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![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/mcbride6.jpg)
Guitar heroes and guilty pleasures
Classic Rock online has a short, but informative interview with Simon McBride. From the first music he remembers, to the song he’d want to play at his funeral, it’s all there.
The best record I’ve made
The Deep Purple record [2024’s =1]. It’s not every day you get to be a part of history. For me, doing that record was incredible, because at the minute with the guys in the band they’re just mates. But these guys are icons. I stand back in awe and go: “That’s me, that’s Ian Gillan, that’s Ian Paice… Jesus, why is my name in there?!”
Read more in Louder Sound
In other Simon news, he will be playing a string of European dates as a solo artist this summer. They are a combination of festival appearances and support slots for Lynyrd Skynyrd. The dates are so far unconfirmed on the artist side, but whatever we managed to collect from promoters and ticket vendors is in our calendar.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Aww man, he is a good guy!
Fascinating banjo-player and a personality that highlights the other members in the band ☺️
It’s like when you’re mixing something up in the kitchen, and finally end the preparation with a touch of salvie (or whatever herb you like) and then the whole dish is alive and tasteful!
😊
May 2nd, 2025 at 05:24What the Danish girl said, very nicely put!
There is – like with Coverdale – also a romantic rags to riches component to Simon’s story with the Purps, I like that.
https://media2.giphy.com/media/QHwf11y2ZfFSM/200w.gif?cid=6c09b952dwjgazjpn105eik3cxzsltwsuglb2fsiy4jtmw28&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200w.gif&ct=g
Financially, Steve joining DP was of course similar, but he had unlike Simon all those guitar mag and prog instrumental music credentials so those hardly filled any bank accounts.
May 2nd, 2025 at 13:02I like Simon’s taste in music (let’s not dwell on Gary Moore too much!), especially Toto. Loved Gorgy Porgy on the debut (that is the wonderful Sisters Sledge singing background on it!), somehow I never imagined that it was the lead guitarist who sang it (I always get confused about who sings what on Toto albums).
Simon was/is a good choice for DP. Very musicianly (as was Steve, but he was more the scholarly guitar player).
May 2nd, 2025 at 13:24The albums “Infinite” and “Whoosh” (2020) seemed like DP was getting ready for retirement. The tour of the “Infinite” album was called “The Long Goodbye Tour”, but the “goodbye” did not happen. “Whoosh” was clearly intended to be the last album of the group, because the song with which the album ends; “And the Address” is actually a cover of the song that begins the group’s first album ” SODP, it would be a symbolic discographical closing of the circle.
May 2nd, 2025 at 14:38On the tour where he replaced Morse, it was obvious that he grew up listening to Deep Purple. This can also be heard on the new album. Technically brilliant in solos, and at the same time a creative rhythm guitarist with astonishing solutions. Without any complex, he walks in the boots worn by Blackmore, Bolin and Morse before him.
The first thing that may surprise you is the aggressiveness of the new album, the heavy groove that stretches from the first thing to the last thing. There are few boring moments, because there are constant interludes between the players, especially between McBride and Airey, but Paice often chimes in with his great transitions. Gillan, despite his 78 years, sounds surprisingly good, not like he sounded 50 years ago, but his voice color has remained intact. The songs are shorter and more concise, no longer than 5 minutes, except for the final six-minute” Bleedin Obvious”. Songs that I like..
” A Bit on the Side” the second song, my favorite, has an interlude between Paice, Airey, on a moog synth and McBride, and multiple solos. That song sounds great, my favorite. “Portable Door”, one of the three excellent songs that announced the album, an interlude between Hammond and guitar that sounds like Jon Lord and Blackmore are still in their places. It could be on any Deep Purple album from the classic period.
“Old-Fangled Thing” starts with a hammond riff, with a wild, aggressive McBride solo and Paic’s incredible groovy drumming.
” If I Were You” is a light blues where McBride accompanies with some jazz phrasing with a solo that sounds like it was performed by Steve Morse. Perhaps it is a kind of tribute to its predecessor? .
“Pictures of You”, another one of those who announced the album. Gillan is back on form. At the end, the song turns into a beautiful phrase on the organ and bass. But the thing is great. Lazy Sod, is Paice in the shuffle, and Airey perversely enjoys the hammond. And finally, an excellent McBride solo. Indefinable.
“Now You Talkin”
begins with a shorter phrase reminiscent of the beginning of Speed King, followed by a catchy guitar and hammond solo reminiscent of Cascades: I’m Not Your Lover.
“.I’ll Catch You “is a beautiful blues on the track of Wasted Sunsetic. The album ends with a first class prog rock piece.
“Bleeding Obvious” is a six-minute song full of rhythm changes and contrasts between more aggressive and calmer parts. The band is in raptures, because it is obvious that this is one of those things that has the potential of a future classic. The lyrics are good, and Bob Ezrin as the informal sixth member of the band has again done a top job. The production is excellent. DP’s main forte is the instrumental sections, four masters. The rhythm section is excellent, Airey and McBride have become the heart and soul of the curre.Big Ian leads the story
I am eagerly awaiting the new work of DP
@4
“I am eagerly awaiting the new work of DP”
Oh man I second that 😍
May 2nd, 2025 at 17:50I’m also looking forward to the next album, I just hope Ezrin does a better job on the drums because the last album sucks but I’m afraid he’ll do the same old shit again.
May 2nd, 2025 at 22:45I don’t get what’s supposed to be wrong with Little Ian’s drum sound under the auspices of Bob Ezrin. It sounds warm and organic, something he obviously strives for (re all other sounds too). Ezrin has never been a mercilessly crystal clear hifi sound creator for individual instruments (Martin Birch sometimes could be if you let him), he’s a maker of soundscapes.
Are you guys missing that 80s drum clinic sound as on Perfect Strangers (the album)? That is soooo out of fashion. 🤗 It would sound dated today.
May 3rd, 2025 at 12:55It’s not a question of nostalgia, it’s a question of the tom rolls being out of tune, as if he had lost the key.
May 3rd, 2025 at 13:49Uwe, the drums sound small and compressed/squashed on =1. Takes away quite a bit from the listening experience. Hopefully they can get the mix right on the next album.
May 3rd, 2025 at 14:14Oh how convenient Uwe does not mention the other drum sounds that we are all familiar with from the golden days. Let’s go for the 1980’s gated snare and all and keep worshipping Bob Ezrin’s past (ancient) production techniques, which as Uwe says is so old fashioned. We know what we hear and Ian Paice bemoans it (yes Uwe, you know he does) that says it all. But let’s not let the truth of the matter get in the way. Why would we want to do that? Uwe has clearly been to far too many concerts and damaged his hearing me thinks. Too late now for him of course but not too late to still worship at the Ezrin shrine though. Living In The Past indeed. Cheers.
May 3rd, 2025 at 22:04Daniel,
May 3rd, 2025 at 22:12Well said 👍
Ok, I hear you guys. But I don’t hear what you seem to hear. Just gave Pictures Of You a listen and the drums sound organic (not crispy clean) on it, not heavy metal loud (where they regularly drown out the bass), but distinctly audible and vibrant. Ok, so it’s not a Neil Peart drum sound, but Ian never sounded like that.
I also don’t hear any out of tune drums, sorry.
But I’m willing to learn and take your complaints serious: Point out to me a specific part on =1 were the drums sound crap to you and please also give a musical example of how you think drums should sound in 2025. Maybe our tastes just differ.
May 4th, 2025 at 01:32Just make them sound like on CTTB or Malice in Wonderland. A mix where there is separation between the instruments and where they get to breathe. The opposite to the wall of sound mix that Ezrin seems to favour. Something is wrong when 50-year-old albums sound vastly superior to brand new product. Of course, IP no longer plays like he did in 1975-77 but there must be ways to get closer to his live sound (still good) on record.
May 4th, 2025 at 11:02Oh, that is your point, the old Martin Birch sound, I geddit. I liked that too, but that was in my book never so much a “production” as it was skillful engineering. Martin was great in getting the band on tape as it sounded and that of course became a Purple trademark and gave them that legendary status of “sounding live just like on record”. Zeppelin albums were “produced”, Purple ones “engineered”. Martin Birch was great, but from a different planet than George Martin, Tony Visconti, Alan Parsons, Roy Thomas Baker or Bob Ezrin. More a documentary filmer than a moviemaker if you get what I mean.
You guys want Purple to sound undiluted, fair enough. I hate to break it to you: You won’t get that with Bob Ezrin – ever.
And if I may offer a slice of personal opinion without Steve accusing me again of pushing myself to the forefront: That is a relatively dated production concept (though very typical of DP), even Roger already “produced more” than Martin Birch did, just listen to the change from LLRnR to Down To Earth (mind you, I think LLRnR is the best-sounding Rainbow album ever and DTE’s production hasn’t aged well).
Now, before you all dig out your pitchforks and chase me yelling “If Martin Birch can’t produce then why did Iron Maiden choose him to be their go-to-producer, they could have had anyone!”, my defiant answer is: “Exactly, they took him on because he was a brilliant engineer getting them down faithfully on tape but didn’t have a producer’s vision that might have interfered with Steve Harris’ own masterplan for the band.”
But I understand that for someone who has grown up with Martin Birch sonics, Bob Ezrin’s production values constitute a seismic change of paradigm.
I loved Martin’s “enginuction” or “produneering” too, but – being an Alice Cooper fan before I was a Purple one – my ears were accustomed to the Ezrin wall of sound sonics too. He was my favorite producer along with George Martin and Tony Visconti )with all due respect: Martin always sounded best with DP and DP Family bands). Never did I think that DP and BE would meet, so when I in 2012 first read about him being slated to produce the next DP album I was joyously incredulous.
I think there is no right or wrong here, it is what your ears are attuned to and whether you focus on overall sound or instrument separation. Martin Birch certainly served DP’s trademark sound in record well – 55 years ago. 🤘😇
May 4th, 2025 at 17:27@ 14 -“I think there is no right or wrong here, it is what your ears are attuned to and whether you focus on overall sound or instrument separation.” Uhhmmmmmmm, I thought ‘instrument separation’ was part of the overall sound Uwe? It isn’t any good having a ‘wall of sound’ so to speak, if it drowns everything else out. We have been spoilt over the years with Ian Paice’s drum sound and mix, we know that. What was it that Eddie Kramer said not that long ago in regards to recent modern day recordings, ‘let everything breathe, don’t drown it all’, something like that. There are a few other producers who also say very similar comments with the modern ways of recording music. Cheers.
May 5th, 2025 at 08:31I’ll just mention one out of tune drums, the first one that comes to mind is in No Money To Burn: there are several out of tune drums..since after 1’38”..
May 5th, 2025 at 10:49But Ezrin’s production is an airy wall of sound, he creates an atmosphere. The Alice Cooper productions weren’t dense and heavy, they were cinemascopic and orchestral.
“Not letting the instruments breathe” is not an accurate description of how Ezrin produces IMHO, if he was a painter you would say that he lets the colors blur into each other like in an expressionist painting, he doesn’t delineate instrument for instrument as neatly as Martin Birch did and I think that is what you guys miss.
What doesn’t “breathe” in a recording like this:
https://youtu.be/KwtiKcA510w
You might say it’s blurry or hazy, sort of the daydreamish, trancelike sound David Bowie and Tony Visconti opted for in Bowie’s Ziggy era, but “not breathing”?
AndreA, ok, I listened to what you pointed to, but I don‘t hear anything “out of tune“ at all, Paicey’s toms might be tuned a little higher than usual with him, they sound a bit “honky” in the mids, but I believe that was an artistic choice for the song. Nothing that offends my ears.
May 5th, 2025 at 16:24We hear what we hear Uwe, and we usually enjoy what we enjoy and vice versa. The one thing I have always been concerned about over the last few decades with many artists, is that they (the musicians) don’t appear to be at the mixing desk for the final mixes. Being left to one individual that isn’t a band member leaves it open to, well possibly a different overall sound that the band may not be content with. Those days are over for many, not good in my opinion but that is easy to say from where I sit. It is time consuming and they have other things in their lives to attend to. Ian Paice and Roger Glover at the mixing desk was always a good thing for the band Deep Purple. The same scenario with other bands and certain members who are concerned about the final outcome of their new record. Cheers.
May 6th, 2025 at 00:18Uwe, do you think the snare and cymbals (compressed) on Old-Fangled Thing are sounding good as well?
May 6th, 2025 at 02:07Yes MacGregor
May 6th, 2025 at 07:44for me too, Glover has always been a good producer of the sound result, certainly better..
If you are struggling with the drum sound consider the state of your hi-fi. 35 year old monitors with titanium tweeters sound as good as ever/ Q Acoustics in the office, sounding great / Bose powered speakers in the ceiling of the kitchen, don’t do everything justice.
May 6th, 2025 at 08:59These are the band’s last albums, it’s a shame to ruin them..
May 6th, 2025 at 09:26Daniel, I dutifully did what you told me to and then I immediately heard Old Fangled-Thing in a recent live version as well – with the “classic” Ian Paice sound. So you guys don’t like how Ezrin makes Paicey’s drums sound ‘lived in’ and vintage, bit grungier even. To me, that is his prerogative as a producer, I don’t think that the “drum clinic sound” you yearn for would fit into the sonic picture Bob has in mind for the band.
It reminds me, I’ve written about this before, of a drummer who was in the studio with us and he did a pre-mix of his drums and it sounded like a “Paiste & Tama” demonstration record, squeaky clean, but in a no way compatible with the Brit Pop we were playing and had recorded at the time. He said “work from this”. So after he left, we did at my instigation the whole drum mix anew (we kept his for safekeeping, it wasn’t wiped) and played the result to him the next day with the music and he loved the – completely different – sound of his drums, never noticing what had happened (and we never told him). The producer and the guitarists in the band thought we’d never get away with it, I knew we would.
Despicable me, I know. 😈
May 6th, 2025 at 21:07