COME TASTE THE BAND

This is not DEEP PURPLE as you know it. The hard-rock firebrands have mellowed, and they are one of the first white bands to pour funk over their sound. It would have been fascinating to have seen where they went with this - had the band survived.

The album is a mixture of sub-par rockers (none of the tracks rock out, really), some funky numbers ('Gettin' Tighter' grabs you at first listen, as does 'I Need Love') and a few bluesy pieces. And is that soul I hear in 'The Drifter'? Then, just when you're about to consign the album to the 'Stormbringer' pile, along come the last two tracks.

Oh my. 'This Time Around/Owed To G' is worth the price of the album. This is how rock should sound. The track begins with a very Stevie Wonder-sounding Glenn Hughes vocal, glorious on its own, but which segues into a sensational Bolin instrumental track. Only a few minutes long, but its one of those tracks that outmuscles many an overblown prog track. DEEP PURPLE had done little with progressive sensibilities in four years, until now. Get hold of this track; you absolutely must listen to it. Must.

'You Keep On Moving' is an excellent closer, and the track most often gathered on to a Greatest Hits package. I see it as of a piece with the previous track, and ensure they follow each other on my DEEP PURPLE playlists.

If you can make it to the end of this album, you'll be rewarded.