Deep Purple keyboard player rocks out.
After almost 25 years as Deep Purple’s keyboard player and now aged 75, Don Airey could be forgiven for taking things gently. But instead of resting he’s busy burnishing his intermittent solo career. And where others might have plumped for, say, a stately instrumental album, P
ushed To The Edge
is an all-out, no-holdsbarred, super-energetic rocker, where even the ballad
Flame In The Water
is a whopper.
Naturally, keyboards are up front, symphonically on Power Of Change, but lighter of touch on Finnegan’s Awake, the closing instrumental, which ends with Airey introducing a band including new Purple guitarist Simon McBride. It’s Airey’s only vocal contribution. Wisely he’s left the singing to Carl Sentance, once of Geezer Butler’s band and currently with Nazareth, and Mitchell Emms, late of talent show The Voice. Both bring the energy these songs deserve. What’s not to admire?
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