Deep Purple were featured in the BBC Radio 2 show The Rock Show with Johnnie Walker that aired on July 19, 2024. Ian Gillan and Roger Glover were guests of the show. You can listen to it on the BBC player, where it will be available for 30 days after the first airing. Gillan’s bit starts at approximately 14 minutes into the show, where he tells the story of him trying to prove to a robot that he is a human. Roger appears at around the 44-minute mark, introducing his pick for the rock god — Gary Moore.

Thanks to Darker Than Blue for the heads-up.

UK newspaper The Independent has a feature on Deep Purple, with a review of =1, and an interview with Ian Gillan.

It’s also, I suggest, a surprisingly lusty record for a band who long since swapped the Jack bottle for the travel kettle. “You mean salacious?” Gillan chuckles. “It’s a bit naughty in places I suppose, but it’s only very mild and at my age [78], really, come on. [But] I’m a night person, I live the nightlife, I’m in rock’n’roll and I mix with exciting people. We don’t live in the conventional world.”

He cites “A Bit on the Side”, the true story of meeting a beautiful young woman in an “adult club” in Germany. “I poured her a glass of champagne and she sat down, we talked. She said her name was Charlene from Berlin, and we had a lot of interesting things [in common] – I had been to some interesting places and so had she. We were winding down and I noticed that she needed a shave. It turned out she wasn’t really Charlene from Berlin. She was Charlie from Belfast.” “I don’t care which way you lean,” Gillan sings, mingling the political with the overtly sexual with a tongue-lapping wail, “I don’t want no left or right/ I want front ’n back/ and a little bit o’ lovin’ on the side.”

Read more in The Independent.

Thanks to BraveWords for the heads-up.

Simon Zyla (Wieliczka, Poland) sends us this review of =1

Steve Morse is on this album

I’ll make no secret of the fact that I’m ‘Steve’s baby’ and a fan – all my Deep Purple listening for over 30 years has been Morse on guitar. So I will always look for his distinctive sound in new recordings. His ‘Music Man’ and his guitar effects and unique techniques.

And I was surprised to find that…. you can hear Steve’s sounds a few times on ‘=1’. There are moments where Simon plays like Steve. Then I’m as happy as a child! Maybe these songs could be played together on stage one day – that’s my dream…. Certainly more realistic than playing Deep Purple with the “man in black”, hehe

By the way, I’ve discovered that listening to ‘=1’ I’m starting to perceive DP’s albums with Morse differently. There was so much talk about Steva always playing the same thing – the same repetitive solos. It’s only now, when I hear a different guitarist on a Deep Purple album, that I appreciate how varied Morse played.

No – I’m not belittling McBride’s abilities! The “plucked man” (that’s his hair, hehe) can also play like Blackmore on this album. Even that RB from Rainbow! Look it up, but it’s easy… He’s great, he’s not a guitar genius (like 3 of his predecessors), but he found his way into this music very well!

Well, and thanks to him, I understand you now! All of you who couldn’t get over the fact that Ritchie wasn’t in Deep Purple (still can’t, hehe). Just like I listen to my band without Morse now. It’s such a salty-bitter listening experience, different in perception…. I have to learn it, I have to accept it.

Jesus Christ Superstar

Do you remember that Gillan recording “My Heart Remains The Same” with that Greek guy (Michael Rakintzis)? There are two ballads on the “=1” album, seemingly cool, but somehow to me they “don’t spark” (and that’s the most important thing in a good ballad). When I listened to them I was immediately reminded of that Rakintzis from 1992. There it was everything Ian Gillan needed to show his vocal genius.

I know he’s not that young anymore, that his voice has already worn out, but he hasn’t always been able to do that so far. I’ve already written about it in the comments IG needs a brilliant guitarist to ‘fire up’ and go into those wonderful areas of his (not necessarily ‘high’, just ‘other’ – the amazing ones) as a result of the friction (as in ‘Strange Kind of Woman’ from Japan).

On ‘=1’ we got the kind of at times heavily rock’n’roll Gillan from the Javelins days. Yes – we were also missing such a dynamic big Ian. But at times it’s sadly weak – these are the moments that we’re being pushed onto records nowadays, which in the past (in the days of vinyl) would have ended up on the B-sides of a single. I really dislike this release policy, because it makes us out of great albums into mediocre ones (=1 also suffers from this). Fortunately we have a way around this – you can make yourself a different playlist in your CD/streaming player. 😉

Well, I thought I wouldn’t find it…. However, there is one moment from IG that sends shivers down my spine. At one point we are taken back in time to 1970. We hear his young voice again! The voice from the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. Wonderful…

Remaster?

This album has a strange sound. It’s been ‘rearranged’, ‘twisted’, or perhaps made too ‘harsh’ or ‘prickly’. It’s completely different from the last albums. Bob’s so-called ‘trilogy’ was structured, sonically balanced, with each of these albums having depth and a certain majesty of its own. Here, unfortunately, I find it difficult to listen to, especially the weaker moments on the album.

Of course, there are exceptions – this is, by the way, the umpteenth time in a row that we get a very energetic, rhythmic and ‘bass’ track at almost the same point in the album, and it’s absolutely amazing! I suppose this is down to Roger, who is just incredible. I love that moment on ‘=1’!

I have a feeling there are more hidden sounds, melodies and details in there that I’ll discover over time. I don’t know if I’m right, but I think the sound engineers have spoiled this album for them. It’s a shame – I can’t believe that Purple played these tracks so ‘flat’ in the studio. I don’t think so…

So a ‘remaster’ is immediately required (I know, sic! ;-)), with a rearranged order of some tracks, and certainly one that starts at the wrong time and hurts. Ouch… Maybe the vinyl version won’t have this flaw, I’ll have to check it out!

On the occasion of the vinyl version – perhaps then this album will sound better, more ‘fat’? We’ll see…

Perhaps the ‘rough’ sound is partly due to the different charter of these recordings – here we have a new energy, a different pace. My namesake Simon wreaks a bit of havoc on the album. The tempo is completely different.

The word ”different” is very important in the context of this album. Because I’m trying not to compare it to other albums by the band. It is simply a record of that time and the form the band was in. For me, the concerts have not been such a ‘record of the time’ for a long time, unfortunately. They are played to cater for the ‘music tourists’ expecting ‘Smoke’ and the rest from Machine Head. Not for the fans – that’s sad. Well, that’s how the factory works…

And for the fans (i.e. us!) these records are recorded in the studio and for that I wanted to thank Deep Purple that you still do it!

Short summary

‘=1’ will probably be a controversial album for fans – probably something like ‘Come Taste the Band’. Some will love it and others will say it’s weak. I don’t know yet – I need to get some distance from these recordings again, because I’ve listened to them too much. Let these recordings burn out, win out (child) ‘in time’. And we’ll see.

Simon Zyla (Wieliczka, Poland)

The Highway Star reader Jameson Rock reviews =1

I’ll be brief: Deep Purple In Rock was the first album I ever bought, =1 is the album I’ve been waiting 50 years for. (Well, apart from the fade-out on Now You’re Talking!)

I thought they’d find it hard to follow Whoosh! but =1 is just such good fun. Let’s hope it’s not their last.

Jameson Rock

The Highway Star reader Roska Posti reviews =1

I became a Deep Purple fan in about 1997, and the two first current albums, Abandon and Bananas, blew me away. The problem was that while Rapture of the Deep is half-great, half-baked, those two left me waiting for them to follow up every time a new Purple album comes around.

While neither is perfect, Now What?! (All The Time In The World is probably their best latter-day song) and Infinite (Time For Bedlam blew everything out of the water and set the bar *too* high for the rest of the album) delivered more than enough to keep me happy. Whoosh had me questioning my wits, as my favourite band failed to come up with a great song. It took me over a year and many restless listens to get to Nothing At All, which then, luckily, became that one great song. I was afraid it would be the last.

I am happy to say the new album is major improvement over Whoosh. The truly great songs are still yet to reveal themselves, but once I heard Pictures of You, I knew the record would be worth waiting for. And it is.

While all age-related caveats apply – and how could they not – the band have come up with several real songs, and not just jams and middle-parts. There are some things that could have been done slightly differently in lyrical terms (Sharp Shooter being the main offender here, AC/DC releasing “a shot in the dark beats a walk in the park” as their lead single from their last album), and some (I’m guessing idiosyncratic Ezrin) production and structure choices come off as unnecessary …

Nevertheless, especially the two slow songs appeal to me, and I’m inclined to think balladeering is where Gillan’s voice works best these days. I am also happy he doesn’t try to hard. There are several false starts for another Time For Bedlam or House Of Pain, with Now You’re Talkin’ and No Money To Burn getting the closest to what I was hoping to hear. Bleeding Obvious is another song worth mentioning, closing up the proceedings in an almost triumphant way.

=1 is not a necessary or revelatory album at any point, but in anticipation of the next Bananas (which will never come), it’s good enough to be a new Deep Purple album.

Roska Posti

The Highway Star reader Johnny ‘Andrea’ Blade reviews =1

The stylistic “novelty” of =1 is a return to the more classic Deep Purple sound, the result of a writing more focused on robust guitar riffs, a small dream for many fans of the band who for many years had hoped for a more direct and classically hard rock, without forgetting however that the recent appreciated trilogy of studio albums – excellently produced by Bob Ezrin – had already brought back some welcome power in the band’s sound.

After the homage to the artists esteemed by the group in Turning To Crime – in which, however, Deep Purple enjoyed immersing themselves in other sound waters without making their style emerge forcefully – =1 is the album most faithful to the more classic style of the group composed at least in the last 30 years (even if the keyboards are a little less protagonists than in the past in the construction of the backbone of the songs mostly entrusted to the guitar).

Speaking of six strings, the stylistic differences with Steve Morse immediately emerge from listening to =1: Simon comes from a heavier background – in the mid-90s he played in a reactivated incarnation of a NWOBHM band, Sweet Savage – and when listening to this work I believe that many fans of Deep Purple will experience the sensation of listening to a record that is a little more reminiscent of the Blackmore era – the progressive influences are confined to rare passages – but with the features of shredding of Simon in great evidence.

The intro of the opener Show Me already gives a bit of freshness with McBride’s guitar immediately taking center stage before the song settles on decidedly classic rhythms for the formations, those of a relaxed but very classy hard rock. A Bit On The Side and Sharp Shooter are more dynamic thanks to the eternal energy provided by the Glover-Paice rhythm section and we also find the solo interactions between guitar and keyboards, McBride and Airey have already played together and you can feel it …

No Money To Burn could be appetizing for fans of the more bluesy Purple (who in the first part of the album will appreciate the rhythmic Old-Fangled Thing) but I prefer the slower and more atmospheric I’ll Catch You, introduced by a solo guitar embroidery by McBride, a song with decidedly pleasant – even if familiar – vocal lines – brought home by a slightly mannered but unquestionably spectacular solo.

A very strong candidate for the title of most inspired song on the album is the final composition: Bleeding Obvious, introduced by sparkling guitars that leave space for inspired singing lines – in the most classic Ian Gillan style – both in the most enthralling verses and in the valuable melodic openings of the chorus. The solo in the middle of the piece turns towards the East before a progressive section which precedes a new nuance towards wide-ranging melodies followed by a more dynamic and once again proggy closure. A capital piece, which has already deserved inclusion in the setlist in the band’s most recent live shows.

With =1, Deep Purple have found a way to amaze again, not so much for the return to their more classic style, but for the freshness, inspiration and renewed energy transmitted by thirteen pieces that don’t sound like the end of a career but like the beginning of a new era. Chapeau.

Recommended for: Fans of the most classic and eternal hard rock.

Ciao,
Andrea

Wishing Well to You All of The Highway Star

The Highway Star reader Mike Nagoda reviews =1.

Oh my freaking god… I haven’t felt this way about a Purple record since I heard Purpendicular, Steve Morse’s first outing with the band, which was released in ‘96, which I first heard over twenty years ago when I was in my twenties (I’m 38 now, in case you’re keeping track!).

=1 is the perfect blend of the Blackmore and Morse Eras. With this record, Deep Purple have hit a home run and have struck gold for possibly the third or fourth time in their career, which is something very few bands can pull off. It is the perfect balance between the riff driven, driving hard rock of In Rock and the complex, prog based world of Purpendicular. Rather than go track by track, I’d like to say something about each of the band members and their contributions to this amazing record.

New guitarist Simon McBride brings back the urgency, energy and riff based rock of Mk 2 while maintaining the complex prog era of Mks 7 and 8. He is fresh kick in the arse – punchy, in your face, take no prisoners! His solos just GRAB you, just like Ritchie did, and I am so glad that kind of energy has returned to the band! He is also happy, complex and thoughtful in his playing style, just like Steve was, and is truly the best of both worlds!

And, I am glad to see that he asserted himself in the studio and that thankfully Bob Ezrin was not able to curb his enthusiasm for flurries of notes in his amazing, AMAZING guitar solos!! And did I mention he has feel and taste for days?? You’re damn right he does!! Simon McBride is that perfect blend and middle ground between the aggression, gusto and drive of Ritchie Blackmore and the thoughtfulness, joy and complexity of Steve Morse, and is the absolute perfect guitarist for Deep Purple at this time. How lucky are they to have him in what is probably the final chapter of their long and great career!

Don Airey is a force to be reckoned with on this record, and I love that he makes a statement by having so many Mini Moog solos (no Hammond solos until Portable Door, which is track 4 on the record – a bold move, and I love it!!!) and puts his own stamp on the record! And when the Hammond does show up, it howls, and Don absolutely goes for the jugular with his solos – my favourite Hammond moment is the utterly BONKERS passage at the end of his solo on Lazy Sod, and it very much reminds me of passages Jon Lord would improvise live with the band, and it brought a huge smile to my face!

My ONE complaint for this record is that sometimes, the Hammond isn’t distorted enough, and the organ solos are a bit low in the mix over all. It’s funny – during the Morse Era Ezrin albums, I always felt Don was too high in the mix, and Steve wasn’t loud enough, and now I feel Don needs to come up a touch and Simon down a bit in places.

Aside from this, and too much compression in the mix overall (I’m not a fan of Bob’s production style/sound, but that’s a matter of personal taste and is frankly irrelevant to how freaking good this record is), these are my only criticisms!

Roger Glover is strong and dependable as always, and gets some nice moments with a few nice bass lines towards the end of the album Ian Paice is roaring again and finally gets to let loose in so many spots, and even gets a great drum solo on this record – something we haven’t heard since Space Truckin’ on Machine Head!! Finally, Bob Ezrin has learned that Deep Purple cannot be contained, especially the mighty rhythm section of Mr. Paice and Mr. Glover, and has stepped back and allowed the band to really cut loose! The rhythm section is thunderous and rocking again, at long last!!!

And then there’s Ian Gillan, who is sounding his absolute best in thirty years. I love the pseudo rapping he does in places, especially on the opening track, Show Me, and while his age does show, he is singing with so much ferociousness and gusto here, that age matters not! And yes we even get some screams full of raw, Gillan energy!!!!

He is also singing higher in his register than on the previous Ezrin produced albums, and I for one am impressed – I was worried the most about Ian’s vocals, given that he is now 80 years old, and out of all the band members, he has impressed me the most! On I’ll Catch You, he gives what may be one of the finest vocal performances in his entire career – I literally had chills running up and down my spine, what an immaculate performance!

The songs on this record are fresh, punchy, and in your face, with a grand return to the riff based, hundred miles an hour energy that Purple are known for. The first three songs – Show Me, A Bit On The Side and Sharp Shooter – are a relentless assault and do not let up in the best way possible. There is not a bad song on the record – they’re all incredibly strong, and the best songwriting the band has put out since Purpendicular!!!

Simon McBride has brought a fresh shot of life to the band, just like Steve Morse did in ’96, and because of it, the band has produced their best record in the last 30 years, if not the last 40!!! This record is the perfect companion to Purpendicular and In Rock, both of which gave the band new life and fresh blood, and are my favourite two Purple records. =1 now joins them, tied for the #1 spot in my books because of the fact that I can’t tell which of them I like more. That, I think, is the best compliment I can give this record.

If you have not heard this record, it is, my own mixing preferences aside, a perfect record, and a home run in every way. Deep Purple are back in the most glorious way possible, and have produced quite possibly one of their best works with =1. If you haven’t checked it out, or you left during the Morse years, please, get off your arse, and listen to it now – you won’t be disappointed, I promise you! It’s an absolute masterpiece! If this is to be their final record, what a hell of a way to end their career!

Well done boys, well done. I knew you had it in you, still. I’ve been waiting for this record for years, and all I can say is that the wait was damn well worth it! All I can say is, thank you: you’ve all brought back the smile to my face when I first heard you when I was 19 years old listening to this record, and I felt like a teenager again, grinning from ear to ear. Thank you so much, for everything you’ve given me and the rest of us over the years.

All I can say is, you’ve done the almost impossible and struck gold again with =1, which is no small feat. A job very well done, indeed!

Favourite Tracks: All of them!!!
Rating: 10/10

Mike Nagoda

The Highway Star reader Marcin Karski reviews =1

We have it in our hands, at last! The craved, the anticipated new Deep Purple album. And, boy, oh boy, what a joy it is, indeed. There’s a lot to cover on it, so let’s do it in a bit of an unusual way.

What’s UGLY about the album?
The cover. With the brand of Deep Purple being in its 56th year – this sleeve (you can’t call it artwork, can you?) is downright lousy, a cringe-feast. I mean, come on, I ain’t no pro designer (although I’ve done plenty of fan-artworks for records over the years), but for a few bob I really could come up with something that would be interesting for the eyes of the listener – and still carry the message that the band intends to put in the title.

At least some style in the choice of font, at least some purple colour to it. This is just OMG so bad. But at least with the events unfolding – it proved to be about the worst aspect of the release.

What’s BAD?
The choice of leading single. Portable Door proves to be the worst track of the whole album, sounding like a cover band attempt to rewrite Pictures of Home, but with far lesser effect.

Only the solos in it are good and engaging, the rest qualifies for an unmemorable B-side. Luckily the next choices proved to be far more premium shots at Deep Purple receiving radio play again, without the tracks losing a hard rock identity and integrity. No sell out there!

I can’t help having a few production issues with the album. The drum sound is really weird on some of the tracks – hisses to my ears like in a badly compressed mp3 file – up to the point where I’m really checking in my own hearing, but hey – I play it from the original CD! What’s going on?

Some instrument plans feel also weird – a few of Don’s organ solos are under-mixed in the soundscape, in other places guitar or vocals are strangely upfront. Compared to Martin Birch’s book of rules in producing a pristine sound for DP – the sound of the record is messy and unnatural in places, and it hasn’t been that weird since Rapture of the Deep.

The band is of age, so they can have issues with clear hearing, but you do work with young engineers in the studio (as seen on the documentaries) – do they suffer hearing issues too?

There are two brainfarts in production too, that really raise my eyebrows, anytime. The segue between Pictures of You and I’m Saying Nothing. Such a beautiful piece of music is used as a bridge to another song without any logical connection or development of an idea! It just sounds as somebody would have messed up the running order of the tracks in the mix. Not to mention losing such a beautiful peace not worked out into a classic Deep Purple track.

The other one is the lone record’s fade-out on Now You’re Talking. Easily among the best tracks of the whole record – the cut-down is there and it sounds like Bob and the bunch have stampeded in panic over the fader and made it irretrievable after final mixing.

Why not let the soloist go even more mad over the closing section of this splendid Mad Dog like rocker? Lack of conclusive but well thought solutions makes this a true WTF moment during the listening.

NEUTRAL / SO-SO area?
There are few more moments that make you think why the songs – while being mostly from solid to splendid – aren’t allowed more space for improvisation. Like in A Bit on the Side where Simon is stretching the strings low and rowdy for the first time. Gillan takes over, but the purple instinct of play almost screams – let loose there, let it build, give him time to stretch and play some!

It really was of a concern that most of the 13 tracks on the record tick around the 4 minute mark on counter, like someone is trying to trim Deep Purple into a song band, instead of staying true to their let loose and go mad reputation from the heyday. It did not come out all that bad in the end, but the tracks like those mentioned above that make you think were restrained by force to lack space and letting loose, which even Morse’s era deployed splendidly at times.

Now how about the GOOD THINGS?
The sound of the new line-up. There will be a battle of cheap shots between die-hard Morse fans, who are clearly bummed with the fact that the band didn’t want to retrieve Steve’s position after his family situation unfolded, and those for whom it feels that Simon’s coming as a permanent member to the band – Deep Purple sounds like Deep Purple again.

Sure, Si is not a wizard and guitar visionary on the level Steve Morse always was and will always be. But he’s an islander who fits the other four Brits – and it’s telling loud and clear in the way they mesh together. Simon has a grit and raunchy in his playing that a hard rock guitar requires, and for the DP sound it’s a must have. The chords need to have the low bottom on long sounds, the swagger and the buzz must happen from time to time. He can apply the bite and the danger that Steve – in all his strive for precision and progressive flavour – was ditching down well since 2013.

Few would argue that it’s a step back in musical credibility for Deep Purple, but actually it’s not a regress. They are not supposed to be pioneers anymore – as “Classic Rock” noted – nobody expect from them another Purpendicular like style curveball. It’s the return to the sound that makes them so engaging to a hard rock ear, just as it always was in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. And as you see it by now in other reviews – it’s a more than welcome return to the fold for many of the listeners.

If I was to choose between the visionary and progressive leanings of Purple sound versus their classic rollicking hard-rock, that maybe isn’t breaking new grounds BUT is straight-in-your-face turn-it-up-loud and head bang – I want the latter. And I have it in freight train wagon quantity on that record, which I just love.

Any AMAZING things out there?
Oh man, there might be too many to list it out properly. The band is tight and does sound reinvigorated in a way that they were not since Now What!?. It’s such a great thing to happen upon the guys (bar Si) almost knocking doors of the age of 80.

The songwriting is strong, it may not trash the rock tables upside down, but it’s really been a while since 2013 that on a Purple record 8 of 13 tracks were belters and the remaining 5, while being workman-like or not cohesive – are still at least in parts engaging (Sharp Shooter, Portable Door, I’m Saying Nothing, Money To Burn, I’ll Catch You). The last one – while Gillan’s vocal delivery is beautiful, really falls too much with compositional aspects into a Gary Moore tribute song. [Editor’s Note: Wasn’t this section supposed to describe the amazing things?]

If I Were You – I’m unconvinced with the bridge-chorus part – it’s really tacky by numbers and doesn’t sit well with the wonderful leading motive by guitar and excellent closing part with echoing vocals emphasizing the title! I would add there a longer section with guitar keyboard solos employing the echo / delay / speakers left-right roll-over repeats. So it’s a very strange to taste mix of uninspired bits and genius rolled into one song.

Pictures Of You and Lazy Sod are splendid takes of melodic rock, that will bite your head through the ears and keep you humming them for days and days. This is perfect balance between sounding accessible but not commercial, whilst not losing an inch of the style or integrity. Marvellous, they saved the hopes for glory after the unconvincing 1st single.

Show Me and A Bit on the Side are the best opening two-punch since A Simple Song and Weirdistan, convincing, engaging and oh-boy so rolling and tumbling with swagger and delivery.

Solo spots just kill (and Don makes a great use of Moog synthesizer on this record, not restraining himself to Hammond only). Gillan finally sounds uncaged and sinister again in his vocal deliveries (lovely story of Charlene) and Simon really blows out the powder barrel on the latter with his solo, applying some nasty sounds along with classy licks there.

The other big kick favourites are Old Fangled Thing – sweet mix of Things I Never Said / Lazy shuffle feel with dodgy riff – the soloists chasing themselves like the happiest dogs on the playfield and Gillan again with his “so fucking what!” attitude and screaming just once more his head off. Gotta love it.

Marvellously stunning Now You’re Talking, the stomp, the drive, the energy threatening to throw you off the road, balls to the ground. Again badly under-developed with the space to let the soloists loose – but when they have their bit to kick in – oh, boy, do they deliver in spades. I so wish this was played live with giving Si and Don a chance to go crazy on it. They have the rapport together – they had it for more than decade now.

And last but not least – the proggy kitchen sink of Bleeding Obvious, where you almost feel like 5 songs are crammed into one. Starts a bit like Rush’s Tom Sawyer outro, but then it goes like a real roller coaster of ideas, hinting with the Eastern ways to the oriental pomp of Rapture of the Deep.

Extra mention must go to the most beautiful Ian Gillan vocal delivery of entire album. In the very middle of Bleeding Obvious in the bridge, there’s a magic space where his middle to low uber-melodic voice harkens back to his best days – showing us in full glory why his throat was and still is a golden egg of the British hard rock. The track is so crammed with bits, pieces, changes and rollups of ideas, that you almost feel it should blow apart at the seams, but ultimately it holds up and delivers like very few Purple prog-bombs before (I still love Before Time Began folks!). That’s so g’damn rewarding!

The record ends and the silence is killing you, you do want to spin it on again. And it really didn’t feel that good, engaging and enthralling for more than a decade!

And that, I think is good for a conclusion. The album isn’t without its faults and issues, but as a whole it stands oh so tall and strong. It shows a band confident, tight, with bold attitude, (hey Graham! See the mushy peas are ON!), sounding like they new found a formula to please themselves with the new stuff while not missing to excite and please their long time followers at last. And that makes me super happy for them.

As well as I’m so happy that the hype stimulated around the release and the way the world receives the new sound and material is so embracing and enthusiastic. Who deserves it better than them? Sure, there will be critiques and moaners of a closed Morse era, but if that’s a new one to come, I dig it, a lot.

Bring it on boys, and while you’re back in town – keep it up! And yo! Hey, yes, you! Do yourself a favour and crank the old-fangled thing up loud and proud! 

Marcin Karski, © 2024

It’s nice to see a reaction and analysis video not focused on Deep Purple’s 70’s output, and even with extra focus on the newest member of the band. Guitar teacher Michael Palmisano takes a good look at Lazy Sod and suggests it’s a good thing for a guitar player to leave the bass player some space. What speaks against Michael though, is that he seems to think DP has been gone longer than they have.

And a couple of =1 promotional interviews to wrap up the day.

German site aussiedlerbote.de has an interview with Ian Gillan, and it’s in English:

Is there a song on the new album that particularly touches your heart?

I like them all. But “Old-Fashioned Thing” is probably my favorite. In that song, there are interesting riff exchanges, classic Deep Purple vibes. Plus, the lyrics. In that song, it’s about a pen and the songwriting process. Very interesting, I find.

American Songwriter spoke to Ian Paice:

Paice then offered said his take on Gillan’s concept for the album.

“The important things we have, there’s one of,” he noted. “We have one sun. We have one planet. We have one life. And what that one life does, it’s sort of important. … It all comes down to you, the one. What you do. You know, make [the world] a better place, not a worse place. … That’s my look at it. Ian might say that’s totally wrong. Well, it’s wrong for him, but it’s right for me.”