PICTURED WITHIN

Jon Lord followed up on his lamentable 1982 ‘& friends’ release “Before I Forget” with a return to Deep Purple, seemingly content to put both his solo endeavors and his Whitesnake career behind him. Except for a mid-eighties collaboration with film/television producer Alfred Ralston titled “Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady” (which nobody I know has ever seen or heard), Lord wouldn’t release another non-MkII work until he recorded this album in late 1998. Not long after he would leave Deep Purple for good and embark on the latest phase of his career.

This and Lord’s other albums since it can really be thought of more as adult contemporary with strong classical leanings than as anything progressive. It seems he has chosen to live out his wild side (such as remains) in the form of the Hoochie Coochie Men collaborations. ‘Pictured Within’ is much more complex, regal and placid than that music though.

Lord was mourning the passing of his mother when most of this album was written and recorded, and he did so in Cologne, a place that afforded him an opportunity to reflect and develop the somber emotions expressed in this music. There is nothing flashy, loud, pompous or fast here. These are deeply personal compositions, mostly instrumental, and tend toward slow, lush piano arrangements. To emphasize the somber aspect of the music Lord enlisted a number of string players as well as an oboist, French horn player and flautist. The guest musicians here are different from the hard rock crowd who participated in most of his previous solo work. Most of the names are not easily recognized by prog music fans, as I suppose many of them come from the classical world and are therefore not known to many of Lord’s older fans.

It would be largely unproductive to expand on each individual track of the album, mostly because they are all musically quite similar (piano, strings, a little horn or flute, more piano), and also because only Lord can fully explain the deeper meanings of each song.

There are a few exceptional works on the album though. “Evening Song” features gorgeous and sultry vocals from Dutchwoman Sabine Van Baaren, and “Music for Miriam” is a wonderful composition almost exclusively focused on strings, with viola and cello figuring most prominently. Lord was going for great sorrow in the mood here, and he certainly achieved that.

The most ambitious piece on the album is the nearly fifteen minute long “Crystal Spa” which can best be described as an orchestral composition with an oboe as its centerpiece. I sat through a classical music concert once where oboe was the featured solo, and I have to say that it was one of the saddest experiences I’ve ever been through, simply because it seems to be impossible to play that instrument without its sound causing everyone in hearing range to burst instantly and uncontrollably into tears. An appropriate choice for such a poignant album.

This isn’t prog music I suppose, but certainly not everything any progressive musician does is either. It was a personal time and range of emotions that Lord chose to share with his fans and friends, and should be respected on its merits. If taken in that context I think most of his fans will be glad to have experienced it.

peace