With an ever-increasing fan base, picking up new listeners around the world thanks to their drive to tour familiar and less-travelled places, it’s no wonder Deep Purple operates on fresh cycles of adrenalin. No resting on yesteryear. Deep Purple has released 4 studio albums since 1996, but that total is augmented by an abundance of solo work and special projects from all 5 band members.
Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Steve Morse and Don Airey, Mark VIII of the band, continue to travel the scope of hard rock — the textures and nuances of recent works are anything but thudding retreads. If you set a random play setting for the band’s entire catalogue, the result is one of the finest musical outputs to grace rock music.
The latter-year Purple has moved progressively into new areas, piquing fans’ interest who were not born when the mighty Purple machine ruled the music world’s money trees. Their holy grail of In Rock (1970) Machine Head (1972) and Made In Japan released in 1973 catapulted Deep Purple to the top in concert grosses and album sales around the world. Smoke On The Water ascended to mega-status — simply a perfect track.
Having amassed so many songs that get coined under the “classic” moniker, setlists have been a never-ending debate among diehards and newer fans. But Deep Purple have been more than in synch with fans’ tastes to remain a powerful drawing force since their formation in 1968. These days, happy faces reside from both the stage and audience. When the music is this good, smiles reign supreme.
