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Deep Purple: Bananas

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Sanctuary Records
Released: 2003.09.09
Time:
 51:25
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Michael Bradford
Rating: ******.... (6/10)
Media type: CD Double
Web address: www.deep-purple.com
Appears with: Ritchie Blackmore
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 2,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] House of Pain (I.Gillan/M.Bradford) – 3:34
[2] Sun Goes Down (I.Gillan/S.Morse/R.Glover/D.Airey/I.Paice) – 4:10
[3] Haunted (I.Gillan/S.Morse/R.Glover/D.Airey/I.Paice) – 4:22
[4] Razzle Dazzle (I.Gillan/S.Morse/R.Glover/D.Airey/I.Paice) – 3:28
[5] Silver Tongue (I.Gillan/S.Morse/R.Glover/D.Airey/I.Paice) – 4:03
[6] Walk On" (I.Gillan/M.Bradford) – 7:04
[7] Picture of Innocence (I.Gillan/S.Morse/D.Glover/J.Lord/I.Paice) - 5:11
[8] I Got Your Number (I.Gillan/S.Morse/D.Glover/J.ord/I.Paice/M.Bradford) – 6:01
[9] Never a Word (I.Gillan/S.Morse/R.Glover/D.Airey/I.Paice) – 3:46
[10] Bananas (I.Gillan/S.Morse/R.Glover/D.Airey/I.Paice) – 4:51
[11] Doing It Tonight (I.Gillan/S.Morse/R.Glover/D.Airey/I.Paice) – 3:28
[12] Contact Lost (S.Morse) – 1:27

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Ian Gillan - Vocals
Roger Glover - Bass
Steve Morse - Guitar
Don Airey - Keyboards
Ian Paice - Drums

Paul Buckmaster - String arrangement and cello on "Haunted"
Beth Hart - Background Vocals on "Haunted"
Michael Bradford - Guitar on "Walk On"

Beth Hart - Background Vocals

Charlie Lewis - Engineer, Producer, Production Coordination
Mike Bradford - Engineer, Mixing, Producer
Chris Wonzer - Assistant
Andy VanDette - Mastering
Ioannis - Art Direction, Design, Digital Artwork
Bruce Payne - Art Direction, Cover Photo, Design, Photography
Fin Costello - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2010 CD EMI Records 28132

Recorded in Los Angeles during the January/February 2003.

Bananas is the 17th studio album by English rock band Deep Purple,released on October 7, 2003. This is the first Deep Purple album to feature Don Airey on the keyboards, replacing founding member Jon Lord. The album was recorded in Los Angeles during January and February 2003. It is also notable as being the only Deep Purple album that features Ian Gillan being backed by vocals other than his own, with the song "Haunted" featuring a female backing singer, Beth Hart. It includes "Contact Lost", a short, slow instrumental about the Columbia astronauts, written by guitarist Steve Morse when he heard the sad news of the crash.



The first time I heard Deep Purple – or perhaps felt Deep Purple is a better way to describe the experience – it was the mid-70s. I was 8, and Ritchie Blackmore’s sinewy, sinister riffing on the “Made In Japan” version of “Child In Time,” coupled with Ian Gillan’s dramatic, gorgeous howling, Jon Lord’s ominous neo-classical Hammond organ, and the dynamic interplay of the Roger Glover-Ian Paice rhythm section, tore the top of my head off. It was unlike anything else I’d ever heard. And it quite literally changed my life. 30 years later, I’m still hearing Deep Purple for the first time. “Rapture of the Deep” is the spot-on moniker for the disc you hold in your hands, and I’ll stand on any classic rock radio programmer’s desk in my cowboy boots and scream it loud, proud and Gillan-esque; “This is the best Deep Purple album there is, dammit! Forget ‘Machine Head’ – that was then; this is most decidedly now!”

This is the fourth record created by the revamped and rejuvenated Purple following the umpteenth departure of the mercurial Mr. Blackmore. The guitarist – one of the most significant in British rock history - had ceased to be a contributing force and was in fact draining Purple of its collective spirit when his ship finally set sail for good, a bit over a decade back. Blackmore's exit is, in a sense, where our story begins, for the surviving band members left to pick up the pieces in his violent wake – Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice – agreed unanimously on only one six-stringer, the soon to be knighted Steve Morse. Hardly scraping the dregs from the bottom of the barrel with that choice, boys. Morse accepted, writing commenced for what would become “Purpendicular,” on-stage work-outs were seized upon with relish, and the band breathed the heady air of rebirth. When “Purpendicular” was delivered, it astonished. Rather than going softly into the long goodnight of “classic rock” middle-age, Deep Purple had reinvented itself. It took no more than a cursory listen to the likes of “Ted the Mechanic,” Loosen My Strings” and “Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming” to drive this point straight into the skull.

Morse brought a funkiness, a depth as guitarist and writer, an unparalleled fluidity as a soloist, a startling aptitude as foil to Lord, and an arsenal of influences – country, folk, jazz, what they’ve sadly labeled “fusion,” and an inherent understanding of blues-based riffs – that meshed effortlessly with the immaculate Glover-Paice sense of swing and Gillan’s seeming capacity to go anywhere at any time, full-throated and eyes ablaze. ”Purpendicular” was a celebration of both remembrance and reinvention. It at once acknowledged Purple’s estimable history and tradition, and a musical wanderlust not content to repeat the past. As such, it laid the template for a new Purple. And it all, it seems, was paving the way for the mighty metamorphosis that is “Rapture of the Deep.”

With Morse, Purple toured the world to accolades from the cognoscente. “Abandon” cemented the band’s on-stage prowess on record, and reminded us that Purple was, yes indeed, the heaviest of heavy rock bands. “Bananas,” the first record following Lord’s retirement from touring and his replacement by exquisite ivory-tinkler Don Airey, brought elements of pop to the table, grafted on some of “Purpendicular’s” ambition, and encapsulated the ensemble-riff power of “Abandon.” Tours behind both of these albums revealed this still-young band’s continued growth as a performing unit. By the end of the "Bananas marathon, Airey had marked his apotheosis, from "replacement" to fully-integrated band-member. ”Rapture of the Deep” marks yet another new beginning, however. And it, more than any other record this side of “Perfect Strangers” and “Purpendicular,” offers a snapshot of the band transitioning into bold, uncharted territory. It’s as if all the pieces fit, not for the first time, of course, but in a manner that reveals a more pure portrait of just what this band is capable of. The whole transcends the sum of its parts, which is fitting for a record that seems to be, in a very real sense, about transcendence.

”As we all know, it’s hard to breathe/When something spiritual has taken place/We don’t know how, we don’t know why/We’ve been transported to a state of grace,” sings Gillan during the album’s title track, and this verse can be seen as indicative of the over-arching ethos behind “Rapture of the Deep.” Lyrically, it speaks of a spirit not content with the status quo in terms of interpersonal, social and political relationships, and this irreverent yearning is matched by the searching nature of the music itself, which also refuses to be ordinary. The album opens with “Money Talks,” a hook-heavy rocker with several twists in its tale, most notably Gillan’s harmony vocals during the chorus, his uber-hip sing-speak during the verses – recalling both “Fireball’s” “No One Came” and his own “No Laughing In Heaven” – and the manner in which the tune flirts with an Eastern modality before erupting into a searing Morse solo. “Wrong Man” slaps the listener in the face straight out of the gate with a strutting riff that can’t miss, as Glover and Paice exploit the pocket for all it’s worth, and Gillan kicks against the pricks in the voice of a character whose greatest crime seems to be having been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both of these – like their siblings on “Rapture,” elegant and refined rockers steeped in blues and chomping at the bit, with names like “Back To Back,” “Girls Like That” and the hit single in waiting “Don’t Let Go” – are brilliant Purple tunes, estuaries from a river that never seems to run to dry. Ah, but the surprises… they’re many and varied here, and they elevate “Rapture” toward the rapturous upper echelons of the Purple canon.

“Before Time Began” takes the form of a threatening march, an abscess dying to burst. Paice offers a dark subterranean shuffle, as the band lays down a series of melancholic chords, and Gillan, in a voice drenched in pathos, bemoans a world in which “Every day of my life I discover/Someone murdering my sisters and brothers/In the name of some god or another.” No mere political polemic, this, however; Gillan’s touch is too light, and he’s a master of “leaving things out,” so that his lyric is suggestive, rather than mere vitriol. “All of those bad ideas became the law/And we’ve forgotten what we’re looking for.” Indeed. And again, the Purple engine room is in full overdrive mode here, as an expansive call-and-response between Morse and Airey - who has made replacing Lord look easy, when we all know it is in fact far from it; Airey has made his mark on Purple, to be sure, by respecting what came before him and having the fortitude and chops to take it all somewhere new and exciting - leaves one feeling breathless and vulnerable. This is “progressive rock” in the most positive sense of that much-maligned term.

The centerpiece of “Rapture” also happens to be one of the finest tunes in the band’s history – no small claim, that. “Clearly Quite Absurd” is clearly quite sublime; a piece with a melody that simply hurts to listen to, in the way that first love is painful because it’s ephemeral and fleeting. Thankfully, your disc player has a “repeat” button, so this is a love that will never abandon you. Gillan sings of escaping the snares of the mundane and commonplace, the accepted reality which deadens us to the potential one above and beyond it. Again, harmony vocals – Beatle-esque ones, in this instance – help set the mood, and an ascending chord progression led by Morse spreads its arms heavenward, eventually settling into a circular pattern that becomes one of the more moving codas not just in Purple history, but, yep, in the history of heavy rock itself. This is Deep Purple, 2005 version. Intense, fearless, full of fire, and wit, and passion. Marked by serious virtuosity, but never a slave to it. Still finding new meaning in a medium they all but single-handedly created. Grab ahold of this, and don’t let go.

Jeff Miers - August, 2005
Buffalo, NY


The instrumental song "Contact Lost," the bittersweet finale of Deep Purple's new album 'Bananas,' was inspired by the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. It was written by guitarist Steve Morse. Columbia broke up over Texas upon re-entry on February 1, 2003, after a successful 16-day scientific research mission. The accident claimed the lives of its seven crew members: commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool, mission specialist Michael Anderson, mission specialist Dave Brown, mission specialist Laurel Cla rk, mission specialist Kalpana Chawla and payload specialist Ilan Ramon. Morse, vocalist Ian Gillan, bass guitarist Roger Glover, drummer Ian Paice and keyboardist Don Airey were in the midst of recording 'Bananas' when the disaster occurred.

Chawla, a native of India where Deep Purple is extremely popular, loved the band. She traded e-mails with the band for several days while in space. Chawla took three CDs on board Columbia: Deep Purple's landmark 1972 album 'Machine Head' and 1996's 'Purpendicular' and Rainbow's 1978 album 'Down to Earth' (Glover and Airey were both members of Rainbow at the time). While in space, Chawla liked to wake up to Deep Purple's "Space Truckin' " from 'Machine Head.'

The band members were horrified and deeply saddened by Columbia's fate, and Morse immediately channeled his emotions into composing "Contact Lost" within one hour of the accident. Morse is donating his "Contact Lost" songwriting royalties to the families of the astronauts. The CD copies of 'Machine Head,' 'Purpendicular' and 'Down to Earth' were found among the Columbia debris. NASA used them as part of special commemorative plaques honoring the seven astronauts. Chawla's widower, Jean-Pierre Harrison, has kept in touch with Morse and he presented the three plaques to Deep Purple on stage at a concert on September 23, 2003, in Mexico City, Mexico. The plan is to donate the 'Machine Head' and 'Down to Earth' plaques to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum; the 'Purpendicular' plaque is being kept privately.

'Bananas' was released by Sanctuary Records on October 7, 2003.

GuitarSite.com



Bananas has every sign of being a disappointment. Jon Lord's grandiose keyboards were always a focus but he's gone, it's released in the heady age of Radiohead, and it's got one of the oddest titles and the oddest cover art that ever graced a Deep Purple album. Surprise, it's fantastic. New keyboardist Don Airey is an effective replacement, adding new sounds and styles and working the Hammond so well that an uncredited Lord appearance was rumored among fans. Lord has said he's not playing on the album, but he did contribute some writing on the excellent "Picture of Innocence" and "I Got Your Number." Those two tracks, followed by the winding and pastoral "Never a Word," add up to a strikingly impressive suite that bridges the more bombastic first half of the album with the looser and more playful second half. That's right, "Deep Purple" and "playful" in the same sentence. The thunk and chug is still there, but Bananas often turns to mid-tempo boogie and blues, allowing Ian Gillan's wry and witty delivery some deserved space while guitarist Steve Morse's time in Kansas and the Dixie Dregs pays off as never before. The funky light reggae of "Doing It Tonight" is downright smoky-bar slinky-sexy, and if the band doesn't add it to every one of their encores for the rest of their career they're nuts. Filled with hooks and songs that get better with each listen, there's little to dislike about Bananas. Certainly the urgent "House of Pain" could have benefited from punchier production, and there's a noticeable lack of lengthy solos throughout, but these are minor quibbles. Hipsters have already decided, and some hardcore fans will pine for the monolithic sound of Machine Head, but on Bananas Deep Purple sound comfortable, free to do what they want, and more than the sum of their parts than they have in a long, long time.

David Jeffries - All Music Guide



"Have you ever had a rock that just keeps on rolling/ Ever seen a train coming down the track" Ian Gillan deadpans on the first song off Bananas. This tune gives you every single 1970s hard rock cliché at once, as it careens from cheesy guitar solo to cheesy organ solo to cheesy dual organ and guitar solo, with a gratuitous use of the cowbell effect right through the whole track. The song is a bit like seeing your grandmother in hot pants. Things do get better from there on out, though not tremendously so. Deep Purple’s first studio album in five years has new songs that for the most part sound like their old songs, which is not really such a bad thing. "Haunted," however, presents a new template for the band, a Macy Gray-style ballad. Really. The album brims with trademark DP choogling; original members Ian Paice and Roger Glover remain one of the most solid, thunderous rhythm sections in rock. If you can’t get enough of this band’s mountainous sound, with its thunderous organs, screaming guitars, and vocals that veer from ominous to operatic, this one’s for you.

Mike McGonigal - Amazon.com
 

 L y r i c s


House Of Pain

Have you ever had a woman that could make you crazy
Have you ever had a woman that could drive you mad
Have you ever had a woman give you so much trouble
And the best lovin' you ever had

My friends all say I'm losing it big time
But I know where I've got to go
I'm going back there again
I'm going back there again
I'm going back there again
Back to the house of pain

Have you ever had a rock that just keeps on rollin'
Have you ever seen a train comin' down the track
Have you ever jumped into the cold, cold river
And know there's no turning back

My friends all say I'm crazy, baby
But I know where I've got to go
I'm going back there again
I'm going back there again
I'm going home
Back to the house of pain

Have you ever had a weight that was much too heavy
Have you ever had a burden that was yours alone
Have you ever spent a night when you kept on waiting
Staring at the telephone

My friends all say I'm crazy, baby
But I know where I've got to go
I'm going back there again
I'm going back there again
I'm going back to my woman
Back to the house of pain
Then I run away
(chorus)
you'll always be my inspiration
I love you from afar


Sun Goes Down

Oh you're all looking up
With hearts of devotion
Through the dust and the heat lost to me
In a cloud of emotion
I have no motivation
To keep this breathless pace
I'm more inclined to stay here
In this breathing space

And the sun goes down
And the moon comes up

I never tried to walk the walk
'Cos the steps are elusive
The membership is too costly
And exclusive
Hey, the more I've got
The more I stand to lose
So I'm gonna unpack my bags
And take off my shoes

And the sun goes down
And the moon comes up

Let me tell you there's no point knocking
At the big oak door
Can't you see that it's all full up
They can't take no more
The line's so long
It's almost Disney
Ooh?
Wont somebody kiss me

And the sun goes down
And the moon comes up


Haunted

I hear the beating of your wings
As if you're playing on my strings
In mysterious ways
You draw me in
To a love
Beyond all understanding

Beyond my reach
So far away
But it seems
Like only yesterday

I'm Haunted
Haunted
Is that what you wanted

All that's left
Is the ghost of your smile
It stays awhile
Then fades away

I hear your footsteps on the ground
Tempting me to turn around
It's just the echo
Of a disenchanted lover
Shuffling aimlessly
Homeward bound

To empty rooms
And picture frames
And Friends
Who can't recall our names

I'm Haunted
Haunted
Is that what you wanted

All that's left
Is the ghost of your smile
It stays awhile
Then fades away


Razzle Dazzle

I don't have the time of day
I don't know what day It is
Someone's falling on my head
Get up get up
We're going out on the raz

Razzle dazzle
Call it what you want
To me it don't matter
It's where I belong
It's a matter of distinction
A real fine line
Between an orgy of destruction
And a wonderful time

This room's so cold and bare
There's nothing here for me
I've got to find some heat somewhere
Get up get up
We're going out on the raz

Razzle dazzle
Call it what you want
It really doesn't matter
When I'm bangin' on a gong
While someone's holding out
To a willing congregation
And we can all forget about
The state of the nation

Can't hear a thing
But I see your lips are moving
I'm working on my thinking
And I think it's improving
I'm gonna get the blame
So I might as well deliver
If only I can swim across
This weird human river

I know I started out
With the best of intentions
Some blinding inspiration
And a few not-to-mentions
And now I'm looking deep
Into the last dying ambers
Shouting what are we doing here
And nobody remembers

I've lost a friend or two
I don't know where they have gone
Only one thing I can do
Get up get up
I'm going out on the raz

Razzle dazzle
Call it what you want
To me it don't matter
It's where I belong
It's a matter of distinction
A real fine line
Between an orgy of destruction
And a wonderful time


Silver Tongue

Well I'm standing here on moving station
All the world is traveling by
To strange outlandish destinations
There they go, I wonder why

I may be crazy
But I'm not stupid
I get along
I use my silver tongue

You know I can dream in any language
Flying on my magic bed
And I don't need to work my passage
All I do is use my head

I may be crazy
But I'm not stupid
Sometimes I ramble
But then I'm Lucid
I might seem lazy
But I'm hurting no-one
I get along
I use my silver tongue

Well, I know exactly what you're thinking
But you don't know what's in my mind
You went too fast and now your sinking
Because you forgot to read the signs


Walk On

If you don't like what you see
If you can do better than me
You better walk on

If the road before you winds
Obscuring all the signs
You better walk on

You mean more to me
Than just a pretty face
I wont hold you down
You need a little space

If you don't like what you see
If you can do better than me
You better walk on

You know I don't like to fight
No matter who's wrong or right
You better walk on

I don´t mean to bring you down
If you prefer the other side of town
Walk On

You been troubled
Sleeping through the night
Deal with it in the daytime
Then you can turn off the light

If you don´t like what you see
If you can do better than me
You better walk on

Girl I tried
You know I tried
And while I cried
You lied

You better walk on

Well the heart inside me burns
And the world around me turns
You better walk on

You know It won't be right away
We'll meet again someday
You better walk on
You better walk on

When the shine wears off
And he's on to something new
Try not to think about
How good I was to you

If you don't like what you see
If you can do better than me
You better Walk on


Picture Of Innocence

I hear they're trying to make us all the same
It's mind control by any other name
Who's gonna pay the price
For this foolish paradise
Oh匨omma don't take that train

I hear it said we're headed too far south
Chinese whispers go by word of mouth
Rules for every size and shape
The nag has gone, shut the gate
Once you're in you're never getting out

I'm so misunderstood
There goes my manlihood
She's in my face again
With that picture of innocence

No drinks, No smokes
No dicking around
No dirty jokes
Straight lace, straight face
The old straight jacket
We got no hope

I hear they're gonna try out something new
I can feel it sticking to my shoe
So this is what tomorrow holds
Hopes and dreams are bought and sold
But still the world is misty green and blue

I', so misunderstood
There goes my mannish boyhood
She's in my face again
With that picture of innocence

No deals, No strokes
No forbidden fruit
No holy smoke
What next, no sex
That's the end of the road
That's the end of the road
We got no hope

No drinks, No smokes
No dicking around
No dirty jokes
Straight lace, straight face
The old straight jacket
We got no hope

No deals, No strokes
No forbidden fruit
No holy smoke
What next, no sex
That's the end of the road
We got no hope


I've Got Your Number

So many signs
So many ways
It's a living thing
No need to rush
The buzz will last for days

When you discover
I'm just a man
Take it girl
Or leave it
Don't be reading out the label on the can

I got your number
I got your number
I got your number

I'll be your lover
I'll be your friend
I'll be your friend
And your brother in love
But that's where the story ends

If you say jump
I'll do it with affection
But don't get pissed
If I don't move
Too fast in your direction

I got your number
I got your number
I got your number

It's that same old nonsense
That same old look
But now I'm turning back
And I can read you like a book
It all means nothing
Nothing at all
It's the same old business
Man it drives me up the wall

You made the potion too strong
I feel I'm going soft
I've been that way far too long
You see, now it's wearing off

So many times
So many days
It's a spiritual thing
That loving touch
I thought you'd be amazed

I like the distance
I like the space
The money's good
The rent is cheap
And I can read suspicion on your face

I got your number
I got your number
I got your number


Never A Word

Never a word, a word so true
Passed between us, me and you
Heard you found your pot of gold
That's the story I've been told

Never a word was said in vain
Some were never sad again
Some were lost in lovers' heat
Some lay fallen at our feet

All day all night
I think of you and only you
All day all night
I think of you and only you

Never a word escaped my lips
Silenced by your fingertips
I kept my word, can you believe
All this time so hard to breathe
Hard to breathe


Bananas

I've got nothing to say today
I used my words up yesterday

I'm just lying here in the sun
Watching you guys having fun

Seven days and seven nights
Working till you got it right

Don't help me I'll help myself
I'll pull some crackers off the shelf

She had her hair done yesterday
Now she's coming out to play

First you pull and then you push
Two in the hand and one in the bush

Oh, my love is
So excited
When I say we've
Been invited
Now we're going
To the palace
Dressing up for
Tea with Alice

Some will rise and some will fall
Some will come to nothing at all

The strangest people have the power
To lead me to my darkest hour

How can you be sure it's me
When it's payment on delivery

Oh, my love is
So excited
When I say we've
Been invited
Now we're going
To the palace
Dressing up for
Tea with Alice
Now my love is
Richer than rich
'Cause I studied
Mathematics
Graduated
Without honours
Everyone has
Gone Bananas


Doing It Tonight

I don't have a problem
I'm not seeking her advice
I'm saving that for later
Yeh, it's something awful nice
I had a shaky feeling
When she floated into sight
I imagine we'll be doing it tonight

I'm ragged round the edges
All these people in the room
There's magic in the air
I'm guessing she can feel it too
Prospective recreation
Helps me keep her in my sight
I imagine we'll be doing it tonight

That's why everybody's sitting around
We can't think of nothing better to do
There's no empty bottle
They're all half full
So we end up spinning a shoe

We keep on going 'til poor old Lenny's
Got drool hanging off of his chin
He can't stop winning
When the shoe stops spinning
But he doesn't know where to begin

She wasn't in the running
She was never in the game
I could see her in the distance
But I could not lay my claim
Let me tell you 'bout this cherry
I never got a single bite
Therefore I imagine we'll be doing it tonight


Contact Lost

[Instrumental]
 

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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