RAPTURE OF THE DEEP

Released in 2005, "Rapture of the deep " is Deep Purple's latest album at time of writing. This is the second album by the current line up which includes new boy Don Airey on keyboards.

The album has the overall feel of a band who are happy to rest on their laurels. There is no centrepiece track here and no obvious attempt to do anything other than put together a bunch of songs which fit the Deep Purple template. It is not that this is a bad album, the Deep Purple faithful need not worry about the band heading off in a strange direction, but there is little here to ignite genuine excitement. The song-writing credits are once again democratically anonymous throughout, with all five band members reportedly writing all the songs.

The opening "Money talks" is rather a low key starter for a Deep Purple album, Gillan's vocals being of the "No one came" style. The vocal nature of the song reflects the balance of the album overall. Successive tracks such as "The wrong man" and "Girls like that" maintain a similar style and pace.

The title track is the first to offer anything particularly ear catching, the slightly Eastern feel and dynamic keyboards making for a fine basis for Gillan's vocals. Steve Morse's guitar work is decidedly Blackmore-esque, the track being a blend of "Perfect strangers" and "Sometimes I feel like screaming" with a generous touch of "Kashmir".

"Clearly quite absurd" takes the "Sometimes I feel like screaming" link a stage further, Morse effectively using the same basic guitar motif here. This is though for me the best track on the album. Gillan's vocals are hauntingly beautiful on this wonderful ballad. The latter part of the track builds majestically to its conclusion. The down side is that the beauty of this piece contrasts starkly with the extremely ordinary "Don't let go" which follows.

"Junkyard blues" offers Airey and Morse a bit more space to work out, with Airey moving to piano, but the song is decidedly ordinary. There is an underlying ecological theme in some of the songs, "Kiss tomorrow goodbye" and "Before time began" both offering warnings of dire consequences.

In all, a rather ordinary album which is only partially saved by a couple good songs. One for the faithful only.

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