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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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 »

Metal & Rock Zone reviews =1 Continue Reading »

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.

Read more in Louder Sound.

A review (most likely the same one) also appears in the latest (#330) print issue of the magazine (with Bruce Springsteen on the cover). You can order it through newsstand.co.uk.

Thanks to Benny Holmström for the info.

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.