Deep Purple Offers Audiences A Mostly Successful Album In ‘=1’
- Philip Sayback
- July 9, 2024
- Music Reviews, News
- Deep Purple, earMusic
- 0 Comments
For almost 60 years (yes, that long) Deep Purple has been entertaining audiences with its music. That makes the band, which first formed way back in 1968, one of the longest-running acts in rock history alongside very elite company, such as The Rolling Stones and Accept, which itself is celebrating its own 50th anniversary this year. The band’s appeal has remained for such a long time – even across roughly nine lineup changes – largely because of the music that each lineup has crafted. The band’s forthcoming album, which will be its 23rd (yes, 23rd), is no exception to that norm, either. It will find plenty of appeal among audiences in part because of its 13 total musical arrangements. This will be discussed shortly. The lyrical themes that accompany that content adds to the appeal in its own way because of its own familiarity and accessibility for listeners. The only real negative to the whole is the “bonus” DVD that accompanies the album. Thankfully it is not enough to doom the album’s overall presentation and by result makes the album still a mostly positive new offering from a group that is truly one of rock’s elites.
=1 the cryptically titled latest album from Deep Purple, is a largely successful new record from the veteran rock outfit. The album’s title can perhaps be explained by anyone with knowledge of trigonometry and physics through an equation printed inside the album’s gatefold package. Getting back on topic, the record’s success comes in part through its featured musical arrangements. The arrangements are, from one to the next, quite familiar territory for the band, including that all too familiar Hammond organ, which has been a trademark of the band’s sound for ages. There are minute differences in each song’s arrangement that is caught when listeners actively take in the record. Case in point is a comparison between the likes of the band’s latest single, ‘Lazy Sod’ and the more subdued, contemplative ‘If I Were You.’ Both songs exhibit that clear noted blues-rock influence but the mood set through each is clearly different, giving listeners a welcome diversity in itself. In another comparison, ‘Bleeding Obvious,’ which closes the album’ is a heavy rocker that actually leans quite in the hard rock direction. It is the heaviest track the band added to the album. On the exact opposite side of that proverbial coin is ‘Old-Fangled Thing.’ While the arrangement is up-tempo in its own right, it is also far lighter in its mood and vibe. It is a clear musical contradiction to the arrangement featured in ‘Bleeding Obvious,’ further showing how much the album’s arrangements have to offer audiences, provided they actively listen to the record.
On yet another note, listeners can also compare, say ‘I’m Saying Nothin’’ changes things up again with its steady, mid-tempo rock approach. The 4/4 time here and that familiar blues rooted work is so much unlike the other songs examined and at the same time, just as unlike another contemplative entry, the penultimate entry, ‘I’ll Catch You.’ Even in this song, yes, that noted blues leaning is there but even when one looks at that song alongside ‘Pictures of You,’ that other subdued track, the two are unlike one another. So keeping all of this in mind, the overall musical picture painted in =1 forms a stable foundation for the record.
While the musical content featured in =1 builds a strong foundation for the album, the foundation is weakened somewhat by the DVD that accompanies the album. The DVD presents a relatively familiar tour doc style presentation. It takes audiences back to the band’s 2022 tour in support of its album, Whoosh!. Viewers are taken behind the scenes as crews test equipment and set up the stage at the famed O2 arena in the United Kingdom while the band relaxes backstage. It is not unfamiliar territory when it comes to concert documentaries. When the band finally takes the stage, audiences get a montage of songs that the band performed at said concert. So rather than offer audiences any in-studio look at the creation of =1 that maybe might offer insight into he album’s title and its songs, audiences instead get what feels more like just a promotion for the upcoming tour in support of this album or something that is otherwise just a space filler that leaves one wondering why it was even included in the album. If the powers that be were going to include concert footage as an extra, it certainly would have been nice to have had a full concert instead of what is presented here.
There is no denying, considering everything noted, that the DVD that accompanies =1 adds little to the overall presentation, it also does not detract from the recording too much, either. To that end, it is not enough to doom the album and there Is at least one more positive to note. That positive is the lyrical content that accompanies the album’s musical arrangements. From song to song, the lyrical themes do just as much to keep listeners engaged and entertained as their musical counterparts. Case in point is the seeming theme featured in the band’s latest single, ‘Lazy Sod.’ According to front man Ian Gillan in an interview in the June 2024 issue of Rocks magazine, its theme was spawned from a discussion he had with a music journalist about how many songs he had written over his career. He said in his statement, he told the journalist he had written an estimated 500 songs, but then that journalist compared his work to the 5,000 songs Dolly Parton had written. One can infer that maybe the words Gillan penned here is a bit of a sarcastic response to that journalist. It comes as a response wherein he says he does not care. This as he sing in the song’s chorus, “That’s all right/’Cause I’m a lazy sod/And I’m hot/So hot/Don’t mind me/’Cause I’m a lazy sod/Whether you like it/Like it or not/And I’m guessing not/So what?” That last statement, “So what?” says it all. Why should a music journalist (or anyone) care how much work one person has done versus someone else? That almost comes across as a writer just looking for a reason to poke the proverbial bear. He also sarcastically makes a point to point out all the negative things happening in the world – fires, flooding, oceans rising – but whatever, he’s a lazy sod. In other words, there are more important things for people to worry about than how much work someone has crafted. It is a wonderful example of the importance of the album’s lyrical themes.
Another example of the positive role of the album’s lyrical themes comes in ‘If I Were You.’ In the case of this song, the song seems to center on someone who has been badly wronged by another. It would seem that it is in fact a breakup song. This as Gillan sings late in the song, ‘Love and betrayal are not the best of friends/Getting back with you is the last thing on my mind/Without that feeling it goes against the grain/And it can never be the same again.” Everyone has been in this situation at one point or another in life, having been hurt so badly by someone close. He adds to the seeming statement by opening the song, singing, “You hit me where it hurt/Left me face down in the dirt/You hit me with a cheap shot/Took me down/Never gave it a thought/I never saw it coming/Especially from you/Right out of the blue.” Again, this is something that is fully accessible and relatable for plenty of audiences. To that end, that ability to easily connect with audiences with such overly familiar lyrical territory makes this another strong example of the importance of the lyrical content featured in =1.
One more key example of the importance of =1’s lyrical content comes in the album’s lead single, ‘Portable Door.’ It definitely leaves itself up to interpretation. This as Gillan sings in the song’s lead verse and chorus, “It came to me one day in Jerksville/Man, I was right on the edge/That jacket’s too small/For a man of your size/And those socks are too big for your head/My eyes glaze at whatever you’d say/But I’m listening/Do tell me more/It goes under the bridge/Right over my head/And out through my portable door.” This sounds like someone who is there but really just maybe going through the motions. The song’s second verse adds maybe a little more enlightenment as Gillan sings, “I was trapped in a dire situation/Between reason and someone-in-law/The winner takes all and runs off with the ball/Nothing could pleasure me more.” He continues in similar fashion from there in the next two verses before finally telling someone at the song’s end, “blow it out through my portable door.” What this increasingly seems to be is someone who is fed up with everything around them. The frustration seems to grow to that final point before the song’s subject just has enough. Hopefully this interpretation, which is just that of this critic, is somewhere in the proverbial ballpark. If it is in fact that close, then it is a unique way to approach such a mental situation that everyone deals with. Either way, the very delivery is sure to lead to some discussion among audiences, thus proving once more what makes this album’s lyrical content just as important as the album’s musical arrangements. When this content and the rest examined here is considered alongside the rest of the album’s lyrical material, the whole leaves no doubt as to the album’s overall lyrical content. When that content is considered alongside the album’s overall musical content, the hole gives listeners that much more reason to take in =1. All things considered they make =1 one more of this year’s top new rock albums even despite the shortcoming of the companion DVD that joins the album.
=1, the forthcoming latest album from Deep Purple, is a mostly successful new offering from the veteran rock band. The album’s appeal comes in part through its musical arrangements. The arrangements touch on familiar territory, what with their blues-based sounds. But the subtle differences in the arrangements keep things interesting. The lyrical themes are just as accessible for audiences, ensuring even more, listeners’ engagement and entertainment. The two elements collectively do plenty to make =1 well worth hearing, this despite the “bonus” companion DVD that accompanies the album. Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of =1. All things considered they make =1 a mostly successful new offering from a band that is one of rock’s elite.
=1 is scheduled for release July 19 through earMusic. More information on the album is available along with all of Deep Purple’s latest news at:
Website: https://www.deep-purple.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialdeeppurple
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_DeepPurple
