CD Review: Deep
Purple – Now What?!
earMusic/Eagle Rock Entertainment
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| Deep Purple - Now What?! 2013 |
Cracks
were starting to appear in the foundation. Deep Purple, Mark II, was crumbling,
as exhaustion from a non-stop cycle of touring and recording were beginning to
take their toll. On top of that, internal dysfunction – mostly between guitar
wizard Ritchie Blackmore and singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover – was tearing them apart, and yet, they somehow managed to slog through 1973’s rather limp and
uninspired death knell Who Do We Think We
Are, even though they did come out with guns blazing in the electrifying “Woman
from Tokyo.”
This was the end of Gillan’s association with Deep Purple, at
least until 1984’s Perfect Strangers,
and Mark II went out with a whimper.
That was
30 years ago. Today, with Blackmore’s time in Deep Purple a distant memory, the
proto-metal legends return with their first studio album since 2005, Now What?! The punctuation is
appropriately emphatic. Whether it’s an exasperated question they’re asking of
themselves or a dare to anyone who thinks they can’t deliver the goods anymore,
the title of their latest effort – produced by Bob Ezrin – is open to interpretation. What is clear is that,
with guitarist Steve Morse having long since settled into his role as Blackmore’s
successor, something Tommy Bolin initially struggled with, Deep Purple is
completely comfortable in its own skin and capable of generating audacious instrumental
fireworks.
Winding its way through labyrinthine passages and flying over contoured soundscapes, What Now?! can be mysterious
and exotic. With orchestral string flourishes vehemently slashing through the
air, “Out of Hand” is a cinematic marvel reminiscent of Gillan’s recent WhoCares
recordings with Tony Iommi and Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” as is the ornate “Uncommon
Man,” although the ever-shifting moods and tempos make it more of a relic of ‘70s
progressive-rock pomp and circumstance than anything else. The same can also be
said of “Apres Vous” and “Weirdistan,” both widescreen prog epics that allow
Morse and keyboardist Don Airey plenty of opportunity to stretch out and
experiment with strange, alien sounds.
On the
other hand, in the tradition of classic Mark II Purple, the energetic rocker “Hell
to Pay” – stuck in overdrive and running hot – boasts plenty of horsepower, while
the smoldering “Blood from a Stone,” with soulful vocals from Gillan, is dark
and jazzy, with Airey’s keyboards falling like rain, just as Ray Manzarek’s did
in The Doors’ classic “Riders on the Storm.” The bluesy ballad “All the Time in
the World” is standard-issue, however, and far less intoxicating, standing in sharp
contrast to the mesmerizing fury of “A Simple Song” and the colorful, lively
funk grooves of “Bodyline.” Although lacking a signature track, like
In fine
voice, Gillan is as expressive as ever, even if he doesn’t quite have the range
he used to, but it’s Airey and Morse who garner the most attention – Airey with
his forceful, swirling Hammond organ dust storms that pay tribute to the dearly departed
Jon Lord and Morse with his solid riffing and classy, finessed leads, the product
of a wonderful imagination and great dexterity. Who do they think they are? Why, it’s
Deep Purple … that’s who, and the reinvigorated musical interplay between these
prodigious talents is remarkably exciting. If this, combined with a well-timed recent
episode of VH1’s “Behind the Music” regaling us with their glorious, and oftentimes
fractious, history, does not get them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
nothing will.
– Peter Lindblad
– Peter Lindblad
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