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Let’s try ending on the four chord
Music Radar has an interview with Steve Morse. It is apparently published on the occasion of the recent album, but deals with his Purple years. Steve particularly fondly talks about Jon Lord:
During one writing session for 1996’s Purpendicular, Morse’s debut on a Deep Purple record, a tea break was called, and Morse played on for a bit. Like the others, Lord sat down for tea – but he was listening.
“It came from me just noodling to a guitar part, as a guitar solo piece. We were during a break, and you know how it is in the UK, everybody stops and drinks tea after so many minutes of doing anything,” says Morse, the only American in the band. “Jon sat down his cup and says, ‘Ah, that’s something there.’”
Morse demurred but Lord was hearing none of it. They went back to it, and that’s how Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming came together.
“I said, ‘I wasn’t thinking that that would be a tune for Purple. I was just practising an idea I had.’ And he said, ‘Well, I like it. Let’s do it. Let’s try ending on the four chord here.’ And by the end of the day, we had the song mapped out on tape because of Jon,” says Morse.
Read more in Music Radar.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
That’s a cute story about the interaction with our Jon.
I remember solos by Steve during his DP tenure that had me floored live, he certainly didn’t have me frown more often than Ritchie did in the 80s and 90s when on some gigs he could be a real noise merchant in his solos.
Steve’s solos were never dark like Ritchie’s – even when he was playing darkish keys -, but I learned to accept that as just him being him.
Steve’s precise rhythm playing was also always a joy to watch and listen to.
November 27th, 2025 at 07:55Lovely story indeed! And this ending of the main theme in the fourth (in G where you’d expect a Dm) is really something.
November 28th, 2025 at 08:09AbandOn is the last,with the Lord.
November 28th, 2025 at 08:46I love how he plays, he puts so much feeling…
I miss him. ♥︎
While I prefer Ritchie as a soloist, I always thought Steve expanded DP’s musicality. “The Aviator” and “A Touch Away” add a bit of whimsy to their sound, and they’re two of my all-time favorite tracks by the band. I couldn’t ever see Ritchie writing anything like that. And “Now What?” is one of those albums that’s perfect front to back.
November 28th, 2025 at 17:27It would have been a huge blow for Steve Morse when Jon Lord retired from Deep Purple. He rated Lord as his favourite rock keyboard player and that was before he liaised with him personally and musically. Cheers
November 28th, 2025 at 21:38Steve just sounds so American – that’s not a criticism, just a description of fact. And he was co-opted into a band that sounded until then (short intermezzos like Mk IV and Mk V excluded) very European, namely DP.
BUT – and it is a big “but” – Gillan, Glover, Lord & Paice knew that when they asked him to join. It only takes a half-hour jam with Steve to notice that his musical sensibilities are utterly Yank (again: not a knock).
Yet Steve did also adapt to Purple – to the extent nature let him. Those criticizing him for not having done so completely should participate in the following thought experiment: If Ritchie had joined the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Grateful Dead, the Doobie Brothers, Little Feat, The Band or really any other arch—American outfit, don’t you think that his playing there would have sometimes felt more than a little awkward and stuck out like a sore thumb too?
November 28th, 2025 at 22:16everything Lord & Morse did on Purplendicular & Abandon through much of Bananas has never been equaled in the years since.
November 28th, 2025 at 23:42Great song. One of my all-time favorites.
November 29th, 2025 at 05:17„Sometimes I feel like screaming“ is Steve‘s signature piece in DP, I think. Esp. When it’s played live, you wish the outro-solo would never end.
For me, „Purpendicular“ is one of the best albums DP ever made.
The cooperation between Steve and Jon was incredible, just think about what Steve always mentioned about Jon‘s „big ears“.
November 29th, 2025 at 09:50Unfortunately, I can’t add a link here, but when you watch the YT video of „Abandon“ with that wonderful guitar-solo and see how how both communicate without words – it’s just magic.
I remember IG once saying in an interview something like “It’s time to make our Sgt. Pepper”, and I think their Sgt. Pepper is Purpendicular. I think Purpendicular is up there in the top five DP albums. And I also think that it is much due to SM.
November 29th, 2025 at 11:31@9Beate: Amen!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C-QuE1Pbb8&list=RD4C-QuE1Pbb8&start_radio=1
November 29th, 2025 at 13:00@9
Beate I agree!
November 29th, 2025 at 15:17No doubt about it that I loved when RB was the guitarist in Purple, and to some extent I agree with those who don’t like Steve’s way of playing the tunes written by and meant for RB, but OH MAN the tunes written for Steve, there he is phenomenal 💜
Ritchie in the Grateful Dead? He wouldn”t have lasted a Single day….as a lifelong Deadhead myself this proposal makes me laugh……yes, he could outplay them All but the spirit of the Dead was and still is one of a kind….
November 29th, 2025 at 16:22And yes, i do miss Steve in the band, his style, his smile and his spirit
To me Mark 7 will be always the 2nd best Purple incarnation after the almighty Mark 2 (which are untouchable), followed by Mark 3.
The band, studio and live, were on fire. And seeing Jon always happy on and off stage, founding his new soulmate on stage which was Steve, makes you feel good. Such a paradise after what they experienced with Ritchie in 1993.
Much have been said about their two albums which were superb products. I would like to point out on their live performances, especially on the old Mark 2 rarities. Steve, helped by Jon, made those songs their own esp. the ‘rarities’ Blackmore disinterested to play (No One Came, Fireball, Pictures of Home, Maybe I’m A Leo, When A Blind Man Cries. etc). Their live shows were also powerful, never heard bad bootlegs from their era. Also another contribution, Gillan’s voice in the 90’s were remarkable.
I specifically think that their ‘pinnacle’ moment as a band was when the fans thought “Bloodsucker” was a new song (led to them re-recording it as Bludsucker in Abandon). This shows how tight and stand-out they are as a group of musicians playing any musical composition on stage.
November 29th, 2025 at 16:30I sometimes think that Jon would have left DP rather sooner than later to do his own thing had Ritchie stayed on, but hung on another couple of years after Ritchie’s abrasive departure to see the band he had co-formed guided into the safe waters of a new era.
Roger once said in a HS interview with Rasmus and Svante here that by the recording of Pictured Within in 1997 (same year as Abandon was being recorded) Jon was thinking more and more in terms of orchestral music. Then the rejuvenated Concerto came (which I doubt Ritchie would have participated in had he still been in the band) and that and the ensuing tour of course gave Jon a full circle closure with DP.
When he finally decided to leave, he knew Purple could continue. Imagine what would have happened had he left together with Ritchie in 1993 too – that would have been a death punch for Purple.
Steve and Don perhaps never quite gelled as much as Steve and Jon because Don is a “lots of notes”-player like Steve which had them in combat for aural space (and over time, Steve did play more sparsely after Don had taken Jon’s place), whereas Jon had the innate ability to pull back to make others shine – be it Tommy Bolin on CTTB, Marsden & Moody in WS or Steve on Purpendicular and Abandon.
Add to that how Don has a certain picture of how a “guitar hero” he wants to complement has to be – the Gary Moore, Randy Rhoads, Michael Schenker, Jake E.Lee, John Sykes, Uli Jon Roth experience so to say, but Steve Morse simply isn’t a guitarist like that. Jon otoh recognized Steve’s deep musicality.
November 29th, 2025 at 19:48@6
> BUT – and it is a big “but” – Gillan, Glover, Lord & Paice knew that when they asked him to join.
Deep Purple made a knowingly “risky”, or at least adventurous, move taking Steve. They knew he is something totally different from Ritchie and an electric guitar virtuoso (so was Satriani) of a guitar school that came after the years that Deep Purple had become a big name. I think they all embraced this at the moment and we had the great and fresh Purpendicular and beautiful vibe in live sessions (“Live at the Olympia” is on of their most enjoyable live recording to listen all the way through IMHO).
Less than 10 years later, when Jon decided to retire, they made a much more “safe” decision. Don is not the same as Jon, but I believe that if someone made a poll back then asking Deep Purple fans “who do you see as a possible replacement of Jon Lord for DP?”, Don would have taken a lot of votes. He was in Rainbow, he had a consistent career participating in a huge catalog of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal names and he was (and is) a great player.
Fast forward to 2022, the band had for several reasons to replace Steve, and they again fell to a different, but still “safe” decision. Simon is not Ritchie style, but much more the type of player once could foresee in a hard rock band. He was not very famous, but everyone knew him by side projects.
I believe that in the end all these decisions were good to make and they graced us with great music and live shows. So it is not a criticism, just an observation. And it is understandable that it is easier to make bold changes at your 50ies than when approaching the 80ies.
November 30th, 2025 at 07:13Rajaseudun @10: That Sgt. Pepper comment was made by Ian ahead of ROTD. I remember, because by that statement the album was somewhat anticlimactic.
But comparisons between The Beatles and DP are difficult anyway.
November 30th, 2025 at 14:39#7: Did Jon play on Bananas? The liner notes on my copy of the CD say it was Don on that album.
December 1st, 2025 at 03:57I found the link to one of the most wonderful solos and the magic between Steve and Jon (Abandon live, I wish I could buy that DVD again nowadays)
https://youtu.be/y-CC2jOVNSI?si=-87NOCBTn1lsiOZI
December 1st, 2025 at 17:29I think there might still be a little bit of Jon on Bananas (not much though), he certainly co-wrote a few titles.
Yeah, Beate, those solo spots of Steve early in his era with DP were really nice, he didn’t shred, but created atmosphere. And much like Tommy Bolin, he was good at using effects.
December 2nd, 2025 at 01:07@19 Beate,
December 2nd, 2025 at 05:08It’s from the Total Abandon Live in Australia concert at Melbourne. It’s worth getting the LP release – it sounds great. I agree it’s pure magic, as good as anything throughout DP’s career.
#16. Well said. It’s easier to make bold choices in your 50s than in your 80s. DP still live on but now with two soloists who play the solos note for note from one evening to another. If you listen to McBride’s solo in When A Blind Man Cries on stage with them these days, as good as it is, it’s the exact same solo he played six years ago on stage with IG for his solo orchestral shows. A casual fan attending one show every couple of years will will likely not pay any attention to this, but disappointing nevertheless.
Don always played a supportive role in his career. Support to Ritchie, Gary Moore, Ozzy. Rarely in a lead capacity. Still, I find it hard to believe someone as talented as Don is lacks improvisational skills. Same thing with Simon really. So, it’s a bit puzzling. Maybe they feel improvisation belongs to the 70s and prefer to play it safe.
Shaking up the setlist on a more regular basis would compensate for the lack of imrovisation. Unfortunately, they play it safe on both counts.
December 2nd, 2025 at 06:19@16
In this interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_qm74Ot7DI
Around the 19th minute (it is lovely to watch it all if you haven’t), Jon does say that he was involved in the writing of 2 songs. I do not know which 2 these are, and I do not believe he did record anything.
There are interesting things he says about Bananas in his 3-4 minutes answer:
– It was different than he expected
– He was not fond of the sound, he believed Roger Glover would have done a better work producing it
– He did rank it better than Abandon, which (he says) lacked direction
– Yet lower than Purpendicular, which he considered one of the best DP albums, along with In Rock, Machine Head and Perfect Strangers
It is nice because he puts the words kindly, yet he sounds sincere
December 2nd, 2025 at 08:23(@16 meant to be @18 in my last message)
December 2nd, 2025 at 08:25You’re tough, Daniel!
Jon was an extremely loose player, he could have played with the Stones. Don is too structured for that but I think he has come a long way improvisationally since his early days with Purple, I found him very angular at first, but he liberated his playing (especially on the Hammond) over time. He’s no Jon Lord though, but then who is.
I don’t believe that Simon and Don set out every night to ply everything note for note, but hey certainly have a sketch of what they want to play and of course overt routine (with the amount of gigs that they do), muscle memory and the realization that something sounds so good it’s worth repeating all play a role.
Simon is certainly from a generation of players where the ability to reproduces something technically demanding is rated higher than loose improvisation, all the Steve Vais, Joe Satrianis and John Petruccis of this world aren’t really improvisational people – they are too disciplined and perfectionist as players for that.
December 2nd, 2025 at 13:41@ 23 – Interesting comments from Jon Lord regarding Abandon, I agree. It was very disappointing after Purpendicular. Thanks for the interview. @ 25 – To improvise or to not, that is the question. Some can do it well, many do not, it is a gift of sorts no doubt. How to think ahead of the pack really quickly, how to ‘know’ where another musician is going to regarding the in the moment scenario. It is a sadly lacking thing in today’s music world in so many aspects. Today’s world is all about technical perfection, in that regard. The years gone by not so much, thankfully. Plus in today’s world it is all about looks, how do I look while I am playing this instrument, that vanity thing. That does also get in the way of free expression. Android replicas, that it s where it is all heading. Cheers.
December 2nd, 2025 at 20:19#25 Uwe:
I totally agree.
December 2nd, 2025 at 23:13Obviously Don was an exceptional musician even before Purple and he already had enormous experience,
but certainly his approach to the keys is different from that of the Maestro..
However, I can’t think of any other living keyboard kings worthy of taking Lord’s place, if not Airey himself.
I thought Abandon was just much darker, less colorful than Purpendicular which was a caleidoscope of colors, but not necessarily bad. In the same way that In Rock is a darker album than Machine Head or Burn a darker album than Stormbringer.
I actually like that variety, that DP are not always dark like, say, Ozzy era Sabbath. I loved that Purply would do jaunty songs like Anyone’s Daughter or Lazy or Woman From Tokyo.
December 3rd, 2025 at 00:47#26 MacGregor:
If John were still alive and had made all the subsequent albums, I think he would have drastically reevaluated Abandon compared to all the weak stuff Purple wrote after Bananas.
December 3rd, 2025 at 07:21Abandon was indeed darker and heavier. Jon says ‘it lacked direction’, but I think the problem was that it had too much direction, it was Purpendicular that lacked direction in the most beautiful way.
Also, in Abandon in the middle there is a triplet of somehow weaker (IMO) songs:
December 3rd, 2025 at 09:307. “Jack Ruby”
8. “She Was”
9. “Whatsername”
Plus I am not too much of a fan of “Seventh Heaven” that many people loved.
These make me also rank the album a bit lower, but I still listen to it often with a lot of joy.
@ I get the point… But for those about to agree Ozzy-era Sabbath is always dark: Supernaut, Sabbra Cadabra, Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor (which btw was a setlist-oddity sung by Gillan in ’83), Shock Wave, Never Say Die, Hard Road and the great Air Dance (featuring a beautiful piano played by Don Airey) are exceptions here
December 3rd, 2025 at 09:35I still enjoy Don Airey’s solos in recent Purple live gigs, he has that panache and diversity of the classic melodies that few have these days. One of the only recent DP things I watch including some of the newer songs. He deserves his day job and just like Steve Morse, I am glad they have/had that opportunity. Any of those old school keyboard players from the original or near enough original bands are irreplaceable in their respective bands. Just like the other musicians, when one changes of course there is going to be a different take on it. Airey is old school, hell he is even older than Grumpy Rick. And Airey has that Black Sabbath connection just like Rick. There must have been something in the water back then. Cheers.
December 3rd, 2025 at 09:56For the avoidance of doubt, TillytheSab: Ozzy’s doom-laden monotone wail with the Sabs had vital quality because he was blessed with a real sense for simple (almost childlike), yet hugely effective melodies.
Just look and listen too how one-time-short-term Sab vocalist Dave Walker sang over what became Junior’s Eyes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRJbm0SUHXM
and how Ozzy did it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QQTHWf5xxQ
Ozzy’s catchy vocal melody is pure genius, Walker’s attempt at singing over the riff and chords sounds like where he came from and returned to: reminiscent of a B-side from Savoy Brown, those second to third tier blues rockers.
Don’t let your dad tell you Sabbath is no good, son!
December 3rd, 2025 at 16:10@33
> he (Ozzy) was blessed with a real sense for simple (almost childlike), yet hugely effective melodies.
Absolutely true. Don acknowledges this in some interviews, e.g.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHcG9kFe_vU
There were some other factors involved, but it is also thanks to this talent that Ozzy managed to form a very successful band, with at least 2 landmark heavy metal albums and many hits that spread over the years after leaving Sabbath
December 3rd, 2025 at 17:46Don’t let – by all means – get a lawyer in between affairs!
Noone ever said Sabbath ain’t no good. It just ain’t no good for Papa Max.
Manic Miner …very well said: Purpendicular lacked direction in the most beautiful way!
December 3rd, 2025 at 17:52Didn’t get what Jon meant… Abandon was less diverse and had more direction I think. But a less appealing one.
Ozzy always had the nous for a good hooky and commercial tune, the Beatles/Lennon buff in him. “Just” writing melodies (and not the instrumental music or the lyrics) isn’t nothing, you know. No one ever accused Elton John of being a lesser musician for not writing his own lyrics or leaving the more intricate arrangements to his basic song ideas to his 70s backing band who were also in charge of arranging and layering the trademark harmony vocals.
Ozzy’s penchant for what were essentially lullabies made Sabbath a lot more commercial than just their instrumental music would have allowed. And his solo career took that even further, I mean Crazy Train is a (very nice) pop song in a major key with a neo-classical metal riff as an intro, but any idiot can whistle the vocal melody.
December 3rd, 2025 at 23:56#36 Uwe:
It’s true, Ozzy’s melodies were incredibly basic and effective, but he wasn’t the only one, Ronnie for example also wrote really simple melodies, and so did Iron Maiden, AC/DC and others.
December 4th, 2025 at 21:57Did Iron Maiden really ever write more than one song which they keep re-recording and retitling through the decades?! 😂
December 5th, 2025 at 12:53Don’t tell me poor ole Ozzy has been demoted to a poor man’s lead vocalist. ‘Any idiot can whistle the vocal melody’. Uwe, if they (the O$Bourne clan) notice that comment you could be in for a right rollicking. Poor ole Roger Waters only made a basic comment ( no where near as bad as that one of your’s) after Ozzy’s death and now he has had a t-shirt made for him. What will Uwe’s punishment be? A cut away t-shirt with a picture of a cartoonish bat getting its head bitten off on it. Why not ladies and gentlemen, Uwe has a penchant for those sort of things. I will just send a copy of his latest comment to the right reverend $haron and we will sit back and enjoy the vindictive punishment dished out to our esteemed heavy metal follower here at THS. Cheers. P.S. Roger Waters new t-shirt below.
https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/roger-waters-ozzy-osbourne-another-prick-in-the-wall
December 6th, 2025 at 01:41@39
I believe that this controversy between Ozzy and Waters is interesting. In my opinion they are both great examples of musicians with minimal musical talent (Waters could not tune his bass… Ozzy, well you can hear his singing in some live recordings and the issue is not the drugs), yet they have been great forces in terms of creativity. Both of them managed to do great stuff with what they had, and for me this is something to applaud for (a bit like Greece winning the 2004 euro cup with minimal talent, one has to acknowledge that they really did the best they could with what they had).
Nonetheless, their characters evolved much differently. Ozzy had his difficult moments, mostly due to drug addiction, but in the end, almost everyone has a good word to say about him (our Ritchie included). Waters on the other hand seems to be angry with almost everyone these days, his old band-mates, other rock musicians, the western world etc
Anyway, in the end it is just an observation and “thank you for the music”
December 6th, 2025 at 11:01#38 Uwe:
Uwe, I don’t know if you’re more cynical or me, I just saw Live at Munich 77 again and I think that with this live show and the live show in the heart of the city, hard & heavy music has reached its peak and everything has already been written and played.
December 6th, 2025 at 14:26Waters is a simplistic bassist, yet there is something to his workmanlike bass playing not easily emulated – and Ozzy’s vocal approach is actually similar!
Herr MacGregor, you baffle me. You must be the only person ON EARTH who misunderstood my comments on Ozzy here as putting him down. I actually consider his ability to create childlike, yet memorable melodies a gift and a salient aspect of his era with Sabbath – I had hoped that my comparison between his and Dave Walker’s version of Junior’s Eyes has shown that. Having a childlike approach does not rule out great art.
I think a song like this in all its naivety is great because it oozes charm and childlike wonder.
https://youtu.be/pYomVbcJKhI
BTW: Waters’ Another Brick In The Wall minorish children’s choir trademark melody sounds EXACTLY like something Ozzy could/would have come up with!
December 6th, 2025 at 15:58We (some more, some less) complain about what Ritchie did after the 80s or after the 90s or after the 2000s, but compared to Roger Waters our Ritchie never stopped, while Waters grazed motionless in the swamps for decades thanks to what he did with Pink Floyd, the most overrated band of all time.
December 6th, 2025 at 20:34@ 40 – Manic, with respect, Rogers Waters was a lot more creative in the songwriting and lyric department than poor old Ozzy who is over rated as an artist, he really is. A good melodic singer he was, but that is about it. Water’s could bring songs to the table, Ozzy needed other musicians big time to get to that point. Not a put down of Ozzy, just the way it was. Especially with Black Sabbath and the early O$bourne ‘solo’ era. I didn’t follow him after Bark at the Moon, too silly and immature for a ‘grown’ up man. Anyway, I better be careful, otherwise I will have a t-shirt printed in my honour, he he he. Cheers
December 6th, 2025 at 20:58I think Waters is an excruciatingly difficult and even tortured man, but not overrated. These days unjustly vilified more likely. And I am writing this as someone who was never that great a Pink Floyd fan, but the difference between Waters-Floyd and no-Waters-Floyd is palpable.
December 7th, 2025 at 01:11Fla76, I don’t need to rewatch Rainbown in Munich 1977, I was there fifth or sixth row upfront Ritchie’s side. The experience is etched in my memory, I can to this day recall it at will. It was the best I rever saw Rainbow and all other Rainbow gigs have paled in comparison.
I’ve seen Iron Maiden live thrice, twice with Di’Anno and once with Dickinson on the reunion tour with him. I appreciate that IM are a people’s band, but similar to a Motörhead, Ramones or AC/DC concert I have real issues telling their songs apart! 🤪 Their music sounds to me a lot less varied than Judas Priest‘s and has hardly developed over the decades. Iron Maiden are fossilized in amber. But I recognize that none of their fans want them any different.
As the NME once scoffed in a review of some popular late 80s album of Iron Maiden: “No doubt one of the more interesting albums of the year 1972.” 😆
December 7th, 2025 at 01:30Uwe, to save Tillythemax from having to put things straight here on his birthday I have to say that Iron Maiden songs – especially of late – differ a lot. From songs that could make it on the charts to 10 min mini operas… there is some ground covered. The galloping of Hard Lovin’ Man remains a factor throughout their carreer I have to give you that.
December 7th, 2025 at 18:58And please note I am no fan of the band at all. But they’re no one trick pony, especially Dickinson tried travelling different roads.
I don’t know where to turn at the moment, Max on one side loathing progressive rock and now Fla76 driving the stake into Pink Floyd aficionados hearts. What is going on? I need someone to dive in and help, Uwe, no not Uwe, he doesn’t understand prog rock and is not a Floyd follower. Someone else out there perhaps, who has the gift of the gab for all these down trodden rock artists that are being dragged over the scorching embers. Cheers
December 7th, 2025 at 21:30@ 42 – it was a joke Uwe, lighten up ole son. A opportunity to put a nail in perhaps, he he he. I have always noted your Ozzy comments and have also agreed with you many times. I was warning you to be careful lest you incur the wrath of the O$Bourne clan. The comparison between Ozzy and Dave Walker isn’t what I was alluding to at all. Many of the greatest songs are very simplistic, that is always a grand thing in this life. And I have often commented on the ‘as long as the postman can whistle it’ comment that Pete Townshend allegedly told Ritchie way back in the late 1960’s in regard to songwriting. It’s all good. I like Roger Waters’ bass playing, he has a certain way and it works. I was watching a few old Floyd clips last night, as I occasionally do at times. Cheers
December 7th, 2025 at 21:50Pink Floyd‘s music is not even really PROG. It is ambient music, closer to say Tangerine Dream or even Radiohead than Jethro Tull or YES. There is also little that is difficult to play in Floyd‘s music and no one in the band is a virtuoso, not even David Gilmour who is on guitar an auteur/stylist like, say, Mark Knopfler.
None of this is putting Pink Floyd down as musicians, they excelled at creating aural landscapes and moods – and that is sometimes the hardest thing.
December 8th, 2025 at 03:17But Mr. MacGregor… I was just trying to spice things up a bit. Those acts have their merrits of course. It’s just more brain, less body… more funeral than funk…more symphonic less Rock’n’Roll. It takes every kind of people. I guess I am more your meat and potatoe guy. But it has to be good meat.
December 8th, 2025 at 06:42@44 MacGregor, this is true. Waters’ input was broader, as he was instrumentalist and I think also Pink Floyd musical output is broader than the Sabs. This does not change the fact that he had minimal musical talent to begin with. Uwe says he is not easily emulated, and Uwe being a bass player himself has a word there. Nonetheless, I have seen Waters live three times and many of the bass parts were played by other players (because e.g. Waters would carry a gun for ‘In the Flesh?’) and I do not think I personally noticed the difference. While in guitar or keyboards, no matter if the musicians were of course excellent, I would think “ah, but the Gilmour vibrato here” etc.
Also, while Waters had been the main creative force of Pink Floyd after Barret’s short era, I think he was greatly aided by the others. Especially Wright that I consider as one of the most underestimated musicians in rock history. I have listened to all of Roger’s albums after Floyd, they are OK, but nothing really spectacular. On the other hand, Ozzy’s 2 albums with Rhandy make me say “ah, if only heavy metal was generally like this…”
This said, all the times I saw Roger Waters the perfomance, sound quality and also visual production have been GREAT at all aspects. Ozzy I have seen once with Black Sabbath in 2005. He did quite good for most of the show, but last song was this (listen at your responsibility):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gJbo4X7ZUc
It felt like they put him out of some freezer to make it through the show and then he should be quickly back, because he was melting. Love him though…
December 8th, 2025 at 06:53@ 51 – no worries Max, just jesting and everyone has their niche that they enjoy. Progressive music is more along the lines of orchestral in many aspects with a touch of folk, jazz etc etc and I was hearing a lot of classical music as a youngster from my father’s record collection. A good lead in there for me later on when I finally came across those bands. I really enjoy that crossover and the arrangements. As we know Jon Lord was into that a little and Ritchie a touch here and there. Yes you are correct in that it ain’t traditional rock ‘n roll per se. Cheers
December 8th, 2025 at 08:26Waters plays bass like a bricklayer, i.e. not musicianly or gracefully at all, but his primal, untutored approach has something authoritative to it. Other musicians in his bands might play bass better, but when he does, man, he drives the bus.
I agree with Manic, Waters is a good performer. Pink Floyd without him might be more nuanced, embellished and grander, but his gigs feel more substantial.
As for the link to Ozzy with Sabbath: No one can sing bum notes and/or out of key with greater accuracy and conviction than Ozzy. It‘s part of his charm, he is to singing what Keith Moon is to drums. Hitting notes is not a standard you should hold him to. Ozzy’s trademark voice on albums is a studio creation and always took hard work and patience.
December 8th, 2025 at 08:29@ 52 – Manic, I am a pro Gilmour, Wright and Mason Pink Floyd follower. I went to a 1988 concert and loved it. Superb sound, songs and everything else that goes with that. I didn’t go to a Roger Waters concert when he was only a one hour drive up to Brisbane city. He annoys me too much, has done since the early 80’s. At least the post Waters Floyd wasn’t about war, doom and gloom and all that downer material that Waters became obsessed with in the later Floyd he was involved in. Regarding the bass playing in Floyd, Gilmour played bass guitar occasionally, double tracking on One Of These Days from Meddle. Side two of Animals and Sheep, Gilmour plays the bass there and wonderfully too. I think he may play a little on The Wall too, but I would have to re check on that one. Maybe that fretless bass on Hey You on side three, possibly. Gilmour had a penchant for fretless bass guitar. I remember reading a rock music journalist take on the Gilmour and Waters conundrum regarding the Pink Floyd songs, sound etc.. He aptly put it as, ‘Gilmour makes you listen, Waters makes you think”. One way to look at it. I agree regarding Richard Wright. The earlier Floyd was heavily influence by Rick and without him and Gilmour, well we would be reading Waters lyrics as poems or something wouldn’t we. They were all critical to the classic Pink Floyd. When a successful band loses a critical influential member, we know what can happen after that. It doesn’t necessarily mean poorer music and songs, just different in certain ways. Recognisable still, but lacking a certain nuance. That has happened to a few of our favourite rock bands over time. Regarding that Ozzy performance with Sabbath, well auto tune and pitch correction must not have been a part of that gig, ha ha ha. That is terrible that vocal from Ozzy. There was a moment of that in 2013 when I went to a gig, the beginning of Electric Funeral. Ozzy commenced singing and man, was he out and Iommi spun around and looked at him and then smiled when Ozzy sort of came back in line with the correct (original) vocal pitch. Did Ozzy use auto tune or pitch correction in his later years of performing? Interesting. Maybe on that night it was on the blink for a few moments and then they got it working again, he he he.. He sounded all right for the rest of the gig though. Cheers..
December 8th, 2025 at 09:03I think we’d all be shattered here if it was disclosed to us how many classic rockers use pitch correction devices live by now. You can get that stuff these days for little money even on a semi-pro level and if you set it tastefully hardly anyone will notice. We opened for a a New Country band once and the female singer/main songwriter was really good, but she had a stomp box at her feet that triggered lavish country vocal harmonies to every song they played. And she didn’t even make a secret of it, but explained to the audience what she was doing and why she was “tap dancing at the beginning of every song”, setting the key to every new song. And that was something like 15 years ago or so.
I fear with Ozzy performances the effect had to be more than just “tastefully” set though! But then the man already toured in the late 80s with an unseen “emergency singer” behind the curtain who aped his voice if need be. He threw the buckets of water himself though. 😎 I’m sure he used pitch correction the last time I saw him on Sabbath’s 13 tour in 2013 and, frankly, with Ozzy that was maybe a good idea too as many a Black Sabbath or Ozzy bootleg will attest to. 🤗
December 8th, 2025 at 16:03“He threw the buckets of water himself though”. ha ha ha, indeed, although Ozzy appeared to be struggling on his feet when I went to that concert in 2013. I also noticed he wouldn’t leave the mic stand, every time he went to (old habits die hard) he quickly stopped and returned to hold onto the mic. I remember thinking then, has he got a health issue there. I noticed the same on other live concert footage online. The beginning of his battle with Parkinson’s perhaps. Cheers.
December 8th, 2025 at 20:46Ozzy has always been rough live, there is a reason why Sabbath released their first live album with him relatively late in their career and in a very low-key fashion. But I’m not knocking him for that, people didn’t attend his gigs to hear his fog horn voice nailing notes.
December 9th, 2025 at 00:14Ozzy never moved like a “normal” person, even as a young man. He always seemed motorically challenged (I should know, I’m to this day awful at catching or throwing things and admire people who are naturally nimble) and he likely was. His gestures, his slurred speech, his dyslexia, his inability to learn an instrument (though not by nature unmusical as his vocal melodies showed), his gait … it all seemed to be part of one big package captioned CONDITION. But without all that he wouldn’t have been Ozzy and contributed to the Sabbath sound like he did. His weaknesses/deviations from “normal” made him who he was. And I sometimes wonder if someone with similar conditions would today still have a chance at becoming a rock star or rather be medicated and therapized beyond recognition of his original self already at an early age.
Parkinson’s disease crouches up on you – in hindsight you can see it slovly impeding Glenn Tipton in his stage moves and guitar playing capabilites with Judas Priest over the decades too. A very cruel disease.
December 9th, 2025 at 02:26@ 56 -you are no doubt correct Uwe, as to some of our favourite ageing rock vocalists needing a little help from technology these days, even if only a little at times. It isn’t something I dwell on, at least I try not to, but sometimes it re-enters my mind, not to worry. At least I know I will NEVER say, ‘these guys still sound just like they did in the 1970’s’. No one does, it is a natural thing the aging process. Cheers.
December 9th, 2025 at 05:27I will simply stick my neck out here and say it is my personal belief that objectively speaking, Purpendicular is the best studio record DP has ever made in their entire career – the only thing that surpasses it in the DP catalogue, imo, is Made In Japan.
IMO, it surpasses even In Rock and Machine Head for several reasons. While it is just as creative for its time as In Rock and Machine head were for theirs, and has a similar fiery energy, hunger and the drive from the band, Purpendicular has two things the classic albums lack which puts it at #1 for me: superior sound (which of course is a given, given that it’s released over 25 years after those albums and the technology had advanced) and most importantly, a relaxed, cohesive atmosphere brought on by Steve joining the band and turning DP in a functional, happy family rather than the dysfunctional one they were with Ritchie at any point with him in the picture. Steve was an excellent team player, and the two Mk 7 records show that and it comes through in the music. This, more than anything else, made the difference and it showed in the music Mk 7 created together, whether in studio or on stage.
Because of the dysfunction and chaos Ritchie’s abrasive personality brought to the band, none of the Mk 2 albums are able to offer the cohesion in Purple’s catalog that Purpendicular does, and imo, it’s the stability that Steve brought to the band that allowed them to make their best record overall in terms of creativity, writing, playing, sound and overall cohesive vision.
MIJ is only slightly higher on my list for a similar reason – the Chaos that Ritchie created on stage drove the whole band to create something so spectacular and united in its frenzy and chaos, that they created something that could not be equaled in terms of live performance.
If Steve is cohesion through stability as a studio and live band, Ritchie was cohesion through chaos, and of course, it came with its risks, which is why Mk 7 were ultimately more stable and happier with Steve as the axeman. My two cents.
December 9th, 2025 at 07:06@53 I can really enjoy some classical music, especially baroque tunes, Telemann, the Backh sons, Buxtehude and I do listen to Jazz music the more the oolder I get. Jon Lord’s work is highly enjoyable, Sarabande being an all time fave here. It is that stubborn seriousness and in your face meaningfulness of some of the so called prog rock artists that I find hard to swallow. And the absence of swing. I mean Teleman and Mozart do have swing and most Jazz artists anyway – but some proggies swing like a sack of lead. And they look as if they provided the eleventh commandment doing so. Just joking. I never hated Pink Floyd – as I said I bought some of their albums – but I could to a certain degree understand Johnny Rotten with that famous “I hate Pink Floyd” t-shirt. Though I do not by any means do like the Sex Pistols or Punk in general – but that is a whole different story … 🙂
December 9th, 2025 at 09:36Of course some people use pitch correction but I would claim there are many less than you seem to think, at least in the classic rock genre.
December 9th, 2025 at 14:15@61 That is an interesting point of view, Mike. And I see what you mean, I think you have a point or two here! Of course I would not agree. While all you say is true there is one point IMHO you forget: Not one of the songs on Purpendicular has the impact some of the songs from In Rock, MH, Burn, PS etc had. They are nicely written but there is no anthem among them, no all time classic. It is a very good album on the whole and very creativ indeed.
December 9th, 2025 at 15:04Re Purpendicular and Machine Head: The greatest differentiating factor is that none of us listened to Purpendicular as young and as impressionable as we did to Machine Head. And in a similar vein: MH was recorded by young men in their mid to latish twenties, Purpendicular by middle-aged men. You cannot recapture the vigor you had in your 20s. Even in 1984, Purple could and did not sound like 1971/72 anymore, all of them. You gain other things as you mature as a musician, but some things like the intensity and determination of young men are irrevocably lost.
December 9th, 2025 at 19:40Svante, if only … I fear you are severely underestimating the prevalence of pitch correction and auto-tune these days even with the most respected legacy artists …
https://youtu.be/JOggThOrauk
https://youtu.be/NS0DSYTfvVE
https://youtu.be/4ylGnLWLT2I
I’m not saying that Manilow or Walsh instruct their producers to “pitch-correct my voice to A 440”, they are likely not even aware of the treatment their vocal tracks undergo in the studio and don’t notice it when hearing the finished product either, but voice manipulation has become an industry standard just like totally CGI-free movies are a thing of the past.
Put on your glasses, Svante, IT’S AROUND US !!!
https://youtu.be/txNoDZ1IFPI
December 9th, 2025 at 20:16Regarding Ozzy in today’s ‘new star’ bullshit musical world, no way would the powers that be have someone like him and others from that era on camera. It’s all false ‘stardom’ these days, the cliched choreographed moves and stances that they are taught in all those ‘talent’ shows and pretentious music shows on the telly, whatever they are called. Ozzy and many others are the exact opposite of all that rubbish. Another reason why we all are very lucky to have been around during the good old days. That is much more genuine and real. I cannot imagine todays ‘star’s swinging a microphone around on stage like Roger Daltrey, can you imagine that! Cheers.
December 9th, 2025 at 20:22In regard to Steve Morse joining Deep Purple, he was fortunate to do that at a time when things had mellowed somewhat. Imagine if it was ten years earlier or more to the point, when he was a younger guitar slinger in the mid 70’s, replacing Blackmore back in those times. They would have to have had Gillan and Glover rejoin back then though. I am not talking about ole Cove’s or Hughes still being in that hypothetical line up. The mid 90’s and DP had a much more clearer vision of sorts, not as unpredictable and that is not a slant at Ritchie at all. Ian Gillan had wound down or was beginning to wind down somewhat. Ian Paice had been with a few different artists in the early 80’s and he was over all the rock ‘n roll scene by the mid 90’s too. They all were, many musicians from that era. Steve got lucky in that sense, he himself was looking for a different avenue too. It was the way it was and the album has and always will be the most cohesive from that lineup and even after Jon Lord retired from the rock ‘n roll circus life. My take on it anyway. Cheers.
December 9th, 2025 at 20:36#56 Uwe:
I think you’ve confused the autotune with the one the country singer used, which was actually probably a midi harmonizer, a multi-effect that almost no one uses anymore, which is used to create mainly choruses a third, a fifth, an octave above (but not only that, depending on the quality of the outboard and the user’s ability, you can also get sevenths, for example), but the harmonizer for the choruses has nothing to do with the 3 cascaded autotunes that the Red Hot singer used on the Californication tour!! (I saw them with my own eyes because I was backing liner for the audio service in Milan that day)
#59 Uwe:
Interesting discussion, it’s also true that in the music field – at least in Italy – people who have some sort of problem and are tone-deaf musical ignoramuses almost seem to have an advantage over “normal” people who are perhaps even musically cultured, but because with all the talent out there, only appearances count…
but I think that paradoxically Ozzy would have been successful even today.
#61 Mike:
Mike, everyone’s taste is theirs, but In Rock, Machine Head, Made in Japan, Burn, and Perfect Strangers made rock history…Purplendicular didn’t.
Purplendicular is a splendid rebirth album, a splendid hard rock/fusion album, but the songs aren’t set in stone, the riffs aren’t comparable to Ritchie’s, the solos, while beautiful, aren’t comparable to the unforgettable ones from previous years, Purple’s performances aren’t comparable to those of their 20s and 30s, and in general there isn’t the creative explosiveness of previous years, but there is a band with a new sound, a more relaxed pace, less dangerous, less electrifying, but certainly more mature and varied.
Great Purplendicular rebirth album then, but to judge it better than the masterpieces made with The Man in Black seems almost like a blasphemy from a “geeky guitarist”
December 9th, 2025 at 22:42(Obviously I’m provoking you to stimulate conversation)
@64
Anthems and classic songs, in my opinion, are not needed to make your best work, nor is generational impact. They are at best, nice to haves – a musician does not get to decide what the anthems are, the audience does, and it’s the cherry on top, not the base of the cake, so to speak. To me, it is the cohesion and the band working towards a unified goal that makes a great and best record what it is.
This is simply a difference in musical values, and I do see where you are coming from.
I must vehemently disagree with you when you say there are no all time classics or anthems on Purpendicular: Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming is the anthem of Purpendicular, and is beloved by fans – if that and Ted the Mechanic and Cascades aren’t Purple classics by this point, I don’t know what is – hell with it, even Simon references the guitar/organ duel in Cascades on Equals One – it’s such a classic that even Purple themselves refer back to it musically in the their latest work!
December 10th, 2025 at 02:34@65 It isn’t much of Manlow’s looks that are real either…
December 10th, 2025 at 12:21@ 70 Oh Mike, those songs are Pruple classics by now, no doubt. And they’re great. But they are not anthem that went down in the Rock’n’Roll history books.
December 10th, 2025 at 14:15Fla76, yes, it was some sort of a harmonizer (something Ozzy used live as well) and still very much in its infancy, but the first time I saw it/heard it used on an amateur level. It’s not pitch correction or Auto-Tune but just like it it builds artificial voices from an original signal.
*****************************
Svante, yes, it’s terrible what Manilow let them do to his face, but at least they preserved his nicely Jewish nose, I always liked his prominent profile with it (and I have a soft spot for his schmaltz, I really do).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S359ujv5DVM
BTW, for the record, he doesn’t use pitch correction or Auto-Tune live,
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YPys95Yv2OQ
but sings with a gracefully aged voice, which makes the decision to drench his officially last single in pitch-correction so much more puzzling.
December 10th, 2025 at 15:26Fla76
I think you’re wrong on all of this, and you are welcome to your opinion, but I simply must disagree. Steve Morse’s solos are every bit as good as Blackmore’s, his playing every bit as passionate. So are his riffs – they’re just a completely different style. The riffs for Ted, Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming, Loosen My Strings, Cascades etc I have stuck in my head more often than not, just as much as the classic riffs.
I firmly disagree that DP lost the energy of their youth by the time they did Purpendicular – Machine Head sounds absolutely boring as hell to me compared to the creativity and unabashed fire that’s on Purpendicular – I listen to MH once every 5 years or so. I would say In Rock comes very close for me to Purpendicular in terms of freshness and creativity, but not quite.
And yes, I am being totally blasphemous, I love being a blasphemer, and I will continue to be an utter heretic by saying this:
Mk 7 was pretty much the best line up of Deep Purple there ever was, hands down, bar none.
I think the majority of the fan base is dead wrong about Mk 2 being the best – I may be the only DP fan who thinks this, and, I don’t give a toss that everyone disagrees with me: I stand by my opinion, and think M2 pales in comparison to the heights reached by Mk 7, both live and in the studio.
Mk 7 was creative, it was energetic, and it was cohesive and unified, both as a studio and live band. Mk 2, with all of Ritchie’s unprofessional antics on and off stage, could never compare to what DP achieved with Steve Morse in Mk 7 – Mk 2 and the Mk2b and c reunions were very hit or miss, both live and in the studio. Steve Morse will always be the best guitarist Purple ever had, and the best band mate they could have asked for. IMO he out classes Ritchie in terms of creativity, passion, technicality and his qualities as a bandmate and how he behaved within the band.
Look, maybe it’s ’cause I’m of a younger generation, maybe it’s because the DP I saw as a teenager was Mk 8 with Steve, but I honestly prefer Morse Era Purple to the classic stuff.
The stuff from the 70s is great to listen to upon occasion, but for me it gets boring very quickly, and I only listen to it upon occasion. By comparison, I listen to Mk 7 and Mk 8 Purple almost every day, and I prefer it to Mk 2, just like I prefer Steve over Ritchie. To me it is proggy, fresh sounding and endlessly creative and keeps me on my toes musically. As a musician, I appreciate it more musically than I do the Mk 2 era. Here’s a shocker for you all: the 70s Purple album I listen to the most is Stormbringer – if I had to choose my most listened to classic DP 70s album, that’s the one I keep going back to. I know, I’m weird as hell. Deal with it!
So, there! I’ve outed myself as a proud, blasphemous heretic who thinks the majority of the fanbase is off their rockers when it comes to Mk 2 being the best, and who thinks no lineup of the band will ever achieve the heights Mk 7 did, and I don’t give a damn!
The great thing about having a fanbase is we can disagree and debate freely, and I’m just as much entitled to my fringe, minority opinion on Steve and Mk 7 as the rest of the fanbase is to their majority opinion on Mk 2. We can at least agree that we all think each other wrong, and at least we are in agreement over that!
December 11th, 2025 at 10:47@74
December 11th, 2025 at 13:05You are not alone with your opinion, Mike!
But Stormbringer is the one I listen to most for me too, Mike. So I ain’t even shocked.
December 11th, 2025 at 14:25It isn’t about who is ‘best’, it is simply who is a favourite. Many people growing up as teenagers heard MK I and II and III. It has an effect on you, a lot of music did and other things in life too. Some things that we like more than others, depending on the mood at the time. We use to hang out as youngsters playing each others favourite music, then debating or arguing who is better. Then we all realised it wasn’t about that at all, it was what rocks our boat, so to speak. And then we all realised it doesn’t matter what other people enjoy or not, as long as we enjoy it. Cheers.
December 11th, 2025 at 20:32@74 – Mike, interesting opinion!
Having seen Purple on their 1984 reunion tour, then not again until they toured “Purpendicular”, would say that comparing those two lineups is like comparing apples and oranges.
In 1985, Ritchie jumped around like a madman, the other members all put on a show as well, and their efforts drove the audience wild with excitement. It was about the energy as much as the music. Though the “Perfect Strangers” record had been a little tepid, the band still played with a lot of intensity live.
In 1996, it felt like the bulk of the former group with a celeb hotshot sitting in. With his heavy distortion, Steve sounded rather odd playing the oldies. (Though it was nice to see the group change up their setlist, adding several tunes they hadn’t done with Blackmore.)
The rest of the band had their eyes on him most of the night – were they looking for him for leadership? Were they not sure what he would do next? His playing was undoubtedly more accurate and musical than Blackmore’s, which was surely a plus for those who prioritise such things. The big difference was that neither he nor the rest of the band jumped around nor seemed even slightly concerned with how they looked on stage. A different lineup, delivering a different experience. Much more of a concert than a show.
Both lineups were good for what they were.
Since we can all agree to disagree, would say that record-wise, I’d still take any and all of their 1968-75 albums over anything they’ve done from 1984 onwards!
@77 – well said MacGregor.
December 12th, 2025 at 00:54Now, I of course knew that I was likely not alone in my opinion – as Fla76 was trying to provoke a response out of me, I was also being deliberately provocative and hyperbolic in my response.
Beate, I figured you might share my opinion – glad to see I am not alone!
Max, I am surprised that Stormbringer is someone else’s go to 70s DP album – glad to see I am not alone in this!
MacGregor – I agree that it really is about who is your personal favourite *and* just like favourite is subjective, so is best! I simply say that MK 7 is my personal favourite DP favourite line up and I think, the overall best one both in terms of in the studio and live.
I will admit, however, that as a live band *only* (not counting the studio records), MK 2 at their best when Ritchie was having a good night was probably the best live version of the band, and even beats Mk 7 for me – I will concede that.
The problem, for me, is that because of Ritchie’s antics, MK 2 could be very hit or miss, and so that lack of consistency is what has them slightly below MK 7 overall – I just find MK 7 to be a more consistent live band in terms of being “on”, and I prefer them because of that.
December 12th, 2025 at 08:09#74 Mike:
but of course everyone has their own tastes, and if you love progressive it’s also logical that you prefer the records that Purple made with Morse.
I also listen to Morse’s records more than the others, but maybe that’s because I’ve listened to the others thousands of times since I was a teenager.
That said, the MKII and MKIII albums made rock history and sold millions of copies, the albums with Morse including Purplendicular absolutely not.
In general, in Purple’s discography, I don’t have a better or worse album, I don’t bother looking for them.
I would take In Rock, Perfect Strangers & Abandon to the desert island.
Steve is definitely a more technical guitarist than Ritchie, but Steve hasn’t written any major riffs, it’s not his style to write big riffs, his entire discography from Purplendicular onwards proves it, and we all know his style after all.
certainly the freshness and new territories that he brought to the band in Purplendicular were healthy and allowed Purple to have been up to today.
his contribution was enormous, then unfortunately as the albums went by the hard rock component diminished more and more, and everyone talked about this in the promotional interviews of =1
December 12th, 2025 at 10:15@ 79- Mike, a chap by the name of Gregster, who commented here for a while and I eventually got to know a little, he is a Morse era DP aficionado too. There are other Deep Purple followers out there that prefer it too, if one reads comments at DP YouTube clips and in certain forums. It is just that they are not commenting here at all or hardly ever it seems. Another interesting fact is that in sixteen years with DP, Ritchie was involved in eleven studio albums. In twenty eight years with DP Steve Morse was involved in seven. I haven’t included the Concerto or Turning to Crime as they are sort of different albums. A lot more ‘creative’ in that sense with Blackmore. I know it was different times and circumstances and chemistry etc. Just another ‘comparison’ as such. Not that that means anything else though. Cheers.
December 12th, 2025 at 22:23Mike, liking Stormbringer shows one thing only: the taste of a grownup. It’s a versatile, well-crafted album. Kids like In Rock, Machine Head and Burn, men like Stormbringer.
Re line-up preferences: You can’t fully judge 70s Mk II if you take them out of context. The period from 1969 Concerto to 1973 WDWTWA was the only one where Purple were interwoven with the Zeitgeist and a cultural driving force. Mk I had been a quaint outfit already in 1968 and Mk III-IV were professional crowd pleasers filling US arenas and stadiums, but by then culturally irrelevant. From 1984 onwards, all line ups have been in the classic rock bracket and banked heavily on nostalgia and what was created in the early 70s.
That doesn’t mean that the music of DP from 1984 onwards has been without merit – it just means that they were predominantly received from then on as a band from the 70s banking on their then fame and still bringing out new music and touring vivaciously. But you could retell the musical history of the 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s & 20s without needing to mention DP once. You will need to mention Boy George, U2, Metallica, GnR, Nirvana, RHCP and, yes, Taylor Swift, but you won’t have to go into DP once. Cultural relevance isn’t forever.
I’m with you as regards Steve’s lasting contribution to DP. He made the band experience that you can be its lead guitarist and musical director without having to resort to being a prick and/or a diva sometimes. And he likely has a deeper love to music than Ritchie who could be fickle in his appreciation of even himself and DP’s music which he largely shaped. There is also no denying that Steve brought a musical sophistication to Purple that Ritchie could not muster – Ritchie had attitude and a hand for accessible hard rock anthems plus a penchant for more outlandish Eastern scales, but hardly the depth and variety of Steve’s musical data bank. I don’t even agree that Steve didn’t write memorable riffs, he just didn’t write riffs in a 70s vein like Ritchie. He was from a different generation and music-schooled in America. What’s not memorable about this here? Ritchie couldn’t have even played it, much less come up with it:
https://youtu.be/rCksar3pglM
December 13th, 2025 at 02:23#80
Well, if someone has to carry the vanguard and hoist the flag for Morse Era Purple around here, might as well be me! Glad to know I am not alone.
You are spot on that I am a prog rock enthusiast, and so it makes complete sense I prefer Steve’s Era – my first band I ever got into was Pink Floyd, then Purple, then ELP, then King Crimson, then Yes, then Dream Theater… you can see where I’m going with this.
I take a bit of a different view on Steve and big riffs – I think he can write them just fine. I think the problem in Purple, and Steve has admitted this in the interview we are all commenting on, was that the band rejected 95% of his ideas, as he said, and that the rest of the members, minus Jon, were a bit too conservative and didn’t allow him to fully express himself within the band.
Had they allowed him to do just that and had been a bit more open minded as to what a newly reinvigorated DP could sound like, we could have gotten riffs that were just as big as they were proggy. The riffs on Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming, Castle Full of Rascals, Somebody Stole My Guitar, Seventh Heaven, Watching The Sky, all sound absolutely huge to me.
If the rest of Purple had been a bit more open minded and let Steve Morse be Steve Morse and found a way to adapt to his sound – and it begs the question that if they knew what they were getting, why didn’t they let Steve be Steve? It seems contradictory and strange to me – we could have had Proggy Purple with Massive Sounding Riffs, which would have been awesome. I think too, if Steve had also found a way to meet the band half way… perhaps we could have got something like =1 with Mk 7 and 8.
I said in my review of =1 last year that it is the perfect middle ground between Classic DP and Proggy Morse Era DP. I stand by that statement – Simon is a great fit for the band and has I think brought more balance to the band’s sound – I only wish he’d improvise more live instead of playing his solos note for note almost every night.
Considering Don’s enormous influence in Mk 8 and that alot of the proggier ideas seem to be his based on the proggy elements still existing in Mk 9, I’d wager that the band shifting away from hard rock had less to do with Steve and more to do with Don’s influence – Steve knows how to rock out with big riffs, he just needs some encouraging every now and then to do it, as you’re right, it’s not his go to thing, and he can do it *very well* when he wants or needs to. Consider that Purpendicular and Abandon both sound like heavy, hard prog rock and are great records. What changed was of course Jon left and Don Airey entered – I chiefly lay the much more proggy sound of Mk 8 at Don’s feet than Steve’s, as having Don come in was a huge change – Don did not encourage Steve’s ideas and find a way to make them fit within Purple’s sound like Jon did, and that’s a big difference.
But hey, slagging on Steve seems to be the new trend now within the band, so what the hell do I know?
December 13th, 2025 at 09:29@83
December 13th, 2025 at 11:27Why so pessimistic with your last sentence, Mike? Shouldn‘t we all be happy that DP and Steve found their own separate ways to make us fans happy with their music?
It is all about chemistry, how it gels or not. Steve and Don were always outsiders, think about it. The same scenario more than likely would have occurred with Satriani if he joined the band, Joe ain’t silly. Just because Steve is a guitarist, doesn’t mean he fits the bill in the songwriting department working with other people who have their certain way. Same situation with Simon McBride. It is only natural that this happens. The DP b(r)and is the three remaining members plus additional helpers and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way at all. Bob Ezrin comes along and all of sudden poor ole Steve seems even more left out, perhaps. It is what it is. We see a similar situation with other acts and core members from the glory days maintaining a certain decorum to keep things in a niche, so to speak. None of us are there in the band, so we are speculating and guessing, but you can sort of see certain things that unfold over time. It doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Life eh? Cheers.
December 13th, 2025 at 14:03I think the Steve quote of 95% of his ideas being turned down is a nice quip – he is prolific after all – but far from the truth. If you hear Dixie Dregs, SMB and Morse era DP albums side by side, it takes about 10 seconds to realize that there is one and the same guitarist playing: Steve’s fingerprints were all over DP’s studio output, I think he had as much freedom as Tommy Bolin had on CTTB which was a lot. DP hve always made room for their lead guitarists to spread their wings. Steve is on record for saying that he never improvised live as much as he did with DP and that he found that initially demanding because he wasn’t used to it. Let’s not forget that.
And I don’t see Steve slagged off by Purple in any way, no one except the most hardened Blackmoristas is denying his lasting legacy with the band. Criticizing Steve as a person is in any case like saying Linda McCartney had a bad character – a preposterous statement.
The issue that Steve wanted to step back from touring and the others want to die with their boots on became a huge one for a touring machine like Purple – a split was inevitable. Just because Steve’s tenure with DP can be proudly looked upon, it didn’t mean that it had to last forever. Nothing in life ever does.
December 13th, 2025 at 15:28#83 Mike:
The only thing Purple said was that with the last albums with Steve they had lost the immediacy of rock and that the songs lacked melody which returned with =1.
and I totally agree with what they said, but they never criticized Steve as a musician, because he’s just an incredible musician.
certainly the compositional responsibility for what Purple did with Morse is a responsibility divided by 5, for better or for worse.
In my opinion, however, Steve did not write any memorable hard rock riffs with Deep Purple. Ted the Mechanic’s riff, although it is a nice riff that still sounds modern, cannot compete with the riffs that Blackmore wrote and that everyone knows.
anyway after Abandon Steve’s few riffs practically disappeared, and Purple became a band without riffs, I’m sorry to say, but that’s how it is, with some great songs here and there, but basically without riffs.
the riff of Rapture of the deep is perhaps the last one worth mentioning, but I think there is Don’s contribution in that writing
December 13th, 2025 at 23:19So, I am happy that Steve and DP are in better places and that things worked out for both of them.
That said, I really feel the band has not been fair to Steve and that they have been slagging on him – saying that the immediacy and melody has returned to the band implies that it was Steve’s fault that they weren’t there, because the change in guitarists is the only change in the line up. Same with Gillan in a separate interview saying the body rhythms have returned to the music and that Steve was a bit too cerebral.
It’s very subtle, and it’s clear to me that the band is putting the blame on Steve without also looking inward at themselves and realizing it was everybody together that were creating the issues – that’s why I’m a bit miffed with the band and them very subtly putting the blame on Steve, as I don’t think that’s fair to him.
If a band rejected most of your ideas and remained conservative towards what the band should sound like, would you feel inspired to write some kick ass riffs? I wouldn’t. Consider the kind of working environment that kind of conservative attitude creates for a more progressively minded person like Steve, and where he was coming from, how the band’s rejection would make him feel, and how that would impact his creativity, especially after losing the one person who believed in and encouraged his ideas in Jon.
Ask yourselves: When the new keyboard player doesn’t encourage you in the same way, and the rest of the band is still rejecting most of your ideas, and Bob Ezrin starts not liking what you’re playing in the studio, is it any surprise you can’t come up with some quality stuff?
Granted, Steve wanting to end the band was a huge mistake on his part, and I agree that a split was inevitable.
And it’s not all on Steve – the rest of the band and Bob are just as responsible for not creating a healthy and encouraging work environment, which in turn likely killed any creativity on Steve’s part. Everybody else is just as responsible for why the riffs came up short, and to imply it was all because of Steve is both unfair and untrue.
That’s why I’m mad at the band – they have been treating their longest serving guitarist very unfairly in the press, instead of looking in the mirror and realizing they are just as much responsible for why the music diminished in quality – and as a Morse Era fan, I would agree everything after Now What went downhill.
It’s not just Steve, everyone involved had a part to play in this. If there’s one thing that irritates me, it’s hypocrisy combined with a lack of honesty, and I honestly feel so angry and disappointed with the band because that’s exactly what I’m seeing right now from the rest of them.
Steve goes from absolutely the right guitarist for the band in the 90s to somehow being the source of the band’s musical problems when it’s 5 guys making the music together (6 if you count Bob and his input) ?
I’m sorry, but that’s complete horseshit, and I’m not having it.
I stand by what I said. I will forgive the band, and they are continuing to make that difficult for me with continuous subtle digs at Steve in the press, and boy do I wish they’d look in the mirror sometimes and gain some insight. It might do them some good.
December 14th, 2025 at 03:39I don’t find Steve Morse’s work with DP lacking melody at all. You can say that sometimes a little grit was missing due to Steve’s ultra-processed guitar sound, but lack of melody? Steve is always tuneful, his sense of melody is just completely different to Ritchie’s “Hammer Horror Film Soundtrack”-approach..
Same goes for riffs, Steve wrote plenty, but they were 80s and later US-American style riffs, again not Ritchie’s 70s style pentatonic riffs which all sounded like they came from one furnace. Ritchie’s riffs were often clever and effective; especially complicated or hard to play they were not: their simplicity and minimalism was often the charm. Lazy is perhaps the most complicated guitar riff Ritchie has written and which requires the most advanced skills to play. Interestingly, he was inspired by Eric Clapton writing it. Roger Glover has said that the ability to play Lazy is for him the litmus test whether a guitarist has sufficient chops for Purple.
Steve’s riffing is more elaborate, less straightforward and has all the playing technique embellishments that became popular with guitarists in the wake of the 80s (and later decades) developing amp and pick-up technology which greatly influenced playing styles along the way.
Mike, I understand that you regret that the closing scene of “Five Friends Forever – featuring DP” did not show cowboy Steve ride into the sunset waving his stetson one more time at the four eternally thankful Brits whose wagon trail he had rescued, but your hurt minimizes the qualities of a 28-year-long marriage on the basis of a few grumbles at the end along the lines “she didn’t cook so great” or “he always fell asleep after sex” – that is stuff which doesn’t diminish what was good between the spouses before.
So Steve didn’t see all his ideas accepted by DP, I’ve never been in a band where all of mine were accepted either, big effing deal. Saying that there was too little Morse in the DP albums with him is like saying there was too little Hagar in the Van Halen albums after DLR left. STEVE WAS PROMINENTLY ALL OVER THE PLACE WITH DP! Certainly more influential and more putting a stamp on things than in Kansas. At times, the songs from his era sounded like simplified Dixie Dregs/SMB backing tracks with an overly loud Hammond added and Ian Gillan being the guest singer. Dixie Purple or Deep Dreg so to say. That is not a knock – Steve was hugely influential but as another guitarist once wrote: all things mus pass, even a for the longest time fruitful collaborations.
The remaining Purples have touted Simon’s qualities so far only softly, basically saying he brought new life into the band (easy enough to do after a near three decade tenure of your predecessor), is raunchier (Steve is too controlled to ever be raunchy) and plays with a more Brit/Irish spirit. They haven’t said anything preposterous like that Simon is a more fluid player than Steve (he’s not) or that he has a greater palette of skills to choose from (he’s in fact more restricted, but what he does might still fit better with what DO want to be now). All that is perfectly in line with making a new member feel welcomed and presenting him as a new asset to the audience.
Steve has spent an inordinate amount of time with DP, really changed their sound and style, travelled the world with them, made good money (for the first time in his life)) and leaves behind an astounding legacy with them – what’s not to like and be content with?!
And if Purple ever have a gig within driving distance of his hay farm and he has nothing better to do that evening, then I’m sure they will put him on the guest list backstage and he’ll end up jamming with Simon on a song either Ritchie or Joe South wrote! But the latter comes as part of the job description if you are one of the successors to Ritchie in Purple!
Now put away your handkerchief, get a grip and be a man, Mike! 😘
https://media.tenor.com/F29wJWxDSwYAAAAM/john-wayne-guns.gif
December 15th, 2025 at 02:48I see where you’re coming from Uwe, and I think you’ve missed my point about the other band members being just as responsible for creating the working environment that created the split. Implying it’s because of Steve in recent interviews is both to me untrue and unfair, and if you don’t see those implications, then I guess you may not see why I was upset.
That said I see your perspective, and, you’re right, I should be a little more grateful for what we got with Steve and what were getting now with Simon. Perhaps, it’s time for me to accept and move on, forgive, and enjoy Mk9.
As for your final line, I really can’t tell if you’re joking or not, but if you are serious about your ‘be a man’ comment:
Men cry and have emotions – just cause we do doesn’t mean we’re less manly! So, I won’t be having any of that macho attitude, if you’re being serious. And I won’t stop getting emotional about my favorite band – hell, if I didn’t love DP so much, I wouldn’t get so passionate! So, maybe my handkerchief is a good thing in a way – it’s certainly better to me than indifference towards the band, as it means I really care at the end of the day.
If you’re joking, then disregard what I just said, but I honestly can’t tell when comments like yours are made in text, as so much gets lost in translation (voice tone, body language etc).
At any rate, thanks for hitting me with a dose of reality, I needed it, and it’s appreciated.
December 17th, 2025 at 07:27#90 Mike:
December 19th, 2025 at 00:39I think the word “guilt” is totally wrong.
“they kicked Steve out, so for them it was Steve’s fault” doesn’t work like that, the reasoning is wrong and it’s too simplistic like that.
you are anchored to a point of view, you have to move a few degrees to change your angle of vision and have a broader view.
@91
If I may add my opinion:
I loved the way Steve played the guitar! No doubt about that.
But – they made more pop-rock than rock when he was a member of Purple.
Before, with Ritchie, and now with Simon, at least in my inexperienced ears, we’re back at the rock roots 😊
And I’m not neglecting the lovely records Steve was a part of, not at all! But I am much more into pure rock than to pop-rock, no matter how well it’s produced and played.
December 19th, 2025 at 11:02I was of course joking with the “get a grip and be a man”-comment, Mike.
I love Purple too, but I love the holistic principle/concept of it more than individual members. My sympathies for Glenn Hughes are well-known, but I’m not advocating his return to Purple. Mk III + IV were three good years and three good studio albums, but it’s the past.
At the end of the day, Purple is guitar-driven amd -led music, they need a guitarist to come up with first ideas which they then all augment in Purple style. Blackmore, Bolin, Morse and McBride have all left their stamp on Purple. Blackmore was at one point unbearable as a band member, Tommy was not reliable enough and Steve after 28 years just not exciting anymore – that happens in the best of marrages. I believe – forgivably so – the spark had gone out for the others in playing with Steve. That wasn’t his fault and it wasn’t theirs, just like Don could never be a Jon to Steve, Steve couldn’t reinvent himself either and pretend to be someone he isn’t. But that still leaves the integrity of his past body of work with the band intact and to be cherished.
We’ve seen that all the time, people have either tired of DP and left or been nudged out because the other band members felt (often instigated by Ritchie, but not always) they needed new blood for excitement/further development. It’s the way of the world.
But isn’t the way things are now – with DP happy with Simon and Steve happy with rejuvenated trio work – much preferable to Steve still being with DP only for either him or the other members saying in a few years from now: In hindsight, we shouldn’t have done those last few albums after Whoosh!, the spark was gone? At least Mk VIII doesn’t have a stinker of an era-concluding album like TBRO on its collective conscience! Whoosh! was for me a nice, somewhat somber, but fitting swan song for Steve’s time in the band. (TTC was good fun, but a novelty item.) Release with full honors so to say.
Purple is and always has been a band of eras, let’s just savor them all. It’s the journey, not the destination …
December 19th, 2025 at 15:02