NEW YORK (Sanctuary Records/Deep Purple Official Website) -
Deep Purple helped invent hard rock more than three decades ago and did it with a distinctive style that no other band dared try to imitate. The latest chapter in the
Deep Purple legacy is the new studio album 'Bananas,' scheduled for release by Sanctuary Records on October 7, 2003.
'Bananas' is the first studio album from the current lineup of vocalist Ian Gillan, guitarist Steve Morse, bass guitarist Roger Glover, drummer Ian Paice and new keyboardist Don Airey, who replaced retired original keyboardist Jon Lord in 2001. Airey is well-known for his previous work with Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Jethro Tull, Brian May, Gary Moore, Michael Schenker Group, Cozy Powell and countless others.
Gillan, Morse, Glover, Paice and Airey toured extensively prior to recording 'Bananas' and that galvanized their cohesiveness before entering the studio.
The 12 songs on 'Bananas' include:
House of Pain
Sun Goes Down
Haunted
Razzle Dazzle
Silver Tongue
Walk On
Picture of Innocence
I Got Your Number
Never a Word
Bananas
Doing It Tonight and
Contact Lost
The lead single "House of Pain" will impact at rock radio on September 29. 'Bananas' recently debuted on the European sales chart at No 13 overall, indicating that it could be Deep Purple's biggest album in Europe since 1984's 'Perfect Strangers.'
'Bananas' is the first studio album from Deep Purple since 1998's 'Abandon' on CMC International/Sanctuary Records.
Deep Purple first emerged in the late 1960s with psychedelic-flavored pop hit covers of Joe South's "Hush" and Neil Diamond's "Kentucky Woman" and then, after a lineup change, emerged as a leading force in the development of hard rock thanks to albums such as 'Deep Purple In Rock,' 'Machine Head' and 'Burn.' The band's vast catalog of immortal songs from this fruitful period in the 1970s includes classics such as "Smoke on the Water," "Highway Star," "Black Night," "Child in Time," "Woman From Tokyo" and "Burn."
The North American tour starts January 15, 2004.
