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"The organ solo IS Lord, except it's Airey"
Daniel Reichberg offers his view on the new Deep Purple album

After three excursions of the Deep, here are my thoughts:

Money Talks: An odd, distorted organ intro leads way to a song a little reminiscent of "The Battle Rages On" - song and album.

Girls Like That: A very typical soft-Morse intro, then a song which is Gillan A LOT. His screams sound shit, though. Reminds me of "69" and "Cascades".

Wrong Man: Very typical of latter-day Purple. One of the weakest.

Rapture of the Deep: An epic with fantastic Arabic riffs and melodies which bite into your heart, slowly but surely. Brilliant co-play Morse/Airey. This song would have benefited from a longer format than it's six minutes, and it's obvious that it'll be magical live on stage. Possibly the album's top song.

Clearly Quite Absurd: Beautiful ballad, no hard rock/metal at all. Melancholy melodies which suit Ian's mature voice perfectly.

Don't Let Go: Another thoroughly typical one, except it's lovely electric piano solo.

Back to Back: Trad Purple again, but somewhat better, thanks to the exquisite synth lines.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye: Heavy tune to a "Bo Diddley" rhythm. Vitriolic Gillan at his best. One of the better, without a doubt.

MTV: Wonderful! Ian Gillan kills commercial radio off in a very cool song full of old time Purple stuff. The organ solo IS Lord, except it's Airey.

Junkyard Blues: Pleasant chorus, odd solo parts. Very much alive. Not a twelve-bar blues as such, but rather a swinging rocker.

Before Time Began: Deep Purple have never done anything like this before. I feel the vibes of David Bowie with some touches of Led Zeppelin's "I'm Gonna Crawl"but still not. Tremendously atmospheric with march drums, soft electric guitars, synths and an up-front bass. But then it get's heavy andwell, hard to describe!

Conclusion: Great record except two songs dragging it down a bit. Ian Gillan has come to terms with his "new voice", his lyrics are fabulous, Glover is clearly audiable throughout, and Morse/Airey is a marriage made in Paradise. Perhaps a too laid-back Ian Paice, though.

Daniel Reichberg

Daniel Reichberg is a Swedish journalist who can be seen from time to time in Sweden Rock Magazine. Also look out for him in this year's Sweden Rock Festival DVD.