Label: EarMusic 2013
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom
Ka-blaam! There's a mighty roar coming out of my speakers and the distinctive sound of the hammond organ is clearly present throughout the album. Kudos and beyond that to Mr. Don Airey as he capture a lot of the true essence of the band with all that ebony and ivory. I'm however not too keen on the promo sticker which reads 'Perfect Strangers vs. Made in Japan' as it reeks of lack of respect and credibility. It's basically not true since it more towards the formula of Purpendicular only slightly more hammond.
Nontheless, Purple are certainly no nearer leaving their roots that they were 45 years ago. If anything they are now going back to basic, more than ever, but since there are no Blackmore and Lords, things will never sound exactly like 1970 or whatever. The Purple of today consisting of Steve Morse as guitarist play to their strenghts, never attempting to do any more than what they are great at - keeping it real, tight, and very much together.
Produced by sound legend Bob Ezrin (KISS, Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd), it may lack a bit of oomph, but the band keeps pumping out classic hard rock riffs and beats no matter what. A gentle crying guitar and a very soft beginning to "A Simple Song" before it explodes into organ mayhem and those words by Gillan and I quote, "Once you sang a simple song. It all went wrong. Time it does not matter. Time is all we have". We're off to a great start and I'll have to admit, there's a touch of Perfect Strangers and House of Blue Light on this album after all. I believe it's mostly because of the constant use of the hammond and the groovy work of Glover and Paice. Great platter if you don't mind a mix of eighties Purple and Purpendicular.
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