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Helsinki, November 17, 1993. The classic lineup of Deep Purple (known as the «Mk II») celebrates its 25th anniversary with a new album and world tour. The European leg of the tour ends that day in Finland. About 15 days later, they will perform 8 sold-out concerts in Japan.
Legend has it that, immediately after the concert, Ritchie Blackmore —guitarist and main driving force of the group— stepped off the stage, left the venue, and got into a waiting car to take him to the airport. He had decided he’d had enough. He could no longer tolerate the tensions, specifically with his singer, Ian Gillan, with whom the conflict was continuous (we recommend investigating the spaghetti incident during the tour). Furthermore, he had been embarrassed for two years by the deplorable state of his voice.
Blackmore left without warning. Although they knew it could happen at any moment, his now former bandmates learned of his sudden departure in the dressing rooms. The four remaining members spent that night in Helsinki discussing how to save the Japanese tour. They urgently needed a six-string genius. Joe Satriani picked up the phone, said OK, learned the set in a few days, and saved the tour.
In 1996, Deep Purple released their new album, «Purpendicular». A superb LP that introduced their new guitarist, Steve Morse —a trendy Guitar Hero at the time—, who would fill the void left by the man in black for the next 26 years. It might be their best work since the seventies, but their popularity was no longer the same… Ritchie Blackmore‘s name carried a lot of weight and sold well: after all, he created the band’s most iconic riffs and is one of the most influential guitarists in history.
Over the next 16 years, Deep Purple released only 3 studio albums, each with worse sales than the last. The group faded from the collective imagination. Their new works went unnoticed, and they even considered never returning to the studio: recording an album that no one would buy anymore cost money. But tours brought in a lot of cash, so they packed their bags and set off to tour the world indefinitely.
And after 7 years of recording drought, in 2012, Bob Ezrin appeared to the rescue…
The legendary producer of «The Wall» arranged a meeting with the band and made them a proposal: he wanted to convince them to record again. But there would be conditions. Ezrin would be the boss; they would record in Nashville; it would be recorded live, everyone playing together in the same room, like in the old days; they would do the fewest takes possible, and no more 7-minute tracks. Since then, applying this philosophy, Bob Ezrin and Deep Purple have produced 5 high-quality studio works between 2013 and 2024. And they have regained their popularity. And now, in 2026, 58 years after their first LP, they arrive with their twenty-fourth studio album: «Splat!».
The Songs
«Splat!» features 13 songs and a total duration of 50 minutes. Ian Gillan says they’ve made their heaviest album in decades.
Perhaps it’s an exaggeration to claim that heavy metal is the predominant style of the LP, but it’s true that it includes some of the most powerful songs of their career. A good example is «Arrogant Boy», the track that opens the album: one of the hardest and fastest they’ve recorded in five decades. For this writer, it’s the best song on the album and, probably, a future classic for the most devoted fans. Note this: 78, 80, 80, 78, and 47 are the ages of Deep Purple‘s members… These elders —with an average age of 79, if we don’t count the 47-year-old ‘youngster’ guitarist— sound like a steamroller here.
«Diablo» is the album’s second track: a classic, hard-rocking, mid-tempo Purple-esque riff that gets stuck in your head. Without being a hit, it’s a great song.
I’m a big fan of Ian Gillan‘s strange, absurd, comical, and almost always critical lyrics. An example is «The Rider», one of my favorite tracks on the album: a fairly simple, mischievous-sounding rock song where Gillan pokes fun at the extravagant demands some artists make for performing. «The Only Horse in Town» is a more commercial track, where a man and a horse look at each other and feel an immediate connection. But the ultimate madness arrives with «Guilt Trippin’», a superb heavy metal track (with Gillan back on high notes!) where God and Charles Darwin converse in a pub. Both feel guilty about the disaster the human race and the planet have become.
I was pleasantly surprised by «The Lunatic» —with its Arabic vibes— and «Sacred Land». They represent the album’s more heavy metal or heavy rock side (I don’t feel like discussing labels…) and, for me, bear a certain resemblance to classic Rainbow albums (Ha, ha!! Take that, Blackmore!).
«Third Call» oozes class, premium level. It has something of The Doors and a lot of the good Alice Cooper from the seventies. And that’s cool. Ian Paice on drums will blow your mind… A prodigious song. By the way, Bob Ezrin also «resurrected» Alice Cooper a few years ago…
With «The Beating of Wings», the tempo slows down. It’s not bad, although it’s the same kind of bluesy ballad that appears on almost all their albums since the nineties.
«Scriblin’ Gib’rish» is a heavy rock song with a pop chorus, but with another fabulous lyric: a humorous critique of technology’s impact on language.
«Jessica’s Bra», while appreciated, is a bit of the usual: Purple-esque hard rock with folk-tinged melodies. If it were missing, you wouldn’t miss it. That said, the solos by Don Airey and Simon McBride are spectacular.
«My New Movie» is good old Deep Purple: seventies rock that we love, with a vibe reminiscent of «Strange Kind of Woman».
The album closes with «Splat!», one of the best tracks on the album. The song talks about the end of the human race, the leap from the physical to the spiritual plane. A complete surprise, this mid-tempo rock, with superb atmospheric arrangements by Don Airey throughout the piece. A magnificent closer.
Coda
I love this album. And I love it, among other things, because there’s no commercial intent whatsoever. These are 5 very old guys doing whatever they want and, in the process, inviting us to reflect. Because «Splat!», without being a conceptual album, plays with the idea that, as a society, we are advancing at such a dizzying pace that we are making too many mistakes. Even so, they encourage us to maintain hope: every change, no matter how difficult, will ultimately be for the better.
The album has a very good sound and deviates quite a bit from current production, technical, and artistic standards. There are notable songs and an idea to convey. For me, it’s almost on par with their previous work, «=1» (2024), which —call me crazy— I believe ranks among Deep Purple‘s six best albums. The group sounds great, as always. «Splat!» shows us a band that is equally renewed and classic.
For 30 years, Gillan has had barely a quarter of his voice left. But he knows it and adapts. And it works for him, because what happens to him is similar to Robert Plant: his vocal cords no longer rev up, but they sing you a lullaby, and you melt like the villain in «Terminator 2».
Ian Paice (drums) and Roger Glover (bass) remain as superb as ever at their age. Superior beings. What class, what level…
Simon McBride (guitar) can play whatever he wants, but the important thing is that he understands where the songs are going and what he needs to contribute. He’s an all-rounder. Without being a copycat, he delivers solos that evoke both Blackmore and Steve Morse, yet with his own style.
We give the MVP to Don Airey (keyboards). This gentleman has been the true driving force of the group for 20 years. He crafts solos, rhythms, and atmospheres with exquisite elegance, and makes the songs better. His talent is outrageous.
Deep Purple is not made for today’s music industry. They are from another era. It’s like in football: many of the most talented figures from decades ago might not fit in today, when tactics, numbers, and physicality are paramount. The same happens with Deep Purple —and some of their contemporaries. You have to let them be. Let them fly freely. As soon as they chase the hit or trendy production, problems begin, because the machinery of today’s industry is no longer designed for them. And Bob Ezrin knew that, and he made the band understand it: by rebelling against the established system, they revitalized themselves and became a group with something to offer again.
If I told you there’s a hard rock band that, between 2013 and 2024, has released 5 studio albums with which they’ve achieved 16 number 1s in 11 European countries, you’d think I was talking about Foo Fighters, the Rolling Stones, or AC/DC. If I told you that band is the one behind «Smoke on the Water», it would sound strange to you.
Deep Purple‘s previous album, «=1» (2024), was number 1 on the best-seller charts in Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland, and Top 3 in Austria, Poland, and Finland. In Spain, it reached number 42. «Whoosh» (2020) was number 1 in Germany, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Scotland, and Wales, and Top 5 in Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. In Spain, it reached number… 50!!
Spain is a «musical microclimate» within the old continent… We won’t debate whether for better or worse (in my opinion, for worse). If you live here, you might not have realized that Deep Purple once again carries weight in international rock. They release good albums, and that should be appreciated and taken advantage of. Let’s consider that, due to biological reasons, in five or ten years, we will no longer have Deep Purple, nor the Rolling Stones, nor AC/DC, nor Paul McCartney, nor Robert Plant, nor Eric Clapton, nor probably Iron Maiden. Artists who continue to compose more than decent songs and who, generally, operate outside of fads and trends.
We are in extra time. Let’s enjoy what we have left.