''Bananas'' is the seventeenth studio album by English rock band

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

, released on 25 August 2003 by

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

and on 7 October 2003 by

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is, as of 2013, a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest ...

in the US. It is the first album to feature

Don Airey Donald Smith Airey (born 21 June 1948) is an English musician. He came to prominence as the keyboardist of the rock band Rainbow during 1979–1982. He has been the keyboardist of Deep Purple, the band from which Rainbow was a spinoff, since 2 ...

on organ and keyboards, replacing founding member

Jon Lord John Douglas "Jon" Lord (9 June 194116 July 2012) was an English keyboardist and composer. In 1968, Lord co-founded the hard rock band Deep Purple. Lord performed on most of the band's most popular songs; he and drummer Ian Paice were the only ...

Overview

The album was recorded in Los Angeles during January and February 2003. It is also notable as being the first

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is an English singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

-fronted Deep Purple album to make use of backing vocals other than Gillan's own (since the 1972 sessions for the song " Woman From Tokyo" in Germany which featured Jon Lord and Roger Glover singing backing vocals) with the song "Haunted" featuring

Beth Hart Beth Hart (born January 24, 1972) is an American musician from Los Angeles, California. She rose to fame with the release of her 1999 single "LA Song (Out of This Town)" from her second album ''Screamin' for My Supper''. The single was a number ...

. The album includes "Contact Lost", a short slow instrumental requiem for the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' astronauts, written by guitarist

Steve Morse Steve J. Morse (born July 28, 1954) is an American guitarist and songwriter. A seven-time Grammy nominee, he is best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the longest serving guitarist for Deep Purple. Morse also enjoyed a successful ...

when he heard the news of the crash. The photo in the album cover was taken by the band's manager Bruce Payne. ''Bananas'' charted well despite lack of media exposure, especially in Europe and South America (notably at Germany and Argentina where it peaked in the top 10).

Unreleased tracks

Since the '' Abandon'' album, Deep Purple performed three new songs onstage. "Long Time Gone" was debuted in the summer of 2000 but not included on ''Bananas''. Another new song, "Up The Wall" was played on the 2002 UK tour and reworked into "I Got Your Number". The instrumental "Well Dressed Guitar" remained unreleased until the next album, 2005's '' Rapture of the Deep''.

Track listing

Personnel

Deep Purple *

– vocals *

– guitars *

Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and Roll ...

– bass *

– keyboards *

Ian Paice Ian Anderson Paice (born 29 June 1948) is an English musician who is the drummer and last remaining original member of the rock band Deep Purple. He remains the only member of Deep Purple who has served in every line-up since the band's incep ...

– drums Additional musicians *

Paul Buckmaster Paul John Buckmaster (13 June 1946 – 7 November 2017) was a British cellist, arranger, conductor and composer, with a career spanning five decades. He is best known for his orchestral collaborations with David Bowie, Shawn Phillips, Elton Joh ...

– string arrangement and cello on "Haunted" *

– backing vocals on "Haunted" * Michael Bradford – guitar on "Walk On" Production * Michael Bradford – producer, engineer * Chris Wonzer – assistant engineer * Andy Vandette – mastering at

Masterdisk Masterdisk is an American multimedia company in New York, located at 8 John Walsh Boulevard in Peekskill. They provide production services such as audio mastering, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD production. Their clients include such n ...

, New York

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bananas (Album) Deep Purple albums 2003 albums EMI Records albums Sanctuary Records albums Albums produced by Michael Bradford