CD REVIEW: DEEP PURPLE – InFinite

Shane | 3 May 2017 | Reply

CD REVIEW: DEEP PURPLE – InFinite
e-a-r music/Sony
April 2017
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
7 ½ /10

Infinite comes off the back of Deep Purple’s Now What?!, an album which was a raging success for the band both artistically – which we expect – and commercially – which was a surprise even to these industry stalwarts.

Their twentieth studio album, InFinite plays on the theme that the band will be never-ending, and indeed it serves as a reminder that this is the eighth different major line-up of the band since they formed in 1968.

Again using Bob Ezrin as producer, InFinite sounds great, and finds the band in a playful mood – Ian Gillan sermonises on opener Time For Bedlam in a ‘you’ll either love it or hate it’ display which is far more in line with his solo work than with the legacy of Purple’s heyday. Sure, we want them to have fun and fulfil themselves creatively, but there’s not even the barest whiff of Black Night, Strange Kind of Woman or Woman From Tokyo here.

Both Don Airey and Steve Morse have been replicating the distinctive classically—tinged organ and guitar themes of Jon Lord and Richie Blackmore for years now, but no matter how effortlessly they play, it’s still hard to overcome the thought that they are approximating the sound of those who came before them.

Gillan’s scream is still vibrant, albeit less potent than in his long-haired youth, especially on Get Me Outta Here; One Night In Vegas is a fun romp that the singer could knock out in his sleep; The Surprising features some stunning musical interplay and a sprinkling of Eastern flavours; but a cover of The Doors’ Roadhouse Blues is wholly unnecessary from such a legendary band.

InFinite is as good a Deep Purple album as anyone could have hoped for, just don’t come in expecting to find anything to rival their deepest classics: they’re unlikely to scale those heights again.