Deep Purple Albums (42)
What The Critics Say
Deep Purple's 2005 album Rapture of the Deep generally maintains the quality of 2003's surprisingly sturdy Bananas. It's the second release from the re-energized lineup of vocalist Ian Gillan, guitarist Steve Morse, bass guitarist Roger Glover, drummer Ian Paice, and keyboardist Don Airey, who replaced the retired Jon Lord. The band's comfort level has increased, and after nearly a decade onboard, Morse's stamp is all over the place. At first, this guitar genius' presence was noticeable because of what it lacked -- the incredibly distinctive Fender Stratocaster electric guitar tone of Ritchie Blackmore. Thus, sometimes Deep Purple didn't sound like Deep Purple. However, the variety of tones Morse incorporates in his style gives the pioneering heavy metal quintet more sonic weaponry. Airey's long, respectable career as a journeyman keyboardist-for-hire pretty much guaranteed he would largely adopt Lord's organ-based style, at least at first, but he has expanded his sound on Rapture of the Deep too. "Money Talks," "Girls Like That," and "Wrong Man" ride strong riffs and rhythms into decent grooves. "Rapture of the Deep" floats along on a lightly hypnotic wave. The mature ballad "Clearly Quite Absurd" has a lilting, controlled tempo, and it's the biggest surprise on the album; Gillan's singing is appropriately subdued while Airey's piano supplies the beauty and Morse's gradually ascending riffs toward the end build the tension. "MTV" is a vicious, bile-spewing, all-out attack on how the modern music industry treats classic rock/heritage artists, although in 2005 Deep Purple clearly appeals more to VH1 Classic than MTV. Initially, the song risks biting the hand that feeds by correctly criticizing classic rock radio for not playing new music by veteran artists. The last verse is a cannon blast that pummels clueless, uninformed disc jockeys who, during interviews, butcher artists' names ("Mr. Grover 'n' Mr. Gillian"), get facts wrong (misinterpreting the Frank Zappa-inspired "Smoke on the Water" legend), and avoid in-depth discussion of new music (like Bananas) in order to record more station IDs. Rapture of the Deep -- Deep Purple's first album for Eagle Records -- misses equaling Bananas by a notch or two, but it's a good example of how many veteran artists still maintain creative vitality. ~ Bret Adams, All Music Guide
'Mk III -- The Final Concerts'
Release Date 1/13/2004
Tracks 11
Label Import
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What The Critics Say
If you were to declare "Deep Purple is my favorite band," then a fitting immediate question would be "What era/lineup?" Unlike some bands that stick to the same lineup from the beginning to end of their careers, Purple are one of the few rock bands to retain their following despite numerous lineup shuffles over the years. One of the most drastic moves was jettisoning Ian Gillan and Roger Glover in favor of David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes -- a move (supposedly at the behest of Ritchie Blackmore) that was supposed to help expand the group musically. While Purple did incorporate more soul/R&B sounds on such subsequent releases as Burn and Stormbringer, it did not help elongate the shelf life of the lineup, as Blackmore himself was gone with the wind by early 1975. As the title of 2004's The Final Concerts attests, this 11-track live set features selected performances from the final moments of Purple's Mk III lineup -- and as heard on such standouts as the title tracks from both Burn and Stormbringer, the lineup was still strong enough to blow the roof off any arena. But as with the majority of arena rock acts of the early to mid-'70s, Purple could turn into a woefully self-indulgent beast in concert: case in point, painfully long versions of such classics as "Smoke on the Water" and "Space Truckin'" (the latter of which almost reaches 20 minutes), which feature way too much mind-numbingly meandering jams/solos that manage to sap the power of the succinct original versions. To their credit, though, Purple were certainly not the only notable rock band at the time indulging in overboard live improv (just give Led Zeppelin's How the West Was Won a listen). ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Bananas has every sign of being a disappointment. Jon Lord's grandiose keyboards were always a focus but he's gone, it's released in the heady age of Radiohead, and it's got one of the oddest titles and the oddest cover art that ever graced a Deep Purple album. Surprise, it's fantastic. New keyboardist Don Airey is an effective replacement, adding new sounds and styles and working the Hammond so well that an uncredited Lord appearance was rumored among fans. Lord has said he's not playing on the album, but he did contribute some writing on the excellent "Picture of Innocence" and "I Got Your Number." Those two tracks, followed by the winding and pastoral "Never a Word," add up to a strikingly impressive suite that bridges the more bombastic first half of the album with the looser and more playful second half. That's right, "Deep Purple" and "playful" in the same sentence. The thunk and chug is still there, but Bananas often turns to mid-tempo boogie and blues, allowing Ian Gillan's wry and witty delivery some deserved space while guitarist Steve Morse's time in Kansas and the Dixie Dregs pays off as never before. The funky light reggae of "Doing It Tonight" is downright smoky-bar slinky-sexy, and if the band doesn't add it to every one of their encores for the rest of their career they're nuts. Filled with hooks and songs that get better with each listen, there's little to dislike about Bananas. Certainly the urgent "House of Pain" could have benefited from punchier production, and there's a noticeable lack of lengthy solos throughout, but these are minor quibbles. Hipsters have already decided, and some hardcore fans will pine for the monolithic sound of Machine Head, but on Bananas Deep Purple sound comfortable, free to do what they want, and more than the sum of their parts than they have in a long, long time. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Commissioned by the BBC in 1970, following the success of Jon Lord's Concerto For Group And Orchestra, The Gemini Suite again paired Deep Purple with conductor Malcolm Arnold, to perform a hybrid classical/rock composition devoted, across five distinct parts, to the musical personalities of each member of Deep Purple, and each titled for its inspiration's star sign.Whereas Deep Purple's schedule in 1969 had afforded Lord considerable down-time in which to work on the Concerto, this time around, matters were considerably different, as a full UK date sheet gave way to an the August American tour. Much of The Gemini Suite was composed on the road, then, in the back of the bus or late night in hotel rooms, while Ian Gillan waited until the evening of the show itself before completing his lyrics, putting down the last words even as the accompanying Orchestra of the Light Music Society struck up the first bars of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue", the show's opening number.The haste does not show. Whereas its predecessor was very much an attempt to marry a rock band with a classical orchestra, the emphasis of The Gemini Suite lay in fusing the best qualities of both into a seamless whole that wasn't afraid to acknowledge Deep Purple's own work in the same musical breath as the classical influences who undoubtedly hung over the proceedings. Sharp ears can pick more than a handful of archetypal Purple passages from within the piece, including several ghosts recalled from the itself-symphonic "Child In Time". Ritchie Blackmore's guitar-led movement, opening the performance, too, echoed some of the spectacular moments that he had already incorporated into the band's regular live set, while Ian Paice's movement emerged a thunderously percussive duel between the two musical disciplines, and went a long way towards proving that, in terms of sheer dynamism, rock and the classics have a lot more in common than viewers of the Concerto might ever have imagined. Despite its success, The Gemini Suite was allowed to slip into absolute anonymity. Although Lord would stage a repeat performance in Munich in January 1972, and later release a studio rendition, it would be 28 years before a recording of the actual live performance made it onto the official release schedules. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide
'Royal Philharmonic Orchestra'
Release Date 1/8/2002
Tracks 4
Label Japanese Import
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'Under the Gun'
Release Date 9/18/2001
Tracks 15
Label Polygram International
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'This Time Around: Live in Tokyo '75'
Release Date 9/10/2001
Tracks 17
Label Purple
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What The Critics Say
The Mark IV lineup of Deep Purple was the last before this innovative heavy metal band's initial 1976 breakup. By this time, a variety of factors were sounding the death knell. Vocalist David Coverdale, guitarist Tommy Bolin, keyboardist Jon Lord, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, and drummer Ian Paice were facing business and personal pressures, and these things inevitably affected Deep Purple's music. The Mark IV Deep Purple's last concerts in Japan occurred in December 1975, and Bolin's severe drug and alcohol addiction would kill him one year later. The final Japanese show was recorded and released in that country and a few others in a severely edited form in 1977. Finally, 2001's two-CD set This Time Around: Live in Tokyo '75 captures the entire concert with remixed and remastered sound. Some good moments occur, but so do sloppy ones from an enormously talented yet obviously drained group. Musically speaking, Lord and Paice make notably valiant efforts to hold it all together. Coverdale's voice is strong in spots while dodgy in others. Hughes' bass playing is reliably solid, but the less said about his shrieking vocals the better. Bolin's gift is obvious, but his guitar work sometimes misses the mark on the Ritchie Blackmore-era material. "Burn" and "Love Child" are respectable, and the 16-minute ironically titled "Gettin' Tighter" is a loose jam demonstrating that Deep Purple could still deliver the goods -- just not consistently. The medley of "Smoke on the Water" and the Hoagy Carmichael standard "Georgia on My Mind" is awkward. "Drifter" tightens things up but the encore of "Highway Star" is ragged. The thorough liner notes include two informative essays and several rare photos. This Time Around: Live in Tokyo '75 is valuable, ultimately, as a historical document of a great band's twilight. ~ Bret Adams, All Music Guide
'Live at the Royal Albert Hall'
Release Date 1/17/2000
Tracks 14
Label BMG Arista
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What The Critics Say
Spitfire released the CD version of this concert that Deep Purple filmed in London. While a solid live album with an interesting and rare performance, Live at the Royal Albert Hall has even less mainstream appeal than the In Concert With the London Symphony Orchestra DVD. The musical experiment is more interesting to watch than it is to listen to, making the CD a definite fans-only item. Deep Purple's Live at the Royal Albert Hall will please the band's longtime fans. Not only are they still rocking, but Deep Purple pulls off a feat that destroys most bands. Hard rock acts like Guns N' Roses and Aerosmith have recorded with full orchestras to mixed results. At worst, such bands sound preposterous; at best, the multi-instrumental arrangement matches the sweeping grandeur of rock & roll. It makes sense for Deep Purple to team up with the London Symphony Orchestra and see what would happen. After all, this is the band whose very first record included a track called "Concerto for Group and Orchestra." That track, incidentally, was recomposed for the band's concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Standout tracks include "Wait a While" and "Love Is All" but, of course, every Deep Purple fan will want to know how "Smoke on the Water" comes off. Of all the songs performed that night in 1999, one imagines that the symphony was most unimpressed by this most-loved Deep Purple heavy metal anthem. It does bring down the house, however, with thousands of headbangers making the hall sound like it would have if Mozart had lived in the rock era. The high-energy concert, captured on DVD and released in 1999, is one of the best of its kind; however, few fans of classical music will be impressed, especially if they only listen to the performance. But fans who get excited to learn that Deep Purple is joined on stage by Ronnie James Dio, Sam Brown, and the Steve Morse Band will enjoy this musical experiment. These diehards will also enjoy watching the VHS or DVD too, so why only get the audio? Certainly adding the lush symphonic sounds in the background of these melodic hard rockers enriches the originals a great deal. A fun concert that is more fun to watch than to simply listen. ~ JT Griffith, All Music Guide
