What does it sound like?:
Few bands have had as many incarnations as Purple – at the time of writing, Mark IX is going strong, with a second album planned for 2026. New guitarist Simon McBride gives the band an edge unseen since Blackmore flounced back in 1993, Steve Morse coming off the subs bench after first choice Joe Satriani was blocked by Epic Records.
“Rapture” was Morse’s 4th DP album, and heralded Mark VIII when founder member John Lord stepped down, replaced by Don Airey. At its time of recording in 2005, Purple were without a record deal, EMI having dropped the band after indifferent sales of “Abandon” and “Bananas” in 1998 and 2003. This may have contributed to Purple raising their game and this re-mix overseen by Roger Glover adds some sparkle and punch that was absent the first time round.
This 20th Anniversary edition captures the 10 rack original plus bonus tracks that appeared only in Japan (“Things I Never Said”) or on limited edition / special tour editions (“MTV”, “Junkyard Blues”, “Before Time Began”) although the London Hard Rock Café live set from 2005 that accompanied a special tour edition is absent. Along with new artwork there are 5 previously unreleased rehearsal tracks of which Morse’s solo acoustic “Closing Note” is the only one that failed to make any of the releases.
Airey’s presence is immediately evident, his rich discordant Hammond opening “Money Talks” – which then settles into an Eastern, “Kashmir” adjacent mood, before locking into fast paced groove with Morse on “Things I Never Said”.
The Eastern motif is back again on the title track “Rapture”, and it’s evident that this cast of DP had found it’s bite and thunder. Ian Paice remains one of my all-time favourite drummers and it’s his roll that makes the rest of the band rock. “MTV” showcases Gillan’s penchant for quirky lyrics and allows him a 5 minute grouch at music television which threatens to become a real banger but never quite gets there.
The pace rarely drops and when it does for “Quite Clearly Absurd” there’s a catchy chorus, but otherwise a fair size helping of meh. “Back to Back” is one of the stronger tracks that invokes their former glories with Paice’s chops well to the fore, but at times there’s just too many words, a problem that also hampers “Girls Like That”.
On “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” Paice brings the thunder and Gillian finds his scream. It’s a cut above most of what’s gone before and the band seem to be on a roll as next up “Don’t Let Go” is one of most complete songs on the album; a memorable chorus, Morse and Airey getting a chance to shine and one of the few tracks that had me thinking I’d like some more of that. There’s also some muscular riffing from Morse on “Junkyard Blues”, another steady rocker.
The rehearsals of “MTV”, “Money Talks”, “Back To Back” and “Before Time Began” present the songs without lyrics and rather than seeming incomplete I found them more immediate and catchier. The penny finally dropped – the tsunami of words that Gillan was adding to a lot of the songs was simply getting in the way.
Whilst there may be a lack of obvious hooks and too many helpings of word soup from Gillan, I’ve played the album around a dozen times now, and it’s grown and grown. Without doubt a step up from their prior 90’s/00’s releases. I caught the current incarnation on tour at the end of 2022 and would commend anyone to catch them, their album “=1″and the excellent Mr McBride without further delay.
What does it all *mean*?
It’s not just cats that have nine lives.
Goes well with…
Just play it loud!
Release Date:
August 29th
Might suit people who like…
Mark II and Mark VII but not the short lived mark IV
This was something of a return to form – a big improvement on the preceding few albums and in fact one of the better latter day releases by the band.