The biggest mistake I made before even hearing this record was
\nreading the reviews, especially those from British press. British
\nmusic writers often seem to want to make themselves look more
\nimportant than the piece of music they’re trying to write about.
\nWell, after reading the reviews they gave
\nBananas<\/i>, I didn’t want to expect too much from this record.
\nWhen I finally got it and played it, though\u2026I loved it. From
\nthe very first listen, this album hit the right chord with me.<\/p>\n
\nBananas<\/i> is a very diverse record. It fits with the ages of
\nthe band members, who may not always be moving in the direction of,
\nlet’s say, “Highway Star.” It’s also a very musical record that
\nreally shows all faces of Deep Purple.<\/p>\n
The biggest surprise for me was the performance of the new
\nkeyboard player, Don Airey (Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake).
\nAirey’s live performance with the band prior to this recording left
\na little to be desired, but here he completely shines, and more
\npower to him. So, now two out of the three most identifiable
\naspects of Deep Purple — guitar and keyboards — have been
\nreplaced, and it still works. Of course the hardcore fans may argue
\nthat point, but you just can’t keep everyone happy.<\/p>\n
This album should make any Deep Purple fan quite a happy chap
\nbecause it features just about anything the band is known for. From
\nthe hard-hitting numbers that will keep your heartbeat going, to
\nballad-y tracks that will allow some sentimental thoughts to creep
\nin. In fact, this writer’s two favorite tracks are the gentle Deep
\nPurple numbers such as “Haunted” and “Walk On.” Both of these songs
\nhave the feel Glover and Gillan captured on their excellent
\nAccidently On Purpose<\/i> (now that’s an album worth
\ninvestigating) album back in the 80’s.<\/p>\n
Producer Michael Bradford did a great job capturing the Purple
\nsound; everything sounds very clear, and Gillan’s vocals come
\nacross very distinctive. Bradford added some loops, and other
\nmodern recording tricks. These new additions, however, do nothing
\nto the overall sound. It’s just a sign of the times I suppose. When
\nlistening to Deep Purple you usually go for that middle-gut sound
\nthe band is known for, and that cannot be easily overwritten.<\/p>\n
Steve Morse delivers quite a good performance here. It’s good to
\nsee Morse slow down a little in his soloing. Solos like the one in
\n“Haunted” are exactly what Deep Purple needs more of. There’s no
\nneed to have 10,000 notes in one solo, when you can get that great
\nfeel with three or four. In other words, mean everything you play.
\nMorse did a very satisfying job, and he seems to be understanding
\nthe dynamics of the band very well now.<\/p>\n
Ian Gillan’s lyrics are, as always, very impressive, and so is
\nthe delivery. Some American influence is noticeable in Gillan’s
\nusual British jargon, but it nicely fits in with what Ian has
\ngotten us used to through all these years.<\/p>\n
\nBananas<\/i> is an excellent record. It’s an album for every
\noccasion. The album obviously does not bring anything new to the
\nband’s long-established style, but it’s solid, melodic, and catchy,
\nyet also surprising and adventurous at the same time. Great one,
\nguys!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":26541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5656],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-37781","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-deep-purple","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37781"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}