Deep Purple - Purpendicular

Year of Release: 1996
Label: BMG Entertainment
Catalog Number: 74321338022
Format: CD
Total Time: 62:28:00

Because of the new Deep Purple release, scheduled for August, I thought I'd review Purpendicular; in my opinion, their best work after Perfect Strangers.

The reason is very simple: Steve Morse, the virtuoso Dixie Dregs' guitar player, took the place of Ritchie Blackmore, tired of playing with his band. I think Morse is one of the most expert guitarists and he has a very peculiar style.

In fact, listening to this album, it's easy to recognize his mark on this disc. It can be noticed in both the hard-rock songs or in the ballads. For example, "The Aviator" has an acoustic start which could have appeared on the Steve Morse Band's Structural Damage.

With his presence, the whole group seemed to wake up from a sleep in which it had been caught for a long time. Purpendicular is a team effort and this fact is represented by the song writing: all the tracks are written by the five members.

Ian Gillan's voice is good although it isn't the same as in the past times (like in the Seventies indeed), Jon Lord's organ (he left the group last March) is less repetitive than usual and Roger Glover is the protagonist, playing some wonderful riffs like in Rosa's Cantina.

I prefer the longest songs of the disc, "Loosen My Strings" and "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming," which are very complex pieces, but with great melodies at the same time.

A very good album, although there are songs I don't like too much: the heavy "Somebody Stole My Guitar" and "Soon Forgotten."

Tracklisting:
Vavoom: Ted The Mechanic (4:16) / Loosen My Strings (5:57) / Soon Forgotten (4:47) / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming (7:29) / Cascades: I'm Not Your Lover (4:43) / The Aviator (5:20) / Rosa's Cantina (5:10) / A Castle Full Of Rascals (5:11) / A Touch Away (4:36) / Hey Cisco (5:53) / Somebody Stole My Guitar (4:09) / The Purpendicular Waltz (4:45)

Musicians:
Ian Gillan - lead vocals and harmonica
Roger Glover - bass
Jon Lord - keyboards
Steve Morse - guitars
Ian Paice - drums

Discography:
Shades Of Deep Purple (1968)
Book Of Taliesyn (1969)
Deep Purple (1969)
Concerto For Group And Orchestra With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (live) (1969/2002)
Deep Purple In Rock (1970)
Fireball (1971)
Machine Head (1972)
Purple Passages (1972)
Made In Japan (live) (1972/1998/2001)
The Best Of Deep Purple (1972)
Who Do We Think We Are (1973/2000)
Burn (1974/2004)
Stormbringer (1974)
Come Taste The Band (1975)
24 Carat Purple (1970-1973) (1975)
Made In Europe (live) (1976)
Last Concert In Japan (1977)
Powerhouse (1978)
The Singles A's & B's (1978)
The Mark II Purple Singles (1979)
Deepest Purple (1980)
In Concert 1970 - 1972 (live) (1980)
Live On The BBC (1980/2004)
Deep Purple Live In London (live '74) (1982)
Perfect Strangers (1984)
The Anthology (1985)
The House Of Blue Light (1987)
The Best Of Deep Purple (1987)
Nobody's Perfect (live) (1988)
Scandinavian Nights (live) (1988)
Slaves And Masters (1990)
The Anthology (1991)
In The Absence Of Pink (Knebworth '85) (live) (1991)
Purple Rainbows (1991)
Knocking At Your Back Door (1992)
The Battle Rages On (1993)
Progression (1993)
The Deep Purple Family Album (1993)
Live In Japan (3cd) (1993)
Gemini Suite Live (1993)
Come Hell Or High Water (live) (1994)
King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents: Deep Purple In Concert (1995)
Child In Time (1995)
Purpendicular (1996)
California Jammin' (1996)
Live At The Olympia (1996)
The Final Concerts (1996)
Abandon (1998)
Total Abandon: Australia '99 (1999)
In Concert With The London Symphony Orchestra (2000)
Live At The Royal Albert Hall (2000)
This Time Around: Live In Tokyo '75 (2001)
New Live & Rare: The Bootleg Series 1984-2000 (2001)
In Concert: 1970-1972 (2001)
In Profile (2001)
Singles Box Set (2002)
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Edition (2002)
Listen Learn Read On (2002)
The Essential (2003)
Gold (2003)
California Jam 1974 (2003)
Bananas (2003)
The Best Of Deep Purple: Live In Europe (2003)
Space Vol 1 & 2 (2004)
Perks And Tit (2004)
The Platinum Collection (2005)
Who Do We Think We Are (24kt Gold reissue) (2005)
Rapture Of The Deep (2005)
Live In Europe 1993 (2006)
Live At Montreux (2006)
Phoenix Rising (2011)
BBC Sessions 1968-1970 (2011)
Live At Montreux 2011 (2011)
Paris 1975 (2012)
Copenhagen 1972 (2013)
Now What?! (2013)
Perfect Strangers Live (2013)
Stockholm 1970 (2014)
Graz 1975 (2014)
Long Beach 1971 (2015)
From The Setting Sun... (In Wacken) (2015)
...To The Rising Sun (In Tokyo) (2015)
Long Beach 1976 (2016)
Infinite (2017)
The Infinite Live Recordings (2017)

California Jam - Live In California 74 (VHS/DVD/BR) (1981/2005/2016)
Rises Over Japan/Phoenix Rising (VHS/DVD) (1985/2011)
The Video Singles (VHS?) (1987)
Scandinavian Nights - Live In Denmark 1972/Live In Concert 72/73 (VHS/DVD) (1988/2005)
Doing Their Thing - Masters From The Vaults (rec 1970) (VHS/DVD) (1990/2003)
Heavy Metal Pioneers (VHS?) (1991)
Come Hell Or High Water (VHS/DVD) (1994/2001)
Bombay Calling (VHS?) (1995)
Total Abandon: Live In Australia (DVD?) (1999)
Concerto For Group And Orchestra (rec 1969) (VHS/DVD) (1999/2003)
In Concert With The London Symphony Orchestra (DVD) (2000)
Classic Albums: Deep Purple - The Making Of Machine Head (DVD) (2001)
New Live & Rare: The Video Collection 1984-2000 (DVD) (2001)
Perihelion (DVD) (2002)
Live Encounters (DVD) (2004)
Live At Montreux 1995 (DVD) (2006)
They All Came Down To Montreux (DVD) (2007)
Around The World Live (DVD) (2008)
History, hits & highlights '68–'76 (DVD) (2009)
Live At Montreux 2011 (with Orchestra) (DVD) (2011)
Perfect Strangers Live (DVD) (2013)
Live In Verona (with Orchestra) (DVD) (2014)
Celebrating Jon Lord At The Royal Albert Hall (with Deep Purple, Bruce Dickinson, Glenn Hughes, Paul Weller, Rick Wakeman & Many Others) (DVD) (2014)
From The Setting Sun... (In Wacken) (DVD) (2015)
...To The Rising Sun (In Tokyo) (DVD) (2015)
Live at the NEC (DVD) (2016)
From Here To Infinite - The Movie (BR) (2017)

Genre: Rock

Origin UK

Added: February 11th 2003
Reviewer: Davide Guidone

Artist website: www.deeppurple.com
Hits: 3779
Language: english