WHOOSH!

A legacy band having some fun - this is Deep Purple's 'Whoosh!' album, the band's 21st studio release, and third one after joining forces (and practically rejuvenating themselves) with producer Bob Ezrin. Ian Gillan, Don Airey, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, and Steve Morse present a very fun collection of songs that impress the most with the fact that each one kind of reminisces a specific phase of the band's career, whether this be the 60s psychedelia period (with the re-worked version of Purple's 1968 instrumental 'And the Address', originally written by the late Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore), or the more groovy, sometimes bluesy mid-70s (on songs like 'Throw My Bones', 'We're All the Same in the Dark', 'What the What', 'The Long Way Round'), or even the gnarlier episodes of their 80s releases (we have the energetic tracks 'Drop the Weapon', 'No Need to Shout' and 'Dancing in My Sleep') ? no matter which aspect of their sound they take up, they give it a modern spin, whether this be through Don Airey's proggier keyboard extravaganzas, quite welcome if I may say, often reminding us either of Jon Lord, or maybe Rick Wakeman, or through Steve Morse's infectious riffs and crushing solos, very catchy and upbeat, he has to be the member who brings the most 'muscular' qualities to the latest Deep Purple sound.

But after all, is 'Whoosh!' a classic? The answer would lean more towards a negation; Yes, the songs are quite good, some could even go down as DP classics ('Man Alive', 'Drop the Weapon' and potentially 'The Power of the Moon'), they are catchy, enjoyable, and surprisingly strong for a band of their age, but the throbbing aggression and the tempting vibrance that so well define classic albums like 'In Rock', 'Fireball', 'Burn' or 'Machine Head' could hardly be experienced, and this is no surprise. The big celebration is to see Deep Purple still going strong, releasing strong LPs every couple of years now, and the fact that they have that much fun with their new songs is simply inspiring.