CD review DEEP PURPLE ‘Whoosh!’

Introducing Deep Purple is like carrying sand to the beach. Therefor let’s skip any introduction and laser in right away on the new longplayer, released by the Classic Rock legends.

Three years after ‘InFinite’ saw the light of day, it is the new longplayer ‘Whoosh!’ that marks a next cornerstone in Deep Purple’s impressive success story. Together with Bob Erzin at the helm, the iconic quintet recorded an album that wows fans of excellently crafted Rock music.

What surprises, and not, is the richness of variation on ‘Whoosh!’, all hold together by the unique voice of Ian Gillan, the rocking guitar of Steve Morse, Roger Glover’s grooving bass, Ian Paice’s dynamic drumming and a dense keyboard sound provided by Don Airey. These five guys created and maintained their own sound, which is immediately recognizable and the way they play with it on ‘Whoosh!’ is another treat for your ears.

The title for Deep Purple’s 21st studio album is well-chosen. The new release is a dynamic and fresh-sounding Rock album where experience and savvy wins over age. The energy, with which the five guys go to work, is exemplary and shows what can be achieved with passion.

‘Throw My Bones’, already revealed as a single, starts-off ‘Whoosh!’. The song’s a typical Deep Purple hymn, grooving and equipped with great melodies. This song makes appetite for more, and more is on its way. With ‘Drop the Weapon’ ,Don Airey’s hammond gets more into focus. Also the way how the chorus breaks the flow and still sticks is just great work.

Another good song on an album with many great tunes is the moderate paced ‘Nothing At All’. It’s the groove and the love to detail that makes ‘Nothing At All’ stand out. A kind of ‘Perfect Stranger’-start marks the beginning of ‘No Need to Shout’, a tune that evolves to a smoothly rocking anthem, you can listen to over and over again. Good vibes, that’s what the song delivers.

Deep Purple shifts gears with ‘What the What’, the badass rock’n’roller on the album, which is followed by ‘The Long Way Round’. The latter is a good song , surrounded by excellent tunes. A shift of mood comes with ‘The Power of the Moon’. Here we face a dark atmosphere that’s created in the verse and peaks in a chorus that has a certain grunge vibe embedded.

‘Remission Possible’ is a short interlude that puts the spotlight on Steve Morse’ guitar play and Airey’s gentle keyboards before ‘Man Alive’ brings back a lively dynamic. This track was the first song that has been revealed and uses with a spoken middle- and ending section an extra nuance that enriches the ‘Man Alive’ by adding also an extra level of intensity to the total.

‘And The Address’ is a rousing ending of ‘Whoosh!’ and you wonder of the song might has a deeper meaning, being the ending of this longplayer. ‘And the Address’ was the first song on Deep Purple’s debut ‘Shades of Deep Purple’ and the guys pick it up here again. It feels like we’ve come to full circle. Hopefully I will be proven wrong.

‘Now What?!’ and ‘InFinite’ are for sure great longplayers but in retrospective it feels like they paved the ground for ‘Whoosh!’. Deep Purple’s newest album contains all you can ask for. It’s the typical Deep Purple sound signature providing consistency on which variety shines. These five guys still know how to Rock and it seems they still have a lot of fun in writing and recording stellar Rock music.