Here's a man who needs no introduction. After a nine year hiatus, Deep Purple's bass player is back in the swing of things with a new release. I was wrongly looking for something along the lines of the famous heavy rock act. Then again, you can't expect these guys to re-write "Child in Times" or "Smoke on the Water" forever right?
On this 16 tracks 55 minutes disc, you will be entertained by a wide array of musical styles from the man wearing a bandetta. In a way, If Life was Easy reminds me of an album from Steve Morse called: Major Impacts. On that album Steve wrote songs with the styles on the most influential musicians he had including: George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, The Allman Brothers and Keith Richards. Although different, the variety here shows some similarities. "The Dream I Had" has everything a southern blues rock fan would enjoy, including those nasty slide guitars, oh yeah! Roger's own daughter Gillian is also lending her warm vocals on a few tracks including: "Moonlight" and "Set your Imagination Free". The first one bear a smooth country feel, while the later has a definite Ayreon vibe. A bit later on comes "When the Day is Done", on which the vocals of Walther Galley are really reminiscent to good ol' Bob Dylan. This is only followed by some heavy bluesy track that could have very well been written by Alannah Myles. All of this is very pleasant and keeps the listener very entertained all along the way. For me though, what very grabbed me was the more country/blues and acoustic side of Mr. Glover. The best example of my saying is the very Johnny Cash sounding title track. This exquisite composition blends together a cool country side as well as a bit of humor. I've also noticed, on a few instances, the presence of this sense of. "If Life was Easy", is not only written by Roger, but he is the only player handling all the instruments. This is not the only song since it occurs on four others tunes: "Box of Tricks" (heavier and blues), "Welcome to the Moon", "When Life Gets to the Bone" (acoustic blues), and "Staring Into Space". As you can see, quite a few compositions reflects a more acoustic/bluesy and even country side of Mr. Glover, to my selfish pleasure of course! Another aspect of his music involves certain nostalgia of the things of the past and closing track, "Feel Like a King" is the most Purple-ish moment on the album.
I think it's clear that If Life Was Easy is a real cool release from a man I would not mind hearing from on a more frequent basis.
Track listing:
1- Don't Look Now Everything has Changed)
2- The Dream I Had
3- Moonlight
4- The Car Won't Start
5- Box of Tricks
6- If Life Was Easy
7- Stand Together
8- Welcome to the Moon
9- Set your Imagination Free
10- When Life Get to the Bone
11- When the Day is Done
12- Get Away(Can't Let You)
13- Staring Into Space
14- The Ghost of Your Smile
15- Cruel World
16- Feel Like a King
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
