Jun 18, 2007 03:36 PM
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From the first record - Shades Of Deep Purple to the brilliant Bananas record... Deep Purple is a band that transcends time and continues to rock the known universe with their brand of heavy, hard hitting rock. The legendary band has seen many a line up change and showcased some of the best musicians in the world (including my personal favourite - Jon Lord).
Deep Purple
The original lineup (aka Mark 1) consisted of the lord of the hammond organ, Jon Lord, Richie Blackmore (guitars), Ian Paice (drums), Nick Simper (bass) and Rod Evans (Vocals). Their first song HUSH (a cover of a Joe South hit) became a hit and Deep Purple was well on it's way to Rock n Roll greatness.
The best lineup they ever had was the second one (Mark 2 with Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord and Paice). This group provided the world with classics such as Speed King, Strange Kind Of Woman and... Smoke On The Water.
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Purpendicular
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Purpendicular holds a special place in my heart. If I had to pick five albums to listen to on a deserted island... I'd pick this one. One reason is that I'd been fortunate to meet the band and get a CD signed by them all... and that one was Purpendicular.
Purpendicular had 'the silver throated screamer' Ian Gillan doing the vocals... Roger Glover on Bass... Steve Morse on guitars... Ian Paice on drums... and Jon Lord playing keys and his incredible Hammond Organ.
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The Songs
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Purpendicular opens with TED THE MECHANIC. The groove is brilliant and every instrument makes a strong statement... Ian Gillan sings in his inimitable style. The next two tracks LOOSEN MY STRINGS and SOON FORGOTTEN are good rock numbers and set the mood for the album's magnum opus... the incredible SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE SCREAMING.
The song starts off with Steve Morse picking his guitar strings and Ian Gillan crooning soulfully. From that platform, they build the song into an incredible cresendo with organ and guitar and vocals competing with each other without stepping on each other's toes. A Brilliant piece of rock music.
The next song... CASCADES: I'M NOT YOUR LOVER keeps the groove going and paves the way to the most beautiful rock song you'd ever hear...
AVIATOR... is Steve Morse at his best... playing both the Acoustic and Electric guitars. The rest of the band plays the perfect foil to Steve Morse's Wizardry. Ian Gillan sings "I'm tird of the bombs... tired of the bullets... tired of the crazies on tv... I'm the aviator... dreams a dream... whatever it seems"... This is the best song on the record...
ROSA'S CANTINA has Ian Gillan playing the Bongos and supplementing his incredible voice with some wild breaks on his Harmonica. This is followed by CASTLE FULL OF RASCALS, TOUCH AWAY, the wild HEY CISCO and SOMEBODY STOLE MY GUITAR.
To bring an incredible record to a fitting conclusion... the band goes berserk in THE PURPENDICULAR WALTZ. Set the volume to Max if you want to render yourself deaf.
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Overall
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I'd buy this album for just two songs... SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE SCREAMING and AVIATOR. This by no means indicates that the other songs are weak. On the contrary, this record is the sign of a band that has grown so strong over the years that even the weakest links in it's armoury are way better than others.
Overall... an incredible record.
~finis~
