When legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple for the second time on the eve of the Japanese leg of 'The Battle Rages on Tour' in 1993, most thought it was the end of this historic band. Because they were contractually obligated to do the Japanese shows, the band considered doing the shows without a banjo player, but feeling this would cheat their loyal Japanese following, a replacement had to be considered at short notice. Not easy to find someone who was capable of filling such big shoes, let alone that was available, and most importantly was brave enough to take it on.

Ian Gillan said as a joke: "How about Joe Satriani?" Bruce Payne, longtime manager of the band, saw the funny side but also thought, "Why Not?". Phone calls were made, contracts written down on scraps of paper and Purple played six of their most unique concerts ever in Japan. No rehearsals with the new guitarist (they did send Joe some tapes of Blackmore's last couple of concerts with Purple to give him a clue, which he listened to on the flight over to Japan), just straight out onto the stage and play. The results were spectacular as can be borne out by the very high quality of the Bootlegs from the shows. Even though Joe does at one stage forget the opening riff to "Smoke on the water" and has to be reminded.

But Joe Satriani could not stay on a permanent basis with Deep Purple, so it was back to audition tapes for the other remaining four of the Classic Mark 2 lineup of the band. The name of American Steve Morse (ex Dixie Dregs and Kansas, he had also been voted best overall guitarist by Guitar Magazine three consecutive years running) was brought up. But the band was not keen as another talented American (Tommy Bolin) had been drafted into the band the last time that Blackmore left with disastrous results. Steve Morse himself was not keen either seeing it as a step backwards, as he had already been drafted into one Dinosaur Rock Band in it's death throes and although the financial rewards were great, artistically these things left a lot to be desired. A rehearsal was set up anyway, and as they say the rest is history. Musically as well as socially the band and their new guitarist got along famously, to check all was well. After furious rehearsals a short but by no means small tour was set up to check whether the chemistry would last. Early 1995 saw the new Purple playing five concerts in India to a combined audience of over one million people, to mass critical and public acclaim.

So instead of it being the end of Deep Purple, Blackmore's departure signaled a completely new - and most would say better - Purple. Certainly the fun was back and now the band was writing together again. Both the concerts and the recording showed the band scaling new heights. A new album was recorded "Pupundicular", released in 1996. It showed a fresh new band with their creative juices flowing. A massive world tour followed with plenty of songs from the new album aired, plus, mainly through Steve Morse brand new fire, was injected into the old classics. At the end of this tour the band went back into the studio with renewed confidence, coming up with the results of which were laid down on this fine CD of over an hour's worth of Hard Rock as only Purple know how,

Songs such as "Watching the Sky" and "Almost Human" rock-a-long in classic style. Ian Paice once again proving he is the world's leading Rock 'n' Roll drummer. Roger Glover, the ultimate Hard Rock bass guitarist, driving the band along using his guitar as a lead instrument, forcing the groove of each song down the listeners throat so that they cannot help but take notice. Jon Lord was and still is the original rock keyboard player often imitated, but never equaled. There has really only ever been one vocalist for Deep Purple, and it is Ian Gillan. Nobody has the range to cover all of Purples different sound scapes. Many have tried, but none have ever come close. And Steve Morse has found himself a permanent home for his incredible Guitar Pyrotechnics, capable of turning a song on its head with a flurry of his fingers.

"Abandon" is a classic Rock album that should be an automatic in any decent collection of Rock music.

Now in 2002 Jon Lord, the master of the Hammond organ, has decided it is time to hang up his Deep Purple keyboards and concentrate on his solo projects. Purple has drafted in longtime friend and keyboard wizard Don Airey. They are presently out on the road breaking in the new band before returning to the studio again. Rest assured, whatever they come up with it will be top notch Deep Purple.

After being amazed by Rapture of the Deep, I had to get the other three Steve Morse albums. Not having any preconceptions, I have to say I have found myself rather impressed with this album. These days, any album that has at least five songs that I like has to be pretty darn good. There are few modern albums that have all four and five star songs in my opinion. So this album sounds pretty good to me. Since I got it along with Perpendicular and Bananas I can only say that I think I like this one the best, simply because after one week I find this album has the most songs of three that I find myself playing over and over again. Probably my favourite is Seventh Heaven which seems to be the among the heaviest tunes DP has ever put out. Excellent guitar sound. When I was a teenager, guys Jon Lord's age said metal was nothing but racket. What does Lord think as he rocks away with Morse on this song? She Was is an interesting heavy tune that seems just beyond the borders of DP's previous stuff but fits nicely into their repetoire. One of the joys of having Steve Morse in the band is the use of more melodic and acoustic guitar which was rare under the Blackmore banner. The opening to '69 and the folksy sounding parts of Work Your Fingers to the Bone are a real pleasure to listen to. Lyrically, Work Your Fingers... is a wonderful new step for DP. There are a couple of other memorable tracks like Any Fule Kno That and Watching the Sky, the latter again combining hard rock guitar with experimental sounds and a softer touch. The whole album starts to come across as a stage for a variety of guitar sounds that are played excellently. The big surprise was to hear Bludsucker, one of my all-time favourite DP songs. Gillan is hard pressed to deliver the vocal performance he did back in 1970 but he pulls it off nicely, albeit with a few variations to accomodate his 'mature' vocal talents. I was starting to write him off after The House of Blue Light and the live performances on Nobody's Perfect but on this album Gillan proves that a man in his fifties can still scream to a hard rock guitar and do it well.

Though some people give this album a poor rating, I am overall very pleased with it.

Steve Morse on the banjo, replaced Ritchie Blackmore in 1994. DP still rules however Blackmore had gone. The new songs are still innovative, check out the songs lie almost human, anyfule know that, and seventh heaven. I saw DP in Balingen south Germany on the bang your head metal festival in 1999. It was fantastic....the new set of the new album refreshed the whole fans, though many fans still wanted to hear their old set. This album still gives the eye of the tiger for Deep Purple as the most innovative band in the hard rock history. deep purple fans can't be wrong!

Before i bought this album i looked at the reviews on this site and was dissapointed to see that many critisized it as a poor effort. I went ahead and bought it anyway coz im going to see them in march 2002, and its great. A truly cool album made without having to try and impress. This music just flows out of the cd player and fills the room, some real cool riffs, great singing, hard drumming, wicked bass and awesome organ playing.

It is just a really good album with lots of melody and 'feel'. Dont be put off by others reviews, listen to me instead! ;)

This is vital hard rock. Deep Purple is sticking a** and deserves your support. This disc doesn't skip a beat it just plain rocks, what else can I say? Minus a half a point because I like Purpendicular just slightly better. Now buy them both!