Thank you Phil, the Morse era doesn't get nearly enough love! Morse is much less spontaneous than Blackmore, but he definitely delivers each and every gig, and each and every album. He's an amazing musician.
Hi Phil, once again a good topic to discuss. I aware of Steve Morse through Dixie Dregs and was interested to hear his contributions to the sound of Deep Purple but after The Battle Rages On, I wasn't about to rush out and buy their new album. Around that time they were to play in Perth, Western Australia so I went along as I really thought their days were numbered. They started with Ted, The Mechanic and after a few more songs, ripped into Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming. That song gave me a new perception of the band's future. Next day I bought Perpendicular which now remains in my top 5 Purple albums. By coincidence I received a brand-new vinyl copy in the mail yesterday and intend to share it with my neighbours.
My Favourite Morse-era Purple songs....subject to change according to any given day!! -1) Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming -2) Simple Man -3) Watching the Sky -4) Sun Goes Down -5) Birds of Prey -6) Rapture of the Deep -7) Uncommon Man -8) Loosen My Strings -9) The Surprizing -10) The Power of the Moon -11) Seventh Heaven -12) Weirdistan -13) Man Alive -14) Above and Beyond -15) Money Talks -16) Vincent Price -17) Walk On -18) Castle Full of Rascals -19) Fingers to the Bone -20) Wrong Man AND My Morse-era Purple album rankings: 1 - Purpendicular 2 - Now What!? 3 - Rapture of the Deep 4 - Abandon 5 - Infinite 6 - Whoosh 7- Bananas
@@independenceltd. Just saw your list. We overlap on a few - on Abandon & Purpendicular mostly. You like some of the Bananas songs that I tend to skip. I tried to spread the songs around on my list....I could have listed at least 2 or 3 more for Now What!? That one is fast becoming my favourite overall Morse-era album and might even slightly edge out Purpendicular. Abandon is getting better and better for me over time too. Funny how these albums continue to evolve over time / more spins.
The albums: 1. Purpendicular: Unbelievable musicianship/ diversity of songs 2. Now What: Broad in scope and only album that suited Ezrin’s direction/production 3. Bananas: Take out Razzle Dazzle it might be #2 4. Whoosh: their best songwriting. An album almost single-handedly ruined by Ezrin. Morse's guitar is strangely muffled and Gillan way too high in the mix. Remix/remaster this could be #2 5. Rapture of the Deep 6. Infinite- may have the greatest emotive guitar solo on Birds of Prey 7. Abandon - this is my Stormbringer. On some days it hits me just right. Would be a better album without Make Me Happy (Gillan’s forced chorus ruins a delightful song with great tone from Morse and Watching the Sky)
I LOVE the Morse era and I agree: All the albums are great. My take: 1. Bananas 2. Purpendicular 3. Now what 4. Infinite 5. Whoosh 6. Abandon 7. Rapture of the deep
DP album ranking with Steve Morse: 1. Purpendicular 2. Abandon 3. Now What?! 4. Bananas 5. Rapture of the Deep 6. Infinite 7. Turning to Crime 8. Woosh! DP album ranking: (Even before the release of the new album =1) 1. Machine Head 2. Deep Purple In Rock 3. Perfect Strangers 4. Fireball 5. Burn 6. Purpendicular ...................22. Woosh.
Great video. Steve Morse completely reinvigorated the band in every way.I always greatly anticipated every new DP album he was on. I agree with your top 2 picks and consider "Bananas" to be very underrated, but all of these albums are great. Take care! 🎸
I was a big Morse fan already. I'd heard the track from the Friday Rock Show too but my introduction to him on record was The Introduction in 1984. And a couple of years later he joined Kansas. So I was a big Steve Morse Band fan already and by the early 90s albums like Southern Steel and Coast to Coast blew me away even further. When he joined Purple I was astonished, I didn't see that one coming!
Nice mention of the Deep Purple Convention at Sheffield. I was there. Bought my tickets for the Purpendicular tour at the City Hall the same day. Also remember having to nip out to a cash point as I had spent all my money at the Convention 😬😀
Hi Phil - I came to Deep Purple from the very beginning and for some reason never got into the Purples Steve Morse years. I have some of his solo albums though - go figure ?? Just played "Sometimes I feel like Screaming" on spotify - WOW. OK - thats a classic for sure, what a gorgeous melodic solo. Its the song that should probably close their set. Love the solo - I agree with your every comment about the song - its brilliant. I dont have the budget to be a completist, but I'll keep my eyes open for those albums during my charity shop trawls - you just never know what you find. Thanks for flagging those albums and songs. Cheers Doug
I really love the way you talk about this great band. I saw them on the recent tour and their playing is still great! Although I consider Jon Lord the element making DP unique, there are some great albums done in the post-Lord era. Now What?! is a masterpiece, they really found a new sound with Bob Ezrin since then.
A record dealer friend handed me Coast To Coast by Steve Morse Band for £6 and it blew me away. I've always been a relaxed kind of picker and here was all this accuracy at high speed. Fantastic. So of course I was excited when he joined my favourite Rock band. Saw them several times live. Bought every album as they were released. Possibly my favourite is Abandon. It's a solid album throughout, very powerful production.
Hi Phil - I saw Deep Purple at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester when the "In Rock" album came out - what a night that was. On one of the tracks they used a strobe light which just slowed all their movement down - just amazing. When we staggered out of the concert our ears were ringing and it took us an hour to regain our hearing Lolol. Heady days. Richie was on top form that night - a temperamental bugger for sure, but what a player. Cya ps One of my fav Purple songs - This time around / Ode to G - what a departure from their classic sound, but what a song - thank you Tommy Bolin
Really enjoyed this one Phil. First became aware of Steve Morse when I took a punt and picked up Steve Morse Band ‘Stand Up’ in an HMV sale and I’ve loved his work ever since including with Flying Colours BUT have not heard anything with him as part of Deep Purple (my Deep Purple journey ended with ‘Perfect Strangers’ in the 80s)!! You’ve enthused me with this video and my wallet is now significantly lighter following an eBay spree - looking forward to delving into this part of the catalogue in the coming days…
Great job, Phil. I reckon The Surprising and Birds of Prey should have been in instead of Time For Bedlam. Those two are peerless IMO. ALBUMS: Rapture of the Deep is the worst, by far; Bananas is really a very fine album. MY RANKING: 1. Now What!? 2. Abandon 3. Purpendicular 4. Bananas 5. Whoosh! 6. Infinite 7. Rapture of the Deep. Top 6 all great )apart from Eoadhouse Blues), number 7 pretty good but with some bang average songs dragging it down.
My selection, I recommend it as a playlist, 4 tracks are selected per disc: PURPENDICULAR - 1. Vavoom: Ted the Mechanic 2. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming 3. Cascades: I'm Not Your lover 4. A Castle Full of Rascals - ABANDON - 5. Any Fule Kno That 6. Seventh Heaven 7. Watching the Sky 8. 69 - BANANAS - 9. House of Pain 10. Silver Tongue 11. I Got Your Number 12. Bananas - RAPTURE OF THE DEEP - 13. Rapture of the Deep 14. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye 15. Junkyard Blues 16. MTV - NOW WHAT?! - 17. Hell to Pay 18. Blood from a Stone 19. Uncommon Man 20. Vincent Price - INFINITE - 21. Time for Bedlam 22. The Surprising 23. All I Got Is You 24. Birds of Prey - WOOSH! - 25. Throw My Bones 26. No Need to Shout 27. Remission Possible/Man Alive 28. And the Address - TURNING TO CRIME - 29. 7 and 7 Is 30. Oh Well 31. Jenny Take a Ride 32. White Room It worked for me
shame on me for "abandoning" DP after Come Taste the Band. Still haven't heard their catalogue from the 80s and 90s. And the Steve Morse years just whooshed past me (despite liking the Dixie Dregs back in the day). This will henceforth be my intent, to immerse myself in DP starting with Perfect Strangers and onwards. Thanks Phil and those of you who left comments for putting me back on the path!
I've got them in this order: Purpendicular Now What!? Abandon Whoosh! Bananas Rapture of the Deep Infinite To me there's a bit of a gap after my top 3.
Deep Purple is a fantastic band! I kind of fell out of hearing a lot of their late '90s and early 2000s music back after a number of eye surgeries left me legally blind, on all days starting 9/11/2001, and I had a lot going on with my changed life. It financially changed things for me as well for a while and I didn't really have the money to go out and buy a lot of music back then Somewhere around 2006/2007, I had heard Perpendicular after getting a copy on CD at the time and I loved it. Like you, I had not really known much about Steve Morris. I'd heard of him in some of his groups but really hadn't heard him much. But he was doing a wonderful job on some of the Deep Purple DVDs I had gotten that were being released back then. One song that really found its way into my heart was Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming. But so many of the newer songs they had been putting out were superb songs. I went and saw Deep Purple in Dallas in 2007 and really enjoyed that live show. They could do it live night after night and sound so great all of these years later and I was impressed. I've been buying a ton of the Deep Purple live albums, from of course the early 1970s through more recent years, over the last few years. And I've been getting some really great deals on some incredible multi LP shows lately too. Just last week I got in the 3 or 4 LP 3/20/2001 Hong Kong concert LP set. There were 5,000 copies made worldwide and it brand new too, I got it for $22 which blue me away. I've got a large number of shows from them never released but not on vinyl unfortunately. But I've got quite a few live shows or compilations of live recordings that have been officially released in recent years. And while the classic lineup and music is my favorite, I still love the late '90s and on music this band has made. I do have one exception however. I've never been impressed with the studio album Woosh. I don't have all of their later official vinyl releases after 2000 (yet). But I've really enjoyed everything I have heard through the last three decades almost (since Morse joined) and of course I love their earlier classic lineup in music as well. Great video and I really enjoyed the topic and opinions! Thank you 👍 Brian in Fort Worth 🎶 UPDATE/EDIT: I had not finishehed watching your whole video at the time I made my comment. As you were counting down your 20 favorite tracks from the Steve Morris years I was thinking to myself "wouldn't it be interesting if Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming was his favorite too"? I didn't expect that but I wondered and thought it. Haha, we might be more alike than I even realized😂 And you're right about it being in there with the Deep Purple classics! I can remember the first time I heard it the song and how it made me feel. I wish they had kept that one in their live lineup as well. What an incredible song from the whole band!
What a wonderful comment and story thank you for sharing. Very sorry to hear about your eye surgeries. I had two major ones last year and lost some of my sight in my right eye. It’s the reason I am wearing sunglasses in some of my videos from last year. Phil
@@NowSpinningMagazine Thanks for the reply Phil. Yeah I was not expecting to lose any vision when the eye surgeries began and the eye that lost all vision wound up being the one that didn't hardly have any trouble. It definitely was not what I expected. After the surgery on it, something went wrong and the pressure built up and it created scar tissue that they can't even see through or work around. And then the other eye that was the one that was problematic was the one I had to get back to being able to use. I wound up losing 85% of my vision. You find ways of getting things done and learning how to still do a lot but you also lose out on a lot and there's just some things you can't do like drive in my case. My vision loss was one thing that kind of kept me from getting back into LP collecting a little earlier than I did. But where there is a will, there is a way usually. Thanks for sharing your story as well! And I enjoy your channel and I'm glad I recently found it. Keep up the good work my friend!
Totally agree - Ian Gillan totally misjudged their fans. A night of Morse songs would have been epic. I saw them on the Purpendicular tour and played at least 5 maybe 6 songs from the album and those were the highlight
Hi Phil. Great subject, and I'm with you on Morse-era gigs. In common with Purple from '68 to '93, I can't put the albums in order, but I could give 20 Morse-Purple songs. Alphabetically - * A Simple Song: My friend's dad loves this, and so do I - Prog Purple; * Back to Back: Reminds me of some of Harry Nilsson's later, quirky songs; * Bananas: Purple play this groove better than any other band; * Clearly Quite Absurd: Touching lyrics and arrangement; * Dancing In My Sleep: You put it better than I could! * Fingers to the Bone: Was this about Gillan's feelings on leaving Repo Depo? * Hey Cisco: DP make jazz-rock sound so easy! Gillan's humour at its best; * Hip Boots: My fave song from Infinite, with some great Oh Well-isms; * I Got Your Number: Genius riff and rhythm, and so catchy; * Jack Ruby: Heavy, deliberate, and very clever lyrically; * Junkyard Blues: Love the humour and quirky arrangement; * Loosen My Strings: Shows how crucial Glover is to classic DP - brilliant song; * Rosa's Cantina: Love Lord's intro, then the steaming hothouse vibe, and inspired lyrics; * Sixty-Nine: Interesting song and lyrics, and great live; * Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming: So classy, memorable, warm-sounding - and emotional; * The Surprising: Well-named, keeps the interest high throughout; * Things I Never Said: That Purple groove that's Ian Paice's trademark; * Throw My Bones: Creative opener to Whoosh, a completely new idea; * Walk On: This gives some idea of how Gillan / Glover might've handled Mistreated; * Watching the Sky: Inventive stuff, and great, heavy riffs. Went down well at RAH 1999.
😀In Jan.1985 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, me and my friends (and lots others) screamed at him while he was doing the Hiway Star solo and he smiled at us all and shook his head like saying “ You are all so crazy cool”😃✨🎸
Great video. I think the evil Louis solo is tremendous. . Also I would say maybe into the fire, Morse does a great job also. Total abandon has a heavy version of blood sucker. That's a great live album.
Great episode! There's one gem, I was hoping you'd mention; and it was, "Things I never said." An outtake from rapture of the deep; but live...it found its wings. I believe they played it every show from 2006-2012. Great list, sir. Not an easy task.😊✌️
Hi Phil ,John here ,Great video ,much to think about for sure ,can’t comment too much as I only brought 2 Steve morse Deep albums ,so a bit of catching up to do especially “ whoosh “ and “ what next “ espeacilly how highly rated you make these albums Once again phil ,thank you for the efforts from us both ,great stuff 👏👏🎸🎸🎸🎸
1. Seventh Heaven 2. Any Fule Kno That 3. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming 4. Soon Forgotten 5. Watching The Sky 6. Rapture Of The Deep 7. Walk On 8. Wrong Man 9. Vincent Price 10. Throw My Bones 11. Out Of Hand 12. Simple Song 13. Time For Bedlam 14. All I Got Is You 15. The Surprising 16. Step By Step 17. Nothing At All 18. The Power Of The Moon 19. Loosen My Strings 20. Vavoom: Ted The Mechanic
The Morse period is brilliant and pretty even in quality, their albums have not really dipped and Whoosh I think is the best they've made in 20 years, here's to them continuing for many years to come! 🎹🎸🔊🎶🧙♂️
Thank you Phil for bringing up this wonderful topic. I agree, Morse's albums are as valuable as anything else from the Blackmore era. Right after The House of Blue Light I completely lost interest in the band. I thought that was it, they can not bring anything more extraordinary. I skipped Slaves and Masters and I casually listened to The Battle Rages On. It was OK , but nothing special. When Purpendicular appeared in stores I totally ignored it. Strangely enough, I was very familiar with Steve Morse's solo material, and I quite liked it, but, I thought, that the blend of Morse and Purple will not work. I bought it a few years later. I still remember the exact moment when I bought it and listened to it for the first time, but I do not remember what made me buy it and give it a try. I must have read something about it. Right after the first listen I immediately fell in love with it. It was a mind blowing experience. A perfect masterpiece. I loved every second of it. Such a blend of everything. Good for me, but at the same time my wife can listen to it too. Purpendicular is regarded as one of the best between Purple fans, but I think, it would be even more successful if it was released under a new band name. It would have reached a much wider audience. Not just Purple fans. After Purpendicular, I loved every album, one after another. I consider Now What and Whoosh also excellent albums, very close to Purpendicular. Abandon, Rapture of the Deep and , Infinite are very good. But, above all, Bananas is my favourite. Absolute perfection in my opinion. Filled with excitement from Ian's “false screaming” on House of Pain to the frenetic ending of the title song. The production is just perfect for my ears, I adore that sound. I do not know what I like more, heavy rocking (House of Pain, Silver Tongue, Bananas), bluesy mid-tempo (Haunted, Walk On), ballad ( Never A Word), instrumentals (Contact Lost , The Well Dressed Guitar (album outtake)) and best of all, Doing It Tonight, my favourite song from the album, and one of the best Morse era Deep Purple songs. Of course, this is all my opinion. I think fans rejected Bananas because there was no Lord on it, and maybe because of the album cover, who knows. I do not like cover songs, so I just casually listened to Turning To Crime, and I thought it was just OK. From best to worst (although they are all good) my list goes like this: Bananas, Purpendicular, Now What, Whoosh, Infinite, Rapture of the Deep, Abandon, Turning To Crime
@@NowSpinningMagazine Too bad Bananas is not available on vinyl. And I believe it is hard to find on CD right now. Let me know how you like The Well Dressed Guitar instrumental. I watched them 3 times with Morse, and they only played Contact Lost at one of the concerts. But, of course we don't get to pick and choose. The last time I was at DP concert with my son. He was 15 at the time. We had tickets somewhere around the middle of the venue. When we were just about to enter one of the officials approached us and said "We don't see such young people at concerts of this kind, and as an award for this young boy, we are going to transfer you right to the front", so we end up in the 2nd row. You know, I streamed Turning to Crime, and It was just OK for me. Then, I watched your review and I was on the verge of buying it, and in the meantime I read that your opinion dimmed since your initial review and I finally gave up haha.
Thanks Phil to give some love to this era of the band. I am now looking forward how it will sound an album with Simon. Here's my list: 1. Abandon 2. Purpendicular 3. Now What?! 4. Whoosh 5. Bananas 6. Rapture of the Deep 7. Infinitive
Oh, and I think that "Roadhouse Blues" has so many plays because if I just tell my phone to play Deep Purple, it automatically picks the album Infinite and that track. Which is why I don't let algorithms pick my music.
This is the first Purple video I've seen that properly puts into words how great Purpendicular is! Great record. I like Infinite more than Whoosh (Roadhouse Blues was uninspired however), but I need to revisit both.
Whoosh might be their best songwriting but Ezrin absolutely destroys that album. He buries Morse in the mix and Gillan’s vocals are way too up in the mix. Ezrin did a good job with Now What but it was downhill from there.Ezrin is extremely overrated
I am a massive Deep Purple fan and loved this video. Sometimes I feel like screaming is one their best ever songs across their entire catalogue. Live it is amazing. I do wonder if Simon McBride might be a better fit though? I would have loved to have heard them record with Satriani. I think his version of Blind Man Cries on Paris live is blissful. He is also cracking on Fools which is possibly my fave Fireball track. Great vid Phil
I have a sense that McBride is going to bring in a more raw, brash, spontaneous feel to Purple's music. Am looking forward to a possible upcoming album by this new Mark.
I always enjoy what Morse brings to anything he appears on, my DP list with Morse (minus 'Turning to Crime' even though I enjoyed their takes on the material): Purpendicular Infinite Rapture of the Deep Now What? Whoosh Abandon Bananas (not a slap on the album just liked the others better) Phil I think also as important as Steve Morse joining was Don Airey replacing Jon Lord and continuing the keyboard grandeur.
Agree that Purpendicular is their best Morse era album, the quality is consistently high and some of the guitar playing is just so enchantingly melodic, particularly The Aviator & Loosen My Strings. I have the same problem with Rapture of the Deep, I think there are some good songs lurking on there, but they are buried in a poor mix and poor production that is quite headache inducing in its overly compressed sound. With regards to Morse, Structural Damage is a great album, but my favourite of his solo output is Southern Steel, not only one of my favourite instrumental albums, but one of my favourite albums of all time.
Ritchie Blackmore is my hero however Steve Morse is equally a quality guitarist with a different approach. To see their different styles and approaches is to play Perfect Strangers live one with RB and one with SM. The one with RB will be dramatic, to the point where the track itself takes center stage; thats very RB style. While with SM things get a little theatrical where the main theme of the track is added on with different melodies inflection thus making the song more vast but losing it's dark side. What I like about Ritchie Blackmore he plays to support the main thrust of the song, this can be seen in Temple of the King and Black Masquerade; he respects the main melody. However Steve Morse did a beautiful and melodic solo in Pictures of Home Deep Purple playing live with Orchestra in the Albert Hall. RB style will always be dramatic, melodic and even cute in style and his musical style has expanded since leaving Deep Purple and Rainbow to be Blackmore'sNight...
Yeah, Ritchie Blackmore is my favorite guitarist too. I saw Deep Purple MK3 at Westfalenhalle Dortmund/Germany on 23 Mar 1975. I remembering it was a festival with several bands also Randy Pie. After Stormbringer and this tour he left DP and formed Rainbow. He didn't like the funky direction and Ronnie was the right performer for his project. Of course the Steve Morse years are good but Ritchie has his own unique classical technique. DP In Rock ,Fireball and Machine Head is a very strong troika. Of course Burn with Coverdale and Hughes is a massive titanic output and i love it to death. To me the albums with Morse can't hold the the quality of MK2 and MK3. By the way, MK4 with Bolin is great too. When i heard Come Taste The Band first i was surprised. My favorite album with Morse is Purpendicular. The rest passes me by somehow.
Thanks, Phil. Always wanted to see these albums ranked. Top 20 Songs (no order): *Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming * Jack Ruby * Things I Never Said * Hip Boots * Bananas * Junkyard Blue(s) * A Simple Song * Ted the Mechanic * Rosa's Cantina * Fingers to the Bone * Loosen My Strings * Watching the Sky * Throw My Bones * Clearly Quite Absurd * Nothing at All * 69 * Hey 'Cisco * Bananas * I Got Your Number * The Surprising. This could've been a Top 40 quite easily! I can't rank the albums yet, as I'm still assimilating the Ezrin trio. Purpendicular is my fave, with Abandon, Bananas and Rapture of the Deep equal seconds. It's funny - when Purple again started having Top 10 albums in the UK, it felt great, but the feeling that "our" band were not getting enough recognition for their efforts went. That's why the Ezrin albums are taking longer to become fully familiar. I know that doesn't make sense.😄 Agree 100% about the live setlist. For me, Fools and Wring That Neck are the two best Mk.2 songs played by Mks.7/8. Oh, and the Machine Head tracks like Never Before and Maybe I'm a Leo on that MH tour.
Hi Alex, brilliant list and a good example of why it it so difficult to rank the songs from this period. They are all good and get better with age - Phil
@@NowSpinningMagazine: Cheers, Phil. It's so sad that Steve's wife got ill. I hope she makes it. He seems a really decent person, and a great guitarist/songwriter. Got best view of him playing at the first '99 Concerto at the Albert Hall, from a box stage-right. Great technique. So different from Blackmore, but he fit DP perfectly. You're right - play any of those songs and you hear new things.🙂
NIce list Alex. We overlap on several of the songs. I saw Mark Morse/ Airey perform a few times. The band played Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming; Mary Long (from WDWTWA); and No One Came (from Fireball) at a couple of those shows. Spectacular!
@@garyh.238: Hi Gary, and thanks! Mary Long's become a real classic, and same with No One Came. Wish No No No would get a slot in the setlist. Fools was excellent in Mk.7/8's hands.
Nice to see more love for Steve Morse. I quickly fell in love with Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band and Steve Morse (a few solo albums) after looking up about his past before Deep Purple. His two Kansas albums have their moments as well but if you are completely new.. I would suggest som Dixie Dregs and Steve Morse Band before searching up the material from Kansas. Like you. I love the Ritchie Blackmore era but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the material with Steve Morse.. Why should it?
A bit of trivia for you (and a slight correction) but Tommy Vance used to use TWO Dixie Dregs tracks through his shows - "Take It Off The Top" from the 1978 "What If" album was used as a theme (and I can't remember if it was at the beginning or the end of the show because "Theme One" by Van Der Graaf Generator was at the other end of the show). But he also used "Cruise Control" from the Dregs' 1977 "Free Fall" album as a talk over track when he was doing chart run downs - I am sure if you listen to it you will remember it. The Friday Rock Show was vital listening for we "chaps of a certain age"!
@@NowSpinningMagazine I think someone might need to clear up when each track was used during his show, though. I can't remember which was the opening theme and which was the closing theme.
@@NowSpinningMagazine I should have checked the Wikipedia page: "For most of its run, its intro and closing theme tune was the Dixie Dregs instrumental "Take it Off the Top", and the quiz used the Van der Graaf Generator track "Theme One" (a cover of the theme tune originally written for Radio 1 by George Martin in 1967); other jingles were written and performed by Samson (with Nicky Moore on vocals), Rose Tattoo and Vow Wow." No mention of "Cruise Control" by the Dixie Dregs but I am sure that was used regularly.
Thank you for the Hell or Highwater explanation. I got the dvd and it feels like a huge chunk is missing. In the interviews the band are miffed over something and there's no Richie. Now I know! Bananas was to be their Sgt Pepper but seems to have zero recognition ...apart from daft cover?! Must listen to Morse era and would have done if Hughes was singer
For me Purpendicular is Purple's most 'musical' album with the greatest diversity with Abandon is surely up there with In Rock as the band's heaviest output. The Bob Ezrin produced albums is a case of diminishing returns and hope this trend will be reversed if the band return to the studio. Certainly Now What is a superb album and i agree with Phil as it is my 2nd favourite from this era. I think their latest is okay but the album is too restricted .i.e there is very little extended instrumental breaks as the tracks are generally shorter.
I agree. Purpendicular ranks up there for me too, but Now What!? continues to gain ground on it. As far as Whoosh goes, there are 2 or 3 tracks I really like on it, but I am hearing some repetition on it as well ( chord progressions, riffage, etc that I have heard on previous Ezrin-produced albums). And as on Infinite, there seems to be a bit too much of Ian's story-telling style of song on Whoosh. I really hope that McBride can inject some fire into the band during writing sessions for a future album.
I have the Dick Pimple CD. I was at the convention. Wonder how many copies of it there are. My favourite 3 Morse era Purple albums are Purpenduculer, Whoosh! and Now What?!
How I would like them to perform these songs at concerts. I love Highway Star Space or Truckin', but these songs should be left behind like the other Mark 2 songs, leaving only Smoke On The Water as a relic and add a couple of encores, and make the rest of the playlist of such songs, like Cantina Rosa or Before Time Began.
DP played in Durban in 1995, soon after Morse joined. It was a double bill with Uriah Heep (featuring John Lawton who stepped in for a sick Bernie). As good as Purple and Morse were, Heep blew them out of the water. Heep and Purple returned to Durban in 2010, this time with Wishbone Ash. Purple were great, (with Don Airey vamping an iconic local tune along the way). Heep still better, but the laurels definitely went to Ash on the night. BTW. I do enjoy Bananas. It's by far my most played Morse era album. Why? I honestly don't know 😊
Anyone has heard the new remix of Rapture of the Deep. It was released in 2021 or 2022 I believe. I read that it is brilliant and makes it sound like a new album. It is quite pricey though. Anyone?
Now that the truth has come out, it is hard to believe that Morse was fired by Gillan et al via management while Morse was on hiatus with his ill wife preparing to return to a Purple tour in 5 weeks back in July of 2022. They don’t get any better as a person or a musician as Steve Morse. In the end Purple didn’t deserve him
I love all the D.P. lineups but Steve Morse is my favorite, I saw them right after the " Who Do We Think We Are" album came out, and the sound was just so freakin' loud it was unbearable, sounded like a 90 minute buzz. Saw them again in 2001 with Steve Morse and the sound system was still very loud but CRYSTAL clear, it was amazing, the show was so good, it was about 20 miles north of Houston, Nazareth opened both shows and they were great both times.
Pretending that TURNING TO CRIME isn't an album of Deep Purple, even if it's "just covers" says to me that you're no a real fan. It's like saying "screw that, the band did something I am not proud of, let's pretend it did not happen". I see this a lot of times with another bands like Metallica:s "fans" (???) pretend that LuLu didn't happen or Pink Floyd "fans" "forgetting about" The Endless River. People that do that are no real fans.
I have always considered that Steve Morse joining Deep Purple is a parallel to Vinnie Moore joining UFO, both replacing "troubled" lead guitarists (and bearing in mind that Vinnie Moore replaced Michael Schenker after that reunion period that began with "Walk on Water"). In both cases, it was "the classic lineup with a new guitarist" - and much as I am a huge fan of Schenker and Blackmore, I think both bands did better for getting rid of the "lead guitarist bullsh*t" at the times they ditched the pair of them.
@@NowSpinningMagazine Speaking of ex-UFO guitarists, I managed to get out and mow the lawn this afternoon in a brief spell of sunshine and ended up playing the two Lone Star albums (with Paul Chapman on guitar) on headphones - I had forgotten just how GOOD those albums are.
@@NowSpinningMagazine I couldn't pick a preference between the two - but, if you remember those "Sounds" LP compilation days, "The Ballad of Crafty Jack" from the debut album was as regular on those as "Flirtin' With Disaster" by Molly Hatchet and "Too Wild To Tame" by The Boyzz - so the debut is the first Lone Star album I listened to. Do you remember those compilations?
Personally I thought the band did not give enough brotherhood to Morse on his departure particularly given the personal circumstances Morse was going through. I get the impression that it was a relatively cold departure reading between the lines. My feeling is that there was tension between Ezrin and Morse particularly with the Whoosh album. Morse was being marginalized and not listened to. If Ian Ian Roger and Don could have dignified things by supporting him in a time of need instead of ‘right good luck’ - ‘we have Simon ready to go’ Unless I’m misinterpreting the situation I’ve lost a bit of respect for the band
Here’s my shot. Not necessarily in this strict order Sometimes I Feel… Birds of Prey Loosen My Strings Apres Vous The Aviator Rapture of the Deep Clearly Quite Absurd Silver Tongue Weirdistan The Power of the Moon Nothing at All Somebody Stole My Guitar Above and Beyond Uncommon Man Almost Human Rosa’s Cantina A Touch Away The Surprising Wrong Man Vincent Price
Steve morse was great in purple but i didn't like his over melodic guitar tone. Id prefer if he went more for the Blackmore tone like simon that's with them now, but he still was great.
@@garyh.238 yeah I hate knocking Steve as he's an unbelievable player and I loved the stuff he done with purple but that over melodic guitar or tone is so different front the sharp strat tone that Blackmore had.
@@martymartin2894 Agreed. I have saw Steve play several times and loved what he did on guitar...Just not crazy about that bright tone he had on that Musicman of his. I just loved Blackmore's deep, dark, biting tone emanating from his Strat.
I've seen Purple in '73 with ZZTop b4 beards,saw them in the mid '70's with Coverdale,Hughes and Bolin with Nazareth backing them up,then a couple years ago funny story saw Black Star Riders,Saxon and Priest great show.Later in the year I saw Priest back up Purple and Purple blew them right out the door better songs better players.After the show my friend and I both thought wish Puprle would of played longer an Priest less
Cool that you saw ZZ Top supporting Purple back in the 73! I have a copy of an interview of Ritchie Blackmore done in Australia in late1976 wherein he states that ZZ Top has a good guitarist ((ie): referring to Billy Gibbons). Coming from Ritchie, that is high praise indeed.
Purpendicular is at the top for me. ROTD is at the bottom. I like the title track but not much else. It’s not a great example of Ian Paice’s drumming, in my opinion.
They should have done a Steve morse set , I can’t STAND space truckin , never have been able to stomach it , same with hush . Give us loosen my strings or whatsername
Thank you Phil, the Morse era doesn't get nearly enough love! Morse is much less spontaneous than Blackmore, but he definitely delivers each and every gig, and each and every album. He's an amazing musician.
Thank you for watching, I agree. Phil
Hi Phil, once again a good topic to discuss. I aware of Steve Morse through Dixie Dregs and was interested to hear his contributions to the sound of Deep Purple but after The Battle Rages On, I wasn't about to rush out and buy their new album. Around that time they were to play in Perth, Western Australia so I went along as I really thought their days were numbered. They started with Ted, The Mechanic and after a few more songs, ripped into Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming. That song gave me a new perception of the band's future. Next day I bought Perpendicular which now remains in my top 5 Purple albums. By coincidence I received a brand-new vinyl copy in the mail yesterday and intend to share it with my neighbours.
Thank you for sharing !
Steve saved Purple. Unreal musical abilities aside, he gave them real stability. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming is an all time classic
Purpendicular is my favorite Deep Purple album with Steve Morse...Saw that tour also.👍
The tour was fantastic, it was amazing to see how the set list had changed. Phil
@@NowSpinningMagazine 😃👍
My Favourite Morse-era Purple songs....subject to change according to any given day!!
-1) Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
-2) Simple Man
-3) Watching the Sky
-4) Sun Goes Down
-5) Birds of Prey
-6) Rapture of the Deep
-7) Uncommon Man
-8) Loosen My Strings
-9) The Surprizing
-10) The Power of the Moon
-11) Seventh Heaven
-12) Weirdistan
-13) Man Alive
-14) Above and Beyond
-15) Money Talks
-16) Vincent Price
-17) Walk On
-18) Castle Full of Rascals
-19) Fingers to the Bone
-20) Wrong Man
AND My Morse-era Purple album rankings:
1 - Purpendicular
2 - Now What!?
3 - Rapture of the Deep
4 - Abandon
5 - Infinite
6 - Whoosh
7- Bananas
I agree 100% with your ranking of the Morse era albums.
Fantastic list, thank you for taking the time to share ! Phil
@@independenceltd. Just saw your list. We overlap on a few - on Abandon & Purpendicular mostly. You like some of the Bananas songs that I tend to skip. I tried to spread the songs around on my list....I could have listed at least 2 or 3 more for Now What!? That one is fast becoming my favourite overall Morse-era album and might even slightly edge out Purpendicular. Abandon is getting better and better for me over time too. Funny how these albums continue to evolve over time / more spins.
@@independenceltd. Ditto!!
@@bernardmaasdijk734 Thank you Bernard!
The albums:
1. Purpendicular: Unbelievable musicianship/ diversity of songs
2. Now What: Broad in scope and only album that suited Ezrin’s direction/production
3. Bananas: Take out Razzle Dazzle it might be #2
4. Whoosh: their best songwriting. An album almost single-handedly ruined by Ezrin. Morse's guitar is strangely muffled and Gillan way too high in the mix. Remix/remaster this could be #2
5. Rapture of the Deep
6. Infinite- may have the greatest emotive guitar solo on Birds of Prey
7. Abandon - this is my Stormbringer. On some days it hits me just right. Would be a better album without Make Me Happy (Gillan’s forced chorus ruins a delightful song with great tone from Morse and Watching the Sky)
I LOVE the Morse era and I agree: All the albums are great. My take:
1. Bananas
2. Purpendicular
3. Now what
4. Infinite
5. Whoosh
6. Abandon
7. Rapture of the deep
DP album ranking with Steve Morse:
1. Purpendicular 2. Abandon 3. Now What?! 4. Bananas 5. Rapture of the Deep 6. Infinite 7. Turning to Crime 8. Woosh!
DP album ranking: (Even before the release of the new album =1)
1. Machine Head 2. Deep Purple In Rock 3. Perfect Strangers 4. Fireball 5. Burn 6. Purpendicular ...................22. Woosh.
Great video. Steve Morse completely reinvigorated the band in every way.I always greatly anticipated every new DP album he was on. I agree with your top 2 picks and consider "Bananas" to be very underrated, but all of these albums are great. Take care! 🎸
Thank you 🙏
You nailed it. Created a DP that was a bit different interesting and absolutely stellar musicianship. He showed up every night for their fans.
Doing it tonight! 💪👏😍
I was a big Morse fan already. I'd heard the track from the Friday Rock Show too but my introduction to him on record was The Introduction in 1984. And a couple of years later he joined Kansas. So I was a big Steve Morse Band fan already and by the early 90s albums like Southern Steel and Coast to Coast blew me away even further. When he joined Purple I was astonished, I didn't see that one coming!
Great story!
Perpendicular and Bananas are my favourite in that order. Ted the mechanic and sometimes i feel like screaming are 2 great songs from this lineup.
Nice mention of the Deep Purple Convention at Sheffield. I was there.
Bought my tickets for the Purpendicular tour at the City Hall the same day.
Also remember having to nip out to a cash point as I had spent all my money at the Convention 😬😀
Wonderful memories!
@@NowSpinningMagazine
Did you go to the 2nd Convention in London on the same weekend as the Concerto gigs at RAH.
Hi Phil - I came to Deep Purple from the very beginning and for some reason never got into the Purples Steve Morse years. I have some of his solo albums though - go figure ?? Just played "Sometimes I feel like Screaming" on spotify - WOW. OK - thats a classic for sure, what a gorgeous melodic solo. Its the song that should probably close their set. Love the solo - I agree with your every comment about the song - its brilliant. I dont have the budget to be a completist, but I'll keep my eyes open for those albums during my charity shop trawls - you just never know what you find. Thanks for flagging those albums and songs. Cheers Doug
I really love the way you talk about this great band. I saw them on the recent tour and their playing is still great!
Although I consider Jon Lord the element making DP unique, there are some great albums done in the post-Lord era.
Now What?! is a masterpiece, they really found a new sound with Bob Ezrin since then.
A record dealer friend handed me Coast To Coast by Steve Morse Band for £6 and it blew me away. I've always been a relaxed kind of picker and here was all this accuracy at high speed. Fantastic. So of course I was excited when he joined my favourite Rock band. Saw them several times live. Bought every album as they were released. Possibly my favourite is Abandon. It's a solid album throughout, very powerful production.
Agree, Abandon is often overlooked
Hi Phil - I saw Deep Purple at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester when the "In Rock" album came out - what a night that was. On one of the tracks they used a strobe light which just slowed all their movement down - just amazing. When we staggered out of the concert our ears were ringing and it took us an hour to regain our hearing Lolol. Heady days. Richie was on top form that night - a temperamental bugger for sure, but what a player. Cya ps One of my fav Purple songs - This time around / Ode to G - what a departure from their classic sound, but what a song - thank you Tommy Bolin
Really enjoyed this one Phil. First became aware of Steve Morse when I took a punt and picked up Steve Morse Band ‘Stand Up’ in an HMV sale and I’ve loved his work ever since including with Flying Colours BUT have not heard anything with him as part of Deep Purple (my Deep Purple journey ended with ‘Perfect Strangers’ in the 80s)!! You’ve enthused me with this video and my wallet is now significantly lighter following an eBay spree - looking forward to delving into this part of the catalogue in the coming days…
Enjoy the journey! Phil :)
Great job, Phil. I reckon The Surprising and Birds of Prey should have been in instead of Time For Bedlam. Those two are peerless IMO. ALBUMS: Rapture of the Deep is the worst, by far; Bananas is really a very fine album. MY RANKING: 1. Now What!? 2. Abandon 3. Purpendicular 4. Bananas 5. Whoosh! 6. Infinite 7. Rapture of the Deep. Top 6 all great )apart from Eoadhouse Blues), number 7 pretty good but with some bang average songs dragging it down.
Thanks again for all the information Phil. Essential listening for all serious music fans and / or musicians in my humble opinion.😊
Thank you
I totally agree they should've done a whole set list of Morse era songs. We've heard the old songs hundreds of times.
My selection, I recommend it as a playlist, 4 tracks are selected per disc:
PURPENDICULAR - 1. Vavoom: Ted the Mechanic 2. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming 3. Cascades: I'm Not Your lover 4. A Castle Full of Rascals - ABANDON - 5. Any Fule Kno That 6. Seventh Heaven 7. Watching the Sky 8. 69 - BANANAS - 9. House of Pain 10. Silver Tongue 11. I Got Your Number 12. Bananas - RAPTURE OF THE DEEP - 13. Rapture of the Deep 14. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye 15. Junkyard Blues 16. MTV - NOW WHAT?! - 17. Hell to Pay 18. Blood from a Stone 19. Uncommon Man 20. Vincent Price - INFINITE - 21. Time for Bedlam 22. The Surprising 23. All I Got Is You 24. Birds of Prey - WOOSH! - 25. Throw My Bones 26. No Need to Shout 27. Remission Possible/Man Alive 28. And the Address - TURNING TO CRIME - 29. 7 and 7 Is 30. Oh Well 31. Jenny Take a Ride 32. White Room
It worked for me
Phil, thanks for the overview ! All the best..🎧😁
shame on me for "abandoning" DP after Come Taste the Band. Still haven't heard their catalogue from the 80s and 90s. And the Steve Morse years just whooshed past me (despite liking the Dixie Dregs back in the day). This will henceforth be my intent, to immerse myself in DP starting with Perfect Strangers and onwards. Thanks Phil and those of you who left comments for putting me back on the path!
Hi Jonathan, The Purple path is full of riches no mater where you start! Phil :)
I've got them in this order:
Purpendicular
Now What!?
Abandon
Whoosh!
Bananas
Rapture of the Deep
Infinite
To me there's a bit of a gap after my top 3.
My top 3 songs: 1. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming 2. Vavoom: Ted the Mechanic 3. Rapture of the Deep
I’m fully unversed in post Bolin Purple but I’ll hit Tidal tomorrow and see what I’ve been missing. Thanks Phil.
Let me know what you think ! Phil :)
Deep Purple is a fantastic band!
I kind of fell out of hearing a lot of their late '90s and early 2000s music back after a number of eye surgeries left me legally blind, on all days starting 9/11/2001, and I had a lot going on with my changed life. It financially changed things for me as well for a while and I didn't really have the money to go out and buy a lot of music back then
Somewhere around 2006/2007, I had heard Perpendicular after getting a copy on CD at the time and I loved it. Like you, I had not really known much about Steve Morris. I'd heard of him in some of his groups but really hadn't heard him much. But he was doing a wonderful job on some of the Deep Purple DVDs I had gotten that were being released back then. One song that really found its way into my heart was Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming. But so many of the newer songs they had been putting out were superb songs.
I went and saw Deep Purple in Dallas in 2007 and really enjoyed that live show. They could do it live night after night and sound so great all of these years later and I was impressed.
I've been buying a ton of the Deep Purple live albums, from of course the early 1970s through more recent years, over the last few years. And I've been getting some really great deals on some incredible multi LP shows lately too. Just last week I got in the 3 or 4 LP 3/20/2001 Hong Kong concert LP set. There were 5,000 copies made worldwide and it brand new too, I got it for $22 which blue me away. I've got a large number of shows from them never released but not on vinyl unfortunately. But I've got quite a few live shows or compilations of live recordings that have been officially released in recent years. And while the classic lineup and music is my favorite, I still love the late '90s and on music this band has made. I do have one exception however. I've never been impressed with the studio album Woosh. I don't have all of their later official vinyl releases after 2000 (yet). But I've really enjoyed everything I have heard through the last three decades almost (since Morse joined) and of course I love their earlier classic lineup in music as well.
Great video and I really enjoyed the topic and opinions! Thank you 👍
Brian in Fort Worth 🎶
UPDATE/EDIT: I had not finishehed watching your whole video at the time I made my comment. As you were counting down your 20 favorite tracks from the Steve Morris years I was thinking to myself "wouldn't it be interesting if Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming was his favorite too"? I didn't expect that but I wondered and thought it. Haha, we might be more alike than I even realized😂 And you're right about it being in there with the Deep Purple classics! I can remember the first time I heard it the song and how it made me feel. I wish they had kept that one in their live lineup as well. What an incredible song from the whole band!
What a wonderful comment and story thank you for sharing. Very sorry to hear about your eye surgeries. I had two major ones last year and lost some of my sight in my right eye. It’s the reason I am wearing sunglasses in some of my videos from last year. Phil
@@NowSpinningMagazine Thanks for the reply Phil. Yeah I was not expecting to lose any vision when the eye surgeries began and the eye that lost all vision wound up being the one that didn't hardly have any trouble. It definitely was not what I expected. After the surgery on it, something went wrong and the pressure built up and it created scar tissue that they can't even see through or work around. And then the other eye that was the one that was problematic was the one I had to get back to being able to use. I wound up losing 85% of my vision. You find ways of getting things done and learning how to still do a lot but you also lose out on a lot and there's just some things you can't do like drive in my case. My vision loss was one thing that kind of kept me from getting back into LP collecting a little earlier than I did. But where there is a will, there is a way usually. Thanks for sharing your story as well! And I enjoy your channel and I'm glad I recently found it. Keep up the good work my friend!
Totally agree - Ian Gillan totally misjudged their fans. A night of Morse songs would have been epic. I saw them on the Purpendicular tour and played at least 5 maybe 6 songs from the album and those were the highlight
Hi Phil. Great subject, and I'm with you on Morse-era gigs. In common with Purple from '68 to '93, I can't put the albums in order, but I could give 20 Morse-Purple songs. Alphabetically -
* A Simple Song: My friend's dad loves this, and so do I - Prog Purple;
* Back to Back: Reminds me of some of Harry Nilsson's later, quirky songs;
* Bananas: Purple play this groove better than any other band;
* Clearly Quite Absurd: Touching lyrics and arrangement;
* Dancing In My Sleep: You put it better than I could!
* Fingers to the Bone: Was this about Gillan's feelings on leaving Repo Depo?
* Hey Cisco: DP make jazz-rock sound so easy! Gillan's humour at its best;
* Hip Boots: My fave song from Infinite, with some great Oh Well-isms;
* I Got Your Number: Genius riff and rhythm, and so catchy;
* Jack Ruby: Heavy, deliberate, and very clever lyrically;
* Junkyard Blues: Love the humour and quirky arrangement;
* Loosen My Strings: Shows how crucial Glover is to classic DP - brilliant song;
* Rosa's Cantina: Love Lord's intro, then the steaming hothouse vibe, and inspired lyrics;
* Sixty-Nine: Interesting song and lyrics, and great live;
* Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming: So classy, memorable, warm-sounding - and emotional;
* The Surprising: Well-named, keeps the interest high throughout;
* Things I Never Said: That Purple groove that's Ian Paice's trademark;
* Throw My Bones: Creative opener to Whoosh, a completely new idea;
* Walk On: This gives some idea of how Gillan / Glover might've handled Mistreated;
* Watching the Sky: Inventive stuff, and great, heavy riffs. Went down well at RAH 1999.
Thank you for taking the time to type this and share it here. Wonderful insights - Phil
@@NowSpinningMagazine: Cheers Phil, very kind of you.🙂
😀In Jan.1985 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, me and my friends (and lots others) screamed at him while he was doing the Hiway Star solo and he smiled at us all and shook his head like saying “ You are all so crazy cool”😃✨🎸
Great video. I think the evil Louis solo is tremendous. . Also I would say maybe into the fire, Morse does a great job also. Total abandon has a heavy version of blood sucker. That's a great live album.
Great episode!
There's one gem, I was hoping you'd mention; and it was, "Things I never said." An outtake from rapture of the deep; but live...it found its wings. I believe they played it every show from 2006-2012. Great list, sir. Not an easy task.😊✌️
Thank you 🙏
A fine selection and that’s another playlist sorted! Looking forward to the conversation you have with Martin. Kind regards
Thank you 🙏
Agreed that Purpendicular is no. 1 but I think Bananas would be their worst
Hi Phil ,John here ,Great video ,much to think about for sure ,can’t comment too much as I only brought 2 Steve morse Deep albums ,so a bit of catching up to do especially “ whoosh “ and “ what next “ espeacilly how highly rated you make these albums
Once again phil ,thank you for the efforts from us both ,great stuff 👏👏🎸🎸🎸🎸
Thank you 🙏
1. Seventh Heaven
2. Any Fule Kno That
3. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
4. Soon Forgotten
5. Watching The Sky
6. Rapture Of The Deep
7. Walk On
8. Wrong Man
9. Vincent Price
10. Throw My Bones
11. Out Of Hand
12. Simple Song
13. Time For Bedlam
14. All I Got Is You
15. The Surprising
16. Step By Step
17. Nothing At All
18. The Power Of The Moon
19. Loosen My Strings
20. Vavoom: Ted The Mechanic
stunning steve morse debut, one of my top DP albums! there is an unofficial vinyl version of Abandon on discogs, too expensive to risk ?
The Morse period is brilliant and pretty even in quality, their albums have not really dipped and Whoosh I think is the best they've made in 20 years, here's to them continuing for many years to come! 🎹🎸🔊🎶🧙♂️
Thank you Phil for bringing up this wonderful topic.
I agree, Morse's albums are as valuable as anything else from the Blackmore era.
Right after The House of Blue Light I completely lost interest in the band. I thought that was it, they can not bring anything more extraordinary. I skipped Slaves and Masters and I casually listened to The Battle Rages On. It was OK , but nothing special. When Purpendicular appeared in stores I totally ignored it. Strangely enough, I was very familiar with Steve Morse's solo material, and I quite liked it, but, I thought, that the blend of Morse and Purple will not work. I bought it a few years later. I still remember the exact moment when I bought it and listened to it for the first time, but I do not remember what made me buy it and give it a try. I must have read something about it. Right after the first listen I immediately fell in love with it. It was a mind blowing experience. A perfect masterpiece. I loved every second of it. Such a blend of everything. Good for me, but at the same time my wife can listen to it too. Purpendicular is regarded as one of the best between Purple fans, but I think, it would be even more successful if it was released under a new band name. It would have reached a much wider audience. Not just Purple fans. After Purpendicular, I loved every album, one after another. I consider Now What and Whoosh also excellent albums, very close to Purpendicular.
Abandon, Rapture of the Deep and , Infinite are very good.
But, above all, Bananas is my favourite. Absolute perfection in my opinion. Filled with excitement from Ian's “false screaming” on House of Pain to the frenetic ending of the title song. The production is just perfect for my ears, I adore that sound. I do not know what I like more, heavy rocking (House of Pain, Silver Tongue, Bananas), bluesy mid-tempo (Haunted, Walk On), ballad ( Never A Word), instrumentals (Contact Lost , The Well Dressed Guitar (album outtake)) and best of all, Doing It Tonight, my favourite song from the album, and one of the best Morse era Deep Purple songs. Of course, this is all my opinion. I think fans rejected Bananas because there was no Lord on it, and maybe because of the album cover, who knows. I do not like cover songs, so I just casually listened to Turning To Crime, and I thought it was just OK.
From best to worst (although they are all good) my list goes like this: Bananas, Purpendicular, Now What, Whoosh, Infinite, Rapture of the Deep, Abandon, Turning To Crime
Fantastic comment and insight, off to play Bananas now !
@@NowSpinningMagazine Too bad Bananas is not available on vinyl. And I believe it is hard to find on CD right now. Let me know how you like The Well Dressed Guitar instrumental. I watched them 3 times with Morse, and they only played Contact Lost at one of the concerts. But, of course we don't get to pick and choose. The last time I was at DP concert with my son. He was 15 at the time. We had tickets somewhere around the middle of the venue. When we were just about to enter one of the officials approached us and said "We don't see such young people at concerts of this kind, and as an award for this young boy, we are going to transfer you right to the front", so we end up in the 2nd row. You know, I streamed Turning to Crime, and It was just OK for me. Then, I watched your review and I was on the verge of buying it, and in the meantime I read that your opinion dimmed since your initial review and I finally gave up haha.
Thanks Phil to give some love to this era of the band. I am now looking forward how it will sound an album with Simon. Here's my list:
1. Abandon
2. Purpendicular
3. Now What?!
4. Whoosh
5. Bananas
6. Rapture of the Deep
7. Infinitive
Thank you 🙏
Oh, and I think that "Roadhouse Blues" has so many plays because if I just tell my phone to play Deep Purple, it automatically picks the album Infinite and that track. Which is why I don't let algorithms pick my music.
Totally agree about a concert with just Morse era songs. Would be unbelievable
Ps. How can u leave out Birds of Prey?! The Surprising?!
Great presentation!
Thank you 🙏
This is the first Purple video I've seen that properly puts into words how great Purpendicular is! Great record. I like Infinite more than Whoosh (Roadhouse Blues was uninspired however), but I need to revisit both.
Whoosh might be their best songwriting but Ezrin absolutely destroys that album. He buries Morse in the mix and Gillan’s vocals are way too up in the mix. Ezrin did a good job with Now What but it was downhill from there.Ezrin is extremely overrated
@@teec3557 But....Ezrin has a big part in the songwriting.
I am a massive Deep Purple fan and loved this video.
Sometimes I feel like screaming is one their best ever songs across their entire catalogue. Live it is amazing.
I do wonder if Simon McBride might be a better fit though?
I would have loved to have heard them record with Satriani.
I think his version of Blind Man Cries on Paris live is blissful. He is also cracking on Fools which is possibly my fave Fireball track.
Great vid Phil
Thank you 🙏
I have a sense that McBride is going to bring in a more raw, brash, spontaneous feel to Purple's music. Am looking forward to a possible upcoming album by this new Mark.
@@garyh.238 I hope they don’t damage their legacy like they did on the last abomination. I’d rather they break up,than produce gross like that
I think it will be excellent, Simon is a fantastic player with lots of feel.
@@NowSpinningMagazine here’s hoping. There’s only one way to go after that last one!
I always enjoy what Morse brings to anything he appears on, my DP list with Morse (minus 'Turning to Crime' even though I enjoyed their takes on the material):
Purpendicular
Infinite
Rapture of the Deep
Now What?
Whoosh
Abandon
Bananas (not a slap on the album just liked the others better)
Phil I think also as important as Steve Morse joining was Don Airey replacing Jon Lord and continuing the keyboard grandeur.
Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts. Good point about Don Airey
Agree that Purpendicular is their best Morse era album, the quality is consistently high and some of the guitar playing is just so enchantingly melodic, particularly The Aviator & Loosen My Strings. I have the same problem with Rapture of the Deep, I think there are some good songs lurking on there, but they are buried in a poor mix and poor production that is quite headache inducing in its overly compressed sound.
With regards to Morse, Structural Damage is a great album, but my favourite of his solo output is Southern Steel, not only one of my favourite instrumental albums, but one of my favourite albums of all time.
I shall play Southern Steel
Next week - Thank you 🙏
Ritchie Blackmore is my hero however Steve Morse is equally a quality guitarist with a different approach. To see their different styles and approaches is to play Perfect Strangers live one with RB and one with SM. The one with RB will be dramatic, to the point where the track itself takes center stage; thats very RB style. While with SM things get a little theatrical where the main theme of the track is added on with different melodies inflection thus making the song more vast but losing it's dark side. What I like about Ritchie Blackmore he plays to support the main thrust of the song, this can be seen in Temple of the King and Black Masquerade; he respects the main melody. However Steve Morse did a beautiful and melodic solo in Pictures of Home Deep Purple playing live with Orchestra in the Albert Hall. RB style will always be dramatic, melodic and even cute in style and his musical style has expanded since leaving Deep Purple and Rainbow to be Blackmore'sNight...
Yeah, Ritchie Blackmore is my favorite guitarist too. I saw Deep Purple MK3 at Westfalenhalle Dortmund/Germany on 23 Mar 1975. I remembering it was a festival with several bands also Randy Pie. After Stormbringer and this tour he left DP and formed Rainbow. He didn't like the funky direction and Ronnie was the right performer for his project. Of course the Steve Morse years are good but Ritchie has his own unique classical technique. DP In Rock ,Fireball and Machine Head is a very strong troika. Of course Burn with Coverdale and Hughes is a massive titanic output and i love it to death. To me the albums with Morse can't hold the the quality of MK2 and MK3. By the way, MK4 with Bolin is great too. When i heard Come Taste The Band first i was surprised. My favorite album with Morse is Purpendicular. The rest passes me by somehow.
Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts. Phil
Thanks, Phil. Always wanted to see these albums ranked. Top 20 Songs (no order): *Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming * Jack Ruby * Things I Never Said * Hip Boots * Bananas * Junkyard Blue(s) * A Simple Song * Ted the Mechanic * Rosa's Cantina * Fingers to the Bone * Loosen My Strings * Watching the Sky * Throw My Bones * Clearly Quite Absurd * Nothing at All * 69 * Hey 'Cisco * Bananas * I Got Your Number * The Surprising. This could've been a Top 40 quite easily!
I can't rank the albums yet, as I'm still assimilating the Ezrin trio. Purpendicular is my fave, with Abandon, Bananas and Rapture of the Deep equal seconds. It's funny - when Purple again started having Top 10 albums in the UK, it felt great, but the feeling that "our" band were not getting enough recognition for their efforts went. That's why the Ezrin albums are taking longer to become fully familiar. I know that doesn't make sense.😄
Agree 100% about the live setlist. For me, Fools and Wring That Neck are the two best Mk.2 songs played by Mks.7/8. Oh, and the Machine Head tracks like Never Before and Maybe I'm a Leo on that MH tour.
Hi Alex, brilliant list and a good example of why it it so difficult to rank the songs from this period. They are all good and get better with age - Phil
@@NowSpinningMagazine: Cheers, Phil. It's so sad that Steve's wife got ill. I hope she makes it. He seems a really decent person, and a great guitarist/songwriter. Got best view of him playing at the first '99 Concerto at the Albert Hall, from a box stage-right. Great technique. So different from Blackmore, but he fit DP perfectly. You're right - play any of those songs and you hear new things.🙂
NIce list Alex. We overlap on several of the songs. I saw Mark Morse/ Airey perform a few times. The band played Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming; Mary Long (from WDWTWA); and No One Came (from Fireball) at a couple of those shows. Spectacular!
@@garyh.238: Hi Gary, and thanks! Mary Long's become a real classic, and same with No One Came. Wish No No No would get a slot in the setlist. Fools was excellent in Mk.7/8's hands.
@@AlexAlexon3897 Yes Fools done live was wonderful....I have it on a CD - so great to hear Jon Lord do his magic on it too.
Nice to see more love for Steve Morse. I quickly fell in love with Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band and Steve Morse (a few solo albums) after looking up about his past before Deep Purple. His two Kansas albums have their moments as well but if you are completely new.. I would suggest som Dixie Dregs and Steve Morse Band before searching up the material from Kansas.
Like you. I love the Ritchie Blackmore era but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the material with Steve Morse.. Why should it?
Exactly… all part of the Purple Family!
My Favorite on this Era of purple IS THE box ( with LP , cd t shirt, mini LPS Etc..,.) " INFINITE"!!very good record 🤗
A bit of trivia for you (and a slight correction) but Tommy Vance used to use TWO Dixie Dregs tracks through his shows - "Take It Off The Top" from the 1978 "What If" album was used as a theme (and I can't remember if it was at the beginning or the end of the show because "Theme One" by Van Der Graaf Generator was at the other end of the show).
But he also used "Cruise Control" from the Dregs' 1977 "Free Fall" album as a talk over track when he was doing chart run downs - I am sure if you listen to it you will remember it.
The Friday Rock Show was vital listening for we "chaps of a certain age"!
Hi Terry, thank you for the clarification, I remember those now. Phil :)
@@NowSpinningMagazine I think someone might need to clear up when each track was used during his show, though. I can't remember which was the opening theme and which was the closing theme.
@@NowSpinningMagazine I should have checked the Wikipedia page:
"For most of its run, its intro and closing theme tune was the Dixie Dregs instrumental "Take it Off the Top", and the quiz used the Van der Graaf Generator track "Theme One" (a cover of the theme tune originally written for Radio 1 by George Martin in 1967); other jingles were written and performed by Samson (with Nicky Moore on vocals), Rose Tattoo and Vow Wow."
No mention of "Cruise Control" by the Dixie Dregs but I am sure that was used regularly.
Thank you for the Hell or Highwater explanation. I got the dvd and it feels like a huge chunk is missing. In the interviews the band are miffed over something and there's no Richie. Now I know! Bananas was to be their Sgt Pepper but seems to have zero recognition ...apart from daft cover?! Must listen to Morse era and would have done if Hughes was singer
Thank you 🙏
The Morse years are,my favorite....
I’ve got the Gold Edition of Now What?!
For me Purpendicular is Purple's most 'musical' album with the greatest diversity with Abandon is surely up there with In Rock as the band's heaviest output. The Bob Ezrin produced albums is a case of diminishing returns and hope this trend will be reversed if the band return to the studio. Certainly Now What is a superb album and i agree with Phil as it is my 2nd favourite from this era. I think their latest is okay but the album is too restricted .i.e there is very little extended instrumental breaks as the tracks are generally shorter.
I agree. Purpendicular ranks up there for me too, but Now What!? continues to gain ground on it. As far as Whoosh goes, there are 2 or 3 tracks I really like on it, but I am hearing some repetition on it as well ( chord progressions, riffage, etc that I have heard on previous Ezrin-produced albums). And as on Infinite, there seems to be a bit too much of Ian's story-telling style of song on Whoosh. I really hope that McBride can inject some fire into the band during writing sessions for a future album.
I have the Dick Pimple CD. I was at the convention. Wonder how many copies of it there are. My favourite 3 Morse era Purple albums are Purpenduculer, Whoosh! and Now What?!
Hi Phil have you seen Ian Anderson presentation New unboxed " broadsword and the beast" ? By Stephen Wilson !
Not yet, I am looking forward to it !
How I would like them to perform these songs at concerts. I love Highway Star Space or Truckin', but these songs should be left behind like the other Mark 2 songs, leaving only Smoke On The Water as a relic and add a couple of encores, and make the rest of the playlist of such songs, like Cantina Rosa or Before Time Began.
Phil when are you doing the MK1 lineup plus spinoff bands?
They are on the list, it depends on what else comes in and what I have been listening to !
DP played in Durban in 1995, soon after Morse joined. It was a double bill with Uriah Heep (featuring John Lawton who stepped in for a sick Bernie). As good as Purple and Morse were, Heep blew them out of the water.
Heep and Purple returned to Durban in 2010, this time with Wishbone Ash. Purple were great, (with Don Airey vamping an iconic local tune along the way). Heep still better, but the laurels definitely went to Ash on the night.
BTW. I do enjoy Bananas. It's by far my most played Morse era album. Why? I honestly don't know 😊
It's funny we do have all the same albums , no vinyl for Bananas and Abandon .....😅
Not even to be found on Spotify.
Odd
1. Purpendicular 2. Abandon 3. Now What?! 4. Bananas 5. Rapture of the Deep 6. Infinite 7. Turning to Crime 8. Woosh!
Well the youngsters finally heard Blackmore- they put since you been gone in the guardians of the galaxy film
Anyone has heard the new remix of Rapture of the Deep. It was released in 2021 or 2022 I believe. I read that it is brilliant and makes it sound like a new album. It is quite pricey though. Anyone?
Sorry I have not heard it or actually seen it !
Now that the truth has come out, it is hard to believe that Morse was fired by Gillan et al via management while Morse was on hiatus with his ill wife preparing to return to a Purple tour in 5 weeks back in July of 2022. They don’t get any better as a person or a musician as Steve Morse. In the end Purple didn’t deserve him
I prefer Steve Morse's solo albums over his work with Deep Purple
I have them all, such variety, amazing musician. Phil
Morse Time in the Past .. Today Simon Mac Bride's Time !
I liked Bananas
I love all the D.P. lineups but Steve Morse is my favorite, I saw them right after the " Who Do We Think We Are" album came out, and the sound was just so freakin' loud it was unbearable, sounded like a 90 minute buzz. Saw them again in 2001 with Steve Morse and the sound system was still very loud but CRYSTAL clear, it was amazing, the show was so good, it was about 20 miles north of Houston, Nazareth opened both shows and they were great both times.
Thank you for sharing
Pretending that TURNING TO CRIME isn't an album of Deep Purple, even if it's "just covers" says to me that you're no a real fan. It's like saying "screw that, the band did something I am not proud of, let's pretend it did not happen".
I see this a lot of times with another bands like Metallica:s "fans" (???) pretend that LuLu didn't happen or Pink Floyd "fans" "forgetting about" The Endless River. People that do that are no real fans.
Abandoned is an overlooked masterpiece. Bananas is my least favorite. Cheers from the Captain.
Thank you 🙏
Ditto Captain....have had trouble liking much of Bananas.
@@garyh.238 Cheers Gary. Agree the production just doesn’t sit right with me.
I have always considered that Steve Morse joining Deep Purple is a parallel to Vinnie Moore joining UFO, both replacing "troubled" lead guitarists (and bearing in mind that Vinnie Moore replaced Michael Schenker after that reunion period that began with "Walk on Water").
In both cases, it was "the classic lineup with a new guitarist" - and much as I am a huge fan of Schenker and Blackmore, I think both bands did better for getting rid of the "lead guitarist bullsh*t" at the times they ditched the pair of them.
I agree !
@@NowSpinningMagazine Blackmore and Schenker, both "flawed geniuses".
@@NowSpinningMagazine Speaking of ex-UFO guitarists, I managed to get out and mow the lawn this afternoon in a brief spell of sunshine and ended up playing the two Lone Star albums (with Paul Chapman on guitar) on headphones - I had forgotten just how GOOD those albums are.
They are excellent, especially for me the second one.
@@NowSpinningMagazine I couldn't pick a preference between the two - but, if you remember those "Sounds" LP compilation days, "The Ballad of Crafty Jack" from the debut album was as regular on those as "Flirtin' With Disaster" by Molly Hatchet and "Too Wild To Tame" by The Boyzz - so the debut is the first Lone Star album I listened to. Do you remember those compilations?
😃I love how WHOOSH was released during the pandemic dilemma
Personally I thought the band did not give enough brotherhood to Morse on his departure particularly given the personal circumstances Morse was going through.
I get the impression that it was a relatively cold departure reading between the lines. My feeling is that there was tension between Ezrin and Morse particularly with the Whoosh album. Morse was being marginalized and not listened to.
If Ian Ian Roger and Don could have dignified things by supporting him in a time of need instead of ‘right good luck’ - ‘we have Simon ready to go’
Unless I’m misinterpreting the situation I’ve lost a bit of respect for the band
Here’s my shot. Not necessarily in this strict order
Sometimes I Feel…
Birds of Prey
Loosen My Strings
Apres Vous
The Aviator
Rapture of the Deep
Clearly Quite Absurd
Silver Tongue
Weirdistan
The Power of the Moon
Nothing at All
Somebody Stole My Guitar
Above and Beyond
Uncommon Man
Almost Human
Rosa’s Cantina
A Touch Away
The Surprising
Wrong Man
Vincent Price
Well I think that is a superb list - thank you for taking the time to put it together and share here - Phil
Steve morse was great in purple but i didn't like his over melodic guitar tone. Id prefer if he went more for the Blackmore tone like simon that's with them now, but he still was great.
I agree. Ritchie's tone is so unique. I never really warmed to Steve's tone.
@@garyh.238 yeah I hate knocking Steve as he's an unbelievable player and I loved the stuff he done with purple but that over melodic guitar or tone is so different front the sharp strat tone that Blackmore had.
@@martymartin2894 Agreed. I have saw Steve play several times and loved what he did on guitar...Just not crazy about that bright tone he had on that Musicman of his. I just loved Blackmore's deep, dark, biting tone emanating from his Strat.
I've seen Purple in '73 with ZZTop b4 beards,saw them in the mid '70's with Coverdale,Hughes and Bolin with Nazareth backing them up,then a couple years ago funny story saw Black Star Riders,Saxon and Priest great show.Later in the year I saw Priest back up Purple and Purple blew them right out the door better songs better players.After the show my friend and I both thought wish Puprle would of played longer an Priest less
Brilliant story !
Cool that you saw ZZ Top supporting Purple back in the 73! I have a copy of an interview of Ritchie Blackmore done in Australia in late1976 wherein he states that ZZ Top has a good guitarist ((ie): referring to Billy Gibbons). Coming from Ritchie, that is high praise indeed.
Purpendicular is at the top for me.
ROTD is at the bottom. I like the title track but not much else. It’s not a great example of Ian Paice’s drumming, in my opinion.
Hopefully someday they will remaster and remix rapture of the deep and bananas. The sound quality is horrible, especially the drums.
They should have done a Steve morse set , I can’t STAND space truckin , never have been able to stomach it , same with hush . Give us loosen my strings or whatsername