It's been 5 years since 'Purple's' last release, and while the title of the album and cover art has upset a few fan's, I'm sure the music within won't. The line-up is still very strong and has been bolstered further with 'Don Airey' taking over the keyboard slot, after the long promised departure of 'Jon Lord', 'Purple' stalwarts 'Ian Paice', 'Roger Glover' and the legend 'Ian Gillan' are present along with exciting guitarist 'Steve Morse'. Is this another 'Machine Head'? you ask, well not quite, for me 'Bananas' is well written, played and produced, but at times feels too safe, the good news is there's very little weak material present and I'd recommend 'Bananas' to any Hard Rock fan.

The opening track would have to be my favourite, 'House of Pain' is a quality grooving rocker, the chorus is very catchy and is upheld by some classic 'Purple' instrumentation, 'Ian Gillan' still sounds strong with his characteristic vocals and overall this makes for a worthy opener. Continuing strongly is 'Sun goes Down' a darker sounding number, with archetypal 'Purple' sounding keyboards that 'Don Airey' has thankfully and cleverly maintained, lyrically it's enjoyable and well executed. Less agreeable but admirably performed is 'Haunted', a slow ballad which reminds me of some of 'Keith Richards' solo material, overall a bit light and sentimental for my linking, but the female backing vocals are a definitely no no. 'Razzle Dazzle' is a lighted-hearted mid tempo affair, not one of the albums best tracks, lyrically it's pretty uninspiring, but 'Ian Gillan' turns in a strong show. Better is the 'Gillan' sounding mid tempo rocker 'Silver Tongue', again the chorus is strong and features some tasty guitar licks from 'Steve Morse'. Next up is 'Walk On' another slow number with a certain 'David Coverdale' era feel about it, all told It's a decent mellow track with a nice relaxed flowing approach. 'Pictures of Innocence' is a typical 'Ian Gillan' inspired jaunty complete with his usual quirky lyrics, regrettably the disjointed Jazz feel puts me off. Improvements are felt with the slightly heavier 'I've got your Number', a simplistic track that sustains a strong rhythm throughout and is well in the traditional 'Purple' style. The pace drops for the folksy 'Never a Word' an acoustic sounding piece, that's nearly an instrumental as the vocals cut in very late, a little light for my usual listening but far from poor. The tempo is restored with the rocking title track, a solid effort with more than a hint of 'Sabbath', in fact I'm sure some of the lyrics have been lifted from one of their tracks. Continuing the strong run is the pulsating 'Doing it Tonight', dare I say it, an almost reggae sounding number, but don't let that put you off, this is a decent effort made all the better with a choice guitar solo. Lastly is a short 'Morse' written instrumental called 'Contact Lost', a respectfully, sombre piece which I believe is a tribute to those who lost their lives in the shuttle disaster of this year.

It's nice to see classic groups like 'Purple' still producing albums, especially when they cut the mustard with releases like 'Banana's'. This album reminds me of 'UFO's' last release 'Sharks', the approach is very similar and fans of 'Bananas' should checkout this album, by these fellow Hard Rock veterans, I'm sure it won't disapoint.