'Rapture of the Deep' is the follow-up to '03's rather respectable 'Bananas' and thankfully features the same strong line-up. As with the predecessor this is another solid release that just fails to go the extra distance to compete with early glories, for me there's a lack of tempo variation with the majority of songs mid-paced and contrary to what 'Don Airey' said before the release date, this is not a very heavy 'Purple' album. Fortunately though the song writing is as strong as you might expect from a band of their pedigree and this is still a very consistent release.

The album opens promisingly with 'Money Talks', the atmospheric brooding intro is well executed and develops into a carefree rocker which is nicely penned within the comical 'Gillan' style and is further braced with complimentary keyboards, while 'Steve Morse' gets in a decent guitar solo. Less impressive is 'Girls Like That' which is totally spoilt by the diabolical chorus, other than that there's some potential, especially the classic sounding 'Purple' melody and more fine work from 'Don Airey'. Improvements are quickly made with the more gritty, Bluesy sounding 'Wrong Man', that's driven by some excellent riff and rhythm work and vocals that prove 'Ian Gillan' has lost little over the years. The title track follows with a more mystical approach that cleverly still maintains a very traditional feel, this is helped no ends by more fine keyboard work, 'Steve Morse' manages to get in some nice guitar licks while 'Ian' really does the lyrics credit. The following track 'Clearly Quite Absurd' got quite a lot of attention pre-release and while it doesn't compete with 'Purple' classics it's a beautifully written and performed song that at times has shades of 'When a Blind Man Cries'. The Funky up-tempo 'Don't Let Go' ensues in entertaining fashion and while parts sounds a little dated, a pretty decent affair. 'Back to Back' takes a similar approach and includes some nice instrumental work, but overall a bit too jazzy and at times unfocused for my personal tastes. More progress is made with the rocky 'Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye', which see 'Paice' and 'Glover' laying down possibly the best rhythm work on the album, this is further braced by sharp vocals and some solid lyrics for one of the top tracks present. The album loses focus with 'MTV' a pretty awful jazzy rocker that's only saving grace is a 'Morse' guitar solo, while 'Junkyard Blues' is a mixed bag, not one of my favourites but interesting in places. Last up is the semi epic 'Before Time Began' a winding journey that harks back to 70's 'Purple', personally I don't like the lyrics very much, but still another respectable effort.

I personally like 'Purple's' brisker material so perhaps I'm not as excited by this album as many, but I have to admit this is a nicely penned, consistent album that's excellently produced and is bound to satisfy many fans.