![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/glover3.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/paice.jpg)
Brotherhood of creation and production
Leicester Mercury has a short interview with the two Ians. The bigger one states his view on the alleged upcoming AI armageddon of creativity:
My feeling about anything artistic is the beginnings of it should be organic but the development and production values, that can be technical. We’ve always benefited from advances in technology, whether it’s in the film business or in music.
There are famous names and famous moments in history where you suddenly see great leaps then you see great problems, like 1982, from the moment the CD came out, it was a disaster for about five years on the technical side. Because the engineers had no idea how to make it sound warm, and everyone’s saying, ‘well, it doesn’t sound nearly as good as vinyl’, and it didn’t until they mastered the technique.
But then the production took over, and so you take a c***py idea and you overproduce it, and put the bells and whistles and the fairy dust on it, and it sounded magnificent, but it left you cold inside because there’s nothing organic from which it grew.
He also shares an anecdote about the last time he saw Ozzy (with a pint of vodka — don’t tell Sharon, she’ll kill me — in his hand), while Paicey reminisces meeting with the Japanese PM.
Read more via PressReader.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Isn’t there an election coming up in Britain soon. I reckon Sir Ian has a bit of chance. Let’s face it, he has the gift of the gab, he takes NO prisoners and he has a ‘philosophical’ way of looking at everyday life and much more. However of concern is that he could be exploited, as he enters a new phase in his life as a political celebrity. What would he call his party though? No Laughing in Heaven or Hell Party. He would have to drop the mantra of ‘no politics or religion’. Maybe it isn’t a good idea after all. Better off sticking to the music Ian. Cheers.
July 11th, 2026 at 06:59If big Ian (Billy) were to go into politics they just might call him an arrogant boy.
July 11th, 2026 at 12:01But I’d still vote for him.
Purple are playing in Montreux tomorrow….
I’ve seen some of the recent setlists, all identical., unfortunately for now only a few songs from Splat
July 11th, 2026 at 23:30I would have been in Montreux but too much expensive for me..
July 12th, 2026 at 17:42I read Simon Robinson’s comment on Splat:
https://darkerthanblue.wordpress.com/2026/07/08/a-short-splat/
I’d say it crushes the album.
found no Killer Song, “superficial” guitar contribution, chaotic production.
He doesn’t go into depth at all with his words, he just stays on the surface, I find it disconcerting
Obviously he criticizes the songs that are short, but this has been known for a long time.
He criticizes the production, saying that maybe Roger could do a remix in the future!… besides, maybe Roger will already be in the Olympus next to the Maestro when the time comes for the remix, but I mean, you’ve been listening to badly mixed Purple records for 20 years, and now you come and criticize Splat?… so you’ve already thrown the others in the trash?
finally he criticizes the announcement that Splat is a heavy album, as if one of the most expert Purple fans in the world like him doesn’t know that these are just promotional words.
and he takes refuge in listening to Anya where Paicey’s work is otherwise normal and TBRO’s sound is among the worst in the Purple discography!
here after Popoff I was also surprised by Robinson’s negativity.
I understand that they didn’t invite him to the album preview in London, but I didn’t expect such a bitter article from someone who knows a lot about DP’s history.
The dynamic comparison between the waveform of InRock and that of Splat is interesting, but in reality it was obviously, we are talking about two very distant sonic eras, and the fact that the waveforms nowadays (or from 25 years to today) are so full, should not surprise
https://darkerthanblue.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sound-waves.jpg?w=1440
July 12th, 2026 at 22:50Good luck to the guys tonight at in Montreux .DP outside the jazz festival program ..(ideal place for the first performance of song “Guilt Trippin” ??.))
Big Ian . force of nature……..by next 11 months (by june 2027) he has 94 concerts contracted with DP and solo, ninety-four!!!!!!!!! !! Big Ian born 19 August 1945.. Messi and Ronaldo together are younger (39 and 41)…ninety-four concerts ..WOW Man ..
July 13th, 2026 at 04:25@4
But who fuck is Robinson? The castaway?
July 13th, 2026 at 08:20@4 Flavio,
I hear you, I read Simon’s reminiscences too. His voice and opinion are important I think – he’s done so much for them (the band) on the field of archive releases in the 90s and is a big expert in terms of knowledge about DP. We, as the fanbase (and I speak for the big old bunch of geezers from our official fan club we had in the country up to 2005), would not necessarily be as much engaged in this music, wasn’t it his activity and the hard work to promote the items from vast catalogue of DPF tree. He has every right to have his sentiments about the new stuff and I DO feel where he’s coming from with those he speaks out. I, myself, at the core of my Purple heart that formed for last 33 years – would love the songs to expand and would think that this band desires more sophisticated and well engineered production – not this “everything up at 11 and pulled knock-down up front” to bomb our heads. Does it just show that we, older fans, just have fallen out of the target field for Purple? I don’t know. Streaming and production serving it is not my thing. Being raised on the 70s music in my case produced sensitive ears. But I still love to cock and roll in a Purple way. This music still turns me on, despite the production issues, Don-Simon not being this or that etc. There’s no clear divide line to see who of us lacks perspective, who don’t. One thing is certain for all – the clock is ticking. So while they still do it – it’s totally valid to wish them (and expect it from them) to be done in the best possible way, with no unnecessary shortcuts.
July 13th, 2026 at 09:05https://youtu.be/V6F3reh7mwM?is=Q-vVeYXZj3B7fXW6
They’re definitely playing well and varying the solos and arrangents ….they must be watching this site ! Lol
July 13th, 2026 at 13:35Simon Robinson is an ABSOLUTE hero in the DP history.
One of my happiest memories was reading his amazing booklets on those great EMI catalog Purple reissues in the 90s and beyond. He was also behind many of them coming to life, of course. We owe him so much…
However, I too find it sad that he thought so little about the new album, as it has excellent music, performances and production.
No, it can’t compare to the golden era (because no one on earth can’t match that!), but it is really good by any musical standard.
Like with Colin Hart, I suppose at one point there was a falling out of sorts with the reigning regime…maybe…and that can impact you negatively, especially when you have done so much over the decades for someone(s)…
As always, this is just my opinion
July 13th, 2026 at 13:42Julio.-
@7 “Robinson” a you put it is the sole reason that you have Powerhouse, In Concert 70/72, Dick Pimple plus a load more purple related releases. He also organised the two Purple conventions (one in Sheffield Uni when Purpendicular was being recorded and the other when purple did the Concerto in 99).
July 13th, 2026 at 13:56@ 4
July 13th, 2026 at 14:38Everyone is entitled to an opinion and everyone is entitled to either agree or disagree with it but if one negative opinion were to kill every piece of music, nobody would ever buy or even listen to anything.
@ 8
I have been listening and enjoying DP since I first heard them on radio Luxembourg (208) in 1970. Never heard of Simon Robinson until quite recently. I understand that he wrote some books on DP or something and he would have researched the subject and probably interviewed the band members and crew. Does that make him an expert on music? I have the new album and I am over the moon (Lunatic) with it. I think it is absolutely fantastic and heavy and rocks from start to finish. Critics come and go.
DEEP PURPLE will live on long after Simon Robertson is long forgotten.
Flavio and Marcin:
Simon Robinson was a pivotal figure in DP fan culture and the extension of DP fandom on the whole “family”/roots & branches, I’ll be forever appreciative for that, I learned so much reading Darker Than Blue. He is entitled to whatever views he has.
His review of SPLAT! seems to indicate that he has a hard time latching on to it, that happens. I could never latch on to TBRO, much as I welcomed Gillan’s return to the fold. But the album sounded and felt wrong to me at the time and does so to this day.
I’ve written this before, I try to view every Purple line-up at face value. But if you want to know the truth: The last DP album I thought through and through majestic was Come Taste The Band>/b> (the room falls suddenly silent in shock and horror). No post-70s Purple album has matched the glory of that album FOR ME. That doesn’t mean that there weren’t a lot of good to very good albums among them. The explanation is of course not only changes in how DP approached music over the decades but also in how I hear it – I’m no longer the 15-year-old overawed by Mk IV’s slightly decadent stadium rock grandeur. That isn’t DP’s fault though.
The new album SPLAT! Is an excellent album for what DP are right now and what can be expected of them as a collective in its current state, but it won’t change the world. Line-up and past work comparisons along better or worse criteria are somewhat pointless to me.
Re the waveform dynamic comparison: I am relieved it differs so much! Because if truth be told, In Rock is one of the DP albums I listen the least to because I find its sonics unpleasant, sometimes even painful. It is not a well-recorded album – never was – at all, lots of nasty, unwanted distortion, surprisingly often a bad balance of the instruments, very echo-y plus all three studios employed sound totally different (yet none of them good) Of cause it is also a grand artistic statement and a call to arms for 70s rock which it co-invented. But man does that album need a proper up-to-date remix. And if that entails smoothing out some of the rough edges with AI, then I would not lose any sleep over it. Just as much as I wouldn’t mind AI retroactively boosting Jimmy Bain’s bass parts on Rising.
In Rock is living proof how musicianly skill, a right mix of people, sheer determination + hunger and, last not least, being in the right place at the right time as the >i>Zeitgeist hovers above you can surmount naff recording circumstances. It’s one of the most important and worthy to own badly recorded albums in the world. 😂
July 13th, 2026 at 15:56To my fairly good and discriminating ears, Splat’s production sounds very, very good. I’ve had it pretty much on repeat for the past two weeks. To me the album is an immersive experience similar to Purpendicular, Perfect Strangers and Machine Head.
July 13th, 2026 at 19:47#10J From Far Away:
Simon is absolutely an institution in the Purple world, which is precisely why I was amazed by how quickly he disposed of Splat!
#12 Dave DP:
My memory fails me,
but I think Simon made a book “Fire in the Sky” about the genesis of Machine Head and then some really nice photo-books, I’m not up to date on his publications…
but we are forever indebted to him for the countless reissues of Purple Family albums in the 90s-2000s.
#11 Matthew:
Simon’s contribution to the Purple Family’s catalogue (in an era where all the historic groups were releasing box sets and rarities while whoever owned the Purple Family’s rights didn’t care) was simply IMMENSE!
His work with Purple Records, the DP Appreciation Society, DTB paper fanzine for 35 years…
but Simon, since he worked as a graphic designer, actively worked on the layouts of Purple records for Harvest/RPM/Connoisseur but also EMI/Warner/Sancuary and obviously Purple Records!…
you could say he was the world’s number 1 Purple fan!!
#13 Uwe:
It is precisely because of everything I wrote above about Simon, precisely because I consider him the most profound expert on the history of DP, that I am negatively surprised by his comment on Splat (because it can’t even be called a review).
I heard a lot of bitterness in his words, but maybe I’m wrong.
and I repeat, if Splat disappoints him like this, then has he just thrown all the DP records of the last 25 years in the trash?
Simon’s favorite records are from the 70s, maybe he never fully accepted the Morse era either…
the waveforms of any Purple album up to TBRO will be similar to that of InRock….
in this regard I remember Use tour Illusions by Gun’s which had great dynamics and sounded half of WS’s 1987 or Judas’ Painkiller..
Compression in mastering wasn’t invented in 2026 with Splat, but has been around for 30 years.
but you Uwe, what do you answer if I tell you that my opinion is that InRock sounds better than MH?
July 13th, 2026 at 21:17“Never heard of Simon Robinson until quite recently.”
Dave DP, Simon was responsible for countless (and I mean countless!) DP & Family releases in the aftermath of DP’s demise in 1976 all the way well into the early Noughties. He was the chief editor of Darker Than Blue which to a DP fan was the gospel (especially given the dearth of reporting on DP & Family in other media) and headed the Deep Purple Appreciation Society (DPAS), seated in Sheffield, his home city. (For years I kept my DPAS membership on my professional resume as a joke, no one ever asked what this curious outfit in Sheffield actually did. 😎)
Powerhouse, BBC Tapes, Cal Jam, Live in London, the first-time release of the three nights complete version of MiJ in the early 90s (where rumor has it that he let himself be bribed by Ian Paice to push up the drum faders in the mix … 🤣), Long Beach 1976 & Budokan 1975 complete, the Purple version of Gemini Suite, releases by DC’s Government or The Maze with Rod and Ian, the last Mk III gigs, the Rainbow 1976 German gigs … the list goes on and on and on, all of it dug out and prepared for release by Simon.
Mind you, Simon had his opinions, he thought that – shock, gasp, horror! – Gary Moore couldn’t sing (some of us – a negligible minority of course – agree to this day …) and he didn’t worship at Blackmore’s altar (some people here don’t either, we have real Rising heathens among us …). But the man has no doubt pivotal achievements and co-wrote a sizeable bit of DP fandom history.
I haven’t been long enough at the HS, but I always had a feeling that there was a schism at one point between this place and the DPAS – anybody long enough here to remember whether that is true and what the cause was, probably something rather silly?
July 13th, 2026 at 22:58Simon Robinson is speaking his truth of what he hears. Just like anyone else, good on him and I agree with him. This album is a ‘dud’ in so many ways. No surprises they released those three songs earlier, the only other song I hear some sort of relevance for is The Lunatic, and that is more the music and arrangement than Ian’s vocal. Gillan has seen better days, these vocals, well I had better not go on, otherwise the lynch mob will be baying for blood and some! =1 at least has 4-5 decent songs on it. The only reason I read Simon Robinson’s comment was because of the ‘outrage’ here from a few aficionados. I am not sure why they think someone else should not like something that they do? This album will fade quickly just like the last few and others before them, time does that. Time gentlemen, as the gatekeeper keeps on watching and waiting. Good for Simon McBride to enjoy his time in the band Deep Purple, or what is left of it. Hanging by its threads, so to speak. Spin the hype, keep clutching at straws as the light fades. That is what the game of life is and has always been, people come, people go. As for the ‘density’ sound comparison, I enjoy that big time and it is true. In Rock is a classic and at least we can hear the instruments, definition is the key with loud rock music instruments or any instrument for that matter. Bob Ezrin wasn’t around at that time, well he was, he just hadn’t got his tentacles into destroying Deep Purple recordings, thank God or whoever holds all this to account. Happy days are here again…………….Next! “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside. You’ve got to see the show, it’s a dynamo
July 13th, 2026 at 23:38You’ve got to see the show, it’s rock and roll…………….
@12
July 14th, 2026 at 04:35Fantastic post?
Who is that?
I listen DP since late 70s but I never heard his name before: Is it that serious!?
This last is a REALLY GREAT ALBUM! I think the best since Perfect Strangers.
💜💜💜
Just WOW. The amount of ignorance here regarding Simon Robinson is just breathtaking. “I read the bible everyday but what the hell has Martin Luther to do with it?” We owe Simon a lot I’d say. More than that he is a very talented person and a very funny guy. I am grateful for the meeting he set up in London 99 for the Concerto and I always enjoyed the darker than Blue magazines. A pity they do not come anymore. Maybe he just had a bad day when he wrote those few sentences about Splat!. Maybe he really does not like it. So what?!? We’re all a bit grumpy from time to time, aren’t we? And some of us entertain really strange opinions sometimes … I have reasons to believe Uwe doesn’t like Rising for instance … some even put TBRO down … other think Spalt! isn’t worth their time. All fine by me.
I remember Simon being real nasty about the desiign of the then new BMW model. He wrote something to the effect that only Germans could come up with a tasteless shape like that. I introduced him to the fact that the designer responsible for that BMW was from …well…England. He wrote back: Yes, biut mind you, he had to traveel all thee way to Germany to get a job!
Hilarious.
So whatever he does … all the best to him. And thanks for all those releases. Brought so much joy and enlightment.
July 14th, 2026 at 07:44Well, I definitely think Simon’s got a point here as I feel pretty much the same when listening to Splat.
July 14th, 2026 at 11:35Contrary to him, I like many of the solos; I also like quite a few of Gillan’s melody lines. So I definitely don’t dislike Splat but I’m also not overly impressed with it.
What I struggle with is that the songs hardly have a distinctive structure. Maybe there is some keyboard intro but then – broaaaooom – there is the wall of sound drowning everything. The wave forms he displays on his page mirror this pretty well. No room for some elegant, floating organ sounds like after the intro to Speed King, everything is in the same loudness hitting you right in the face.
On Now What you still had strongly different moods between and within the songs – like Blood from a Stone as compared to Above and Beyond (which in itself also had the nice guitar bits) or think of the intro to Uncommon Man.
Another thing is the lack of a killer song on it. Guilt Trippin’ is quite good, yes – but Back to Bedlam is still in a different league.
Simon can be highly opinionated on quite a few Purple things (ask JLT about him …), so maybe here a few things came together to emphasize his view on Splat
#17 MacGregor:
“This album is a ‘dud’ in so many ways”
I would say This album is a ‘masterpiece’ in so many ways.
dear Mac, are you suddenly nostalgic for the MKII too?
Ezrin “destroying” DP records seems a bit excessive.
You may not like something, of course, but you can’t shoot it down.
according to your reasoning basically after Perfect Strangers all the albums vanished quickly…
You may not like something, of course, but you can’t just shoot it down like it’s shit.
July 14th, 2026 at 12:43Guys
July 14th, 2026 at 13:17thanks for all the info on Simon Robinson. from what you guys have posted he seems to have been very active in keeping DP in the minds of the fans, but as I said earlier, I had not heard of him until recently. However, I did not need assistance in staying a fan and buying whatever releases they made with the exception of DC and GH stuff which I simply don’t like. My opinion and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me or anyone for that matter. I’m good either way.
As for the more important matter. SPLAT is kick ass brilliant as is IN ROCK which started it all for me. My opinion and everyone else should have their own. Now for something else important, I’m off for a hard day on the golf course.YE HA.
What Max says.
And as regards reviews I don’t agree with: So what? In my book a bad review is better than no review. If people put in the time to listen to a new Purple product and write about it, then that is all good.
Scientific confirmation for a detrimental effect of bad reviews is thin: I have yet to see any proof that my well-known criticism of Rising and TBRO has led to only a single CD sale or download less of these albums. I’m not aware of mass suicides of dedicated Rising (via jumping from towers of stone built from flesh and bone perhaps?) or TBRO fans either, I mean look at Max, he seems to be doing fine. Mostly.
And as for der liebe Herr MacGrumpers: It is no secret that deep inside the man deems any Purple without Ritchie as an aberration deserving eradication, let’s not even talk about his feelings for(against Bob “Evil” Ezrin, he just sometimes pretends to think differently. But it’s all black masquerade.
Let’s get him to talk about something where he is perhaps less scathing then: Have you heard Aurora, the new album by Steve Howe & four other blokes yet, dear Tasmanian? My knowledge of YES is pityful compared to yours, but I listened to it yesterday several times over and was pleasntly surprised. I’ve heard worse YES albums with more original members. But then I’m the gullible type and tend to give the benefit of doubt.
I hope that short review of the new YES album doesn’t upset you (or others) – being upset about other people’s views seems to be all the rage these days …
July 14th, 2026 at 13:28It looks like our own Andrea must live in a very happy but isolated part of Italy, where echoes of DPAS (Deep Purple Appreciation Society) and most of the Connessieur Collection releases never made their way to.
Dear A., to put it mildly you enraged a few people here, because without Simon Robinson most probably the only official live release you’d ever have up to 2000s would be “Made In Japan” and “Nobody’s Perfect”. And NOTHING else. Starting of from 1980’s “In Concert” and on up to “Live In Paris 1975” in early 2000s – everything else that got out and expanded our live catalogue of the favorite bands from The Tree – was thanks to the guy. And not to mention all the release of DPF Tree family – Glenn Hughes, Trapeze, Warhorse, Fandango, PAL, Cherkazoo… and countless other made their way to CD thanks to Simon’s engagement.
DPAS activity made the Deep Purple fan club behind Iron Curtain possible to run in late 80s and early 90s thanks to the supplies of materials never released there for fans there. So, you have to understand – from the POV of a fan and collector – SR’s role in popularizing the talents of DPF Tree members was CRUCIAL.
THE MAN HAS A PLACE IN THE HISTORY COURSE OF THE BAND.
And why there was a fallout with the band management and DPAS – I do not know the details of it. The slew of releases went out of print and with the advent of “everything is in the net and YT” – Simon’s activity drifted into shade.
I hope it’s shines a bit of soothing light on your perspective – being rude towards the man just because his activity didn’t affect directly or made you aware of who he is, is, with all my respect to you, a tad tacky! Look around a bit, please.
July 14th, 2026 at 13:29I once knew an American girl from Detroit, her name was Patricia, who thought that BMW stood for British Motor Works, I am not joking, you know the manifold challenges of the US education system though she even went to a Catholic private school.
British Motor Works would of course be a most nonsensical statement/company name as British motors generally just don’t.
Work I mean.☝️😎
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSRJE4i7dTZE-9NaEjucZ2ndKpXizaMTGcMO63xI8ialuZGZpZAXFYvCWk&s=10
July 14th, 2026 at 15:01“but you Uwe, what do you answer if I tell you that my opinion is that In Rock sounds better than MH?”
😑😱😑😱😑😱😑😱😑😱😑😱😑😱😑😱😑😱😑😱😑😱
(initially pausing aghast, then in a sincerely concerned tone …)
Is Dottoressa Alessandra Berlusconi’s***
https://cdn.whatclinic.com/ear-nose-throat/italy/novara/dr-alessandra-berlusconi-via-italia-11a/thumbnails/dc1bfb21dc9486c3/dab.jpg?width=174&height=232&background-color=0xffffff&operation=pad&float-x=0.5&float-y=0.5&rotate=0&crop_x=0&crop_y=0.0168718&crop_w=1&crop_h=0.6433333&hmac=0bb5a866383a385e5ce66539fdb9c80c2a3bf823
practice far from where you live, Flavio?
https://www.whatclinic.com/ear-nose-throat/italy/milan
She seems nice and empathetic enough, shall I make an appointment for you?
***hopefully no relation …
PS/Note to Self: That Evo engine must have been more ear-damaging than I thought, presences at Wacken can’t have helped either, but Flavio has many other qualities that redeem him …
July 14th, 2026 at 15:58Why all the bad mouthing of Simon. He has always told it as he feels. He is NOT one of these people who praise every DP album as being great and, then, a few years later say, you know, it really wasn’t that good but the new one sure is!! I have over 20 years of DPAS Magazines and he tells it just like he thinks it is. His review of Gillans book of all those years ago and of a few Rainbow albums, especially SIUA prove that.
July 14th, 2026 at 16:31It’s one thing to discuss and critique an album on a forum among “friends,” but quite another to publish a webpage and take the liberty of handing down definitive judgments. Besides, I’ve always hated reviews—especially those with ratings. Anyone who criticizes publicly must be open to criticism themselves. I don’t care that it’s his personal opinion; mine is, too.
July 14th, 2026 at 16:34@16: If you ask me, there was never any schism between THS and DPAS. Maybe our friend Dave H. and Simon R. exchanged some words some time, I don’t know. I’ve never met Simon, I was just in the same room as him at that convention in London 1999(?).
Again, I don’t know the man but I just get a feeling that he is an old school print guy rather than an Internet type of person. It took a very long time for the DPAS to get an online presence.
Maybe if you have worked a long time promoting the band for not much more than nice words from fans and then all of a sudden a webpage turns up and get a lot of attention from the fans, one could get a little bitter and wonder, “and where did these experts come from.”
Maybe, like Mike Airey and some of the band members, he has, or had a hard time adapting to the less edited version of opinions and rumours that flies around in these comment fields.
I agree that SR, as anyone else, are entitled to their opinion, no matter their reach or “importance” in the DP world. I think most of the people who actually buy DP releases do so no matter what Simon, me or Uwe think of the album.
July 14th, 2026 at 17:07@24
Among the many Connoisseur releases I owned, I had the *Scandinavian Night* double CD, but it turned transparent.
In any case, I apologize if I have offended anyone’s sensibilities. I did not mean to offend anyone. That is all I have to say. No one needs to love or hate anything or anyone simply because others tell them to. Please forgive me.
July 14th, 2026 at 17:20You got that right Svante. I don’t care what any reviewer or anyone else says. I will buy EVERY DP release and make up my own mind and then, when I don’t like a release like =1, voice my opinion and have people say “If you don’t like it, you can’t be a real DP fan” even though they have been my favorite band since I 1973 and always will be. I remember when SB came out I went into record store to buy it and the guy working there told me “Don’t buy it, it sucks”. I told him I would make up my own mind. I bought it and, sure enough, it sucked LOL. In the 52 years it has grown on me some though.
July 14th, 2026 at 17:27#26 Uwe:
Rather than be treated by anyone called Berlusconi, I’d rather go deaf!
anyway I was “almost joking”….
I don’t prefer the sound of InRock to MH, of course InRock has much more serious problems with the positioning of the instruments than MH, it has guitars and organ that are absolutely preponderant compared to everything else, but as a general sound it satisfies me as much as MH.
In MH, except in some parts, I consider the guitar mixed too low compared to the organ, while in both album LittleIan’s drums are always behind, especially the bass drum (which is raised here and there in the mix) and also has a sound with too little “edge”, but at the time the bass drum was equalized like this.
basically both albums have sonic flaws, and both albums satisfy me as they are, the sonic spectrum was that, and the dynamic range was that, of analog.
then one might prefer the sound, the atmosphere, the dynamics of a 70’s album, but the sound spectrum and the positioning of the instruments in an album like Splat is simply from another (technological) planet.
July 14th, 2026 at 20:09Well, I’m quite shocked and taken aback by Simons comments, I have met the man at the Albert Hall convention in 1999 ( the one where I went off to go for a Chinese and missed Gillan turning up and telling the fans that the band have yet to do their Sergeant Pepper ! ) Anyway, I digress , I found Simon a great guy and I have huge respect for him …and if he says something like that, then maybe I’m missing something…but I still love the album though …and I still hate =1 …maybe , as I said to Flavio , there is a concerted effort to go towards these hooks and melodies to get radio play and you tube hits etc .
We have to realise that this is Deep Purple 2026 not 1970 …and the top line instruments are now basically a session player and a prog rock guy .
But Simons comments have given me doubts and I don’t believe he is childish enough to slag the album off because of any fall out!
July 14th, 2026 at 21:16“Rather than be treated by anyone called Berlusconi, I’d rather go deaf!”
I love you, Flavio! 🤣
We’re actually in agreement, In Rock IS a flawed budget production but – AND IT IS A BIG BUT! – it is also an aural experience and absolute force of nature. The undeniable impact of that record comes from somewhere.
As a word of advice to all who are sometimes rubbed the wrong way by my views: I IMPLORE YOU TO BUY ALL PURPLE FAMILY PRODUCT REGARDLESS OF WHAT I THINK ABOUT IT. Leslie (please ignore his haphazard views on Stormbringer though) is right. Well, mostly he is.
Simon and his views on Joelene (“the man from the colonies“)! 😂 I also remember the panning he gave Stranger In Us All – that was good fun. I personally find that album – and that is one the most damning statements in my arsenal – mediocre and irrelevant, something I would never dare say about Rising. I agree that Simon has gained a bitter streak over time, something must have ruptured with him, sadly so. But his contributions to the cause stand tall and are not forgotten by me.
I find all comparisons of the production techniques of Birch and Ezrin flawed – the two really couldn’t be farther apart. Birch was ace in capturing each instrument at optimum quality – I don’t think he was that great in “getting the room heard” or creating sonic atmosphere – that is of course where Ezrin excels (if you like how he goes about it). Compared to the very clean and direct Purple productions of the 70s, Ezrin’s work with the original Alice Cooper Group sounded panoramic. But I get it if some of you say: “That is not how we remember DP sounding and we don’t want to have it now!” In my love of Ezrin’s production values even long before he laid his hands on DP I’m likely the odd man out here. I would have never even dreamed of him producing DP. To this day I’m likely to buy anything he has produced if I stumble across it, irrespective of the artist.
Svante, danke for giving us some history!
July 14th, 2026 at 21:56“But Simons comments have given me doubts and I don’t believe he is childish enough to slag the album off because of any fall out!”
Doubts about the quality of SPLAT!, Steve, why should that be? Aren’t you determining that for yourself?
“We have to realise that this is Deep Purple 2026 not 1970 … and the top line instruments are now basically a session player and a prog rock guy.”
Exactly. How could the music not sound different then. (And for the avoidance of doubt: “session player” is not a four letter word to me, so were Ray Fenwick and John Gustafson and look what great music they made with IGB.)
Finally, I don’t think that Simon “slagged off” (I don’t think he slagged it off at all – you guys haven’t read a slag-off yet! -, he just voiced so-so disappointment and distancing) the album for personal reasons either. But if 70s Mk II DP is your musical nirvana, then any band without Blackmore and Lord will disappoint you.
To me the 70s – much as I enjoyed them musically – are over. The chemistry the Mk II members had back then is over too, even if Ritchie and Jon – rising from the grave – re-entered the ranks of the living breathing DP today. It was great while it lasted, but it was never meant to last forever. Nothing does.
DP today is an amalgamation of biological constraints and what is still humanely possible for them under current conditions and circumstances (the golden age of rock is over too). And for that they are doing a bloody fine job. Had 70s Mk II never split up and continued making records to this day, I have serious doubts that they could would have still been able to record something nearly as good as SPLAT!
July 14th, 2026 at 22:53#33 Steve:
You see, you say there’s a concentrated effort to aim for (or rather to return to) catchy choruses and melodies. That’s true, even Purple said it in interviews.
but I think the purpose is different: you tell yourself to get more passages and views, but I think it’s just a need that the band had FOR ITSELF.
given that Splat’s music is seemingly simple, DP needed to write more immediate music.
and I was expecting an even simpler album than =1 while in reality Splat is more complex!
as for =1 you should give it a second chance, it’s an album with a lot of energetic songs!
July 14th, 2026 at 22:58Why do some people think that everyone else should like everything??????????? Does this also apply to other aspects in life. For example, do these people still dine at the same restaurant even after a change in head chef or even a sous chef? When the taste and quality of their previous enjoyment isn’t quite the same. Everything changes in life, it happens and there isn’t anything you can do about it except to move on or even step back from it. Life eh? As Adrian Belew sings on the song People from King Crimson 1995.
People fly, people flee
People clam and say, “It wasn’t me”
People fish, people beef
People armed to teeth
Yes, you’ve got people on the tube
Walking on the moon
People at the bottom of the sea
People in tombs
And people in igloos
Even a tribe of pygmies
(Oh-oh-oh)
‘Chorus”
People are the mainspring
Turning the world around
(Oh-oh-oh)
People, they’re the mainspring
Spinning this world upside down
People sun, people toast
People tire while other people smoke
People bowl, people rock
People pay to see two people box
Watch me, face me
Dress me, baby me
Phone me, wire me
House me, bug me, fire me
(Oh-oh-oh)
“Repeat chorus” then ad lib.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og6QncgEY20
July 15th, 2026 at 01:04@ 37
July 15th, 2026 at 08:51MacGregor, thank you for bringing Adrian Belew’s quirky wisdom to the spotlight! I love the man, his work and the balls to do so many things off-tangent but always the way he envisions! That includes his lyrics, in which he mastered his own “gillanesqueness”, too.
@ 38 – thanks Thorsun, glad to hear you are a follower of Adrian Belew, a wonderful chap and a consummate musician indeed and a rather clever lyricist. I have his King Crimson related albums and used to own the first and second solo albums of his on vinyl, Lone Rhino and Twang Bar King. Witnessed him solo back in 2005 in a pub with an Australian Chapman Stick player who was from Europe originally and an Australian drummer. Then with the Crimson Project in 2014, brilliant that was. His three piece band, the Tony Levin three piece band and then all of them together hammering out Crimson classics from the 1980’s and 90’s. Of course I have the Beat band blu-ray too, watched some of that again a few nights ago. Cheers.
July 15th, 2026 at 10:33@37
Adrian repeats himself when under stress…🫣
July 15th, 2026 at 12:46Flavio, SPLAT!’s music is seemingly simple? Unequivocally: no, it isn’t. Mk II’s music from the 70s was much simpler – that is why it was so accessible – and also (thanks to no Don) much less quirky. The song structures of Mk II (chords, arrangements, amount of varying parts) were mostly simplistic, not exactly Status Quo yet, but closer to Quo than King Crimson.
Yes, Ritchie’s riffs à la Lazy demanded skill to execute them properly, Jon’s and Ritchie’s solos were head and shoulders above what other people played, Paicey played with a brain and the other Ian used his to write lyrics, but that doesn’t change the fact that the song structures as such were simple. Mk II were excellent musicians playing music well below the extent of their abilities – it was something 70s Purple was frequently accused of by critics. The public, however, loved it.
The new stuff is much more cerebral and that has a lot to do with Don. He just is a little keyboard nerd, something Jon never was.
That doesn’t mean that one line-up was better than then the other, they are simply different from another.
July 15th, 2026 at 13:05#35 Uwe:
you’re right, the 70s are definitely over, and the 80s are over too unfortunately.
surely if Purple played today (after 28 years of Steve Morse) exactly like in the 70s or like in PS, there would be something wrong, it would be a total forcing
#41 Uwe:
Splat’s music doesn’t seem simple to me, but it’s more direct and more melodic than what they did in the last albums with Steve, I wrote “simple” for a quick definition
#37 MacGregor:
July 15th, 2026 at 15:18When the Deep Purple restaurant with chef Morse started making dishes that I didn’t like, I stopped going there.
I stopped going to concerts, following them actively, stopped frequenting THS, stopped the Italian forum and everything else.
I bought Whoosh and Infinite basically for pure collecting.
But I didn’t go around writing negative reviews, the disappointment was so great that I fell out of love with DP
then when chef McBride arrived I tried the restaurant again and found a good taste, and I decided to go back again and again.
#41 The New music is more cerebral LOL. NOT!! It is very simplistic, not very well thought out and extremely boring at times Uwe. More cerebral give me a break LOL!!! This music reminds me of politicians who try to sound extremely smart by using big words but, when you listen to them, you realize they aren’t smart at all!! And now for something completely different (as heard on Monty Python numerous times), a little Suzanne Vega music. 🙂
July 15th, 2026 at 18:25@ 40 -he certainly does and he also keeps going on about ‘this is a dangerous place’ and also ‘the more I look at it, the more I like it’, he he he. Cheers.
“Neurotica”
Verse one:
Good morning, it’s 3 a.m. in this great, roaring city
Full of garbage eaters ravaging parking spots
Beneath my plaza window
I see cheetah in their tight skins and tired heels
All-night hippo in the diner crossing the street
Swarthy herds of young impala
Flambastic gibbon, even a struggling monza
And over there that brilliant head ornament
On that Japanese macaque
But look closely at the hammerhead
Hand in hand with the mandrill
It’s a sight you’re unlikely to see
Anywhere else on the planet
[Verse 2]
The stench and the noise, yes, yes
The howler’s resonating repertoire is not too bad
When mixed with the more musical twern of the tropical warbler
But the impatient taxi blare, the squawking elderly ibis
And the glass-eye snapper hawking papers
I can certainly live without
Also be cautious of the poisonous boomslang laughter
Social droppings of the fruit bat and purple queen fish
And who’s that babbler conversing with a magazine stand?
Evidently, he’s getting a good reply
[Chorus]
Arrive in Neurotica
Through neon heat disease
I swear at the swarming herds
I sweat the foul terrain
I rove the moving scenery
[Bridge]
I have no fin, no wing, no stinger
No claw, no camouflage, I have no more to say
[Verse 3]
Say, isn’t that an elephant fish on the corner over there?
Look at that bush baby, mud puppy
Noolbenger, rhinoderma, marmoset
Spring peeper, shingleback skink, siren skate
Starling star-gazer spoonbill and suckers
They seem to be everywhere, well it’s a live revue
Random animal parts, now playing nightly
Right here in Neurotica, so long
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Guj9DbkzyOU
July 15th, 2026 at 23:38The new Deep Purple is rhythmically and harmonically more adventurous than 70s Mk II, I can’t help it, Leslie. It also contains more off-the-wall and freakish instrumental parts. And Big Ian‘s vocal melodies, now no longer tied down by Ritchie‘s more conservative and down-to-earth (pun intended) tastes as vocal melodies go, are a lot more abstract and unusual. Finally, even though the songs are shorter, there are more ideas crammed into them – Mk 2 used to limit their musical ideas to a few per song (Mk III restricted them even more) and work with dynamics and repetition instead.
You still might prefer Blackmore era DP and that’s perfectly ok – they did what they did exceedingly well. But there is absolutely no musical basis for saying that the current Purple are simpler. I think a lot of people‘s issue with the Morse and McBride eras is in fact that the music was/is less immediate and gut-level than Mk II of yore.
July 16th, 2026 at 01:53@40
Julio, but sometimes repetitiveness gives a lyric a very percussive effect that serves the rolling effect of a song pretty well – and I think it has that not too shabby result here! Plus some live versions of “People” had some absolutely INSANE guitar improvisations at the end.
Ade Belew might not be for everybody’s taste and I get that – but from the guitar standpoint of view – the guy is a genius. “Indiscipline can either wreck your nerves or send you to heaven – depending on how you deal with “the art of noise” and exploiting of the angularity of music. I, for one, love that to bits. I saw Adrian Belew Trio in 2016 live and when they played “Indis” – Adrian got so turned on at the end that his flurry of whole hand, hip and all action dismantled the tremolo bar out of the guitar’s body – too many intense twists and turnarounds went on… So he took it, while it stayed in his hand, and bashed the strings some more. It was intense, it was immense. I am a fan of such stuff, it just works for me, kicks the feathers right up and duly adds to the intensity of performance. And Ritchie knows that all too well too, as we all know. 🙂
July 16th, 2026 at 06:26#45 Good points Uwe. I actually love the Morse era music and think Purpendicular, Now What, Abandon and Whoosh are up there with anything DP did in the 1960’s and 1970’s. My problem with the current line up is that, to me, they don’t seem to put a lot of thought into their new music and seem to be in a rush to put it out before it’s time to call it a day. =1 and Splat are, to me, average albums that, with a little more time and thought, could have been up there with the above mentioned albums. With all my whining I still have to say, the music today’s line up makes is loads better than any new music here in the States! Oh Oh, Coffee time 🙂 Cheers and have a GREAT day!!
July 16th, 2026 at 09:21Uwe, you say In Rock lacks dynamics. If that wave comparison in Simon’s article is anything to go by, then surely, Splat has even less dynamics? Or is the graph nonsense?
July 16th, 2026 at 12:30@46
Sorry Marcin! My @40 comment was just a silly pun on the “Indiscipline” lyrics 😂
I’m 100% with you on Adrian and KC admiration (wait Max, WAIT, I WILL get back in topic)
I saw two versions of the Adrian Belew Trio live, plus Sitck Men many times plus the FABULOUS Crimson Project live, they were amazing EVERY time!
Conversely, I also saw the “revival” Jakko-fronted lineup and wasn’t thrilled…
—
Back on TOPIC,
Thoughts on “Splat!” two weeks on…
– Excellent album, musical and production.
– Yes, it is super compressed as is customary now in the audio industry, but still listenable.
– Yes, many layers of production, massive vocal harmonies with tasteful pitch alignment (probably hours spent on Melodyne instead of the chepo Autotune lazy crap everyone else uses)
– Brilliant playing by Don (musical director) and Simon (albeit buried by Ezrin by way of a meek “vanilla” guitar tone)
– Best and most enjoyable collection of music since “Purpendicular”
– Best Ian vocal performance in decades, DESPITE the reduced range. Just like Uwe says: a masterful “seniority” delivery. At times I swear I even hear old Ian and young Ian dueting together (again, in cleanly sung passages over the mid voice range).
About Dynamics:
– The music itself HAS dynamics, i.e. difference in soft/loud, slow/fast, happy/dramatic, poppy/heavy, plain/proggy, etc.
– The mix is very busy but very good.
– The mastering is … what it is … so NOT much dynamics in the end product audio itself.
– Because, bear in mind: The producer/mixer/master(er?)’s client is EDEL, not DP.
Even though for me, the defining elements of classic DP have long departed (Blackers’ neo classical influence and Jon’s massive Hammond sound), that won’t keep me from recognizing the high quality of this release, and I’m delighted many others have taken notice too.
As always, just my two cents…
Regards, J.-
July 16th, 2026 at 14:50Excellent sum up of thoughts on SPLAT! , J.
July 17th, 2026 at 06:22And still no diet recommendations?
Jeez I love to disgress myself. Will my little making fun of all of us ever be forgiven?
@50
Thx Max!
I did write that highly strung on Mate-ine 🤣🤣🤣🧉🧉🧉
“And still no diet recommendations?”
Thanks dear sir, but I won’t take that bait 😇
And I totally agree that not taking ourselves too seriously is very healthy community thing (happy to play along 🤗)
—
Still on Splat! thoughts…
I wish Ezrin would do a Masterclass like many others producers do on sites like Mix With The Masters and the like and explain his process, perhaps involving Floyd, DP, etc, but it hasn’t happened yet…
For instance, Swedish metal producer Jens Bogren did a course detailing the whole production of an Ihsahn (the nerdy non-church-burning member of Emperor) song in which you got the multitrack to mix yourself, etc, which I found fascinating.
Anyway, have a great day y’all
July 17th, 2026 at 12:30J.-
@ 50, Max
Well, isn’t it already forgiven? LOL 😀 You’d be pelted tomatoes and stones already if it wasn’t. 🙂 🙂 🙂
@49, Julio, it’s totally OK, my friend! 🙂
I’m with you in all aspects – beside one – I saw 2016-2022 KC 10 times in 2016-2019 period and I liked it. Different kettle of fish to what Adrian does with his camarades, but the revolving setlists made these gigs fun. They wouldn’t ever be tight but loose in the way ABT plays, because of Fripp’s obsessive perfectionism, but still… Anytime anything from Red went on… It was like a shoot-off to another planet. But I totally respect your stance!
July 17th, 2026 at 13:43Daniel, In Rock doesn‘t lack dynamics, it‘s as dynamic as a nuclear explosion! Just not a very well recorded nuclear explosion. To be fair: In 1969/70 and with DP‘s shoestring budget, I don‘t think there was single affordable (for them) recording studio in the UK that could have captured their new sound flawlessly. Mk II‘s newly invented wall of sound was ahead of most of the studio technology of the time. Martin Birch probably got out of it what any mortal reasonably could in 1969/70. He was an excellent engineer.
July 17th, 2026 at 16:21I m still sad the DPAS magazines did not continue.
It was in small print which already gave me trouble still having my good eyes.
But I devoured it in a short time even thought it was loaded with information which I read completely.
The end of DPAS in a physical format hurt because FACEBOOK and other digital NEVER matched it.
The moment it occurred I felt orphaned again.
Although I didnt have a very happy weekend when travelling to London in 1999 to attend both nights at the RAH I salute Simon Robinson.
He created an unnecessarily odd and painfull emberassing moment for me,but I now assume it was part of his personality.
Like I still only or mainly am touched by Blackmore s sound, and have been hearing for 50 years he s an asshole.
It comes with the territory.
I really cannot understand people saying to have been fans for decades and missing out on him.
And yes, to cite Lord when talking about the split in 1973 :
July 17th, 2026 at 23:04” It was the biggest shame in rock and roll. We were writing so well.” more or less reflects my sadness after the last split.
#53. I was more curious if you had any takeaways from the Splat graph?
July 18th, 2026 at 14:54