Deep Purple - Whoosh!
Deep Purple
Whoosh!
(Ear Music)
9.5/10
By Robert Corich
So here we have it. Whoosh! Finally!
Originally scheduled to be released in June of this year to coincide with the band’s Whoosh! World Tour, Deep Purple’s latest studio effort was held back by the band and their label amidst the initial COVID disaster.
Preceded by three download video singles; ‘Throw My Bones’ on 20th March, the excellent and thought-provoking ‘Man Alive’ six weeks later, and ‘Nothing At All’ a month before album launch. They all added to the sense of anticipation.
So how does this twenty-first studio effort fare compared with the recent success the band garnered with 2017s Bob Ezrin produced ‘Infinite’ and the classics of years gone by? Extremely well, actually, and one can certainly hear the playing and production progression with this being the third in a row Ezrin produced album. This is a band and producer rising to the top of their modern game.
So let’s have an in-depth look at the tracks.
Right from the off opener ‘Throw My Bones’ offers everything we have come to expect from this most iconic of classic rock bands. Harmonic vocals, swirling keyboards, the ultimate of rhythm sections, stunning and sublime guitar and thought-provoking lyrics.
The track is classic modern Purple where Ian Gillan cleverly weaves melody and lyrical magic backed by the ever driving rhythm section of Roger Glover and Ian Paice. The flair and skill of both Don Airey on keyboards and Steve Morse on guitar are effervescent and ever-present at the same time.
Shifting a gear ‘Drop The Weapon’ lyrically deals with ever-present modern-day city problems. The track rocks on in a way we’ve come to expect from Purple with more than acceptable guitar and keyboard solos. Ian Paice’s drumming on this one is pure class.
Third up is ‘We’re All The Same In The Dark’ a tough, raunchy track that one could easily imagine being on a mid-seventies Uriah Heep release. Gillan’s voice on this is reminiscent of David Byron’s dulcet tones in more than a few passages and the similarity is striking at times. Steve Morse’s guitar has shadows of Blackmore and that’s no bad thing for those that hark for the past.
Fourth track ‘Nothing At All’ has more than a trace of early Genesis, Yes and The Nice at times with the frisky but dainty keyboard delivery of Don Airey. Stunning guitar intertwined with simple but clever keyboard work means this track is likely to become a favourite with fans and hopefully it will get a decent live airing when touring finally resumes. It’s potentially a band classic.
‘No Need To Shout’ commences with a keyboard intro not dissimilar to 1984s ‘Perfect Strangers’, before diverging into another excellent riff that will be gnawing in your brain long after the track has finished. Steve Morse carries off a guitar extravaganza reminiscent of Ritchie Blackmore, followed by some excellent Airey piano not dissimilar to that used in ‘Never Before’ from 1972s ‘Machine Head’. Airey also delivers a slice of boogie-woogie and a touching and rocky reference from George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody In Blue’, obviously turning it Purple in the process of course. Morse’s guitar absolutely flies on this track.
Track 6, ‘Step By Step’. Eat your heart out Vincent Price says the keyboard intro on this track. One almost expects his unique vocal sound to emerge from Ezrin’s Pandora’s Box of studio tricks. There’s a twilight zone interlude and an amazingly simple but effective guitar solo that only someone like Steve Morse could code.
Don Airey really shows his masterful emulation skills of how Jon Lord might have interpreted the passages in this wonderfully creepy track. Classic Paice drumming, rooted by Roger Glover’s precision bass playing, makes this one of the most enjoyable tracks on the album.
‘What The What’ is almost a throwback to the rock ‘n’ roll that became a trademark of Gillan in the early Eighties. The wonderful interplay between piano and guitar licks from Don Airey, Major Morse, with General Gillan creating vocal havoc, is all rooted down by the perfect pace of Ian Paice’s solid drumming and the bass grooves of Roger Glover. A ‘Long Tall Sally’ reference included, this is as good as any filler track could ever get.
‘The Long Way Around’ is the longest track on the album and it really grooves. The Hammond organ sound is reminiscent of... wait for it… Uriah Heep’s ‘Return to Fantasy’ circa 1975. Airey’s Moog sound on this one is also similar to mid-seventies Heep which is nothing to complain about, far from it, it’s endearing and even comforting to hear some of these classic sounds re-emerging in modern rock music. The ever-dependable Roger Glover plugging away on the bottom registers throughout gives this track real substance.
The end sequence delivers a beautiful and haunting melodic signature leaving you wanting more.
Deep Purple is clearly a band that is confident enough to take the best from the past and mould the sounds for a modern approach; no doubt helped by the wealth of experience and influences that a class A producer like Bob Ezrin brings to their table. His supremely positive influence is felt loud and clear throughout this album.
Track 9 ‘The Power Of The Moon’ is a perfect follow up and reminiscent of Rainbow circa 1976 with a modern Purple twist. A heavy, beautifully plodding track that delivers at almost every level. This is the track I want to see delivered live, executed correctly, it will floor a rabid crowd.
Track 10, ‘Remission Possible’ revisits a classic Purple MK1 idea by creating a crescendo instrumental to segue into a piece of music that sonically and lyrically becomes one of the album’s highlights. The band achieve this with perfection.
The epic ‘Man Alive’ will already be familiar to many as it was released as the initial preview to the album. One of the best tracks on the album, it deals with an apocalyptic ending to humanity among pestilence and war. Let’s hope Ian Gillan’s ability to pen brilliant lyrics doesn’t go quite as far as the theme featured here; at least not for a while yet anyway.
Musically, the track features amazing keyboard and guitar interplay, interpolating the haunting and beautiful talking vocal that Gillan put to great effect on ‘The Surprising’ from 2017s ‘Infinite’. It reeks pure class. With a slight Asian feel to the ending, the track fades away beautifully. It’s simply sublime.
Track 12 - ‘And The Address’ is a chunky, thumping cover of the very first track on the band’s 1968 debut ‘Shades of Deep Purple’, which really fits in a clever kind of way. Originally an Ezrin workout idea, it was then intended to be the very last track on the album. The fact it is not is, hopefully, a good omen that the band may continue with the Ezrin experience and make it a ‘quadraphonic’ delivery in every sense of the word.
Bob, are you listening?
The finale is ‘Dancing In My Sleep’. I know this is going to grow and grow with listeners and we can only hope they play this number live as it will surely kick ass in a concert environment; if they stretch it out a bit. It’ll quite possibly get punters dancing in their sleep.
With tour dates being delayed a year by COVID, we will all be able to get familiar with these tunes well enough before experiencing them in the live environment that a band like Deep Purple were born for.
Let’s hope the band mine this album properly for the upcoming live events.
‘Whoosh!’ Is an immensely satisfying album that’s going to be played loud and often. Let’s hope it’s not the band’s swan song as this band is revving up apace with every album they have collaborated with the insightful and talented Bob Ezrin.
Running in at a little shy of 52 minutes, Whoosh! as an album is full of lyrical content that is both intelligent and probing with several mini-epics the band have presented here in their fifty-second year of operation.
This album is a classic in the making.
With BBC Radio Two voting this album of the week, I’d hazard a guess there won’t be a better album all year. Unless something truly exceptional swooshes out of nowhere, Whoosh! will be my album of the year.
Track Listing
Throw My Bones
Drop The Weapon
We’re All The Same In The Dark
Nothing At All
No Need To Shout
Step By Step
What The What
The Long Way Around
The Power Of The Moon
Remission Possible
Man Alive
And The Address
Dancing In My Sleep