![]() ![]() It’s just fucking breathtaking really.Īs always with this band, the heaviness and the speed was never the whole point so much as just listening to these dudes play. But it’s “Blood from a Stone” that ends up the album’s best song for me – a jazzy, lounge-y number that builds into a heavy crescendo and a dynamite chorus. Both of these were tributes to fallen keyboardist Jon Lord, which is touching. The centerpiece of the album is the more emotional songs in the middle, though, with “Above and Beyond” boasting some cathartic vocal hooks and uplifting, sonorous guitar/key interplay and “Uncommon Man” borrowing its themes from an orchestral piece called “Fanfare for the Common Man.” With the regal levels of pomp going on while Gillan croons “It’s good to be king,” it’s a killer tune. “Weirdistan” is a cornucopia of 70s-style swampy grooves and rigorous keyboard flourishes, “Hell To Pay” has pomp and bombast for days, and the closing “Vincent Price” has some fittingly campy horror music motifs and the heaviest riff the band has done in ages while Gillan intones and shrieks like a banshee. Opener “A Simple Song” comes in slow, with Gillan crooning over some soft, balladic chords and great lyrics, but it erupts into a classic-styled groove. It’s just a bunch of dudes who can’t stop making great music. And because the songs have no real gimmicks. This band has always been tough to write about because of their long, storied history – you’re writing about the guys who put out “Smoke on the Water,” for fuck’s sake. The bluesy grooves, the swinging rock bravado, Ian Gillan’s comforting, headstrong voice and the inimitable keyboard work all come together to form something truly complete, with every part integral in ways lesser bands don’t manage as they focus on certain ear-catching lone elements. Deep Purple’s songs have always felt like detailed, full tapestries real stories with no missing parts. I’ve kept that in mind listening to Deep Purple these last few weeks, and as my tastes evolve, that has kind of been the linchpin for me, separating good fun from true, real art. He said writing a song was more than just those things. Now What?!, from 2013, is another solid-ass choice from the old masters.īassist Roger Glover in a recent interview said he thought a lot of bands got songwriting wrong – that, by focusing on hooks or performance too much, they missed out on some intangible essence. Deep Purple is a rare case in the hard rock spectrum – usually a place where young vibrant greats burn out or die before they reach old age – where they’ve got this whole discography of killer shit from the late 60s all the way through to today. I think ideally, artists would continue to make great art into their twilight years – in many mediums, that does happen, with actors and artists and other craftsmen remaining relevant well past their younger ages. That said, it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. These last few Deep Purple albums have sounded like music made by old men, because that’s what they are. ![]()
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