Deep Purple – SPLAT!
Title wise SPLAT!, the 24th studio album from Deep Purple, would seem to follow on, in high impact emphasis, from 2020’s Whoosh! (the band's highest-charting studio album in the UK for 46 years).
While the Whoosh! to SPLAT! correlation intentionally ignores 2021’s lacklustre and ultimately throwaway covers album Turning To Crime, it doesn’t discount 2024’s =1, the first album to feature renowned Northern Irish six-string slinger Simon McBride.
=1 was reviewed favourably here at FabricationsHQ but it did suffer from a lapse in quality control via a couple of missteps and some songs that didn’t do Ian Gillan’s now diminished range any favours.
However lessons learned, because SPLAT!, which features another solid production from returning producer Bob Ezrin, leans into what the now octogenarian Gillan has to offer (and that’s still a decent, if lower-ranged lung full); it also showcases a guitarist who is now fully embedded in the Purple chemistry and musicality, whilst also bringing his rock-blues sensibilities to bear.
Opener 'Arrogant Boy' rock 'n' rattles out the studio door, cleverly sounding like it could have been made in the 70s yet sporting a contemporary sheen through a scene-shifting instrumental section that has subtle prog tendencies.
The mid-tempo strut and rock-blues groove (staples of later era Purple) of 'Diablo' is no less impacting.
With no discernible chorus part, but utilising a change-up that leads to a tasty Hammond call and guitar answer part, 'Diablo' is a deceptively strong number.
The fact that opening brace are both done and dusted in less than three-and-a-half minutes also tells a significant short, sharp and concise SPLAT! story (only 4 of the 13 songs hit, or go beyond, four minutes, and no number hits the five-minute mark).
The bluesier 'The Rider' and riff 'n' swagger of 'The Lunatic' (which sports as short but feisty Hammond solo from Don Airey) don’t quite hit the mark of the opening salvo, but both are worthy of inclusion.
They also fit the profile of a reinvigorated Deep Purple who are still rhythmically rock solid through Roger Glover and ever-present co-founder Ian Paice.
The more radio friendly 'The Only Horse In Town' adds another shade of Purple (nice melodically phrased solo here from Simon McBride) as does the rawer, Celtic rock of 'Sacred Land,' which sports splashes of Moog and another weighty solo from McBride.
The latter also, however, highlights where Ian Gillan’s vocal limits now lie, as does the more downtempo and bluesier 'The Beating Of Wings.'
Depending on taste or what floats your Purple bedecked boat, 'Guilt Trippin’' (with woozy emphasis on the word Trippin’, intentionally unsettling multi-tracked Gillan vocals, and blues guitar going head to head with jazzier piano parts) will be an album highlight or the Skip track.
Either way, it’s one of the most interesting and experimental tracks Deep Purple have ever done.
While the Whoosh! to SPLAT! correlation intentionally ignores 2021’s lacklustre and ultimately throwaway covers album Turning To Crime, it doesn’t discount 2024’s =1, the first album to feature renowned Northern Irish six-string slinger Simon McBride.
=1 was reviewed favourably here at FabricationsHQ but it did suffer from a lapse in quality control via a couple of missteps and some songs that didn’t do Ian Gillan’s now diminished range any favours.
However lessons learned, because SPLAT!, which features another solid production from returning producer Bob Ezrin, leans into what the now octogenarian Gillan has to offer (and that’s still a decent, if lower-ranged lung full); it also showcases a guitarist who is now fully embedded in the Purple chemistry and musicality, whilst also bringing his rock-blues sensibilities to bear.
Opener 'Arrogant Boy' rock 'n' rattles out the studio door, cleverly sounding like it could have been made in the 70s yet sporting a contemporary sheen through a scene-shifting instrumental section that has subtle prog tendencies.
The mid-tempo strut and rock-blues groove (staples of later era Purple) of 'Diablo' is no less impacting.
With no discernible chorus part, but utilising a change-up that leads to a tasty Hammond call and guitar answer part, 'Diablo' is a deceptively strong number.
The fact that opening brace are both done and dusted in less than three-and-a-half minutes also tells a significant short, sharp and concise SPLAT! story (only 4 of the 13 songs hit, or go beyond, four minutes, and no number hits the five-minute mark).
The bluesier 'The Rider' and riff 'n' swagger of 'The Lunatic' (which sports as short but feisty Hammond solo from Don Airey) don’t quite hit the mark of the opening salvo, but both are worthy of inclusion.
They also fit the profile of a reinvigorated Deep Purple who are still rhythmically rock solid through Roger Glover and ever-present co-founder Ian Paice.
The more radio friendly 'The Only Horse In Town' adds another shade of Purple (nice melodically phrased solo here from Simon McBride) as does the rawer, Celtic rock of 'Sacred Land,' which sports splashes of Moog and another weighty solo from McBride.
The latter also, however, highlights where Ian Gillan’s vocal limits now lie, as does the more downtempo and bluesier 'The Beating Of Wings.'
Depending on taste or what floats your Purple bedecked boat, 'Guilt Trippin’' (with woozy emphasis on the word Trippin’, intentionally unsettling multi-tracked Gillan vocals, and blues guitar going head to head with jazzier piano parts) will be an album highlight or the Skip track.
Either way, it’s one of the most interesting and experimental tracks Deep Purple have ever done.
The slightly off-kilter and jagged rock of 'Scriblin’ Gib’rish' could be approached in much the same way as 'Guilt Trippin',' but it’s also about the only song that could possibly follow it (another tasty solo here from Simon McBride).
'Jessica’s Bra' is a fun, Celtic boogie that lyrically expresses "the bawdy camaraderie" within a favourite drinking establishment ("since you’re asking, there’s a typo on the sign above the bar"); following number 'Third Call' is classic Deep Purple meets rhythmically interesting blues-rock.
As such both become very different sounding highlights.
'My New Movie' ups the Purple rock quotient (with a splash, or rather a splat!, of blues and some classically phrased Hammond) before the title track wraps up the album in semi-funk, bass-driven fashion.
('Splat!,' like 'Arrogant Boy,' could have been born in the 70s/ sat comfortably on an album such as Who Do We Think We Are).
The results are an album that closes out as well as it opened.
In an age where many a Legacy Act is little more than a tribute to their past selves (seen and heard in many a live performance/ set-list) Deep Purple continue to find ways and means to stay viable in the nostalgia-driven, big top world.
The may have been Kings of British heavy rock five-and-a-half decades ago but there’s still a sense of a Purple reign, and they’re not abdicating just yet.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
'Jessica’s Bra' is a fun, Celtic boogie that lyrically expresses "the bawdy camaraderie" within a favourite drinking establishment ("since you’re asking, there’s a typo on the sign above the bar"); following number 'Third Call' is classic Deep Purple meets rhythmically interesting blues-rock.
As such both become very different sounding highlights.
'My New Movie' ups the Purple rock quotient (with a splash, or rather a splat!, of blues and some classically phrased Hammond) before the title track wraps up the album in semi-funk, bass-driven fashion.
('Splat!,' like 'Arrogant Boy,' could have been born in the 70s/ sat comfortably on an album such as Who Do We Think We Are).
The results are an album that closes out as well as it opened.
In an age where many a Legacy Act is little more than a tribute to their past selves (seen and heard in many a live performance/ set-list) Deep Purple continue to find ways and means to stay viable in the nostalgia-driven, big top world.
The may have been Kings of British heavy rock five-and-a-half decades ago but there’s still a sense of a Purple reign, and they’re not abdicating just yet.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ