The Highway Star

Wear their heritage with aplomb

A couple more press reviews of the new album =1.

The Arts Desk seems to have missed the arrival of a new guitar player, but generally enjoyed the album:

At this stage in the proceedings it’s unlikely Deep Purple are suddenly going to haul in a whole new fan base, but for anyone with more than a passing interest, =1 fairly romps along. It will put smiles on the faces of those who enjoy old dudes rock’n’rollin’ like age is just a number.

BraveWords gives it 9/10:

If 13 songs aren’t enough, which some might find too much for them, I’d go as far as to say they have at least 12 Purple classics to choose from here. Ian Gillan doesn’t hold back in the lyric department, including whatever input Roger Glover gave on what rack up to be several fun numbers in the same vein as some of their solo work together. This has always been something I welcome, and they get right into it on “Show Me” with an abstract vocal performance from Gillan, and a grand entrance from Simon McBride. Needless to say it opens with the first of many bangers, and Gillan applies some rap to keep it edgy but humorous, as usual. Talk about delivering right out of the gate.

Posted in News by Nick on 2024-07-20
2 Comments

One is symbolic of simplicity

Couple of interviews promoting =1 that by now, frankly, sound a bit redundant, but here they are for the sake of completeness.

Roger Glover spoke to ABC News:

Glover said Gillan once questioned how big of an equation someone could come up with where the answer would equal one, then had a mathematician friend come up with an example.

“And he showed it to me and I said, ‘You know, that could be a title,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I think so, too,’” Glover shares. Gillan then wondered if the equation itself should be the title, but Glover notes, “I said no, just ‘equals one.’”

Meanwhile, Ian Gillan spoke to The Sun:

Leading the charge from these shores in the late Sixties and early Seventies was the so-called “unholy trinity” — Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple.

Why, you might ask, did good Old Blighty supply these all-conquering monsters of rock?

“We were all nutters, that’s why!” says Purple’s lead singer Ian Gillan, possessor of one of the form’s most commanding hollers.

“I used to listen to American bands and think, ‘My God, they’re so well-rehearsed, everything is just so absolutely tickety-boo.’

“But, with the British bands, we were just nuts. We’d go on stage and do anything.”

Posted in News by Nick on 2024-07-19
21 Comments

Far from spent and endured

Several more =1 reviews from around the web.

Ultimate Classic Rock:

Musically, Deep Purple pushes an aggressiveness that rivals contemporaries in their field; Airey and McBride bring homage but never sink to nostalgia (check out their keyboard and guitar interplay on “A Bit on the Side” and “Sharp Shooter”). The 78-year-old Gillan can’t hit those celebrated high notes these days, but he delivers his lines with a suitable slippery wink. Though =1 sags a bit in the back half and could be trimmed by a few songs, the album furthers a career renaissance for Deep Purple that shows few signs of waning.

Blues Rock Review:

Whether we like it or not, McBride and especially Airey are as much the soul of Deep Purple as the three highway stars that command the rich purple palette. If this revitalised line-up is anything to go by, retirement seems a long way from lurking around the corner. You can’t beat class, and this fine equation of melodic hard rock is just that.

The Review: 8/10

Daily Mail:

The band’s 23rd LP, it plays to well-established strengths, mixing punchy hooks with moments of sensitivity and detours into progressive rock. Fans expecting them to break fresh ground should look away, but there’s still plenty to admire.

Posted in News by Nick on 2024-07-19
2 Comments

Human chemistry is beyond science

Virgin Radio Italy interviewed Ian Gillan and Simon McBride. Go there to watch the chat. The audio is in original English with Italian subtitles. And by-the-by, that interviewer looks familiar 😉 Continue Reading »

Posted in News by Nick on 2024-07-19
6 Comments

New sheriff in town

Metal & Rock Zone reviews =1 Continue Reading »

Posted in News by Nick on 2024-07-19
1 Comment

Their finest moment this century

Classic Rock reviews the freshly released =1:

Just when you thought arguably Britain’s finest rock band had nothing more to give, along comes what may be their final rebirth. They’re taking it on the road of course. Can anything stop them? Hopefully not.

=1 How does it add up for you?

As Deep Purple’s =1 albums hits the racks – and the charts – all over the world, we’re curious how you feel about it.

We already reviewed the album – now it’s your turn. Write your own review of =1.

Send your reviews of =1 to albumreview@thehighwaystar.com for a chance of publication right here on The Highway Star.

Posted in Blog by Rasmus Heide on 2024-07-19
8 Comments

When you have a legacy as indisputably colossal as DEEP PURPLE’s, making new music could easily be an afterthought. But tasked with producing new albums to rival the immortal likes of “Machine Head”, “Burn” and “Perfect Strangers”, the hard rock legends have done a solid job of keeping their creative fires burning. From 2005’s “Rapture of the Deep” to 2020’s “Whoosh!” , latter-day PURPLE records have been feisty and imaginative, while always keeping a toe or two in that classic, organ-driven sound. The follow-up to the surprisingly great covers album “Turning To Crime” (2021), “=1” continues in a similar vein, but with an even more relaxed attitude towards embracing the past. The first DEEP PURPLE album to feature new guitarist Simon McBride (who replaced the great Steve Morse in 2022), it could hardly be a more joyous return.

Continue reading in Blabbermouth.

Posted in News by Nick on 2024-07-18
68 Comments

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