Rapture Of The Deep - Deep Purple

Advantages: Fine vocals, keyboards and interesting sounds throughout
Disadvantages: Slowish in tempo, plods a bit and the drums are unadventurous throughout

Deep Purple made a welcome return with this in 2005. Of the famous 'Mark II' lineup, three members remain. They are Ian Gillan (vocals), Roger Glover (bass) and Ian Paice (drums). They are joined by Steve Morse (guitar) and Don Airey (keyboards). Ian Gillan remains in fine voice, despite having recently celebrated his 60th birthday party. The album doesen't feature the regular screaming of old, but the track "Wrong Man" has enough balls to blow away ...
...Time Began are spiritual and middle-eastern themed sonic adventures whilst Junkyard Blues is largely a trademark Purple jam. There are no really fast tracks and the album plods a bit but there are many interesting sounds on the CD from funky synth to full-on hard rock. It's worth mentioning that the basic production here makes this sound like a vinyl album. A worthwhileinvestment for any rock fan. ... Read review

Advantages: They've still got it!
Disadvantages: Takes a few listens to get into

Not as immediately accessible as "Bananas". There's some great playing on display here with Don Airey probably the star! Steve Morse sounds like he's made a conscious effort to sound a little more like Blackmore than he has in the past with a lot of RB-flavoured Eastern-style runs, especially on the title track. Stand-out tracks would have to be the aforementioned title track, Clearly Quite Absurd (which has more than a hint of Sometimes I Feel ...
...and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. The bonus track MTV is well worth a listen, too, especially for Ian Gillan's lyrical railing against rock radio's reluctance to play anything new. The album is let down by Michael Bradford's production again, as was "Bananas" but this shouldn't be allowed to detract from a great rock album which sees Purple pushing at the envelope and trying to create something new rather than being content to rest on their laurels. If ... Read review