On October 5, 1990, "Deep Purple" released its 13th studio album - "Slaves and Masters".
And this time we need you focused, because today we are going to perform a "guided imagery" exercise, so please be with us ...
Yes, yes, we hear the whispers: "Why are they reviewing Deep Purple's worst album?", "What are they thinking?" And more ...
True, this album is probably one of the weakest of the band's 21 studio albums. It is so weak that its lineup, numbered as MKV, released only one studio album and was immediately replaced. The songs on the album are almost reminiscent of the good old "Deep Purple", the sound of Jon Lord's deep Hammond organ has been replaced by a thin and uninspired synthesizer, and Ian Paice's drum sound is more reminiscent of American AOR bands than Hard Rock, and Joe Lynn Turner's voice just don't belong to "Deep Purple". Even the song names don't connect with Deep Purple. "King of Dreams",? "Breakfast in Bed",? "Love Conquers All", really??... Where are "Speed King", "Burn", and "Bloodsucker" gone?
And now that we've proved our point, let's do it again, but from a different angle. Erase everything we wrote, replace the disc and now let's start again, but this time a little different:
Today in 1990 "Rainbow" released its eighth studio album "Slaves and Masters". This is the band's comeback album after 7 years of silence, since "Bent Out Of Shape" released in 1983. The band returns with 3/5 of the band lineup from the last album: Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, Roger Gloverwho also produced the album on bass, and Joe Lynn Turner on vocals.
And now for the big surprise of this magnificent comeback. The band is joined by two formidable reinforcement players who are familiar to us from "Deep Purple" and who turn this lineup of "Rainbow" into an "all-star lineup". So if you did not understand who we mean, this is Jon Lord on keyboards and Ian Paice on drums.
In terms of musical style, the band continues exactly where they left off 7 years ago. The catchy melodies, accessible sound, and radio-tuned songs run like a second thread throughout the entire album. Ritchie Blackmore's aspiration to resemble the "Foreigner" sound, which began exactly a decade ago and caused the departure of Ronnie James Dio, takes on a new meaning here, when one of the songs on the album - "Too Much Is Not Enough", was written with the help of Al Greenwood who co-founded "Foreigner" and accompanied them on their first three albums.
And now, after we finish with the "guided imagery", we have some questions for you.
Isn't it true that this album now sounds more logical to you? Isn't it true that suddenly "King Of Dreams" who opens the album goes down your throat better? Doesn't it sound like a direct sequel to "Rainbow" "Street Of Dreams" (they even ring the same). Isn't it true that now the melody and oriental influences in the song do not sound detached from reality, and suddenly they seem to correspond with other materials of "Rainbow" and with the oriental influences that it had here and there?
Excellent! So you got the point. If you were told that the person who released this album was an "All-Star" lineup of "Rainbow", not only would you will be less critical, but most of you would run to purchase it and even enjoy it.
When you think of this album as a creation of "Rainbow" even the amazing ballad "Love Conquers All" suddenly sounds more logical, right? This is not a bad song at all. It's just not tailored to the "Deep Purple" suit.
Suddenly "The Cut Runs Deep" doesn't sound bad at all, it's even melodic and catchy with classic effects, just the way we like it. Suddenly the opening line of the song "Fire in the Basement" sounds like a homage to "Wring That Neck" by the mother band "Deep Purple", the atmosphere in "Truth Hurts" and the violin-like keyboards remind us at times of epic excerpts from the first incarnation of "Rainbow", so is "Fortuneteller" which suddenly sounds like a great song.
In short, you got the point.
What we came to tell you in this review is that music has no rules or boundaries, it is not an exact science, and what works on your emotion one day can drive you crazy at another time in life, and what sound dissolving to you can feel like sugar poisoning to another. Therefore, what is important is to always come open, without defenses without previous influence or prejudice, otherwise, you may lose, See? you almost missed this excellent album, and as you know: "Without music, life was a mistake" (Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche)...
Have you seen what a beauty? And we did not even say a bad word about Ritchie Blackmore who dragged the rest of his friends on this adventure or a half bad word about the band's shows in Israel immediately after the album was released.
So come on let's listen to this beautiful album with us: Spotify, Apple Music