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Well,
after 1 or 2 plays for most tracks, I reckon it sounds like
the best reunion album to date. I've been slowly but surely
losing interest in the Morse era band since Abandon, so it's
a wonderful feeling to finally connect with Deep Purple again,
and relive the excitement I felt as a teenager when I was buying
up their back catalogue. I felt they could never do it for me
again, what with the recent cabaret tour.
House Of Pain is the worst thing on the album but aside from
Razzle Dazzle (filler or what...) the rest gives me a lot of
pleasure. I like Haunted, though it does sound like an attempt
to turn the chorus of The Unwritten Law into a ballad. Silver
Tongue sounded at first like the riff of Kashmir, but is taking
on a life of its own. Sun Goes Down, son of Soon Forgotten,
magnificent. Then it all goes up a gear... Pictures Of Innocence,
Deep Purple do Nirvana, fantastic! Never A Word, brilliant,
two for the price of one... a gorgeous instrumental and a nice
wee song. Contact Lost is beautiful.
Bananas,
lots to enjoy. The RELIEF, I like the album!! David
Browne
I
am not convinced by any means - it starts off really well with
House of Pain and I thought, “Yes, they've done it”. Only to
be left flat after working my way through the rest. Haunted,
I'll come clean; I do like this, shame the guitar work isn't
further up in the mix. Generally, the vocals are very clear,
everything else seems to be down.
Negative
bits, I thought Mr Airey sounded too much like Keith Emerson
at the recent shows, this confirms it, with bits that could
have come straight off Tarkus. I feel there are too many Gillan
(the band) and Gillan Glover (the album) similarities here.
I am not finding it as immediate as Purpendicular.
We
waited five years for this, I expected to be blown away. Deep
Purple’s Sergeant Pepper it isn't. Michael Richards
It's
not as eclectic/diverse as Purpendicular, less bludgeoning than
Abandon but has enough elements of both to make it sound like
an album, rather than just a collection of songs. If Purpendicular
was Mk. Morse's Fireball, then this would equate to Machine
Head in terms of an overall homogeneous feel. It sits together
well as an album that you listen to all the way through, rather
than picking it up and putting it down as you could with Purpendicular.
I
defy you to put on the title track, House Of Pain or Sun Goes
Down without turning up the volume and getting into it. There
are a couple of oddball tunes, but nothing that I dislike. Ask
me in a couple of weeks though. Martin Ashberry
I
can see glimmers of hope - Sun Goes Down, Walk On, Pictures
Of Innocence. House of Pain stands out too but to me would have
been merely a filler on Purpendicular or Abandon. Haunted -
I think JLT would've thought twice about. Razzle Dazzle - sometimes
having a title isn't justification for writing a song. Silver
Tongue has made its presence felt but I don't see it sticking.
The cod folk elements of Never A Word - well, don't people criticise
Ritchie Blackmore for this sort of tosh?
Anyone
else spotted insertions? There are a couple of intros that come
straight off Steve's Major Impacts album. It makes you wonder
if the others actually listen to his solo stuff or if they are
happy to let it pass?
I
find the vocals being so prominent only serves to highlight
his lyrical banality. Not something I've accused Gillan of previously,
but by focussing us on the vocals he can't avoid the flak. Five
years for this? Worth the wait? This juror is heading towards
a "hang 'em high" verdict. Could do better, etc... Mark
Maddock
I
think the upshot of all this is that Bananas need plenty of
tastes to get the full flavours. After a few listens, my least
favourite track was Pictures Of Innocence (I quite like Haunted...),
but this morning pressing play in the car, forgetting where
the tape was I thought wow, this is a good instrumental break
- yeah, it was Pictures ...
I'm
beginning to like the whole thing more and more (even Razzle
Dazzle), but I'm still not convinced that any of the tracks
are classic enough to still be in the live set in a couple of
years' time. Maybe my view on this will change - it's still
early daze... Tim Summers
I
can see that there are 2 or 3 numbers that will grab the majority
of the Purple fans..."Razzle Dazzle"; "Sun Goes Down" and "Bananas"!
I'm little bit disappointed with "Haunted", it´s too slow and
it´s very American AOR! I can see that at least the band have
made improvements compared to ABANDON...Ian Gillan is singing
better; Morse is brilliant; and a word to Don Airey...keep on
rocking Don, nobody in this world deserves to have taken Jon
Lord´s place more than you! I Hope Purple last until 2008 to
see the 40th aniversary tour! Keep On Space Truckin!! ....
André Sousa
It
starts out nicely, House of Pain really rocks, and will be a
great concert-opener. Sun Goes Down is even better, real heavy,
love the chorus, great stuff. Don Airey is amazing, in the first
2 songs he's proven that he is right up there with Jon. Haunted
is probably the worst Purple song in recent years, strings and
female choruses only makes it worse. Razzle Dazzle hmm...just
your ordinary DP tune. Silver Tongue I really like, nice heavy
rhythm, should have been longer though. Walk on, beautifull
song, the best ballad in recent years, love it! Picture of Innocence,
good song, love the Morse riff and the chorus, probably the
best on the album! Never A Word, very beautiful, nice playing,
but the ending leaves me wanting more, should have been much
longer. Bananas, difficult song to get into, needs more listens,
great Morse/Airey solos at the end though, really fast and frenetic.
Doing It Tonight, funny rhythm, not very Purpleish, still a
great tune. Contact Lost, nice little tune and nothing more,
not a very good closer.... Thomas Pedersen, Denmark
I
must say that I was a little bit scared to play the new album
for the first time. It has been so many years since DP last
made a new album and the last one, Abandon, did really nothing
to me. The latest couple of live shows were great, but for me
looked back too much to the good old days. But with Bananas
they are back, and how!!! Just listen to House of Pain (must
be played loud) Razzle Dazzle (sing-a-long), Walk On (just lean
back and listen), Picture of Innocence (a real DP song), Bananas
(a real band number) and all the other songs. The only song
that I don't like is Never a Word, I wonder how it got on this
album.. I think it would fit better on a Roger Glover solo album.
Maybe I should give it more time, but I miss Paicey's drumming.
Another word of criticism: Ian is sometimes mixed up a little
bit too much and ther are moments when Don is too far in the
background when he not playing a solo. I hope that on the new
world tour a lot of new songs are to played live. Thanx to everyone
who had something to do with this album!!!! ... Peter
Rossen
Well
the long wait is finally over, so what does Bananas do for me?
House Of Pain kicks of with the trademark Gillan scream, a fairly
upbeat number, the band sounding in great form. A very promising
opener. Haunted is a moody, atmospheric track that gets better
listen by listen. Morse's guitar work is simply beautiful, the
track is a musical gamble that I think will pay off. Razzle
Dazzle does not dazzle me. Never A Word: I don't know what they
were thinking when they wrote this but, sorry guys, this is
disappointing. So, overall this is a decent album that shows
a band willing to test the boundaries of their trademark sound,
and which with the exception of a few tracks seems to work ....Trev
Scott
Deep Purple
have made an absolutely fresh and exciting album. Great, pumping
opener. Sun Goes Down is very heavy, with an amazing keyboard
introduction and drum break. And I could go on... every song
is different and has its own spirit. I am sure that it will
sound very strong live. I like all of DP's albums but I think
that it is nonsense to compare this new one with their old material.
They've really done their best and if anyone expected more I
can´t imagine what. ....Jaroslav Loucky
My very
first reaction was that I didn't want to hear it again right
away. But I did eight hours later and by then it was already
a better album. Still, what I'm missing these days is the
feeling of drama in the songwriting. The sense of drama Ritchie
Blackmore could put into a song. But there's a lot of good
stuff to choose from here. I like straight forward rock'n
'roll and riff based songs the best. Speed King, Fireball,
Highway Star, Burn etc., so already my favourites are House
of Pain and Bananas. Since the CD format has arrived we tend
to get more minutes on albums. That's why I think, we also
get more so-called "fillers". Contact Lost and Never a Word
should have been on a Steve Morse album instead. Getting an
outside producer didn't help much. Save the money for the
next album. Outside writers shouldn't be necessary either.
The cover? Let me be nice and say: No comment. It would have
been a much better album if they had spent the last five years
trying to write classic tracks instead of touring. 'Cos it
didn't take five years to write this album. It took maybe
six months. They were just very late getting started. But
here we are in 2003. My "verdict" is that when I programme
the CD player to my favourite 8 songs, Bananas ends up being
a very enjoyable affair. Welcome back guys. See you on the
road. ....Palle Hichmann, Denmark
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Sun
Goes Down is terrific, Pictures Of Innocence has some nice
touches in the chorus particularly. Haunted is appalling,
far and away the lowest point of the Morse era, while Razzle
Dazzle I assume is a Naked Thunder outtake. Walk On sounds
like a goodie, showing they can do the quiet as well as the
loud like House Of Pain, which will stomp live. Doing It Tonight
ought to be an embarrassment, but somehow the band pull it
off with a style that impresses me.
Too
many harmony vocals, like HOBL, which add nothing, nor does
the awful vocal on Never A Word - shame as it’s a nicely put
together piece otherwise.
It's
not as consistently brilliant as Purpendicular, nor as consistently
consistent as Abandon. More like the other reunion albums
- you pick out the great ones, and perhaps (only perhaps at
this stage), skip the lesser. Matthew Kean
A
couple of tracks really do nothing for me - Haunted is just
so bad I'm astonished (though many seem to really empathise
with this one), while Razzle Dazzle is as dreadful as the
title suggests. Otherwise I can see where they're heading,
and a lot of this stuff could be ferocious live. Slightly
old-fashioned DP feel at time (in the nicest possible way),
yet with plenty of post '95 references.
To me Gillan is mixed up too much at times, and Bradford has
missed the point of having a Hammond sound in the band (except
when Ian isn't singing), but there are some goodies here.
The title track is great, as is Sun Goes Down, and Walk On
- not especially cutting edge musically but it just somehow
seems to work (and it's a long while since we had a 7 minute
DP cut!) - and House Of Pain is getting there.
When
the dust settles we'll still have a reasonable percentage
of good tracks, more so than some of the earlier reunion albums
perhaps. Even so we might have expected a little more adventure
after a five year wait and all the talk about Sgt. Pepper.
Simon Robinson
A
load of old Bananas? More of a fruit salad really. You know,
you love some bits but push others to the side of the bowl...
Was the idea to spread the appeal? Risky, as you risk fully
satisfying nobody.
A suitably rousing opener House Of Pain and the moody, swirling
Sun Goes Down gave me hope of more good things to come. Silver
Tongue got me good and proper - insistent, dark, compelling
- lovely stuff. Picture Of Innocence is a lot of fun and holds
promise for live performance as does the title track Bananas,
ah, that's more like it, a real belter.
There's quite a mixture of styles and tempos elsewhere, Walk
On being an interesting slower bluesy number for instance.
However, I'm not at all sure about some of the others though,
nice stuff in places but they don't always work, for me at
least. Haunted, well, I'd hoped it would sound better on CD
than live - but no.
On early listens at least, I can imagine sticking it on from
time to time, but I'll certainly be picking and choosing tracks.
Peter Judd
My
expectations were probably set too high. Lowering the bar
from 'world record' attempt height helped. Without the two
tracks that do nothing for me and with a tweaked running order,
moving Contact Lost so that it isn't the last track and losing
Razzle and Doing It Tonight completely, leaves me with an
excellent 10-track set.
There
are a couple of moments where I can't help but sing what,
to me, are some uncanny resemblances: Near the start of Never
A Word - "Walk upon England's mountains green" - and the third
line in Bananas - "Generals gathered in their masses".
I
would have preferred it to end with a goodie (a la Hard Lovin'
Man, No One Came, Space Truckin') rather than a reminder of
an image of falling bits of Shuttle. And Bananas, the song,
is a good 'un. Probably my favourite DP song since.............
since God knows when.
If
Well Dressed Guitar is to be a bonus track anywhere (though
would it make sense to close with two instrumentals?), at
least that would be an alternative upbeat ending! Nigel
Young
Ok,
I’ve played it three times so far and I figure Walk On and
House of Pain definitely yes and Razzle Dazzle and Haunted
definitely no. I think the jury is still out on the others,
none of which have grabbed me but equally haven’t had me reaching
for the “skip” button. I’m hoping the rest will grow on me
– I think Sun Goes Down might. The first thing I noticed is
that Gillan is way too far up in the mix on several tracks
and he’s produced lots of the double tracked vocals as in
“The Battle Rages On” which, to be honest, don’t really do
it for me. I’m worried that the band don’t really seem to
be “going for it” anywhere on Bananas. Maybe it’s the production
but it all seems fairly flat. I’ve got a horrible feeling
that very little on this will figure in the live shows for
long. Purple should be more than just a nostalgia trip and
I’m not sure that Bananas is strong enough to ensure that.
Ask me again in a couple of weeks!... Greg Harrop
After
hearing some soundclips my expectations where turned up high.
The previous Morse albums have not tuned me on like PS or
HOBL did. With more melodies and more up front singing than
on the last two records, I thougt the guys had got back a
collective nerve that I feel was lacking on the previous two.
So I gave it the first spin. And it did not take long before
I thought "ok, Deep Purple is over - at least for me". "Bananas"
does not add anything to the legacy. Rather the opposite.
I was very dissapointed. After a few more listens some of
the tunes grew on me, but still I feel that this album should
have been a lot better, if it is to be called a Deep Purple
and not a Gillan / Glover album. So, this is the end of the
line for me. I've got a ticket for the Oslo show in November,
but it'll be my last Deep Purple gig. Please skip the Bananas
guys, and give me some more PS and HOBL stuff! Anyway....
I'll remember the Hungry Daze so I thaaaaaaaank youuuuu! Cheers!...
Eirik Solum Oslo, Norway
Impressed
with House of Pain and Sun Goes Down, and cannot help turning
up the volume on those. Haunted is today's WABMC, Ian seems
a bit stretched and is trying very hard to insert emotion
into the song, I like it though. Razzle Dazzle: not my cup
of tea. The Walk On rhythm reminds me a little of Mistreated.
Silver Tongue is very good, excellent vocals and muscianship.
Doing it Tonight andI Got Your Number, the most commercial
of all the tracks, are very catchy. Never a Word and Contact
Lost ( Viellicht) excellent, and refreshing to hear. Pictures
of Innocence will take a few more plays as will Bananas. All
in all after only several plays I am happy. Sgt Pepper? I
preferred Revolver anyway! ... Steve Nulty
This
is the Deep Purple Party Album! Funky, chunky and at times
a little clunky but... yeah I like it. It's great to hear
Big Ian singing (and screaming) again. Bananas will grow on
you... I even like Haunted after having hated it live. ...Ed
Pinner
Received
Bananas today from the D.P.A.S and placed it in the CD player
straight away while working on the computer. First impressions
are that it's a good Ian Gillan solo album, or is that an
injustice? House Of Pain kicks things off nicely and Sun Goes
Down has something that might become more evident after a
few listens. Gillan is to the front of the mix and that's
what gives me the impression of it being more of a Gillan
solo effort. Haunted is haunting me but not because it's good
but because of the lame female vocals. Razzle Dazzle is OK
but not great, ditto Silver Tongue. Walk On is an improvement,
and on this first listen I like it. Picture Of Innocence does
start well, it's catchy and I will get to like it. I've Got
Your Number, well I didn't like it when it was called Up The
Wall and I don't like it now. All in all I think the album
is more accessable than both of the previous efforts but after
a five year wait and I'm not over the moon with it, maybe
its time to hang up the whole bunch and call it Bananas (I
mean a day). Contact Lost. ...Paul Johnson
I really
don't know why everybody seems to dislike this album. We
can see the guys moving through fields most of us didn't
imagine they could go through. I can't get it out of the
cd player 'cause I'm absolutely fascinated! "House of Pain"
is a kick-ass tune and will be great live! "Sun Goes Down"
is a great tune; very much in the style of Purpendicular
and Abandon. "Razzle Dazzle": what a great riff and wonderful
chorus....I love to hear this one really loud! "Silver Tongue"
is a great tune, real hard! "Walk On" takes you deeply into
the soul of this album. "Picture of Innocence" and "I've
Got your Number" both have great guitar intros and great
vocals. "Doing it Tonight" is wonderfull! For me is probably
the best track on the album. The final song is a wonderfull
instrumental by Morse. All in all, this is a great album
and all I hope is to see Deep Purple live in Portugal, and
hopefully playing lots of Bananas songs. ...Gonçalo
Ferreira, Portugal
I've
played the album a few times, some tracks ten times! Most
are goodies. It all sounds fresh, with great vocals from Ian.
My favourites are "Silver Tongue", "Walk On", "Doing It Tonight
" and the beautiful ballad "Haunted" ( I heard the song live
and I liked it, but now even more!). Again, its different
but..... let the Bananas tour start ! ...John Muijrers
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