=1 Deep Purple

• 1Show Me03:59
• 2A Bit on the Side04:10
• 3Sharp Shooter03:44
• 4Portable Door03:48
• 5Old-Fangled Thing04:08
• 6If I Were You04:42
• 7Pictures of You03:51
• 8I'm Saying Nothin'03:28
• 9Lazy Sod03:40
• 10Now You're Talkin'04:05
• 11No Money to Burn03:21
• 12I'll Catch You03:20
• 13Bleeding Obvious05:50
• Total Runtime52:06

Info for =1

Deep Purple, founded in London in 1967, are regarded as pioneers of heavy rock and are one of the most influential and successful bands of their genre. Friday 19 July sees the release of their new, 23rd studio album "=1", which embodies the essence and attitude of Deep Purple's 1970s incarnation. The album captures the band's classic sound without relying on nostalgia.

This is the band’s first album with sensational guitarist Simon McBride, who seamlessly slotted in when longtime member Steve Morse left due to personal circumstances. Since 2022, Simon has already played to Deep Purple audiences totaling more than half a million people.

=1 embodies the essence and attitude of their 1970s incarnation possibly more than any other album in recent memory. With the legendary Bob Ezrin once again producing, the record evokes the pioneering band’s classic sound, without relying on nostalgia. The enigmatic title =1 symbolises the idea that in a world growing ever more complex, everything eventually simplifies down to a single, unified essence. Everything equals one.

Drummer Ian Paice is still part of the original line-up. Singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover are from the '69 era. Don Airey has been on keys since 2002. For newcomer Simon McBride (since 2022), this is his first album with the band. And to say it straight away. The quintet is in top form. AND the two discs are packed with really great songs. "Show Me" kicks things off. Ian Gillan's sprechgesang is in congenial symbiosis with the chorus. The chromatically rising melodic arcs build up real tension. Airey doesn't play the organ this time, but shows himself to be an impressive master of the synthesiser. Portable Door" is a real rock hit. Die-hard Deep Purple fans will love this song. A typical Purple riff introduces the song. The interplay between Airey's fat Hammond organ and McBride's electric guitar is mega. You'd think the guitarist had been in the band forever.

Produced by the legendary Bob Ezrin, this album captures the band's seminal classic sound without relying on nostalgia, and perhaps more than any other recent album, epitomises the essence and attitude of their 1970s incarnation.

Deep Purple

Deep Purple
are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical approach changed over the years. Originally formed as a progressive rock band, the band's sound shifted to hard rock in 1970. Deep Purple, together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, have been referred to as the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-Seventies". They were listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records as "the globe's loudest band" for a 1972 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre, and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide, including 8,5 million certified units in the US.

The band has gone through many line-up changes and an eight-year hiatus (1976–1984). The 1968–1976 line-ups are commonly labelled Mark I, II, III and IV. Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured Ian Gillan (vocals), Jon Lord (organ), Roger Glover (bass), Ian Paice (drums), and Ritchie Blackmore (guitar). This line-up was active from 1969 to 1973, and was revived from 1984 to 1989, and again from 1992 to 1993. The band achieved more modest success in the intervening periods between 1968 and 1969 with the line-up including Rod Evans (vocals) and Nick Simper (bass, backing vocals), between 1974 and 1976 (Tommy Bolin replacing Blackmore in 1975) with the line-up including David Coverdale (vocals) and Glenn Hughes (bass, vocals), and between 1989 and 1992 with the line-up including Joe Lynn Turner (vocals). The band's line-up (currently featuring Ian Gillan, and guitarist Steve Morse from 1994) has been much more stable in recent years, although organist Jon Lord's retirement from the band in 2002 (being succeeded by Don Airey) left Ian Paice as the only original Deep Purple member still in the band.

This album contains no booklet.