• AllMyVinyl #78
• Band: Deep Purple
• Album Title: =1 (Equals One)
• Release Date: 20 Jul 2024
• Date purchased: 26 Apr 2024 (pre-order)
• Location purchased: Amazon
• Color of vinyl: purple
• Number of discs: 2
• Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]

Deep Purple has long ago passed into the realm of “auto purchase”.  The first thing I ever bought was the “Deepest Purple” compilation back in the time they were inactive in the early 80’s.  Then Perfect Strangers came out, and I’ve bought all their albums since.  So the fact that I started buying vinyl of their new releases is no surprise.  In fact, =1 is the second new album they’ve put out since I started with vinyl again.  They’re 23rd overall since they started.

After all this time you’d think they’d slow down – or stop, but no.  In fact, they changed lead guitarists.  For the last eight studio albums prior to this, they had Steve Morse as lead guitarist.  So what do they do when it’s time for a new guy?  Not retire.  Hire someone new and keep buggering on.  They brought in Simon McBride who I knew from the second Snakecharmer album.  He was also in Don Airey’s “solo” band, so he’s been around the family for a time anyway.  When I heard they had hired him to play lead guitar, I was hoping they’d do another studio album because I felt they’ve always been on the verge of stopping for awhile now.

I mean, the band is what I refer to as “geezer rock” for sure.  Ian Gillan is 79, Roger Glover is 78, Ian Paice is 76, and Don Airey is 76.  Simon is the baby at just 45 years old!  But the album they produced here is spectacular.  It’s definitely not a band overdue for a retirement, it’s not a band that’s just putting out anything to sell a few bucks. they’re putting out relevant music.  As I age myself, more and more of the people I listened to have either passed on, or have retired, or have long ago passed into “We’ll just play the hits over and over and not do anything new”.  That’s most definitely NOT Deep Purple.  That they’re still functioning as a proper album / tour / album / tour band in this era – never mind their ages is something to be praised.  You won’t see Deep Purple on one of those “festivals of bands that mostly play state fairs anymore” – they’re still a living, breathing, proper rock and roll band.  New music.  Tours – the lot.  Good on ya lads.  It was produced by Bob Ezrin who has produced the last four albums prior to this for Purple, so he’s become an unofficial member himself – something backed up by the fact that all the songs on this album are credited to the five Purple members AND Bob.

Again Deep Purple being themselves they went out and played a ton of shows around Europe.  Also with modern tech being what it is, you can see nearly all of the shows on Youtube via someone’s recording.  McBride smoked – I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I first heard of him in Purple, but he live shows I had seen were amazing.  That’s when I hoped there’d be a new album coming, as I would have loved to have seen what the rest of the band did with him on the six string.

So when they announced earlier this year they had recorded a new studio album, I was quite pleased.  The moment I was able to pre-order it, I did – and of course with it being Deep Purple, the vinyl was also purple.  They’re not all like that, but one is never surprised when Deep Purple puts out an album with purple vinyl.  I didn’t buy it on any other format, as I rarely play physical CD’s anymore, so vinyl and Apple music for this one is my way forward.

A word about the cover art – if you can even call it that.  It’s just Ian writing “= 1 Deep Purple”.  No art, just a few handwritten words.  Really guys?  I know the Now What ?! cover was simplistic, but that had a style to it at least.  This is just..  I’m sorry it shows no effort for cover art.  I really do NOT like this aspect of it at all. But it’s the only part I don’t like.

What’s on that vinyl is a great testament to the legacy this band has.  It’s good solid hard rock.   Given I think I’ve run out of intro for this stuff, I’ll get to the tunes…

One last note – this is one of those full length albums that you have to play at 45rpm, and not the usual 33.  Forgot that so when I went to play it at 33, it played SUPER slow, so I was like “Oh yeah, have to change the speed…”

Show Me – This song starts off in a similar vein as the the song Ted the Mechanic did back in 1996.  This opening guitar riff isn’t quite as in your face as that one was, but this time it’s a different sound than any prior Purple guitarists (Blackmore, Bolin, Morse – even Satriani) would have done on any of their work.  There’s been several songs I’ve written about in this series with what I call a “chugging” guitar riff.  This is ALMOST like that.  I’m tempted to just say that, but doesn’t have the same vibe.   But what it does have is a great rhythm that supports the guitar and keyboard work.  Not QUITE a statement song for this new incarnation of Deep Purple, but it’s close.  Has a lot of things you’d expect from a Deep Purple song in the first 3:59 of the album.

A Bit on the Side – Knowing the way Ian writes lyrics, I have to imagine this was a sex song.  and then I read the lyrics – yeah, mostly – ha.   Musically this has a keyboard solo by Don.  I don’t know enough to differentiate between types of keys, so they’re all “keys” to me, although I know the guys at the Deep Purple podcast could probably tell me what’s being played there.  We do get a guitar solo which I quite like.  Not the most out there guitar solo, but still nicely done.

Sharp Shooter – Starts off with a heavier riff – not quite a bass intro, but definitely a heavier sound.  At first I thought this was going to be more keys heavy , but then Simon comes in with a guitar solo I really enjoyed.  Was probably my favorite part of the song (the solo), as other than heavy opening riff making a reappearance about 2/3 of the way through the song, most of this one was standard Purple fare, not a ton that sticks out in the main part of the song.  Not bat at all, but I probably would have struggled to rank it a 2.5 or a 3 on the DPP ratings system.

Portable Door – The first single, and the song the public heard the earliest.  As it’s the first single, it’s got what you want for a song in that position.  A catchy chorus, a great musical hook, the kind of thing that gets you excited to hear the rest of the album.  It’s very Deep Purple in its construction and execution.  And to top it off you hear the song title, and go “what the hell is that about – Portable door?!?”  Love this track.  The kind of “first single” that you play a lot because it’s the only one available at that time, but don’t get tired of hearing due to your own personal overplay.  Great track – it ends in such a way that you want to just hear it again.  There’s a video for it as well.

Old-Fangled Thing – Love the opening sounds.  Super catchy right from the start.  Ian Gillan tells a story in the lyrics and it’s got some catchy riffs.  It’s Deep Purple basically.  Not a deep review for this one, but here we are.

If I Were You – The point of the album where we take it down a bit – this song starts out like an old slow blues song.  It doesn’t stay there, but that was what I was thinking when it got started.  It picks up a bit during the chorus, but is the lower energy song on the album for sure.  The mark of a great song for me is closing your eyes and just jamming to the beat.  I’m not QUITE there with this song, but I still enjoyed it as a change of pace track.

Pictures of You – The second single.  A higher energy track over the one that preceded it on the album.  Based on what I know about how Purple historically writes music, I get the impression this is a song that’s more driven by McBride than the others.  I know all the songs are credited to everyone, but it has to start somewhere, but this (to me) feels like a McBride driven song more than some of the others due to the overall guitar sound on it.  Could be wrong, but hey, it’s my thoughts on the music, eh?  The song ends with a slower part than the entire rest of the song that I REALLY liked.  However, it faked me out a bit, as it led DIRECTLY into the next song with no break in-between.  Didn’t realize that happened at first and it wasn’t until I was a minute into the next song that I realized this one ended!

I’m Saying Nothing – This song has a bottom line sound I’ve heard many times before in Deep Purple.  A familiar sounding song – not a ripoff of something else, but definitely shaken free from the same tree that has produced other songs in the past.  Traditional sounding Purple track for sure.

Lazy Sod – The third and final of the pre-release singles is probably my favorite of the three, and possibly my favorite on the entire album.  Love the guitar solo – one of my favorites from the album.  It also has a keyboard solo too.  Both in one song is always a bonus.  Not quite the “tradeoff” stuff from Purple’s past, but I love the inclusion of both here.

Now You’re Talkin – Now we’re talking – a faster track – one of my favorite types.  It even has an Ian scream!  We’re not talking Child in Time or something from Born Again – but not the kind of thing a 79 year old is expected to do, so its inclusion was quite good.  Nate from DPP rated it a 5.  I’m not so sure I’d give it a five, but easily a 4, touching 4.5.  Had to play this a second time after it was over.  Of the album tracks that weren’t one of the singles, this one is my favorite.  When the main guitar solo kicks in – I actually thought to myself “Go Simon!”  Great stuff here.

No Money to Burn – The guitar riff sounds in certain ways like something a certain Mr. Iommi might play.  Despite that, this song doesn’t do a lot for me.  Just kind of there.  I can relate to the lyrics though – “I’ve got no money, no moolah”.  :)

I’ll Catch You – This one starts with a nice fluid guitar sound that (for me) invokes what Morse did when he was in the band.  It’s also a fairly slower track that focuses mostly on Ian – the rest of the band is in the background when Ian’s singing the verses.  This kind of song doesn’t always work for me – but it does here.

Bleeding Obvious – It’s a 5 out of 5.  Stellar track from start to finish.  It’s the longest song on the album (at 5:50) too, but it doesn’t feel like it’s knocking on the door of a six minute song.   I find it hard to describe this – it’s the kind of song that starts in one place, ends in another and visits are few other areas in-between.  All of which merge together really well to produce this track.  Some amazingly awesome guitar and keyboard work in the middle.  Pacey & Glover aren’t to be forgotten here either.  Smokingly awesome track.  Once again, if this ends up being the last Deep Purple album, they went out on a high note – great song!!

Thus brings to the close another spectacular Deep Purple album  For those of you who still cling on to the outmoded and quite frankly stupid assertion of “No Ritchie, No Purple”…  Well..  You’re wrong. This is damn great stuff, geezer rock be damned.  If you haven’t checked out modern Deep Purple, then I urge you to get this.

They came through on my town on this tour, but due to some health issues at the time, I was unable to attend.  For that really selfish reason I really hope this isn’t the last album / tour / album / tour cycle.  :)

Long live Deep Purple!