RAPTURE OF THE DEEP

I was really looking forward to seeing my first Deep Purple live show at the Sweden Rock Festival 2006. Since I haven't heard any new Deep Purple material since Perfect Strangers I purchased Rapture Of The Deep just a week before the show.

It's true that I had very moderate expectations in regard to the album since this new Deep Purple lineup was far from the classic band we all like. After a series of off and on commitments Ritchie Blackmore finally called it quits in the early '90s while Jon Lord followed him after another decade with the band. With only Ian Paice left from the original lineup Deep Purple was becoming another one of those relic bands that people go to see just to meet other hard fans and chat about the good old days. Meaning that it's more about the community than the actual live performance. The same problem has already emerged with bands like Uriah Heep or any of the solo performances from members of classic rock acts from the '60s, '70s and '80s.

All prejudiced aside, I listened to this new album and was actually pleasantly surprised that Deep Purple sounded better than I could ever imagine. Granted that they still sound really old on the straightforward blues tracks, but once they hit the right notes it all actually works spectacularly well. To me this material is actually superior to classic albums like Fireball and Stormbringer because of the consistency. The band even manages to pull off another career highlight with the album's title track that might be considered another cliché to some but the Steve Morse's guitar and Don Airey's organ interplay really brings out the nostalgic memory of the great Blackmore/Lord collaborations. I also want to give a shout out to the great ballad called Clearly Quite Absurd.

Rapture Of The Deep might not be a must-have record for anyone who wants to hear the bare bone essential Deep Purple material but the fans who haven't bothered with this album should definitely reconsider their decision. As for the concert, it was a real blast and the band actually played two tracks off the new record - Money Talks and the title track!

***** star songs: Rapture Of The Deep (5:56)

**** star songs: Money Talks (5:32) Girls Like That (4:00) Wrong Man (4:52) Clearly Quite Absurd (6:25) Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (4:17) MTV (4:54) Before Time Began (6:39)

*** star songs: Don't Let Go (4:32) Back To Back (4:02) Junkyard Blues (5:30)