What do Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Rainbow, Judas Priest, and Gary Moore all have in common? If you answered something along the lines of, “They’re all legends.”, you’d only be half correct. The sole constant between all of these acts is Don Airey, who has contributed his keyboard/synth/Hammond B3 talents to all of them and more, either as a member or session player going as far back as the ’70s. As if having such a vast résumé wasn’t enough, he also boasts quite the solo career, having released lone outings as far back as 1988. His latest, Pushed to the Edge, is yet another valiant Purple side quest that’ll hold fans over until the eventual follow up to last year’s excellent =1.
Interestingly enough, I’ve long said Airey’s solo output of the ’10s was “more Purple than Purple”, thanks in large part to Blackmore disciple axe-slinger Simon McBride, who gave these uptempo, invigorating rockers that extra Machine Head kick. Now that McBride has since joined the Purple fold, the line between whatever mark they’re on now Purple ends and Airey’s solo venture begins has become blurred at best. Mind you, I’m not saying this is a problem, but rather making an observation. As far as I’m concerned, the more Purple related music there is in the world, the better…except for maybe that horrific slab of poor man’s Peter Gabriel worship from Roger Glover, Mask (1984), but I digress.
“Tell Me” opens Pushed to the Edge in pure Purple fashion, meaning speed metal ’70s style, chock full of blistering guitar and grinding Hammond organ. Veteran singer Carl Sentance of Persian Risk and Nazareth fame returns, giving his best Ian Gillan impersonation and setting the stage for what’s bound to be an unabashedly retro release. Muscular heavy rockers like “They Keep on Running” and “Out of Focus” sound like they could’ve come straight out of =1 with its powerful balance of guitar and organ riffage, while the lumbering “Godz of War” gives off heavy prog epic vibes, sounding like a sort of hybrid between Purple and Zeppelin at their most grandiose.
Although Pushed never goes full prog, there are songs whose atmosphere and musicianship is bound to please your neighborhood prog-head. Take for example the pseudo-jazzy hard rock of “Moon Rising”, tripped out meanderings of “Edge of Reality”, and Fireball era jamming of “Finnigan’s Awake”. All boast that adventurous “anything goes” mentality that made ’70s rock so magical, the intent throughout this affair at times outweighing the music itself, which is rather strong, all things considered. The only songs that don’t click with this here old soul are “Flame in the Water”, a sleeper ballad, and “Power of Change”, which boasts that “Purple gone AOR” vibe I heard on a couple =1 songs.
While I don’t care for Pushed to the Edge as strongly as I did Airey’s last album, One of a Kind (2018), it’s still an invigorating classic rock affair that scratches my ’70s itch. Like I said earlier, it also serves as a fitting Purple side quest if there ever was one, especially since this is now a project that features two Purple personnel. I wonder how Airey and McBride go about deciding, “Alright, this’ll be for the main band, and this’ll be for the solo project.” Furthermore, I wonder if the likes of Gillan, Glover, and Paice (How about that for a law firm?) keep a watchful eye and ear, occasionally swooping in with a governing, “We want that one!” No matter how the sausage is made, it’s nothing but premium flavor here!
7 out of 10
Label: earMUSIC
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Deep Purple, Rainbow, Led Zeppelin
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