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DEEP PURPLE
Infinite
earMUSIC

The release of a DEEP PURPLE album is always a very special event in the rock 'n' roll calendar but this time it is an extraordinarily special occasion because this could well be their last studio album, as not only the album title inFinite and the name of the ensuing tour, “The Long Goodbye Tour” suggest. Singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover are over 70 now, drummer Ian Paice suffered a minor stroke in June 2016, which led to the cancellation of some concerts in Scandinavia, and guitarist Steve Morse has had issues with arthritis in his right hand. All this makes the release of the band's 20th studio album extra special and the album was accordingly much anticipated.

Just like Now What?!, its 2013 predecessor, inFinite was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, produced by Bob Ezrin and captures DEEP PURPLE's essential qualities: playing live and being spontaneous. As the 90-minute documentary From Here To inFinite (incuded in some editions of the album) shows, the album was recorded in just 14 days after 14 days of songwriting and rehearsals. This appraoch gives inFinite a kind of freshness and authenticity that many of today's over-produced recording efforts lack.

The opener, “Time For Bedlam”, leaves no doubt that DEEP PURPLE are still up for it – after a gloomy vocal intro using a robotic voice effect, the song hits you with pure energy and exceptional playing. Ian Gillan's singing sounds great, matured and relaxed but at the same time powerful. “All I Got Is You” is one of the best and most catchy DEEP PURPLE songs I have heard in many years while “Get Me Out Of Here” grooves like hell and has an incredibly rocky edge to it. “The Surprising” is a complex composition, partly ballad, partly rocker with driving riffs, thundering drums and some reminiscences of the seventies. “Johnny's Band” is another rocker telling the story of many a band out there that, after a short-lived heyday, end up playing Saturday nights at the local pub. “Birds Of Prey” is an epic song featuring some suspense-packed guitar playing. THE DOORS cover, “Roadhouse Blues”, which concludes the album, comes as a bit of a surprise. DEEP PURPLE covering THE DOORS? Yes, and it sounds absolutely great. Apparently, they recorded it in one go – freshness and spontaneity, see above.

There is some excellent and exciting playing on inFinite. Steve Morse and Don Airey keep throwing their solo bits at each other in the best DEEP PURPLE fashion, the album offers magnificent drumming and bass playing and, above all, Ian Gillan is, in spite of his age, still an icon of a rock singer. Forget the seventy-plus, past minor stroke and arthritis. All in all, inFinite is a monumental album, definitely one of DEEP PURPLE's best recording efforts in a very long time. If it were the band's last studio album, it would be a worthy legacy, in every respect absolutely essentially DEEP PURPLE. Definitely. Infinitely.

5.0 Out Of 5.0

Pick up a copy of inFinite in the KNAC.COM More Store right HERE.

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