![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse10.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/gillan2.jpg)
With a care-free attitude
Couple more =1 reviews from different corners of the world.
Malaysia’s newspaper The Sun:
As a unit, Deep Purple swing with a panache expected of seasoned pros who have perfected their craft through the decades. Tracks such as Portable Door and Sharp Shooter groove along with a care-free attitude of a band fully enjoying the privilege of still being able to rock out at its collective age.
Observer-Reporter out of Pennsylvania, USA:
There’s nothing like a new Deep Purple album to make me feel like a teenager once again. Having just celebrated my 60th birthday, I was happily transported back in time after hearing “=1” from the British icons. As with most Deep Purple releases, the new album was made loud to be played loud.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
For the most part, the album is much more uptempo than anything since Abandon. It’s nice to hear them “airing it out” in the studio, not just live. I appreciate all of their albums – the mellower tunes are often some of the best. But I prefer more straight ahead hard rock once in a while and this album delivers, in that respect. They put a lot of hard work and creativity into =1, and it definitely is a high-quality platter.
August 9th, 2024 at 00:56Yo,
qt. from the headlines…”As with most Deep Purple releases, the new album was made loud to be played loud”…
Amen, +1 here !…So turn it up !
Peace !
August 9th, 2024 at 01:28I don’t know why, but at first glance it seems that Deep Purple doesn’t exist for Danish music reviewers.
I have not seen a review of =1 anywhere in Danish.
They played on August 8th at “Smukfest” and the 2 tabloid reviews seem like they were written in advance and only focus on IG and RG turning 80 soon and was very negative.
Are there any Danes here who have seen reviews in danish (apart from the ones from Rasmus)?
Janbl
August 9th, 2024 at 09:55A biggest hype about nothing.
For the first time in my life, I haven’t listened to an album of my favourite band since its release, and desided to wait for the pre-ordered vinyl record to arrive and then to enjoy the new creation and the excellent sound at least as was in the previous four records with Ezrin production. Of couse, I listened to the singles that came out right away, and except Portable Door, the other two left a favorable impression, especially Lazy Sod, it’s a hit.
At the same time, while I was waiting for the record, I read laudatory odes to the new album on the Internet.
August 9th, 2024 at 18:55And finally the vinyl arrived this week and I listen to it twice.
The first disappointment is the record design. I can understand when it’s simple, but when it’s simple and looks cheap…sorry.
The second disappointment is the sound.
It’s the 21st century, it feels like the record was recorded not in a modern studio, but in a small restroom. You just can’t hear the instruments, everything goes as some kind of background noise drowned out by Gillan’s voice.
The producer and sound engineers just need to have their ears twisted off for the crap they “created”. The videos on YouTube sounded much better than the vinyl version. It even worse than “Rapture of the Deep” production.
The third disappointment is that almost all the songs are unfinished and underdeveloped.
What is good – Lazy Sod, even the terrible sound didn’t spoil it, Old-fangled thing, Now you’re talking, No money to burn.
All the rest are average and below average. Overpriced “Bleeding Obvious” reminded me of a pathetic parody of Rapture of the Deep.
Overall rating of the album is 3 out of 5 or 6 out of 10, whichever you prefer.
It’s nice to see the album getting truly universal recognition. I haven’t seen a single bad review yet in the media (and it would be unwarranted because it is a piece of quality experience, work and – thanks to Simon – newfound inspiration).
Janbl, I’m no great Dane, not even a little one, but my wife thinks that the Ringkøbing/Hvide Sande region is as close as God ever got to creating paradise on Earth and has also avidly learned your language in the last two years in one-on-one online language courses (she spends at least a month or more every year in Western Jylland, I only join her in short stints, it is a bit too rolig/stille for me there 😎), have you seen this here:
https://www.berlingske.dk/musik/deep-purple-er-hardrock-med-speederen-i-bund-men-paa-smukfest-blev-ingen
On a longer car ride, I played =1 on rotation to a friend who is also a hobby musician (and neither a DP lover nor hater, he’s a Stones fan) and I thought it might be interesting to share what he had to say about it:
“This sounds like 70s Purple immediately, that organ …, I wouldn’t be able to tell Jon Lord’s from Don Airey’s style, but that Hammond sound defines DP.
I can tell the differences in whoever plays guitar though, this new guy sounds more like Blackmore in his solos than I’ve heard it in a long time with them. Gary Moore? I don’t know enough about him.
And then there is both how Gillan’s voice sounds and the way he sings over the music. That is idiosyncratic. I can’t say that I always like it, but it is incredibly recognizable too, it doesn’t matter if he sings high or low. You hear it and you know it’s him.
The album sounds like a well-executed piece of quality work by seasoned hands to me. At almost 80 that’s an achievement.”
August 10th, 2024 at 12:29Yo,
@4, I’d get the CD version…It sounds spectacular to my ears either from the computer on Logitech 2.1’s, or through the Yamaha 5.1…The sound has more balls than “Rapture” imo.
A few people have mentioned a “nasty” cymbal sound heard at times, that’s similar-ish to what’s heard through “STP’s No.4”, or even a couple of tunes from “RUSH’s Vapour Trails”, but I don’t mind it…Vapour Trails & No.4 have had & get regular spins here, so I’d made that adjustment decades ago lol !
But since you’re still listening to LP’s, besides all the snap, crackle & pop plus groove noise, I can only advise to turn-it-up.
Peace !
August 10th, 2024 at 14:41Thanks Uwe, my great German friend.
August 10th, 2024 at 17:18That explains why the western Jylland is invaded (again) by Germans every summer (this time they usually go home after a couple of weeks).
The review I can not read as it is behind a paywall.
The more listens the better it sounds !
August 10th, 2024 at 18:52Finally have replaced Whoosh( been in my cd player since 2020) in my vehicle.
Rock on!
I’m a man of few words so I’ll get onto it. Best album since Fireball, In Rock & Machine Head (in that order) and just ahead of Perfect Strangers.
August 11th, 2024 at 03:01The band, in particular the bass & guitar, have got their mojo back and yes I can hear Gary Moore in Simon’s playing on I’ll Catch You.
Enough said from me.
Cheers
Phil
Just a minute! I knew Lazy Sod sounded familiar – Fool For Your Lovin? Complete with MMMMHmmm…in the intro? But then…wait….is this Gillan actually Trolling Coverdale, given that DC could easily be accused of nicking the Gillan phrase “Hard Lovin Man” in FFYL??? If my “theory” is true, this is hilarious!!
August 11th, 2024 at 09:49“That explains why the western Jylland is invaded (again) by Germans every summer (this time they usually go home after a couple of weeks).”
😆
Jawohl, but sommehuse and Wohnwagen have largely replaced military camps and Panzerkampfwagen. And you have to be fair, janbl, where would Blåvand’s legendary ‘bunker mule’ beach art be if it wasn’t for that lovely German concrete groundwork built to last forever? 😂
https://munterwegs.me/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/wp-image-619698993.jpeg?w=1200
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The original mix of Rush’s Vapor Trails sounded indeed unpleasant to me, not just the cymbals, but also the honkey mids of the mix. I hardly heard the album because of that.
I think that a lot of people’s issues with Bob Ezrin’s production sound stem from the fact that it is less direct and in-your-face than Martin Birch’s, Roger Glover’s or Michael Bradford’s. Ezrin has a cinematic touch, there is a bit of Phil Spector in him. I personally like that, but then I grew up loving the sound of Alice Cooper records and Kiss’ Destroyer is to this day my favorite album by the New Yorkers just for its sound. Ezrin seeks to create an overall atmosphere – and not the closest true-to-life sonic depiction of every individual instrument and voice. For Purple fans that is a novelty, they are used to albums being ‘engineered’ rather than ‘produced’. Led Zep fans would likely scratch their heads and wonder what we are complaining about, they are used to Jimmy Page making Led Zep sound larger than life.
But I understand that Ezrin’s style might not be everyone’s cup of tea: I remember a blind listening test with fellow Canuckesse Lee Aaron in der 80ies where she was asked to comment on a Hanoi Rocks song
https://youtu.be/P5REqLelRT4
and her immediate comment was “Ugh, did Bob Ezrin do this? Horrible, all those billowing sounds. Someone should tell him that we’re living in the 80s and not 70s now, next please!”
Yet I think that Bob Ezrin made Hanoi Rocks sound great on this track (and on the album it came from), while a lot of 80ies productions – Lee Aaron’s included – have aged badly to my ears.
August 11th, 2024 at 13:43Comparing productions from 50 years ago to today is just as pointless as… Well, comparing anything from that time with today. One might prefer a 70’s car and there might be many good things to say about it but that doesn’t mean car manufacturers today will start to build car like in the 70’s, or even try.
Someone always wants the band to do Fireball again but it is simply not possible, not playing-wise, composition-wise or production-wise.
August 11th, 2024 at 16:35@11 – Agree that “Vapor Trails” was a very unpleasant-sounding record. Not a great mix.
The mastering was what made me return it to the record store the next day though. Digital clipping all over the place. The guy played it on his speakers to see if it was defective, and compared it with the store copy. But said he couldn’t hear anything wrong. As both copies crackled and distorted all over the place.
Exchanged it for Rush’s previous LP, “Test For Echo”. Which I had somehow skipped over. And found it preferable both sonically and material-wise. Somewhat under-rated record.
Done with the late Peter Collins, an under-rated producer…
https://www.soundonsound.com/people/peter-collins
Whose Nik Kershaw and Letters To Cleo records sounded especially good for the time, one seems to recall.
Steve Morse was a fan, think he may have been the reason PC was chosen to produce the Flying Colors project. Wonder why he never got a chance to produce Purple.
August 11th, 2024 at 19:05Rost @4 thanks for sharing your feelings with us, but certainly there must be SOMETHING about the album even you DON’T like? 🙃
August 11th, 2024 at 19:47I’m really impressed by this work,there’s the feeling of more hard purple sound, in your face hard punchy and sticky, I’m glad Ezrin didn’t erase the guitar sound and still kept the progress sound they’ve been developing, I love what they did on bleeding obvious, those mid eastern arrangements remainder of rapture of the deep,also those 2 blues tracks, Gillian amazing, beautiful lyrics.
August 12th, 2024 at 01:44Hats off.
Que chingon!
August 12th, 2024 at 01:48About the cover, as usual they almost never had great covers,except stormbringer,house of the blue light, nobody’s perfect,tbro,abandon, and conceptually made in Japan and Europe, purplendicular, other than that they don’t invest a lot of money in that, in graphic designer point of view. It’s more about their music.
August 12th, 2024 at 02:03That old saying ‘never judge a book by it’s cover’ always springs to mind with a disappointing album cover. ( I am not saying this album cover is disappointing by the way) just in case the bailiffs & those large dogs appear at my door before I can get out of here! How many wonderful albums are there that have a cover that could have been better? I alway go for what is inside as everyone does, the sound, the songs etc. Put it in a brown paper bag, oh wait that has already been done a few times. It doesn’t matter at all to me. Cheers.
August 12th, 2024 at 08:48The last really spectacular and gripping DP cover was 50 years ago – Burn!
https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExbjk2eTVrM3B0bW9kOXRkYWgzNjVmdWh4eGRpbHdqNWEzcm5wbHA2MyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/fGObIK1LjvXIxglQ4f/giphy.webp
Since then:
Stormbringer: I could have done without the fantasy Pegasus flying mare, just the shed and the approaching tornado, but it’s still ok’ish if motorcycle gas tank airbrush art is your thing;
Come Taste The Band: cheesy and very literal, inviting ridicule (as it did, German rock mag Sounds quipped: “an album to promptly get a hangover from”);
Perfect Strangers: didn’t win any prizes with me for innovation, somewhat pretentious too, yet at the same time very safe;
The House Of Blue Light: once again cheesy and all too literal;
Slaves & Masters: OMG, it doesn’t get any better …
The Battle Rages On: … only worse, truly horrible, why is there no law against dragons gracing DP covers?;
Purpendicular: minimalist, but ok;
Abandon: this I like, echoes the strange, but always interesting Hipgnosis covers of the 70s/80s, picks up on the album title elegantly;
Bananas: too literal once again, but at least showing some Dada’esque humor;
Rapture Of The Deep – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s ‘The Little Prince” anyone? But not bad. It was first published in some men’s magazine, Playboy or Penthouse I believe, at least DP weren’t inspired to put one of the centerfolds on the cover …;
Now What?! – minimalist, but stark;
Infinite – I did like the polar theme for some reason, also the arctic explorers promo shots they did at the time …;
Turning To Crime – I thought the mug shots fitted the album, nuff said, it was a stop-gap release during the pandemic after all;
Whoosh? – artful, one of the better ones, alluding to the title, but not too literal;
=1? – a conceptual rip-off from ‘Now What?!’ really, but for a band as established and vintage as DP, the minimalism is apt, it’s a self-confident cover. At this point of their career, no one buys DP physical media for the cover art.
I didn’t include live albums, but, yeah, Made In Europe and Last Concert In Japan echoed the iconic Made In Japan look which made sense given that they were live albums too, BBC In Concert I liked at the time and still do, Live In London was a live shot, hardly original, but ok, Nobody’s Perfect had a still decent cover as did the rejuvenated Concerto release in 2000 with the nighttime RAH outline. Come Hell Or High Water looked like a bootleg and I hated the Old English lettering, both taste- and senseless on a Purple album, they’re not Rainbow you know. Live at The Olympia ’96’s urban graffiti I liked, Total Abandon ’99 showing Uluru/Ayers Rock was as predictable as putting a purple kangaroo on the cover,
https://www.shutterstock.com/shutterstock/photos/2103504983/display_1500/stock-photo-silhouette-of-a-kangaroo-miniature-standing-at-foggy-night-creative-table-decoration-with-colorful-2103504983.jpg
but ok for an album from an Australian tour (on second thought: the porphyrophile marsupial would have been preferable). Most subsequent live albums have featured either live shots of the band and/or the venue, ‘does what it says on the tin”-(non-)conceptual art I guess …
August 12th, 2024 at 18:25#12 Svante:
I agree 101% with every syllable you say!
August 12th, 2024 at 22:43the problem for many is that they stopped at Deep Purple MKII or MKIII, without accepting all their musical world that Purple have given us in the last 30 years, critically analyzing their entire history and evolution and contextualizing them is an acoustic and mental job that only the most “Deep” fans do.
What is wrong with a Purple kangaroo? I see them out here all the time. You need to get out more Uwe, out into the wide Purple yonder, there are all sorts of things out here that could surprise you. Of course you already have acouple at your abode in those tanks. but there is so much more colourful creatures for you to admire & even get to ‘know’ perhaps. Forget about dragons, they don’t exist. Cheers.
August 12th, 2024 at 22:50@ 19 Ah… a man of taste. My taste, that is. I agree withe the exception of the coverart for Purpendicular which I thought was not ok – it was brillant. As is the album.
August 14th, 2024 at 16:16