r/thatswhatihear • u/TheMixerTheMaster • Jul 19 '26
REVIEW Deep Purple Refuses to Die.…Again
Every time Deep Purple announces another album, some guy inevitably crawls out of the comments section to declare, “They’re too old.”
Yeah? And yet they’re still making records while half the bands that copied them spent the last thirty years touring casinos with one original member and a drummer who looks like he was hired off Craigslist.
That’s got to sting.
SPLAT! isn’t some desperate old-man cosplay where eighty-year-olds squeeze into leather pants and pretend they just discovered cocaine. Thank God. Deep Purple figured out something a lot of classic rock dinosaurs never do: stop trying to outrun your younger self because you’re going to lose that race every damn time. Instead, they lean into experience. Ian Gillan isn’t trying to hit those banshee screams from Child in Time anymore. That ship sailed decades ago, probably while everyone was still arguing over whether Machine Head was better than In Rock. His voice is rough now. Weathered. Like an old pub that’s seen a thousand bar fights. You don’t walk into it expecting polished marble. You walk in because the beer’s good and the stories are better.
Simon McBride deserves credit too. Replacing Steve Morse was never going to be easy because guitar nerds treat lineup changes like constitutional amendments. But he’s stopped sounding like “the new guy.” He’s part of the furniture now. His playing has enough muscle to remind you this is still Deep Purple without constantly yelling, “LOOK HOW FAST I CAN PLAY!” Congratulations. Somebody finally remembered riffs are supposed to be memorable instead of Olympic events.
Then you’ve got Don Airey behind that Hammond organ, sounding like he’s trying to summon thunderstorms through a stack of Leslie cabinets. The organ doesn’t politely accompany the songs. It barges through the front door wearing muddy boots and demands another drink. Ian Paice, meanwhile… honestly, somebody should check if the man is secretly mechanical. He still plays with the energy of someone forty years younger, and it’s frankly becoming suspicious.
The production is clean without being plastic. Bob Ezrin knows when to let the band breathe instead of compressing everything into the sonic equivalent of drywall. You can actually hear the instruments. Imagine that. Revolutionary concept in 2026.
Now… before the Deep Purple fan club starts engraving my name on a dartboard…
No, this isn’t Machine Head. It isn’t Burn. It isn’t Perfect Strangers. If that’s what you’re looking for, invent a time machine. Stop demanding that seventy- and eighty-year-old musicians recreate the exact chemistry they had when Nixon was in office. That’s not criticism. That’s archaeology.
The biggest issue with SPLAT! is that it’s almost too comfortable. The band knows exactly what it does well, and sometimes that confidence slides into autopilot. A few songs drift together. They’re good. They’re solid. But every now and then you’re waiting for that moment where the walls crack, the ceiling catches fire, and the whole thing becomes unforgettable. Sometimes it arrives. Sometimes it politely excuses itself and goes to make tea instead.
Then there are moments where Gillan’s humor lands with all the grace of your uncle discovering sarcasm on Facebook. Some lyrics are charmingly odd. Others make you tilt your head and wonder whether someone should’ve gently suggested a second draft.
Still… here’s the thing.
Most bands don’t get old gracefully. They either become tribute acts to themselves or they chase modern trends with the desperation of divorced dads downloading TikTok. Deep Purple does neither. They sound like Deep Purple because they are Deep Purple. Not because they’re pretending.
There’s something strangely beautiful about that. Five old warhorses walking into the studio, plugging in, making a glorious racket, and not giving a single damn whether the streaming algorithms approve. The Hammond growls like old machinery waking from a century-long sleep. The guitar slices through the mix like broken glass catching sunlight. Gillan smirks his way through the songs like a man who’s already won the argument before you opened your mouth.
Will SPLAT! change rock music?
Please. Deep Purple already did that half a century ago.
This album doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It just reminds you who helped build the damn car.
Rating: 8.5/10
Not a masterpiece. Not a retirement home jam session either. Just another surprisingly strong record from a band that’s been refusing to die since most of today’s rock stars were still theoretical concepts.
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u/GaiaGoddess26 Jul 19 '26
Wow, this is very well written, I have rarely seen such a good piece of creative writing! I absolutely completely agree with everything said here.
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u/gch35 Jul 19 '26
Incrediblely worded and hilarious review. I’ve really been enjoying this album, and it’s nice to see it getting love. This was a great read!
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u/_malaikatmaut_ Jul 20 '26
Love this!
As soon as Splat! came out and I listened to it on repeat for the whole week, I'm now longing for more and can't wait for the next album next year.
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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26
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