PURPENDICULAR

After the last dissapointing studio album "The Battle Rages On" which I gave two stars, this was a great return to form! Steve Morse added a fresh breath of life. What I like about this album is that it doesn´t feel like it´s forced creativity (Bananas comes to mind)

The album kicks off with "Vavoom:Ted the mechanic" and this track basically says this is a new Deep Purple and Morsey is in the house! Great opener and some really good guitar work.

After this great rocker things cool down a bit (in going a bit softer) "Loosen my strings"(With some great bass playing by Roger Glover) and "soon Forgotten" seem to glide into each other. Then comes a Deep Purple classic, "Sometimes I feel like sreaming" It begins slowly and has some great soul searching guitar work by Steve Morse. Now this is just fantastic guitar!! (a lot of fast runs up the fretboard balanced with a strong, sweet melody) This is undoubtedly the best track on this album.

"I´m not your lover now" is the first not so good track ,and I usually find myself skipping this one. "The Aviator" has a celtic feel to it and is done acoustically. Beautiful song!

"Rosa´s Cantina" has a great chugging beat to it and lets your mind wonder, I always seem to picture some bar in Mexico! "A castle full of rascals" is a good solid rocker with some interesting lyrics by Gillan.

Another soft song "A touch away" really sounds so peaceful that one almost gets that "all is right with the world" feeling. "Hey Cisco" shows Purple is still a band to be reckoned with and show just what top musicians they are, Morse and Lord really shine on this track. The second not too good track is "Somebody stole my guitar" which is very mediocre for a band like Purple, one would expect more.. The bluesy "Purpendicular Waltz" finishes the album with a different ,modern and interesting type of blues.

So saying that there are two "not so good" tracks, you will probably wonder why I am giving this album four stars? The answer to that my friends is it was produced by Roger Glover. He has done a fantastic job as producer and this is why this album is so highly recommended.

Mark VII...

A major change in the line-up (one more). Due to the impossible behaviour of Blackmore during their last tour (1993); this time Gillan got rid of him (and for good). Steve Morse (from Kansas which was agonizing - not Steve, but Kansas of course) joins the band as lead guitarist. In terms of musicianship, there is no problem : Steve is a very skilled and talented guitar player. So, let's see (or hear ...).

I was not quite convinced with the opener : "Vavoom - Ted The Mechanic" is a bit too jazz / funky oriented for my ears. "Loosen My Strings" is a great rock ballad with one of the most melodious chorus of any Purple song so far. A great, inspired and emotional guitar break will bring you (almost) to heaven. The background piano playing from Jon is absolutely wonderful. This is almost a prog track !

"Soon Forgotten" on the contrary is 100% hard rock like the Purple produced in 70-72. Jon is hurting his keyboard like a savage : it is another good Purple song. On the next one "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming" we can notice Steve's influence : it is almost a Kansas track (except the violin, of course). Starting slowly, then building up crescendo with a powerful backing band and again a great guitar solo from Steve. I believe that the band gained in having sacked Ritchie. At least, they can concentrate on their music and not any longer on their conflicts (similar stuff as with the Floyd and Waters).

"Cascades I'm Not Your Love" sounds like it is coming straight out the "Machine Head" sessions. Hard but melodious, great rythm work from Ian and Roger. It is a wonderful number (a little brother to "Highway Star"). Fabulous and heavy keys. Very impressive.

After such a great song, the listener has unfortunately to come back to earth again although that with such a tilte " The Aviator", we could have been brought again to heaven. But it is not the case. It is the weakest song of the album. The next track being the second and last one. "Rosa's Cantina" sounds like a Mexican title song. It is a funky-jazzy and repetitive track. Poor.

We are right back on track with "A Castle Full Of Rascals" : pure hard-rock again. But of the best vein (there are even some spacey moments in there). It reminds me at times of "No, No, No" from "Fireball". "A Touch Away" is weaker, but I guess it is very hard to produce only masterpieces on an album. Don't worry : the great Purple is back with "Hey Cisco" : an accelerated track (almost like "Fireball" ). It has a very nice and celestial break and then ends in a furious guitar solo interrupted with Jon's keyboard. This is another of the numerous highlights of this great album. "Somebody Stole My Guitar" and "The Purpendicular Waltz" are average hard rock songs.

"Perpendicular" is not a masterpiece, but a great hard rock album. Very few bands have produced so many good albums over such a long period of time (and the story is not over yet). Four stars.

Be upstanding for a fine album

Following the release of "The battle rages on", a tour of Japan was planned to promote it. Blackmore's irritation with Gillan's return reached boiling point though and he quit the band again, this time apparently for good. The other members of the group went ahead with the tour, Joe Satriani stepping in on guitar. Having considered permanently retiring the Deep Purple name, the four remaining members were inspired by the success of the tour to carry on. Satriani gave way to ex-Kansas member Steve Morse, who has been in the band ever since, and the mark 7 version of Deep Purple was born.

The first album by this line up was "Purpendicular". The recordings took place in in Florida throughout most of 1995, the writing credits unusually being democratically shown as "Deep Purple" throughout. The band were clearly invigorated by the tour and by Morse's arrival, the album having a freshness to it which was missing from its immediate predecessors, while still drawing heavily on the strengths of the band's back catalogue.

The opening "Vavoom: Ted the mechanic" is slightly misleading as the semi-rapped vocals of Ian Gillan and the funky guitar work of the new boy are more reminiscent of Aerosmith than Deep Purple. On the plus side, Morse's contribution on guitar is confident while making it clear that he has not joined simply in order to imitate Ritchie.

After what is effectively a false start, "Loosen my strings" is a highly melodic, slightly slower number with a simple but effective guitar motif. Once again, Morse's guitar soloing here is quite exquisite. The impression is given that he is being allowed to take centre stage instrumentally as soon as possible in order to introduce himself. The track has similarities with the best track on the album "Sometimes I feel like screaming". This 7½ minute delight is one of the best songs to have appeared on a Deep Purple album, ever. High praise I know given the band's pedigree, but this prog influenced song builds from a quiet start though louder rock interludes, carried all the while by a simple but delightful guitar refrain. The song describes the loneliness of being on the road, but the shared credit disguises which of the band members was inspired to document their frustration. It sounds as though strings have been added to the overall mix, but these could simply be the keyboards of Jon Lord. A truly magnificent Deep Purple song though.

In between these two great songs we find "Soon forgotten", a rather strange (for Deep Purple) heavy plodding number with a Black Sabbath feel. Lyrically, the song is best described as intriguing, with lines such as "Did you know the warriors of the flat earth have become the tyrants of the globe? It's round about that time again, She cried "It's all for one of my friends"".

"The aviator" is another odd song, the snare drums and mandolin sound giving it a Celtic flavour. Even Gillan's vocals are folk orientated perhaps with hints of Trevor Lucas era Fairport Convention. Another fine song though, but be prepared for something a little outside the box.

There are inevitably a number of songs which might be described as standard Deep Purple fare, such as "Cascades: I'm not your lover" and "A castle full of rascals". Even these though display a new enthusiasm and energy, the band clearly determined to show that with Morse on board they are operating as a coherent unit once more. Jon Lord's profile is relatively low on the album, "A touch away" being one of the few times when he adds a noteable keyboards solo.

In all, an excellent first album for this version of Deep Purple even if 80% of the line up comes from Deep Purple mark 2. Steve Morse makes an immediate impact with his fresh guitar style, while the rest of the band have clearly found renewed inspiration. From a prog perspective, this is pretty straightforward stuff, with only the best track, "Sometimes I feel like screaming" really pushing the boundaries within the song. The overall diversity of the album though does add an extra dimension for the prog hungry.

It was something like a test case when this album was released, in these following points. First, can Deep Purple survive without Ritchie Blackmore? The band decided to hire ex Dixie Dregs player: Steve Morse. Second, will the style of Steve Morse find its perfect match with the existing music of Deep Purple. Well, actually without Ritchie the band had proved still being good when Tommy Bolin replaced him with "Come Taste The Band" which in fact it became one of my favorite albums by Deep Purple. Steve Morse, we can taste him during the tenure with Dixie Dregs as well as Kansas.

Twenty-eight years after the band's inception, Deep Purple venture into the most adventurous album of their storied career. With guitar virtuoso Steve Morse replacing legendary Ritchie Blackmore (his second departure from the band), fans get the breadth of Morse's influences. The music horizon goes into uncharted beats like the finger-snapping Hey Ciso and Rosa's Cantina, and the acoustic-flavored Scottish highlander feel of The Aviator. The track like Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming is one of their best songs in years and it became popular in some radio stations. It begins with a soft acoustic intro before being rocked up to the turbo-charged chorus full of lyrical wit. A Touch Away introduces fans to the band's first true ballad, a lovely piece of acoustic summertime fare. What probably is like many people's favorite is the "Ted The Mechanic" which has powerful riffs and energetic grooves.

Some people reckon that "Purpendicular" is the most progressive rock album by Deep Purple. I find it hard to come into this consclusion, however, I believe that this is a very good album be Deep Purple. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

I don't think Deep Purple was prog band even in the great beginning of their career. After some line-up changes and full box of weak albums, at least they made some better music.

Album is recorded in almost classical line -up ( only Steve Morse participated instead of Blackmore). The music is real rock, without flirting with pop or other sweet noncenses. For sure, it isn't their melodic and energetic explosion of early 70, but I believe that the album is their best work for two last decades of XX century.

In fact, all the album is listenable. There is no surprises, new ideas or sounds at all. But at least it's good classic hard rock ( in Deep Purple style) , and many their fans will be happy with it.

Don't think this album will be interesting to anyone searching on innovations in music. But for old DP Army this is latest to time (2009) still quality album of their beloved band.