Ranking the Discography: Deep Purple Part XVII: Bananas (2003)

Released in 2003, Bananas was the first album to feature the current lineup of Deep Purple, with Ian Paice as the only remaining founding member. Jon Lord was replaced by current keyboardist Don Airey, whose previous credits included Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne (on Blizzard of Ozz and Bark at the Moon) , and Empire.

Members:

Ian Gillan: vocals

Steve Morse: guitar

Don Airey: keyboards

Roger Glover: bass

Ian Paice: drums

The Tracks:

1. “House of Pain”: Paice’s drumming is good, but Gillan’s voice is shot.
2. ” Sun Goes Down”: Airey is trying on the keys, but it’s not working.
3. “Haunted”: It tries to be a good slow song, but it doesn’t work.
4. ” Razzle Dazzle”: Finally, a good song!
5. “Silver Tongue”: Morse has a good riff going, but Gillan still sounds like he could use a voice coach.
6. “Walk On”: We finally get to hear Airey play some keyboards. One of the few good songs.
7. “Picture of Innocence” : Another good song, with Morse doing some great guitar work.
8. “I’ve Got Your Number” : This is decent.
9. “Never a Word”: Are we trying to be a subpar Pink Floyd?
10. ” Bananas”: I like the harmonica on this.
11. “Doing It Tonight”: Morse is the only good part, but even that doesn’t work.
12. ” Contact Lost”: A short instrumental requiem for the crashed Space Shuttle Columbia. It’s gorgeous.

Final Verdict: In case you can’t tell, this album is a disappointment. I had to go on YouTube for this, Spotify is doing Deep Purple a favor by skipping this album.

Grade: D

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