=1 — A Track-by-Track Review Deep Purple’s New Album

Nearly two weeks ago saw the release of the latest album from seasoned British heavy rock veterans Deep Purple. The album, titled =1, was first revealed as a surprise announcement in late April, along with its first single, Portable Door.

Although I’ve hardly kept up with Deep Purple’s more recent work, as a fan of their work from their heyday I’ve been quite excited about this release; I enjoyed all three singles from =1 and had hopes that the rest of the album would hold up against them. The addition of guitarist Simon McBride also piqued my interest since his playing style is a return to the hard rock form when compared to his more technical predecessor, Steve Morse.

Well then, let’s say we get to rating these tracks then, shall we?

Rating Scale:

9–10: Modern Classic

7–8.5: Great Song

5–6.5: Decent Song

3–4.5: Forgettable Song

1–2.5: Downright Unlistenable

Show Me

I never thought I’d hear a Deep Purple track in Drop D tuning but here we are. After the repeated ticking time bomb of palm muted guitar notes at the beginning, the song breaks out into its simple but catchy main riff. There’s really not a ton to say about this song on its own as it’s pretty simple and straightforward structure-wise, but that’s no knock against this song — it doesn’t need to take listeners to 20 different destinations. The most complex section of the song is the the electric organ vs. guitar duel for the solo; Don Airey employs his classic Hammond organ sound here being reminiscent of how he sounded on Cozy Powell’s Killer.

As for the guitar side of it, an informed listener can tell that Simon McBride takes several cues from his fellow Belfast-born gunslinger, Gary Moore. As Airey and Moore worked on many projects together in the past, and also as a huge fan of the latter, it really warms my heart to hear Don Airey sharing a solo with that guitar style.

Overall a good start for the album. This song didn’t leave much of an impression on me at first listen admittedly, but I’ve grown to enjoy it more subsequently.

RATING: 8/10 — Great Song

A Bit On The Side

The guys in Purple must’ve been listening to some Guns N’ Roses lately, because most of this song is reminiscent of Paradise City, albeit without the overly repetitive chorus. Like the previous song, this one’s pretty straightforward structure-wise so there’s not too much to talk about there. Don Airey does take a pretty cool keyboard solo in the middle of the song, and Simon McBride has some fun with his whammy bar near the end, before breaking out into a very tasteful solo that continues on into the final chorus — beautifully playing a melody over the chords.

With how many times the name ‘Sharlene’ comes up in the lyrics, I really think the band should’ve just used that as the title. I don’t know who this Sharlene is but they sure do mention her in the song a lot; Being name dropped that much should warrant someone the song named for them I’d say.

RATING: 7.5/10 — Great Song

Sharp Shooter

The majority of this song harkens back to the good ol’ days of mid-1970s hard rock, with the main riff sounding a little like a less heavy take on Judas Priest’s Revolution. The solo is split in half with Don Airey taking the first half on his Hammond, and McBride going full beast mode by conjuring one of the best guitar solos on the album.

This song probably would’ve been rated as a great song on the ratings scale, even if all the riffs are a bit cliché — although I say Deep Purple has every right to play that way. However, we have to address the elephant in the room: The doo-wop vocals. These come in during the second verse, and they should’ve just went by the example of the first verse and just leave them out of the song. They are so cheesy, out-of-place, and don’t even sound real. Makes me think that Don Airey played a second keys part where he had his keyboard set to choir aahs and oohs. Leave those doo-wop vocals for the Beach Boys, not Deep Purple.

RATING: 6.5/10 — Decent Song

Portable Door

Track 4 brings us to the first of the three singles from the album, and the first single released from the album period. This is a song that I wrote a review for upon its release back in late April, so I won’t say a ton about it here.

What I will say is that after nearly 3 months now since its release as a single, my thoughts that I wrote in my initial review of it still hold up today! This is definitely one of the strongest songs on the album to me and one of my favorites here. Still great, still awesome — don’t need to say much more.

RATING: 9/10 — Modern Classic

Old-Fangled Thing

Track 5 starts off with a riff that would be in any early-70s Deep Purple tune — the whole song gives off that vibe. The middle section before and during the guitar solo is particularly nasty — a mean riff with some equally mean and tasteful soloing. This is shortly followed by another instrumental section with McBride and Roger Glover doubling each other with the same riff on guitar and bass respectively, while they trade off with Don Airey soloing in E blues. Ian Gillan lets out a pretty rough scream near then end, and I can’t tell if I like it or not.

The lyrics to this song are pretty lackluster to me, especially with some of the idioms used; Just about the most interesting thing with them is that another Deep Purple song, Living Wreck, is name dropped throughout.

RATING: 7/10 — Great Song

If I Were You

Track 6 changes pace a bit from what comes before it by being a moody ballad — much in the same vein as Deep Purple’s own Wasted Sunsets, or even a Gary Moore tune post-1990. Lyrically, this song is just a typical breakup song about moving on from the past and doesn’t stand out a ton to me. I enjoy the music behind the lyrics a bit more, especially the guitar solo — definitely one of the best on this album. The outro also changes key and has some really clean layered vocal harmonies that I love; Can definitely hear the Bob Ezrin production there.

Overall, this didn’t stand out to me much on first listen, but I’ve grown to like it more on subsequent listens.

RATING: 8/10 — Great Song

Pictures of You

Track 7 is the second single released from the album. This one is centered around a very catchy chord-based riff that sounds a bit different than anything classic Deep Purple would’ve done, but I really enjoy it! The guitar solo follows said riff and is harmonized to add even more flair to it. The outro changes pace a bit and becomes this eerie, spacey instrumental section centered around the keyboard and volume swells on the guitar. There’s some strange lyrical choices in this song (‘I’m hanging around a beehive, feeling the buzz’), but overall this is one of my favorites from the album and is easy to see why it was made into a single.

RATING: 8.5/10 — Great Song

I’m Saying Nothin’

Track 8 is one that’s definitely growing on me. I enjoy the aggressive blues rock riffing throughout over a groovy drum beat. I particularly like the bridge section that comes after the second chorus — it’s a wonderfully done change of pace that keeps listeners’ ears engaged and interested. This is followed by the solo section featuring McBride and Airey once again trading off — with some of the best soloing on the album from both of them. Afterwards come a whole step key change of the chorus before returning back to the main riff in its original key.

Overall, I’m finding this song to be a bit of a sleeper on the album; it could’ve been another very straightforward blues rock tune but the band kept it interesting with key changes and some unexpected sections. This won’t bring it up to a Modern Classic rating from me, but it’s certainly risen up in rating from my first listen.

RATING: 8.5/10 — Great Song

Lazy Sod

The third and most recently-released single from the album, this is a track that I wrote about in an article I published earlier this month, along with Pictures of You. Therefore, I won’t go too in-depth here since I wrote a lot of my thoughts on this song in said article. What I will say is that just like Portable Door, my thoughts on this one still hold up today! I’m still enjoying this track and I can say with confidence that it is my favorite song on =1. Great riffs, great attitude, and a chorus that I’m still humming to this day — this is great stuff!

RATING: 9.5/10 — Modern Classic

Now You’re Talkin’

Track 10 starts off with a reverse-whammy bar dive that goes into some riffing that once again sounds like Perfect Strangers-era Deep Purple — they really must’ve looked to that album for inspiration. The chorus is quite different though, with its more dissident approach sounding a bit more Rush-inspired. The instrumental middle section is quite fun; McBride plays some Gary Moore-esque passages that are followed by a very different approach to soloing than what we’ve heard on the album so far, employing a sound similar to players like Eric Johnson or even his predecessor in the band: Steve Morse. Near the end is a part where many instruments in the song gradually ascend in pitch to build tension; I think that would’ve been a good ending to the song personally, but in true Deep Purple fashion they opt for a fade out while jamming that riff.

This is a pretty fun song overall, but I am going to knock a little bit off the score for Ian Gillan screaming part of the second verse — not the best approach to that in my book.

RATING: 8/10 — Great Song

No Money To Burn

Track 11 doesn’t really stand out to me a ton compared to what comes before it — it’s another blues rock tune that doesn’t differentiate itself from other songs in that vein from the album. The solo section is definitely the highlight here, with McBride playing a lightning fast legato lick at one point, and Airey taking a Hammond solo that actually is one of his best on the album.

RATING: 6.5/10 — Decent Song

I’ll Catch You

Track 12 gives listeners a break from the more up-tempo and higher energy blues rock tunes that came before by being the album’s second moody ballad — and I must say there wasn’t a better place on the album to put this. With the lower amount of instrumentation during the verses, it really sounds as if Ian Gillan is singing right in front of you during those sections — and I think that works in this song’s favor and makes the song in general sound a bit more intimate for the listeners. Simon McBride’s solo here is also top-notch, once again outdoing himself from songs prior.

Overall I consider this another sleeper track on the album, and I like it more than the other ballad on the album.

RATING: 8.5/10 — Great Song

Bleeding Obvious

The album’s final track is also its longest, clocking in at just under 6 minutes. It’s also the most musically complex track here, in both structure and musicianship. The beginning features a harmonized guitar melody that sounds much like the classic Judas Priest harmonized guitar intro (think Victim of Changes and Judas Rising). Also, like track 1, this one’s in drop D tuning — two of those on a Deep Purple album is definitely not something I expected. While the sections with vocals can certainly hold their own, the real highlight of this song are all the extended instrumental sections; This is where the Steve Morse-era Deep Purple still comes through with how technical it gets. They all feel like a blend of that, Rush, Van Halen, King’s X, and even a bit like Megadeth in some areas — The guitar solo reminds me a lot of The Scorpion’s Sails of Charon as well. I also particularly like the part after the first long instrumental section where the vocals come back in — it does a wonderful job settling things down after all the crazy virtuosity that came beforehand. Also, I love how they reference the album’s title at the end of said section (‘it all adds up to one’) — clever how they put a saying that conveys simplicity in the most complicated song on the album.

RATING: 8/10 — Great Song

OVERALL ALBUM RATING: 8/10 — Great Album

With all song ratings added up, Deep Purple’s =1 averages out to a very respectable score of 8/10! While the three strong singles gave me high hopes that this album may have surpassed Judas Priest’s Invincible Shield as my favorite album from 2024, I’m still very content with how this one did. I did not expect a new Deep Purple album going into this year but I’m glad we got one, and I’m glad to call it my second favorite album of the year thus far. Aside from the three singles, I think memorability may be an issue with a lot of songs from this album — they just haven’t stuck as well with me as songs from other albums I’ve reviewed this year, but =1 is still filled with strong tracks overall.

You really do have to hand it to this band, though; They’ve been cranking out albums quite consistently since 1968 (aside from when they had disbanded between 1976–1984). All but one member of this band are now in their mid-to-late 70s, so it really is admirable that they are still pressing on without any signs of retirement.

Deep Purple are currently in the middle of a world tour to promote this album, right now playing shows in Europe. They’ll be making their way to the US and Canada next month, playing shows mostly east of the Mississippi.