Label: Ear Music Records
Release date: 2017
Production: Bob Ezrin
Album length: 45.47 min
Genre: Heavy Rock/Hard Rock
Rating: 8.0/10
After a four-year break from the studio, Deep Purple are back with “Infinite”, their twentieth studio album, a milestone record that, thanks to health problems affecting their only remaining original member, drummer Ian Paice, might be their last studio move before retirement. It’s no secret that if any member of the current lineup calls it quits, that’s the end of the legendary band too. For now everything is still up in the air, though the upcoming tour has a pretty telling name: ‘The Long Goodbye Tour’. Either way, Deep Purple are today one of the few hardy survivors of rock’s golden age that are still out on regular tours while effortlessly putting out quality studio albums, even if they don’t come as often as they used to. Of the ‘big three’ pioneers of heavy rock, both Led Zeppelin and the recently retired Black Sabbath have been outlasted, although even Purple are starting to feel the aches and pains of age.
Mainly because the current version of the band has been a rock-solid unit since 2002, there’s no fear that the ‘old cats’ would miss the mark with “Infinite”. The new album is fully on a par with its brilliant predecessor “Now What?!” (2013), which means it keeps their trademark sound alive while also packing a few small songwriting surprises. The grandfathers of hard rock can still hit with full force, as they prove right away with the opening energy catalyst “Time for Bedlam”, which continues Deep Purple’s tradition of powerful opening tracks. You get Morse’s sparkling guitar runs, the rich sound of Airey’s Hammond organ, Glover’s juicy bass lines, Paice’s spirited drum fills and Gillan’s trademark vocal swagger. The lyrics stay ‘standard’, with an introspective charge, mostly revolving around femme fatales and the life of a rock musician on a long tour, with a touch of social criticism thrown in as well.
Most of the material on the album is eclectic enough and packed with enough juicy solos to satisfy even the most spoiled longtime fans, who are convinced that their heroes can still offer something new after almost five decades. Once again they deliver a few really nice surprises, proving that after all these decades you can still make something fresh, while most of their still-active peers would rather recycle the old hits. Thanks to Morse’s iconoclastic riff, “Hip Boots” comes off as an even more typical Deep Purple creation than the opening “Time for Bedlam”, built on a somewhat slower groove, while “All I Got Is You” starts out reserved but, helped by a fantastic organ solo from Airey, blossoms into a proper hard rock/prog rock fusion feast. “One Night in Vegas” strolls successfully somewhere between blues and funk, while Airey’s piano passages mostly take care of the nostalgic charm. Tracks like “Get Me Outta Here” are lovely proof that Gillan’s vocal charisma hasn’t faded one bit after all these decades, even though his piercing screams became a thing of the past long ago.
The award for the most interesting and refreshing track on “Infinite” undoubtedly goes to the surprising prog metal treat “The Surprising”, whose dark ambience somewhat recalls the masterpiece “Vincent Price” from “What Now?!”. The dramatic harmonies between guitar and organ in the middle section faintly echo Morse’s work with the prog rockers Flying Colors. Fans of the more traditional, hard rock Purple magic will get their fix with the funk-leaning “Johnny’s Band”, while “On Top of the World” is heavily shaped by Morse’s guitar wizardry and stylistically recalls some of the band’s work from the second half of the nineties. Gillan’s cryptic recital in the middle of the song sounds like yet another of the many tributes to the inimitable British actor Vincent Price. The punchy “Birds of Prey” has a short but interesting detour into an ethereal section ruled by melancholic harmonies, while Gillan delivers his most heartfelt vocal performance on the whole album. The only misstep on “Infinite” is the rather superfluous The Doors cover “Roadhouse Blues”, which would have been better off as a bonus track on a single. Deep Purple have made some very successful covers over their career, but with the exception of “Hush” and “Kentucky Woman” they never gave them enough weight to put them on studio albums all that often. Unlike the long-standing tradition, “Infinite” lacks a strong closing track, which is really the only thing that truly counts against the album.
The hard rock champions will celebrate their fiftieth anniversary in 2018, which they will surely mark in a special way. If “Infinite” turns out to be their final studio album, they’ll certainly bow out in grand style, because they’ve made a truly splendid record that’s worthy of their legendary legacy in every respect, and nice proof that even rock veterans with this much mileage can still come up with some very entertaining and adventurous songwriting ideas.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Time for Bedlam (4:35)
2. Hip Boots (3:23)
3. All I Got Is You (4:42)
4. One Night in Vegas (3:23)
5. Get Me Outta Here (3:58)
6. The Surprising (5:57)
7. Johnny’s Band (3:51)
8. On Top of the World (4:01)
9. Birds of Prey (5:47)
10. Roadhouse Blues (6:00) (The Doors cover)
Lineup:
Ian Gillan – vocals, harmonica
Steve Morse – guitar, backing vocals
Roger Glover – bass guitar
Don Airey – keyboards
Ian Paice – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Bob Ezrin – additional keyboards, backing vocals and percussion
Tommy Denander – additional guitar (8)
