siLLy puPPy Approaching nearly 60 years together as a band, it’s true that only drummer Ian Paice has been with DEEP PURPLE for the band’s entire 56 year existence with other members coming and going over the decades but the band as a commercial entity has sold well over 100 million albums in its amazingly fruitful career not to mention an early innovator of hard rock and heavy metal. It’s hard to believe that these old timers now mostly in their 70s are still cranking out the same hard driving rock that they did in the 1970s but here we are in the year 2024 and band is releasing its 23rd studio album!

After the departure of long term guitarist Steve Morse who played with DEEP PURPLE from 1994-2022, the band sallied forth well into the 2020s with guitarist Simon McBride who has honed his bluesy hard rock skills in bands like Snakecharmer and Sweet Savage. Along with vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover, DEEP PURPLE is still 3/5 of its classic Mark II lineup and along with keyboardist Don Airey who has been cranking out his meanest organ playing skills 2002, the band is determined to keep going until every last member has taken his last breath.

=1 finds Bob Ezrin back in the producer’s seat who together with all the band members crafted 13 new tracks that evoke the spirit of classic DEEP PURPLE and delivered with a loose concept of the world rapidly becoming more and more complex. After the all cover song album of “Turning To Crime” one could easily assume that DEEP PURPLE was ready to call it quits but the band demonstrates that while not up to its peak as far as energetic performances are concerned, these seasoned veterans still have a knack for writing catchy hard rock tunes that find that perfect mix of boogie rock, bluesy guitar leads and organ bombast accompanied by Ian Gillan’s distinct vocal style which amazingly has held up quite well over the decades.

The album hits the ground running with the album’s opening “Show Me” which finds DEEP PURPLE in fine form for a bunch of guys now well past their prime. What the band lacks in its energetic drive that catapulted classic albums like “In Rock” and “Machine Head” to the top of the charts, the modern DEEP PURPLE rather compensates with emotive performances focused more on the melodic touches and the crafty soulful rendering of their classic sound brought to a new era. Unfortunately some of these slowed down versions of classic DEEP PURPLE are a little on the mopey side with the track “I’ll Catch You” falling into the dreaded AOR turf, something classic DEEP PURPLE never would’ve approached!

Overall this isn’t a bad batch of tracks by one of the most famous rock bands ever to have existed but it’s also a reminder that these guys’ best days are well behind them and now they are simply doing what they love in order to keep the old adage “use it or lose it” alive and well. DEEP PURPLE has definitely been a lot more interesting since 2013’s “Now What?” and in that regard the band continues to craft instantly catchy tracks that will appeal to any long time fans of classic PURPLE. While it’s hard to fault this album in any particular way it is hard not to compare them to their glory days when the combo pack attack of Jon Lord’s classically infused organ runs with Ritchie Blackmore’s neoclassical shredding were in full force.

This is a far cry from those days but nevertheless a pleasant slice of the band in its latest formation however it seems that the much younger McBride who is only in his 40s is kept on the leash and not allowed to crank out the serious energetic drive and guitar majesty that would kick this album’s energy level up a few notches with the exception of the excellent “Now You’re Talkin” which takes nine tracks to get to. While not bad, it’s also not going to go down in history as anything that stands out in the band’s canon but rather a testament to the band’s longevity and determination to sally forth no matter what obstacles lie in their path.

siLLy puPPy Few albums can claim to have rewritten history but that's exactly what IN ROCK, the fourth album by the British progressive symphonic rock turned hard rock band DEEP PURPLE achieved with this landmark release from 1970. While the controversy preservers regarding the origins of heavy metal music, there's little doubt that IN ROCK played a pivotal role in ushering in the 1970s with a hefty infusion of energetic drive and virtuosic dexterity that took the harder arenas of rock to a completely new level. The leading up to the classic Mark II lineup of vocalist Ian Gillan, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, organist / keyboardist Jon Lord, bassist Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice reads like a soap opera with new members snatched away from another band and the back stabbing act of forming a new lineup behind the backs of current members. Although deplorable in many ways, the tactics paid off and with the release of IN ROCK, the new lineup propelled DEEP PURPLE onto the world's stage and gave permission for bands to get hard and heavy in the 1970s with faster tempos, heavier distortion and an energetic drive that would morph into the world of heavy metal in the latter half of the decade.

Although DEEP PURPLE had formed all the way back in February of 1968, the band led by Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord was a bit aloof and missing some key ingredients in cementing a sound that made them stand out. While going through the proto-prog motions of crafting symphonic rock albums that followed in the footsteps of The Moody Blues, the Mark I era of DEEP PURPLE suffered from inconsistent songwriting, an over-reliance on cover songs and a noticeable lack of vitality that propelled them to the next level. As Blackmore and Glover conspired behind the backs of original members: singer Rod Evans and bassist Nick Simper to secretly replace them, after discovering a band called Episode Six commenced to seduce their singer and bassist over to the PURPLE side of the fence going as far as recording material with the new band members before telling the old ones they have been ousted. Long smitten with the organ infused psychedelic rock created by the US act Vanilla Fudge along with hearing Led Zepplein's debut that delivered bantering tracks like "Communication Breakdown," the band developed its own distinct brand of hard rock and proto-metal. Blackmore and Glover's plot to steer the band in a new direction ultimately proved to be a winning strategy.

After the drama played out and all was said and done, the new DEEP PURPLE emerged and found one of their missing ingredients, a competent songwriter in the form of Roger Glover. The newfound chemistry proved to be one of those magic moments and the band set out to start anew. IN ROCK was the perfect album to welcome the freewheeling 1970s in June of the first year after the 60s faded away. Following the recent groundbreaking albums from Led Zeppelin and early heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath, DEEP PURPLE delivered a complementary proto-metal style that rather than delving into the occult and demonic focused on fast tempo rhythms, tight-knit instrumental interplay, catchy guitar-driven grooves and a focuss on feisty soloing trade-offs courtesy of Ritchie Blackmore's electrifying guitar playing and Jon Lord's classical trained finger gymnastics turned up a few notches. The band forged seven distinct tracks that delivered an electrifying mix of heavy driving rock, gritty yet soulful vocal performances and a delivery system that offered instantly ear wormy hooks fortified with moments of progressive complexities. The recipe proved to be a major hit in the UK and remained high on the album charts for the next year. Ironically the band found success in the USA with their earlier albums but failed to make a dent with IN ROCK.

The new material was as much about improvisation as it was about crafting enduring compositions. "Speed King" for example was an attempt to emulate Jimi Hendrix's "Fire" but took on a life of its own. "Flight Of The Rat" likewise was based on the classic tune "Flight Of The Bumblebee" before morphing into a DEEP PURPLE original through endless rehearsals. The highlight of the album "Child In Time" began by borrowing the simple opening riff from It's A Beautiful Day's track "Bombay Calling" from its 1969 debut and likewise evolved into a completely different beast that would build upon the opening keyboard melody and turn it into a sizzling shredding jam session in the middle before resolving itself as it began. With new lyrics that took an anti-war stand in the time of the Vietnam conflict, the song evolved into a monstrosity that eventually became a de facto anthem for the anti-Communists in Eastern Europe. The track is really the highlight with dramatic crescendos that alternate between slow suspenseful vocal motifs and contrasted by thunderous displays of frenetic heaviness.

IN ROCK in effect played a part in a major evolution in the history of rock music that included inventive intros to songs such as the guitar and keyboard bombast that start the album off before the crushing assault of "Speed King" delivers a bouncy guitar riffing baseline that ushers in the band's unique rhythmic drive and accompanying keyboard counterpoints. The mix was irresistible and DEEP PURPLE had hit the big time and soon would become one of the biggest bands of the entire 70s and influential to a whole new breed of heavier rockers. Newbie Ian Gillan's vocal abilities proved to be the perfect match for the band's unique sound with a wide expressive range all the while providing that hard rock gruff that would develop into the more extreme expression of heavy metal down the road. Each track featured a distinct personality with varying riffs, organ fills, drumming techniques, unexpected elements and diverse dynamics however what tied the album together cohesively was the infectious stylistic approach that was delivered in a high-powered perfection. Jon Lord's extravagant keyboard wizardry added a completely new element to the standard rock paradigm that allowed the classical wankery of the past to integrate brilliant moments of contrast to the more boogie rock guitar riffing.

With an impressive repertoire of tracks that offered varying guitar riffing styles, instantly catchy melodic twists and feisty lively performances, IN ROCK really delivered the goods in giving the world of rock music the upgrade it needed to take the popular musical form into the 1970s and along with Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep and Black Sabbath, dominated the hard rock sector in the year 1970 and pointed the way to the next level of artistic integrity thus giving the world of rock and roll a much needed bridge from the giddy flower power hippie years to the more cynical years ahead. Not only DEEP PURPLE's finest moment but really one of the best albums ever made and although the band would become superstars and dominated the early 70s hard rock scene, these five musicians never quite rekindled the magic that was displayed on this album. It's true that some of the tracks take a little longer to warm up to. The first side of the album offers a more instant likability but repeated listening sessions have revealed that even what i once perceived as the "lesser" tracks such as "Living Wreck" and "Hard Lovin' Man" offer the same magic in a delayed fashion. In short, IN ROCK is one of the true rock masterpieces of the ages!

siLLy puPPy I’ve never been one to embrace albums that are completely filled with cover tunes so when i start to check out an album that is nothing but remakes of classic songs i bring my biases along from the getgo however once in a while i’m quite surprised that something is actually better than i ever could have imagined. Such is the case with the latest release from DEEP PURPLE. It’s hard to believe that this band in name at least as been around since 1968. That’s 53 years of rocking and rolling and like The Rolling Stones seems to be immortal however we’re talking the Mark II lineup mostly since the only member to have been with the band since the beginning is drummer Ian Paice.

Back with the 22nd overall studio album, TURNING TO CRIME features 12 timeless classics reinterpreted by Ian Gillian (vocals), Steve Morse (guitars), Roger Glover (bass), Ian Paice (drums) and Don AIrey (keyboards). Several guest musicians add the extra touches of tenor sax, horns, trumpet, fiddle and squeeze box. While it may seem inappropriate for a band of such stature to tackle such an album after years of original albums, it should be remembered that DEEP PURPLE started out as a cover band with more songs from others than self-penned. Before the Mark II breakthrough the band with original singles Rod Evans covered everyone from Joe South, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Ike & Tina Turner and even Neil Diamond.

While that was the thing in the 1960s, it was actually quite the surprise to find out that TURNING TO CRIME is a collection of covers here in the year 2021 but in a way this album is like a trip down memory lane and takes the listener back to the more innocent times when popular music was almost exclusively verses and choruses and you could just tap your feet to a good beat and catchy melodic hook. I have to say that DEEP PURPLE has been rather hit and miss ever since it launched its comeback with “Perfect Strangers” all the way back in 1984 and that would be mostly miss! Although Steve Morse has performed admirably as the tall order replacement of Ritchie Blackmore, the quality of DEEP PURPLE music has been rather weak with a few exceptions here and there.

TURNING TO CRIME is an oldies but goodies type of album taking you back to the years of good old fashioned rock and roll. Most of the tracks were mined from the 1960s ranging from the psychedelic rock of Love and the rock’n’soul of Ray Charles but the 50s is fair game with a track from Huey “Piano” Smith as well as the 70s with some Little Feat and Bob Seger. While at first glance i assumed this album was going to be awful but once i lowered my expectation enough i was immediately surprised that this album isn’t that bad at all! While the band’s songwriting has deteriorated over time, the musicians’ ability to perform has not. Ian Gillan sounds exactly the same as he did on “In Rock” or “Machine Head” and Steve Morse is still every bit as his Dixie Dregs days with some surprising guitar solos improvised. Add some dirty piano rolls courtesy of Airy and it becomes apparent that DEEP PURPLE successfully take the songs on board to the next level which arguably should be the purpose of cover tunes.

True that this album is hardly the next best thing since sliced bread but if a classic band wants to churn an album of nothing but cover songs for the fun of it, so be it. Yeah, there are some silly clunkers on here such as “The Battle Of New Orleans” but for the most part these guys add the classic DEEP PURPLE touch to the otherwise straight forward rock and soul classics from the past. Clearly not the band’s next best masterpiece but as i’ve already stated, hardly the throwaway dross that i was expecting. I could actually listen to this again and not hate it!

LightningRider When I was first starting out on music forums, Deep Purple were nothing compared to Led Zeppelin, my long time favorite band. Of course, once I heard a lot of other classic rock bands, I realized that Deep Purple were everything compared to the vast majority of hard rock acts. Deep Purple, who practically invented progressive rock, were taking part in the scene pioneered by the likes of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, and before they switched from their proggy days to their hard rock days, the group achieved a middle-point which gives you everything you need to know about Deep Purple with a unique kind of magic. Deep Purple's proggy side really takes you away to magic worlds, and songs like Child in Time, with its epic metal wailing and slow build-up, really nail that Deep Purple trademark. But combined with the heavy metal side we'd see throughout the rest of the 70's, there's a perfect and even balance between magic and steel that in my opinion makes this more essential to Deep Purple than Machine Head. There's a mysticism in the lyrics that most Deep Purple albums don't have, and every member of the band is playing like they know it.

siLLy puPPy DEEP PURPLE’s Mark I lineup lasted only two short years but the band still managed to record three full albums, tour extensively and release a handful of singles, one of which “Hush” from the debut album “Shades Of Deep Purple” becoming a surprise hit and hitting the top 5 on the American Billboard charts. And consequently, due to that very success, the band members were constantly under pressure to repeat the pop hit formula however the musicians themselves wanted something else entirely. And such was the nature of the music business which meant that there had to be a middle ground between the ambitious progressive rock fusion with classical music and the more simplified pop hook tracks that could generate some income for a poorly managed Tetragrammaton Records that would soon fold and be absorbed by Warner Bros.

Despite the short time playing together, the band had evolved quite a bit since their nascent recordings in early 1968 and by the time the quintet of Rod Evans (lead vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitars), Jon Lord (keyboards, organs, piano), Nick Sempler (bass) and Ian Paice (drums, percussion) had reached their third album simply titled DEEP PURPLE also called DEEP PURPLE III, the band had unknowingly hit upon one of the great sounds in all of rock music. It’s just that they didn’t know that quite yet and would have to go through a few changes before superstardom would come knocking at their back door. Graced by an eerie amalgamation of characters on the Hieronymous Bosch cover art, so too does the music on this third installment of the DEEP PURPLE universe imbibe the many nectars of the musical world and because of that remains the band’s most diverse and unique albums of the entire multi-decade canon.

The album was preceded by the non-album single “Emmarretta” which was hoped to generate enough interest to promote the album but the single failed to match the success of “Hush” and fell by the wayside rather quickly and likewise the third album sold rather poorly which prompted the dualistic talent of Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore to think about the changes that were needed to take the music to the next level, that of a more streamlined hard rock approach. This was a tumultuous time as the duo had to assemble a new lineup of DEEP PURPLE behind the scenes while carrying on the business as usual as they toured the US after having finally found some modicum of interest in their native UK. It was decided that Evans didn’t have the vocal chops to take the music to the next level, an unfortunate limitation made all the clearly on this third album where the music had evolved into more progressive heights but the vocals didn’t and kept the album from reaching the pinnacle of its potential. Likewise friction existed with Simper.

While steeped in both the 60s psychedelia blues rock riffing and classical expressionism, DEEP PURPLE III served as more than a transitional album for the Mark II lineup just around the corner but rather allowed the band to go hog wild experimenting with all kinds of different sounds possibly hoping throwing enough spaghetti against the wall that something would stick. The introductory “Chasing Shadows” prognosticates the DEEP PURPLE to come with a heavier guitar presence than on the previous two albums. Blackmore was clearly coming to fruition as a top tier guitarist and was beginning to display more ambitious speedy solos as well as a wealth of wah-wah effects which made it clear the heavier side of rock was where this band was heading. Likewise Ian Paice’s drumming skills were finally let off the leash as he delivered a powerful bombastic African rhythmic fusion style present on the opening track that pummels the senses in an almost Santana like freneticism.

With bands like King Crimson and The Nice upping the ante in more adventurous arenas for rock, DEEP PURPLE were hot on their heels and on this third album demonstrate remarkably how they easily could’ve gone the progressive rock route in lieu of the less angular hard rock that they opted for. While “Blind” seems to revert to a couple years prior with a distinct Procol Harum type of softness clearly rooted in the 60s, Lord manages to crank out some stellar classical piano runs and Blackmore unleashes his own guitar tricks. This track in retrospect shows how the two main members were quickly outgrowing the limitations of the current lineup. Likewise the Donovan cover “Lalena” also keeps the band firmly placed in the 60s sound complete with those period organs. The album doesn’t really come to life until the excellent instrumental “Faultline” cranks out the backmasking as a rhythmic instrument and serves as an intro for “The Painter” which cranks out a killer blues rock riff and organ mix that start to sound a bit like the Mark II stylistic shift but anchored into the past by Evans’ relaxed vocal style. Paice is phenomenal in how he can produce a mood solely with his percussive drive.

Likewise “Why Didn’t Rosemary?” and “BIrd Has Flown” both display a mature sound for the band’s rhythm section as the guitar, bass, organs and drums have found their own spaces that inch even closer to the Mark II style. It now becomes obvious that Evans had to go as you can imagine Gillan screaming out a more sophisticated singing style complete with more emotive utterances. The cream of the crop for DEEP PURPLE III is the almighty progressive closer “April” which which was Jon Lord’s dream come true as far as the perfect classical and rock hybridization. While the band had structured their compositions to include classical interludes and underpinnings, “April” went all the way in creating a perfect harmonizing melodic construct of classical music mixed with progressive rock that even included a complete string section to accompany the rock aspects. This sort of style was en vogue at this point in early prog nascency but nothing The Nice cranked out approached the magnanimous nature of this beautiful piece. Even Evans seems to have stepped up to add some of his best vocals on the album and what a fabulous way to end this phase of DEEP PURPLE before the change.

While the Mark I lineup continued to play, Blackmore and Lord were already rehearsing new material with new lead singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover leaving Evans and Simper in the dark about the numbered days and unfortunately the two found out through the grapevine and didn’t exactly exit on good terms. While Evans would go on to sing lead for Captain Beyond and Simper would start Warhorse, the true winners were DEEP PURPLE themselves which under the Mark II lineup would become superstars and one of the most popular bands in rock history. The Mark I phase is certainly a precarious time for the origins of one of rock’s most celebrated musical talents and although these early albums are hardly perfect, they were quite innovative for the time and despite the uneven quality of the tracks and inferior talent of certain members still managed to crank out some timeless music. Whether its for historical curiosity or for the love of early proto-prog and metal, then sampling the 60s nectar of this phase of DEEP PURPLE is mandatory and this third installation of the Mark I lineup is perhaps the band’s most accomplished. Essential? Not really, but a fascinating album nonetheless with certain moments that are mind blowing.

martindavey87 Don’t get me wrong, I love Deep Purple, and I really enjoy the songs on offer here, but these videos are all pretty hilariously bland and uninteresting, and sure reflections of the times and music genre. Besides that, this DVD is barely half an hour long, and comes with no extras, and all these videos are available on YouTube. Not even some additional chit chat between the videos. So there’s really no point in owning this unless you’re an OCD collector like me, who needs to own everything. And even then, it only takes up space.

But I’m a collector, and I only paid 50p for this. So why not?

AtomicCrimsonRush Gillan, Glover, Lord, Morse, Paice are the essential Deep Purple lineup and it was a pleasure to see them doing this ambitious concert with finesse and flair, absolutely cementing their reputation as the ultimate metal progenitors. However therewas not enough rock and it concentrated on an orchestral piece that goes on forever. The DVD features highlights such as the classic songs, Wring That Neck, Pictures Of Home and Smoke On The Water. These were the highlights for me but I became rather bored and disinterested with the lengthy Concerto For Group And Orchestra - Movements I to III. It was interesting at first taste but soon became rather tiresome. So I was a little disapointed in this DVD.

It may be a matter of what you want from this band, I prefer the hard, raucous sound of Machine Head, Made In Japan or In Rock. Dont get me wrong. the orchestra plays beautifully, and its all very technically proficient as far as the movements are concerned, but not Deep Purple the way I remember them. I like my Deep Purple served up with classic killer riffs, magnificent vocals and virtuoso drumming. So this DVD may be great to watch once as a curio piece perhaps, but on second and third viewing its a real yawnfest.