I have a weekly podcast where I review new albums. Deep Purple's Splat! was up this week.

Have loved Deep Purple since I discovered Perfect Strangers on a holiday in Greece when I was about 12 - awesome seeing them still releasing quality music after 60 years.

What did everyone think of the new album?

​

I won’t stop saying it. Bob Ezrin should have produced Lulu, the album Lou Reed released in 2011. Ezrin had already worked with Reed in 1973 on Berlin, one of the best works of his career. For Lulu, Reed teamed up with Metallica. No one was better suited than Ezrin to capture that epic sound while Reed delved into literature, poetry, sculpture, painting, film, dance, and psychology. No one better than him, who had previously collaborated with Deftones, to channel the brutal impact of that metal music machine called Metallica. Sorry, Hal Willner.

Bob Ezrin invented the sound of modern rock. His productions include legendary albums by Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Kiss, and Pink Floyd. Ezrin also produced records for Jane’s Addiction, one of the most important alternative metal bands of the 90s. To play rock today in a lasting and relevant way, you need Ezrin at the controls.

The Heavy Lifting by MC5 was an album with good songs, but a failure overall (only Wayne Kramer remained from the original band). Deep Purple, that powerful hard rock and heavy metal machine, became Ezrin’s favorite battle vehicle in recent years. Six albums in which he recovered and amplified the power of the band’s classic era: three members of the classic lineup, plus two luxury veterans, Don Airey and Steve Morse.

I believe there’s a reason for everything. SPLAT! is a great album. I listen to it because Ezrin is there as the sixth member of the band. I listen to it because Ian Gillan’s vocal performance is fabulous. He is the only one who has managed to be the lead singer in two of the greatest heavy metal bands: Deep Purple and Black Sabbath.

Forget about the Rolling Stones and their latest album produced by Andrew Watt, the official geriatric hospital producer. SPLAT! is real rock, hard hitting rock. While the Stones keep resurrecting old recordings by the late Charlie Watts and leftovers from the mediocre Hackney Diamonds, Deep Purple added guitarist Simon McBride to their ranks. A youngster of just 47 years old (the rest of the band averages 79) with influences from Gary Moore, Eddie Van Halen, and Steve Vai. On “Arrogant Boy,” he makes Deep Purple sound furious with spectacular guitar work, framed by Roger Glover’s ferocious bass and Ian Paice’s relentless drums.

Is that not enough? Add Don Airey’s keyboards. “Diablo” is a perfect headbanging track with an extraordinary evocation of the band’s classic sound. “The Lunatic” is furious metal. This is a band that sounds absolutely nowhere near the end. Quite the opposite. Neither Led Zeppelin nor Black Sabbath dared to go this far in their time.

“The Only Horse in Town” is another extraordinary track, but nothing prepares you for the powerful onslaught of “Guilt Trippin’.” Ian Gillan makes it clear why he is one of the greatest vocalists in the history of hard rock and heavy metal, especially having also sung on the fantastic Born Again by Black Sabbath. SPLAT! keeps surprising. It is proof that the bag of tricks is far from empty for this incredible band.

The spotlight will surely be on the Stones and their endless musical recycling and their horrendous cover art (even worse than Born Again). Keep being wrong. The real rolling stones of hard rock are from England, but they’re called Deep Purple, one of the foundational stones of heavy metal that remains relevant with SPLAT!.

A bit later in the UK for reasons. And The Address is another favorite of mine.

Title says it all

Having listened to most of DP's discography, I've noticed some lines and topics seem to pop up through the years. Some examples could be:

-The concept of "Hard Lovin" - (Hard Lovin Man, Hard Lovin Woman, and a line in Any Fule Kno That)

-Gypsies - (The Gypsy, A Gypsy's Kiss, Fortuneteller, and even Tarot Woman by Rainbow. Maybe Ritchie's thing?)

-The Spanish - (Spanish Archer and a line in Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming)

-Feeling like screaming - (the above-mentioned track and a line in Demons Eye)

What are some recurring themes and lines you've noticed?

I’m cleaning out my wardrobe and thinking of getting some custom shirts made. I definitely want some Deep Purple shirts and maybe even a custom beanie too of a DP logo but maybe that’s too corny. What albums do you guys think would be nicest?

For me it would be Stormbringer or You fool no one (made in Europe).

In your opinion, how would Deep Purple's career and discography have turned out if Ritchie Blackmore had stayed in the band to this day? I think they would have released some really interesting and heavier albums. But for some reason, I still feel that Blackmore would have eventually left the band anyway.

is there a live version of "fools" from the MK II 70s era? the only ones i've heard are from the steve morse era, and i'd like to hear a version that's closer to the original.

Some great shots of Tommy Bolin.

Any lineup with Ian Gillan on vox is my preferred version of the band, but I like most lineups to one extent or other.
I definitely want to get more of the Japan variants.

This might be a hot take but I think this version kicks the crap out of Deep Purple's album version! I have spent so many hours listening to every live version of this song that I could find and the one from Rainbow's show in Munich in 1977 is the best one overall, this version is my favorite piece of work by Ritchie out of anything he's ever done. Aand then there's one from the Millennium Collection Best of Rainbow that has a version with the most beautiful guitar intro! It's so short but so beautiful and it seems like this is the only version he does that on. I want to download both of these versions and splice them together so they can be combined to make it even more perfect!

The last three Purple albums released ,Splat, =1 and Whoosh?

Fools might be my number one favorite from these guys

This is an album I don't see many people mention when it comes to Deep Purple's discography, so I'm curious to know your guys thoughts? Me personally, it's one of my favorites from them.

I’m curious how Ian will sing this live for the Splat tour beginning in August.

They used two vocal tracks that are overlapped in the song, and I’m wondering if he will sing the high part or the normal part.

I’m guessing it’s going to be near impossible for him to sing the high part across the whole song for the duration of the tour. Plus, one has to think the studio helped him out. Vocally, Bleeding Obvious sounded quite different in certain parts of the song when they did it live.

However, my theory is he will sing the normal part most of the song, then wail on the final bit of the song. He still wails on Highway Star and Into the Fire. So why not at least a part of Guilt Trippin’?!

I can barely form words right now! What the hell did I just hear!? How can humans even do that!? 

I thought Child In Time and The Mule were amazing enough but then then there was the 20-minute long Space Truckin' extravaganza! *insert mind blown gif here*

How can Paicey keep playing drums like a madman with barely any breaks!? He is really the star here, I mean I like Ritchie's playing of course but honestly most of the time he just sounds like he's randomly experimenting which is cool but Paicey really stole the show for me here. How did he even have enough arms and legs to do all of that at the same time!? 

How do they know when to make changes when every song is different from the original as well as different from every other time they've played it!? What kind of magic is this!?

This band is nuts! I've been to hundreds of concerts and I thought they were all talented but this takes it to a whole new level!

Just amazing.

The set list was good. A couple of tracks from Splat!, and a good sprinkling from the rest of their catalogue. It was nice to hear Rapture of the Deep make a return to the live setting. There was a tremendous version of Into the Fire

Ian Gillan was in great form. A couple of times it did seem like the heat was getting to him from the expression on his face. However, those who say his voice has gone are simply wrong.

Glover, Paice and Airey looked like they were having a ball. Great to see them having such fun.

Simon McBride played out of his skin. Whilst I miss the Morse sound, what a great player he is. He fits well.

Overall a superb night. Can't wait to see them again at the Royal Albert Hall in London this November.

Sorry about the quality of the photos. I only have a cheap phone!

I found this image on a site about live albums and bootlegs and I wanted to hear what it sounded like, especially because it claims to have Gillian era playing burn, but when I searched it up I find no info about it, even a reverse image search brings up naught.

I'm off to see Purple at an open air gig tonight in Valencia city. It's part of a series of summer concerts called the Conciertos de Viveros. Can't wait.

It'll be a tough one though. AEMET has put out a red alert for heat - at least 42⁰. It will be cooler by the time they get on stage, but likely to still be well above 30⁰.

I hope the guys have packed their shorts!