NOW What?! has seized the #1 spot in Germany, Deep Purple’s unofficial second home.
This is confirmed by Media Control, who says this is the seventh time Deep Purple hit the number one spot in Germany. (Seventh Heaven?)
In the UK, NOW What?! has reached #1 in the Rock & Metal Albums Top 40 dated May 11:
Let us just take a moment to congratulate the band – and earMUSIC – as we look forward to hearing as many of the new songs as possible on the upcoming tour.
Vincent Price will be the next single from Now what?!, to be released on June 7 as a download, CD single and seven-inch transparent vinyl. It will be backed by the slightly infamousFirst Sign Of Madness, which previously was available only as a bonus track in one the the big box chains in Germany.
Ian Paice has appeared on the Metal XS show and talked about the past, present and future of Deep Purple. He went to considerable length explaining, among other things, his point of view on whether the band will appear on the same stage with Blackmore again. http://vimeo.com/65450700
Gillan and Paice continue their promotional tour. On Friday, May 3, they were in Moscow, where they have appeared on the radio. Here is TV coverage of the visit from news channel Moskva 24:
Interview to TV channel Rossija 24 (unfortunately, also with Russian voiceover), in which Gillan reveals that Vincent Price was also the working title for the album, and both state that the band will play several new songs live, but they have not decided yet which ones:
Thanks to Andrey Gusenkov and SergeyDP for the info.
Metak Shrine has a rather interesting interview with Joe Lynn Turner:
Looking back on your career, do you feel there´s one album or a specific song where you feel you really nailed it?
JLT: According to most people… for a singer or songwriter to say “This is the one.”… it´s like my children. They´re all my children and even the little funny ones, the ones that didn´t come out right, but there is one that always comes to mind. Ricky Medlocke from Lynyrd Skynyrd said “There´s no greater song or vocal performance in rock and roll than “Street of dreams” and I think Richie (Blackmore) agreed and quite a few other people. I don´t why? Everybody says the music is just right and the lyrics are just metaphysically romantic. It´s just a moment in time that was captured and it doesn´t sound like anyone else, ever or ever will. I don´t know. For me, I can´t say, but I can say that other people think it´s “Street of dreams”. I have many stories on different songs. “Jealous lover” was a great moment when Richie just threw this riff at me and said “You´ve got 10 minutes to write the song!”. I had a fight with my girlfriend, who then became my first wife and I just banged it right out. The first verse was about her and my situation and then the second verse was about her and the third verse was about the audience being jealous lovers, because they all are you know! (laughs) Love me or hate me, love me or hate me. (laughs) There are so many cornerstones.
It’s not that often that you read a reveiew of an album (any album) that is so eloquent that it makes you wipe that grin off your face, put everything aside and listen to the said album again.
Which brings us to “Now What?!,” a palpable question for any group in its 45th year: What do you do when you’ve done it all? It also acknowledges the 2012 passing of Jon Lord, to whom this collection is dedicated. The band’s debt to him is immeasurable. ‘Twas his rumble that announced 1968’s “Hush,” a Top 5 U.S. hit; had he not fed his Hammond through a Leslie speaker and plumped its bulk with Marshall heft, the Deep Purple sound would never have existed.
Wherever he resides in the by-and-by, he must be immensely pleased. Airey dominates in aggressive tribute, his vamps and swerves sending his partners down rabbit holes they either haven’t explored in decades or never visited, period. As a result, “Now What?!” isn’t the continuation of “Bananas” or “Rapture of the Deep” but a refreshingly inventive journey that manages to be both bold and comfortable.
Don Airey was interviewed by Classic Rock Revisited. he talked about Now What?!, Bob Ezrin, the spirit of Jon Lord, Wurlitzers, and the great guitar players he worked with.
Don Airey had the seemingly impossible task of replacing the amazing Jon Lord when he joined Deep Purple eleven years ago. To say he’s done okay is a huge understatement. While he had been with the band for over a decade, he is still considered the ‘new guy’ in the group.
Iconic producer Bob Ezrin, who was brought into to lead the charge for Deep Purple’s latest album Now What?! had this to say about working with Airey, “I was most impressed with Don Airey, who I had never worked with before and I didn’t know. He is one of the best keyboard players I have ever seen in my life. He is beyond amazing; he’s a genius.”
His bandmate and other DP newbie, twenty year member Steve Morse, also had praise for Airey, “Between Jon Lord and Don Airey I have really been blessed to work with two of the very best rock keyboardists in history.” Stalwart Roger Glover, who has been with Purple since 1969, added this “It is very difficult with Don Airey and Steve Morse, who are such great musicians, to play anything simple. They come up with ideas that I would have never thought of.”
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Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing