Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Deep Purple
Label: Edel Records
Release: 2013
Duration: 19:28
Rating: 3.5/5
»All the Time in the World« is the first single from »Now What?!«, the upcoming nineteenth studio album from English hard rock legends Deep Purple. Almost eight years have passed since their last studio record, »Rapture of the Deep« (2005), and in that time plenty of people figured Deep Purple would be just a live band ’til the end of their days. Which is exactly why so many were pretty surprised by the announcement of »Now What?!« – wittily titled, as long tradition demands, and produced by the legendary Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Kiss).
After listening to the radio-trimmed versions of »All the Time in the World and »Hell to Pay« (the latter also came out as a single on 7-inch vinyl), it’s pretty hard to give an objective verdict, but the fact is that both tracks are very solid and make for a promising teaser for »Now What?!«. »All the Time in the World« is the lighter, melodic rock number, packing all the trademark Purple sonic ingredients: ‘weeping’ guitar passages courtesy of Steve Morse, rustling layers of Hammond organ from the fingers of Don Airey, melodic bass lines directed by Roger Glover, and the distinctive vocal turn of Ian Gillan, the ‘eternal jolly good fellow’ of rock singing. A clearer take on the overall quality of this track will have to wait until it comes out at full length on the new album.
The somewhat dirtier, more traditionally hard rocking »Hell to Pay« (this version was also cut down for radio and doesn’t give a clear view of the full picture) features energetic guitar improvisations and mighty Hammond organ textures, while the ‘chanting’ chorus, despite yet another more than decent vocal performance from Gillan, is nothing earth-shatteringly special. Both new songs are clearly built to the wishes and expectations of the longtime fans. So, joking aside, there’s no danger that Deep Purple will somehow lose the plot in their old age and suddenly start playing rap.
The live versions of the evergreen »Perfect Strangers« and its more modern ‘twin’ »Rapture of the Deep«, both recorded at London’s Hard Rock Cafe in 2005, mainly serve as a vivid reminder of how similar the two songs are in structure and Oriental atmosphere. On the other hand, the two live picks from the long-running classics that sit on the digital version of this single are damn predictable and couldn’t be more commercially chosen. Maybe they wanted to remind the apathetic younger generations, who only take, buy and listen to music online these days, that Deep Purple still exist. »Highway Star« mostly proves that eight years ago Gillan could still belt it out convincingly and with undiminished fire in his voice, just the way it should be done, even though he gave up on those insanely high vocal registers long ago. »Smoke On the Water«, apart from Airey’s distinctive keyboard variations, which noticeably differ from those in the manner of the late Jon Lord, offers absolutely nothing new.
»All the Time in the World«, with both of its trimmed-down versions of the new songs, offers a rather bashful peek at the upcoming studio effort from the legendary patriarchs of hard rock, so leave it to their most devoted fans. Everyone else should rather wait for »Now What?!«, which will give the best insight into how far modern Deep Purple have gone back to the classic ‘retro 70s’ sound, and how much they’ve dared to experiment with assorted sonic novelties that might rile up the more conservative-minded longtime fans.
Line-up
Ian Gillan – vocals
Steve Morse – guitar
Roger Glover – bass
Don Airey – keyboards
Ian Paice – drums
Production
Bob Ezrin
Tracklist
1. All the Time in the World (radio mix edit)
2. Hell to Pay (radio edit)
3. Perfect Strangers (live)
4. Rapture of the Deep (live)
