Deep Purple – Rapture of The Deep

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Edel Records
Produced by Michael Bradford

This follow-up to 2003s Bananas is the first to feature former Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Whitesnake and pretty much everyone else keyboard player Don Airey, who replaced the retired Jon Lord back in 2003, but after Bananas had been recorded.

Mostly heavier than previous efforts, Rapture of the Deep still maintains the progressive elements that have always been a hallmark of classic Deep Purple albums. However, over recent years there seems to have been a concerted effort to make Roger Glover’s bass playing very prominent, and unfortunately, on the heavy songs, this is at the expense of Steve Morse’s guitar playing, which becomes muddied.

On the chorus front this album is definitely lacking the punchy sing-a-long choruses of Bananas, which was a fairly heavy album itself, making this one far less accessible. But that’s not to say it’s any less well executed by the band. It just means it’ll take a few more listens before it’s quality is quite as apparent. The only downfall as far as the band’s performances on this album go is Don Airey’s organ and keyboard playing. It’s OK, but lacks the virtuosity of Lord’s, and seems to exist simply for the sake of having Hammond organ in Deep Purple music. It’s possible that Deep Purple have run out of ideas on that front. Steve Morse’s solos, although as good as they’ve always been, sound like his solos on all the Deep Purple material, and with his riffs being drowned out by Glover’s bass, he’s really not been allowed to shine in the way a player of his quality should be. He’s good, but not dazzling this time out. This is until the wonderful acoustically driven ballad Clearly Quite Absurd. Ian Gillan’s vocals on this one are supremely delicate, and Morse’s clean electric guitar melodies over the top of the acoustic rhythms are superb while remaining understated, as all truly classy guitar players are.

There’s some of the classic Deep Purple groove on the title track and Back To Back, but again, Morse’s guitar is almost indistinguishable from the bass line. His solo on the latter is fantastic however, probably the best of the album, mirrored by a similar effects-laden keyboard solo from Airey. Drummer Ian Paice is pretty innocuous throughout proceedings until Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye which features the most complex drum rhythms so far. Before Time Began is also a strong track with some great instrumental breaks. The only tongue-in-cheek song this time round is European bonus track MTV, which is exactly what you’d expect, a poke at modern commercialism in the music industry.

Overall Rapture of The Deep isn’t a bad album. The songs don’t let it down, the playing doesn’t let it down, the mix does. Because of this, Bananas remains the strongest Morse-era Purple album. The fans will love this, especially the fans of the Morse-era, but Deep Purple won’t be winning any new fans anytime soon. Not that they’re probably that bothered at his stage in their career, because they’re not going to be losing any either.

Oh, and for those that enjoy that sort of thing, the Gillan scream count stands at just three.

“ classic groove ”

Tracklist: Money Talks / Girls Like That / Wrong Man / Rapture of The Deep / Clearly Quite Absurd / Don’t Let Go / Back To Back / Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye / Junkyard Blues / Before Time Began
Special Edition Bonus Track: MTV

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Hard Rock, Deep Purple