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Reviews of Bananas
Amazon UK
Associated Press
Business Standard
Classic Rock Revisited
Moe Cullity
Robert Daems
Electric Basement
Rich Franz
Fabricio Geo
Robert Gloria
Rasmus Heide
Tracy Heyder
Dave Hodgkinson
Paer Holmgren
Benny Holmström
Ted Hurst
Ed 'Janx' Jankauskas
Fredrik Jiglund
Dennis Karlsson
Martin Karski
Mark Dorson King
Stefan Krüger
Christer Lorichs
Don Love
Jeremy Marples
Melodic Rock.com
René Mikkelsen
The Music Index
Stathis Panagiotopoulos
Politiken
Rob Prior
The Profile
Julian Radbourne
La Repubblica
Dave Rudders
Attila Scholtz
Garry Smith
Jan Thielking
Catrin Wiegand

Interviews
Chart Attack
Metro
Scunthorpe Telegraph
Sydsvenskan
Le Zine

New album stuff
Lyrics
Gatefold vinyl Bananas
Studio photos
2003 promo photo
Jon Lord's Bananas
Does Jon Lord like Bananas?
Charting Bananas
Associated Press
Bananas in Berlin
The pros of Bananas

Related sites
Roger Glover's website
Ian Gillan's website
Michael Bradford's website

Imaginary reviews
Your reviews
Your reviews 2
Your reviews 3
Your reviews 4

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Matt Di Flumeri writes:
I just bought the CD a week ago and I cant get it out of my head. This is another piece of art from the name that always includes some of the best rock musicians in the world. There are 10 songs on the CD but I will review my favorite 5. Here goes...
Track 1) Talk about untypical Purple. I was expecting the traditional hard rock opener and instead I get the reincarnation of April. Was this a let down? NOO!! It was great to hear the beautiful string arrangements starting the song. The band gradually kicks in but the string section can always be heard with Don's deep synth in perfect rythm... Big Ian is last to join.. voice a la No More Cane on the Brazos. Beautiful solo from Steve to end the song. 7 and a half minutes of musical geniouses.
Track 3) By now we will hear some hard rock right? Wrong. It's acoustics from Steve, soft drumming and Big Ian in his best Cherkazoo voice. Witty lyrics as usual and the song keeps my feet tapping throughout. Beautiful piano solo frmo Don in the middle. Acoustics right to the end.
Track 5) Ahh yes its Roger sounding like Rosa's Cantina but even funkier. The drums kick in loudly. Lots of synthesizers in this song. Sounds like somthing that could of fit on Come taste the Band.. but Better.. Sound is crystal clear. Ian's voice is very relaxed with long non stop verses. Rhymes everywhere rapping in IG style. Steve uses a guitar synth in this
song similar to RB in Strangeways. You can hear the producer had a lot to say in this song.
Track 6) Ahhhh finally.. heavy guitars... heavy drumming.. rock solid base... haunting Hammond.... Scarabus like singing sending chills down my spine. No slow parts... just continuous rock. Another amazing guitar solo. This will make a great live song.
Track 10) Let's see.. is this Ted goes Via Miami but 10 times faster? Yes sort of! It's Purple having a great time with a bunch of guest musicians showing off how good they can play. It's a big long jam. Everyone trading short solos trying to out do eachother, everyone sings, its heavy metal taking jazz on a date. Its funk trying to outrock metal. I can just see all the smiles as the final notes fade away. The song is a perfect ending for a CD that touches on almost everything each member has done in their careers. Amazing how these guys can make everything sound so fresh.
I can't wait to see them again in 2004... but please not as a support band.

Jack Benedik writes:
I knew how this was going to sound when I saw the title: Concrete God. Very heavy stuff, I'm glad to see that they cut back on the vocals a bit and let the music shine thru. And can you believe a US style top 40 radio cut Witch Doctors Brew that sounds like Highway Star but has a modern feel. I can remember the old days cruising in a hot rod car and when a Purple song came on the radio you would crank up the volume above the loud exhaust.
Nice blues feel to the song Time To Leave. And if this was a record album side two would open with the blistering rocker Ram Charger and then lead to the remake of Chasing Shadows. I have no problem with a new version of an old classic when its done purple style. And then when I got to the end and played the bonus cut Knight Stalker I thought that this was the best cut on the disc and could hear a different but wicked guitar sound and read the song credits and it said: guest guitarist Ritchie Blackmore - well that says it all, the best of both worlds.
Was also shocked to see the promotion, ads in big name magazines, signs in stores, that cool video on tv with the foxy chick, is purple ready to be the number 1 selling band in the states again or what. Just heard they will play in the infield at the Indy 500 the night before the big race in front of a crowd of about 200,000 people. Support bands are ELP and Rare Earth. Enjoy! Whoa - just woke up, had a great dream, everything was louder than everything else.

Aidan Noughton writes:
Rock legends Deep Purple are heavy rock no more. With a new album, a new label, a new line-up, a new producer, and a huge new Vegas sound, Deep Purple have reinvented themselves into the millennium's last great cabaret rock and roll band, about to deliver their most ludicrous statement to date.
England's Deep Purple have inked a long-term recording contract with Some Records, one of the industry's largest former major artist recordlabels. The new signing marks a significant and exciting new alliance between one of the best fading bands and one of the most successful nostalgia labels. Over the past decade, Purple have dazzled, surprised and amazed both semi-retired rock critics and an undiscerning baby boomer metal audience with an endless stream of near perfect session playing, the pure pantomime of their live shows, and a massive catalogue of over30 albums and countless EPs and singles.
But their newest album, Law of Diminshing Returns, makes everything the band has done before sound like well produced masterpieces. Utilising outside production for an entire album for the first time, Purple recruited producer/genius Detriot Michael Bradford (Terence Trent D'arby, Anita Baker, Changing Faces and others) who re-envisioned the band's sound into an explosive barrage of overcharged egos and doctored vocals, sweeping press releases and hopeful bank managers. Definitely a distillation of the British Invasion styled R 'n' R the band is known for, suddenly writ P-U-B-R-O-C-K.
Purple's new line-up includes Ian Gillan on vocals/percussion, Ian Paice on drums/syrup, Roger Glover on bass/bandana syrup, Don Airey (Quatermass II, Company of Snakes, Graham Bonnet & Katrina and the Waves) on keyboards, Steve Morse (d. DREGS, Liza Minnelli, and Patrick Walsh's hit - I Wonder How Does Tarzan Shave) on guitar. The album's first single, Paying the gas bill, a multi-format monster ballad, is scheduled for release shortly.
Nate Pilson, President and founder of Some Records said, Deep Purple are the type of artist every label used to dream of working with. The Purps are one of the only bands able to combine prolific high margin arena ticket and merchandise returns with pedestrian songwriting and, in my opinion, they deserve recognition alongside the great rock and roll bands of another time.
In support of Diminishing Returns, Purple plan to embark on a worldwide tour which will kick later this year alongside a southern rock tribute band made up of former members of Blackfoot and the Outlaws.

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