612. Deep Purple / ABandOn. 1998. 2/5

The highlight of this album was the fact that Deep Purple finally toured Australia again on the back of it, allowing me my first (and second) opportunity to see them live. Apart from that though, how does it stack up against their magnificent catalogue?

Perhaps more to the point, could this Deep Purple bring to the table something that would be memorable? 
The opening two songs "Any Fule Kno That" and "Almost Human" have their own groove, one not far removed from that of the genuine Purple article and a couple of nice touches from both Ian Paice and Steve Morse. The ballad "Don't Make Me Happy" will no doubt appeal to some DP fans, but not this one. "Seventh Heaven" tries to bring back a rock pace to the album, but this is then brought back by the slow and somewhat drudgery of "Watching the Sky" and "Fingers to the Bone". "Jack Ruby" doesn't do anything to help climb the album out of this style. This then really just morphs into "She Was" and "Whatsername" with little or no differentiating betweenthe songs at all. By now it has just become one long forty minute free-form recital, the kind of thing bands did in the 60's and 70's on stage to fill in time. This is supposed to be an album though, where the coming together of ideas are carefully constructed and recorded to bring joy to the fans.
"'69" makes a late bid to recover the lost ground on the album, a slightly better upbeat song, though "Evil Louie" doesn't end the album well. In fact, it is the final song on the album that sums it all up. A re-working of the classic "Bloodsucker" (though titled "Bludsucker" here) from the Deep Purple in Rock album actually proves more of the difference 25 years has made to the band. This version has none of the class or inspiring qualities of the original.

Let's cut to the chase. The best Deep Purple songs always showcased the duelling solos between keyboardist Jon Lord and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. On most of the songs here they appear to be a mashed conglomerate of singularity, both looking to assert superiority without actually taking over the mantle. Ian Gillan has advanced in age, and he rarely gets his vocal chords out of second gear on this album. It is really almost an 'easy listening' album, lacking the hard rock edge that made Deep Purple finally jump out of the 1960's into their golden age in the first half of the 1970's. And while they may still have it all live (the tour following this attests to that), when it comes to writing and recording new material, there is a quality that is seriously lacking here.