PURPENDICULAR

Deep Purple came reinvigorated after the swap of their guitar player. Morse is a more versatile guitar player and brings some American elements into play such as country, Americana or 80's hard rock. This album brings memorable and solid songwriting, feeling of freshness and a certain willingness to experiment. Morse supplies technically demanding solos showcasing his great technique but he can also show tasty and emotional playing or heavy riffing. "Ted the mechanic" catches the attention by the updated hard rock sound that is closer to American hard rock than British. "Soon forgotten" has a riffing tandem of electric guitar and Hammond. The flagship song "Sometimes I feel like screaming" is one of the most memorable 90's Deep Purple songs. Very well composed and flowing slowly into a crescendo, you are frequently reminded of the fantastic guitar motive. Although I consider Gillan's voice just OK on the album, he excels here by even providing high-pitched chorus. The instrumental outro is Morse's walk. "Aviator" is a country-tinged ballad. I'm a bit sceptical towards the monotonous "The purpendicular waltz" but it will its fans also thanks to a blues-rock riff.

Overall, it's a very solid album - 4 stars for a hard-rock/pop fan, 3 stars for a progger perspective.