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A living legend of rock and roll reinvents
itself for the late '90s.
This is quite a feat for a band that holds
the honor of recording one of the best heavy metal songs of all
time, "Smoke on the Water." In my case, I prefer "Hush,"
but who am I to argue?
I had to read and read their press release
a few times, because there's a guy in the "Deep Purple"
lineup that I have not heard from in a very long time - Steve
Morse from Kansas. Somehow I missed his addition to the band
back in 1996's "Purpendicular."
I like this CD a lot. Why? It shows what
happens when a very good band evolves, instead of copying whatever
is cool that year in order to land one more record deal. The
tunes range from the almost funky "Any fule kno that,"
to the hard-hitting "Almost Human" and "Watching
the Sky."
You get a bit of everything here. "Any
fule kno that" could almost pass for alternative, as long
as you don't tell people the name of the band. "Fingers
to the Bone" and "'69" sound like pieces from
Kansas instead of "Deep Purple," which is good, because
it means that the group is taking into account everybody's musical
influences, and not using Steve Morse just to make noises with
his axe.
There's also blues. Better said, there's
always blues, no way to escape that. They redid "Bludsucker,"
and it sounds wonderful. It almost reminds me of the worst Zappa
I've ever heard, which is cool with me. It even sounds like "Kentucky
Woman" for a few seconds, another of my "Deep Purple"
favorites, especially the live versions. "Don't Make me
Happy" follows my favorite interpretation of the blues,
which usually involves Led Zeppelin playing slow and heavy. Oh
yeah, what a record!
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