Quick Reviews: Deep Purple & Cassadee Pope

No common thread this week. We have two very different albums.

Deep Purple - =1

This is an interesting turn of events. Deep Purple is undeniably near the end of their run, and yet here they are bringing in a new guitar player. The loss of Steve Morse from their ranks seemed like a good time to hang things up, but the band is soldiering on with young(er) blood. After hearing the results, I'm not sure if that was the best decision.

That isn't to say the band needs to retire, but perhaps some evaluation of what they are best at these days was in order. Morse's version of the band had more nuance to the playing, and felt like the most mature version of Deep Purple. Now, they are back to a simpler and heavier riff approach, which might inject a bit more energy into the proceedings, but doing so puts an emphasis on their age in others. This style asks more of Ian Gillan, and he's not up to the task. He still sounds good when he's relaxed and composed, but these songs ask for more volume and energy than his voice has anymore, and his occasional lapses into near talking leave me thinking he knows he can't keep up through the entire record.

Deep Purple are legends, but this album is rather forgettable. I haven't been much of a fan of any of their most recent work, but I could appreciate what they were doing. This is the first time in a long while it feels like they are going backwards, trying to recapture days of the past rather than moving forward. I don't know if that's quite the way you want things to end, but maybe this isn't the end. Who knows?

Cassadee Pope - Hereditary

I keep hearing people say that pop-punk is having a revival, but I guess it goes to show how siloed we all are that I can't say I've heard nearly anything from this new wave of bands. One artist who has cut through is Cassadee Pope, although I will admit I can't remember now exactly how I came across her name. Her previous album was a return to emo-ish roots, and this record keeps going in that direction.

If you heard Avril Lavigne's "Love Sux", you'll have a good idea of what Cassadee is up to here. This album not only sounds similar in production, but also in some of the cadences, and Cassadee's voice as well. Pop-punk is not known as a very original genre, so I'm not knocking this record for that. What it does, though, is draw the comparison in my mind. That is both a good and bad thing. It's good in the sense that I liked Avril's record, and that means Cassadee gives me a similar nostalgic vibe for a certain era. It's bad in the sense that I think Avril's record was a bit better, so this one is falling a bit short of a measuring stick that doesn't need to be there.

We come close to some great things. "More To Me" is on track to be one of the better songs I've heard all year... and then the chorus turns into 'whoa oh' territory. The stickiness dissipates quickly, and disappointment set in. This album is a decent time, but a bit of honing could have made it stand out in a crowded field.