have procured to me (and to several other millions of fans).

In my order of preference (quite personal but that's it) :

Jon : the inspirator of the early days, the "soul" of the band who unfortunately left it in 2002. Even if he was not the most prolific in terms of songwriting, his influence has been enormous.

Ian (Gillan) : for his tremendous input to the band. Purple really changed directions in 1969 thanks to him and became the band we all know and love.

Ritchie : a fabulous guitar player. Great live performer (remember "California Jam") but so difficult to live with (although they tried hard). A bit the same feeling as for Roger (Waters of course).

Glenn : for his great voice and bass playing during a relatively short break, but IMO an imoprtant one (Mark III and IV)

Ian (Paice) : the one and only remaining founding number. Probably underrated as a drummer. Still, he belongs to my top ten one in this genre.

Roger : for his great job not only on the bass but as well as a producer.

Steve : a very skilled guitar player who has inspired the Purple back again after Ritchie's departure.

David : to have performed quite well after Ian on the lead vocals (that was not an easy job)

To a lesser extent to Nick, Rod, Tommy and Don. Thank you all guys.