![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/glover4.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/mcbride4.jpg)
With just enough prog thrown in
Doug the classical composer reacts to Arrogant Boy and Guilt Trippin’, and gives a highly technical analysis of what went into both compositions. Brush up on your Phrygian tetrachords beforehand.
Thanks to Manic Miner for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
will Doug find it all too ‘trippy’ and light up a pipe to two? Can we listen to the new DP album while heavily stoned? It may sound better, it may not. Should we listen to music stoned or should we remain ‘straight’ and cast a critical ear or two over proceedings. I don’t mind Doug occasionally, is it because he is a stoner? Not really, but I can understand him lighting up occasionally, depending on the music and the vibe at the time. Any punters here stoned while listening to the new DP album? “Jeepers creepers Batman, these aficionados at THS site are into it big time”. ‘You could be right Robin’, however don’t get too excited, the jury is still out as to whether they know what they are on about”. Stay tuned folks, same Bat time, same Bat channel.
July 15th, 2026 at 06:48Thanks for Doug’s take on these two new songs, I enjoyed that. It has been quite a while since I have watched a video of him taking on a few classics. Cheers.
July 15th, 2026 at 09:48@ 1……. Just say no too drugs. https://youtu.be/lQXgVM30mIY
July 15th, 2026 at 11:51In that case, Timi, please let me have yours before disposing of them! 😂
July 15th, 2026 at 13:15https://youtu.be/BfI8C04fQlI?is=lrelwy2rUGPGZnhY It sounds amazing on headphones. “Hard Lovin’ Man” is a dreamlike journey.
July 15th, 2026 at 15:45@ 4…. Uwe i never ever used drugs in my life. I just get high on life its self !
July 15th, 2026 at 16:36#6 Timi:
Despite having consumed cannabis in moderation in my youth, I can confidently say that my only drug in life has a name: Deep Purple.
#5 AndreA:
Thanks for the link!
I’m now 2 days away from the moment when my senses will no longer understand anything, and the emotions will overflow when the lights go out and Roger and Paicey start playing that intro, the one that doesn’t even need to be named, that we all know, THE INTRO, in which everything is inside.
July 15th, 2026 at 21:53https://youtu.be/Kj7NnfBO1Dw?si=1FaDPw1oPXNlmGXp
wonderful song, and Simon shows off all his technique and good taste here!
July 15th, 2026 at 22:46please don’t underestimate McBride
after two weeks SPLAT! is the 3rd better sold in CD format ,
preceded only by Rollig Stones and Madonna
https://www.ibs.it/classifica/cd/1week/sold?srsltid=AfmBOoolzP1NznoUjRa8FOd_WTaTGF7Ez2V9Atq-KgBbOaFKMP000pIz
July 16th, 2026 at 11:19before, I mean 3rd in Italy
July 16th, 2026 at 11:22The Single of Guilt Trippin has just dropped through my door and the two live tracks sound bloomin’ great. IG in fine voice.
July 16th, 2026 at 12:47Gillan’s commercial hooks and melodies on certain Splat songs remind me of THOBL album era. Not a bad thing, as that album is full of melody as well as other great things such as the songwriting and the performances of Ritchie and big Ian. No doubt the short song format here is intended to cross that divide again. The music of Beating of Wings reminds me of Robin Trower, that blues thing. Of course Ian’s vocal takes it to another place. Not sure if Sacred Land the Scottish ode to Creag an Tuirc works that well, it needed to be bit more earthy, nasty or dirty or something. It sounds a little tame for that sort of take on the Scots in that battle and the Clan way of all that drama. Cheers.
July 17th, 2026 at 00:45From my own experience….Don’t write this album off without giving it at least 5 full listens.
I’ve listened to Splat! album over 20 times (once a day), and this might be the best Deep Purple album in the Erza era. The songs are qualitatively balanced, listenable, passionate. With a clear musical and lyrical message, perfectly played and sung. There are some really great songs on “Splat!”.
The first part of the album seems somehow more integrated into the 70s, with roots in retro hard rock / heavy metal / blues sound.
“Arrogant Boy” is such a fast title, the real A1 reminds me of Hard Loving Woman (with HOBL), the song also has a soothing middle part, Simon McBride got a lot of space in the song structures and impresses with his confidence in the guitar work, which is marked by ‘masculine’, built-up hard ‘n’ heavy riffs and extremely pleasant, melodic solos.
“Diablo” contains melodic lines, part of the rhythm reminds of Ready an Willing, influential Hammond, and “”Lunatic” is hard rock in the manner of those from the best years of the band.
The Only Horse in Town
relaxed, melodic song, could pass as a radio hit
“Sacred Land” oriental chains, great synths from Airey, reminds of Colin Towns’ time, too bad the song is short
“The Beating of Wings “…For me one of the best songs on the album
, rock’n’roll, blues groove. relaxed and cool. on the trail of the best song from ‘Bananas’.. “Walk on”. I love this song
“Guilt Trippin”‘ My best song (maybe the longest? haha). It has unexpected directions..from into,singing guitar melody,git-kla duel has that xy factor jazz piano in the solo that Don plays in the manner of Chuck Leavell from ABB days or Kenny Kirkland (Sting – Bring on the Night -Live in Paris
” Scriblin’ Gib’rish ” honestly…”Silver Tongue”‘ with Bananas is better song for me
Jessica’s Bra ..I love Irish chains,great,melody and energy, best guitar solo in album ,I think Ritchie likes this song the most,it could pass on the BN setlist
Third Call Somewhere” familiar intro and central theme on the organ? .Paice’s drumming is excellent
My New Movie …. Sliping On the Job II…rocker, with . “Arrogant Boy” the most energetic songs on the album, with strong heavy metal prudence.I like before the solo Simon’s dedication AC and BE “School’s Out” as Don’s … Johann Sebastian Bach
July 17th, 2026 at 09:12Splat!” …Funky -groove, Roger Glover fantastic on Glenn Hughues’ field. Nice bass ride, good song, but short, too bad it doesn’t last 5-6 minutes
While Ritchie is being sought in DP for the 21st century …. in Simon (formerly Steve) … Ritchie is rooted in Don Airey . Don Airey is the main composer and the main musical creative part, Sim is Jon Lord, he carries himself well and is a great support to Ritchie … oopss Don, the guitar in the shadow of the keyboard … but a pretty strong shadow .. which knows how to fight back and from time to time come out of the shadow to the sunny side of the street .
Cons
It’s annoying sometimes that in every song they play a guitar-keyboard solo which makes the songs too similar. Splat album is dug in the trenches of the band’s musical tradition and a fairly refreshed release, the guys are still there … ready, and in good shape. SPLAT! “is the continuation of that what started with NOW WHAT !? That’s good music
Bands + 50.. nobody makes better music than DP.
Third place against the Stones and Madonna is basically No 1, because they are both Boomer, respective Generation X megasellers, you can‘t really beat. It doesn‘t mean that DP are selling any less than with their last releases that went to No 1 (they might actually sell more), it just says that the Stones and Madonna are in another sales league altogether, which they of course are.
July 17th, 2026 at 09:30@13
great! 👍
@
July 17th, 2026 at 10:42Oh yes, I know it 👌
#13 Ivica:
Thanks for your opinion!
July 17th, 2026 at 11:40proof that if listeners make the effort to contextualize Splat, they realize that it is a great album!
@ 13 what do you mean by ” Ritchie likes this song the most ?? how did you come up with that?
July 17th, 2026 at 14:29Scriblin Gibrish is nothing like Silver Tongue which is a bore. Much better song nothing similar
@13
July 17th, 2026 at 14:56I do completely agree with Ivica. When the two first singles came out, I wasn’t impressed. But this is because, like Roger says, DP is an album band. When I listened to the whole album, I had a much better feeling with the new songs. And after numerous listenings, I must admit that it’s an damn good album.
One of the strengths of Splat is the feeling of “urgency” of the music : straight forward, a lot of ideas sparkling around, and no time to loose in long musical digressions (which I love too, but why would they repeat the same things on each album?).
Unbelievable what the guys are still delivering after all these years.
@ 8 Rapture of the Deep could evolve into a monster live number indeed. But the solo section is rather poor I think..
July 17th, 2026 at 16:15Throwing in my two cents regarding Splat!
I think it’s a better album than =1, I like all but two songs, Third Call, My New Movie, for me those are complete filler tracks. I like all of the rest and that’s a whole lot more than the last album. Some real bangers and the rest very good.
My only complaints would be, the vocal sound is still very high mid, shrill even, listened on several sources and that’s something that takes away some of the listening pleasure (same thing annoyed me on =1) I agree with someone earlier here that thought it unnecessary to have both keyboard and guitar solos after one another, maybe have some part in between solos, or just let one guy play on some songs to mix it up a little. Well, these are minor points of concern though. As a whole it think they did a fabulous job with this one. Should they perhaps find the inspiration to do another album, great!
July 17th, 2026 at 20:55#13 Every time I listen to it again I like the album more and more. Doug used the terms exciting, fresh, and hard-rock. I concur. Exciting & fresh just isn’t normal for a band that has 80% of its members 78 or older.
July 18th, 2026 at 04:35@17
Jessica’s Bra 0:15 has that Irish irresistible – exciting phrase, which conquers at first listen
You know Blackmore’s Night is a neo-medieval folk band ,they specialize in renaissance inspired and Celtic imbued folk music, they also perform traditional Irish and European tavern songs
I see it (my parallel world) in the BN variant of Ritchie with Spanish guitar, supported by brass and woodwind instruments, violin, they play lucratively like Don and Simon do, and Candie’s voice:)
Heavy Hammond rhythm with Roger and little Ian’s groove…”Scriblin’ Gib’rish” atmospherically similar to “Silver Tongue”. .Good songs both, for me “Silver Tongue” is better.
@18,@21 It’s hard to talk about tastes, people are like fingers on a crab, all different … I like DP as a representative Hard rock band, a pioneer of the direction .. I like their musical breadth, incredible musicians who have passed through the band (thanks to Steve Morse who helped a lot (28 years !!!) for the band to survive in concert and remain at a high level discographically, also Bob Erzin), now there is Simon + 4 senators. They continue to create good music, quality for their age. Splat! is an example.
July 18th, 2026 at 11:37That how I see it too, Ivica, SPLAT! is a logical and fruitful continuation and development of =1, and isn’t it great that this line-up is still on a trajectory of getting (even) better with a new release? Can’t wait for the next one!
Yes, Don/Simon solo duels and/or solos in sequence have become Mk IX’s shtick, but I don’t mind that at all, it echoes how Purple once began. It’s also heartwarmingly old-fashioned because it went out of style long ago, but it was always something that attracted me to DP. It separated the men (DP) from the boys (Uriah Heep). I’m glad they brought it back. I prefer a spirited short duel to endless waffling by just one guy.
July 18th, 2026 at 14:43@22 I think we all know what Blackmore’s Night is. So for them to cover a recent day DP tune seems unlikely, but we’ll see. I wouldn’t oppose to it, but can’t see it happening.
July 18th, 2026 at 23:39