In 2024, DeepPurple celebrated the fortieth anniversary of their reunion by releasing their23rd album, =1. Some band members thought the 1984 reunion would fizzle outafter one album, but it flourished despite internecine strife, illness and theloss of two founders. As members approached eighty years of age, they producedalbums that went on to be among their most successful.

   This book tells this sometimes-bizarrepost-reunion story through their music and, to an extent, their touring.Neither were always completely successful, as the band seemed to be eithersearching for synergy in their sound or for a commercial product that did notsacrifice artistic integrity. The lyrics are especially valuable because theyreveal the hardship of the road and insights into their own growingfrustrations with a society they believed to be too woke, too violent, tooridiculous.  In doing this, the band hasnot just resurfaced but written a new story for a new audience.

   All these things make this phase of DeepPurple an interesting study, not just of a band loved by so many but also ofmusicians who just wanted to play their music and sometimes found it was not assimple as that.