Deep Purple

OK, So...Purpendicular!

This was, I believe, the first Purple album I remember actually holding in my own hands around the time of it's release, either 1996 or 1997. I think I borrowed it at the local library, I knew who the guys were at the time but didn't really know em' and the weird cover (had no idea what Purpendicular meant back then) looked curious enough to pick up...I'll just touch on a few points raised by Black Bart:

Black Bart said:
The addition of Steve Morse is heralded by the opening of the album ("Vavoom: Ted the Mechanic") that establishes the latter as a funkier and more technical guitar player than Blackmore
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In a way he reminds me more of the other American they had in the band, Tommy Bolin. But yes, Morse's playing really elevates a lot of the songs. He carries a song like "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming" for example. Also notable, and candidate for MVP on this album, is Ian Gillan I feel. He certainly didn't sound this good on The Battle Rages On did he?! Or perhaps it's a question of production.

Black Bart said:
What's more, this album features compositions that felt more inspired and less obvious than what DP had accustomed their listeners to, especially the softer songs like "Sometimes I Feel like Screaming"
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Lots of interesting compositions here indeed. Soon Forgotten is another track where they're really trying out new things. It almost sounds circus-y. And Celtic jig on The Aviator?!

Black Bart said:
All in all, this album, particularly in so far as it comes after a string of more or less dysfunctional albums, appears as a breathe of fresh air.
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Agree :ok: To me this is a bit like Purple's Brave New World album. The band reborn in a way-....
 
That was cool (the live track) ... Morse is an incredibly under rated guitar player, does not help that he is replacing a legend, but I cannot think of a more perfect player for this band.
 
Never listened to Morse Deep Purple, but he's one of my favorite players. Love his solo work and stuff with Dixie Dregs.
 
Now is the time to rectify that @Mosh ;)I believe he plays on all of the albums we have left in the catalog discussion. it would actually be interesting to have a Steve Morse fans perspective on Morse's output in Deep Purple and how it compares to his solo stuff.

There's definitely a lot of great stuff from him on Purpendicular. Like this:

 
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I've read a very, very positive review on that gig, especially Romero was lauded. Very memorable. One of few critics was, according to the reviewer, and I tend to agree, is that there was too much balance in between Rainbow and Purple songs. This means too many Purple songs. After all, the concert is promoted as Rainbow and several of the Purple classics are played by the still existing Purple while the Rainbow material is much more rare to witness. It would have done Rainbow more honour to replace a couple of Purple classics. Also the rhythm section was not good cleverly chosen. They are from Blackmore's Night. Especially the drummer. Not powerful and he managed to fuck up Stargazer's legendary intro every single night (also in the previous two German gigs of which the second was reviewed as a very nice concert as well).

First gig: setlist http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/rainb...-loreley-st-goarshausen-germany-23fe681f.html
Second gig: setlist http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/rainb...kt-bietigheim-bissingen-germany-1bfe651c.html
Third gig: setlist http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/rainbow/2016/genting-arena-birmingham-england-13fe41dd.html
 
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TheTalisman said:

Romero did it great! Would love to hear it on a live album.
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That was awesome!

As for the setlists. Yes,a bit too much emphasis on Purple material but also way too much focus on early Rainbow. There's only two songs there not from the Dio-era Rainbow as far as I can tell...But well, at least he plays some! ;)
 
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The audience in Birmingham was great. Listen how they sing along. Blackmore didn't play that good as in his best days. Far from it. Well, the man is over seventy. Still liked it a lot! Jens Johansson rules. Probably my favourite keyboard player from this era.
 
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Deep_Purple-Abandon-Frontal.jpg


Deep Purple - Abandon (1998)

Abandon. The 16th Deep Purple release. Released in 1998. The second one with Steve Morse on guitar but sadly also the last one featuring Jon Lord :(

Previous album Perpendicular had been a pretty successful album overall, with the band sounding playful and rejuvenated. Let's see how this follow-up stacks against it....

Opener Any Fule Kno That sounds very inspired by the success of Ted The Mechanic. It has a nice little guitar lick in the chorus and both Lord and Morse get a solo spot. The lyrics are your typical Gillan humorous, dare I say...gibberish? The guitar tone is also a bit harder than on the previous album - a bit more "metal" sounding perhaps? Almost Human has a pretty good chorus in:

You always know where I'll be found
Hanging somewhere near the ground
Help me up or help me down

Don't want to lose those days
When everything is just a haze
I'm dreaming

You spin into my empty room
And once again I'm almost human
Almost human

I really dig the drum beat here and the ghost notes that Ian Paice adds to it...Really gives the song this nice floaty feeling and doesn't let it fall into a more "grounded" beat. Matches the lyrics quite well. Lord plays some offbeat harmonics as well and sees the track out by giving a nice solo but I don't think the fade out works too well.

Don't Make Me Happy is just a straight up blues tune. Not too interesting - lyrics ain't anything to write about either. Seventh Heaven is another example of the album sounding more "metal" than it's predecessor. It's almost like Deep Purple wanted Abandon to be more "back to basics" with less experimental ventures. Seventh Heaven also has a nice jammy solo section, a bt misplaced perhaps, but nothing to put the finger on with regards to the playing of course...Watching The Sky must be one of the highlights of the album, it's at least one of the more interesting pieces here with the slow dreamy parts. I don't think they've ever used effects on Gillan's vocals before this one have they? It works quite well IMO. Also, the lyrics are not too bad on this one.:

I left my luggage at the station
Didn't know how to say goodbye

Is a cool line at least :) Fingers To The Bone hmm, I kinda like this one but some of it should have been arranged better. I like the story it tells of the downtrodden and the workers who work the fingers to the bone but I don't really like the main melody line, even though it is rather folky and as such fits the theme and the lyrics. There's a neat little interlude here as well with a harmonica and some piano - Straight out of left field in regards to the rest of the song but cool on it's own. Jack Ruby sees the band hitting the blues again, Gillans hits some very, very high notes here and Steve Morse goes back to playing some Dixie Dregs kinda style guitar. Yeah enjoyable because the musicianship is top notch of course but it's still just a blues jam. She Was I'm not sure who Gillan is trying to sound like here...Some of the more contemporary rock bands of the later 90s perhaps? I don't know...Doesn't sound like Purple to me and is not what I'm looking for in a Purple tune.

Side B of Abandon does loose a lot of momentum with the also less than exiting songs 69' and Evil Louie. The former being a standard uptempo Purple rocker while the latter is a sluggish rocker about Texas, monkeys and French cuisine? The album closes with a cover of their own Bloodsucker cover from the In Rock album. Only they've renamed it Bludsucker. This is actually a good version of this song..but what's the point?Overall some fine things on this album but it falls apart a bit on side B with some less than lucky songs...But there's definitly some things on here I'd go back and listen to...Almost Human, Watching The Sky, Seventh Heaven and Any Fule Kno That. Also I love the cover artwork of the man in swim brief's "taking a dive".
 
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Basically, I found it boring, especially the last third of the album. The cover of "Bloodsucker" is useless. The only songs I like are "Almost human" (thanks to the great guitar/keyboard unison after the verses) and, to a lesser extent "Fingers to the Bone". "Watching the Skies" could have been better without the part where the vocal melody of one part of "Stairway to Heaven" is ripped off and Gillan's screams that seem out of place in my opinion in this context.
It is a sad studio farewell to Jon Lord.
 
Black Bart said:
"Watching the Skies" could have been better without the part where the vocal melody of one part of "Stairway to Heaven" is ripped off and Gillan's screams that seem out of place in my opinion in this context.
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True. And it doesn't work much better live either. I actually prefer it on the studio release to the live version I heard on Total Abandon I think it was?
 
Black Bart said:
It is a sad studio farewell to Jon Lord.
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Kinda yeah...

I didn't know until recently that Jon Lord composed a classical piece about leaving Deep Purple in 2004....

Jon Lord’s programme note:
Leaving Deep Purple was just as traumatic as I’d always suspected it would be. And more so – if you see what I mean. This music is, in a way, the story of that departure. The joy of finding the freedom to fly alone but the sadness of parting from something so warm and supportive. Exulting in a new dawn while still missing last night’s beautiful sunset.

Friends of such longstanding (and occasional falling down) no longer there nearly every day to joke with, argue with, to smile with and at, and, some days, missing the pure happiness and pride in being part of making music with… well, terrific chaps really. Sometimes those middle-of-the-night moments, waking suddenly to hear the echo of my voice asking questions in the dark. So what was I asking? Probably just: “are they keeping my seat on the bus warm?”



Well anyway, chums, now there is clarity and sparkle coupled delightfully with a sharp-end, buck-stops-here tingle. So then. Here we are. Adventure. New friends. New music to be made. Onwards and upwards. Out of the deep and back to the future. Funny old life, isn’t it?

 
I'm kind of disinterested in Morse albums. They lost edge with Blackmore.
 
Zare said:
Mk VI - Totally unfamiliar territory. It's not that I didn't hear anything from them, it's the stuff I heard, wasn't interesting enough to keep exploring. I did catch them in 2007 and the show was great, and so was Morse's performance.

The most recent Purple stuff I'm listening to are '94 shows with Satch.
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Sorry I can't say much more than this. I played Seventh Heaven and after a cool guitar riff (I like Morse after all), I just got carried away with something else and the song never caught me. I think while I really prefer the musicians and the musicianship involved, the material isn't my cup of tea.
 
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