The mighty Deep Purple return with their newest studio album Rapture Of The Deep. The Mk 8 lineup of the band features Ian Gillan on vocals, Ian Paice on drums, bassist Roger Glover, guitarist Steve Morse and keyboardist Don Airey. Rapture Of The Deep promises the continued presence of one of history?s biggest bands, now celebrating their 37th year with such tracks as "Back To Back", "Junkyard Blues", "Before Time Began" and "Wrong Man". Review After the plodding Abandon, and the disposable Bananas, you'd be forgiven for not expecting too much from Purple's latest offering. Yet lengthy jams, heavy riffs, chugging basslines, and waves of deliciously smoking Hammond organ signal an intent within the Purple camp. They're back, and they're on form. Don Airey is the star of the show, returning the trademark Hammond sound to the band from whence it came, whilst forming a chemistry with guitarist Steve Morse that was largely missing on their last album. The beautiful "Clearly Quite Absurd" is the show stopper, exploring the lower registers of Ian Gillan's voice, while "Don't Let Go" has Roger Glover providing some of the funkiest bass of his career. Tracks like "Wrong Man", "Rapture Of The Deep" and "Junkyard Blues"provide a level of excitement that's been missing since 1996's Purpendicular. This is classic Deep Purple. Welcome back. --Rahul Shrivastava This link will take you off in a new window