In 2013, Deep Purple’s 19th studio album was a huge surprise for everyone, fans and the band alike. Now What?, was one their highest charting release in the last twenty years. Thanks to producer-extraordinaire Bob Ezrin (KISS, Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper), Deep Purple successfully managed to balance their progressive rock, heavy metal, funk, R& B influences into one their most cohesive and consistent albums of their career. Well, now 4 years later, the band is back with their latest release, Infinite and Erzin is once again behind the boards.
With Infinite, the whole band seemed not only invigorated, but hungry to keep all the elements that made Now What? such a solid release that they wished to expand upon it. Unfortunately, we see mixed results.
The album opens with Time for Bedlam, an excellent opening track btw, except for its goofy sci-fi spoken intro. Then you have the throw-away tracks Johnny’s Band and the Door’s cover: Roadhouse blues. You shouldn’t let theses minor problems deter you from picking up Infinite, however. It’s still a solid release from a band that have been around for almost 5 decades. Let’s face it, and most bands as mature as them, would kill to release an album like this at this stage in their career.
The remaining tracks are some of the finest that I have heard from this line up of the band. Ian Gillan’s voice is so commanding, that I believe he could sing Mary Had a Little Lamb and he would still take our breathe away. Roger Glover, proves once again that he is still one of the fiercest and most underappreciated bassists in the history of Rock. Steve Morse, continues to showcase that he is a guitarist of immense skill and imagination. Don Airey; who may not be Jon Lord, still manages to provide a strong presence on the album and creates an atmosphere that will remind fans why we loved the band in the first place. Drummer, Ian Paice keeps everything locked together and doesn’t miss a beat on this record.
There might not be any rock anthems like, Highway Star or Smoke On The Water, but the songs are well played, sung and produced.
I may be repeating myself but, regardless of the minor missteps, Infinite is still a quality release that many bands half their age would love to add to their repertoire and after five decades in, Deep Purple shows us they still have the drive, talent and vigor to deliver the goods. Infinite is a worthy addition to any music lover or Deep Purple fan collection.
