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Rating: Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner. For those who love the Deep Purple, these two names are not new, and seeing them together cannot help but arouse curiosity.
Let's go in order. Glenn Hughes was one of the architects of the so-called Mark III and Mark IV formations of Deep Purple, namely the albums "Burn," "Stormbringer," and "Come Taste the Band." Arriving in the band as a semi-unknown singer-bassist, today the formation David Coverdale - Glenn Hughes - Ritchie Blackmore - Jon Lord - Ian Paice would be considered a Dream Team. The vocal partnership with Coverdale can be considered among the best examples of two-voiced bands ever: the first so magnificently blues, the second immensely funky. Unfortunately, Glenn, very young at that time, was swept away by the hectic life of an already globally established band and got a bit lost in the drug addiction that was very costly to Deep Purple and its late guitarist Tommy Bolin. After the group dissolved in 1976, Hughes wandered like a gypsy, almost always high, from one band to another, even touching Black Sabbath and Whitesnake. Only in the last fifteen years has a cleaned-up Glenn Hughes returned a crystal-clear talent to music with stratospheric solo albums that rightly earn him the nickname Voice of Rock.
Let's move on to Joe Lynn Turner. For him, Deep Purple fans do not spend as many sweet words. Turner's story is intricately intertwined with that of his godfather Blackmore. The brilliant guitarist, after firing the Gillan-Glover duo, brings the unknown Coverdale-Hughes into the band. Perhaps he thought he had found someone more pliable, but good old Ritchie had miscalculated. Indeed, the egos of the two vocalists (competing with each other) within just two albums upset the sound of Deep Purple, listen to Stormbringer to believe it (nevertheless an excellent album, to be clear). Blackmore goes crazy again, but this time he has to pack his bags. So he founded Rainbow along with another vocal legend: Ronnie James Dio. But getting along with the Man in Black is no easy task, and thus after booting both Dio and his successor Bonnet, he calls in a warbler like Turner. Joe is one who adapts, doesn't make a fuss. He later would be said to be Ritchie's ideal lapdog. With Rainbow, he records three albums of good quality, but too AOR (a genre designed for heavy rotation on American radio) to please Rainbow fans, much less those of Deep Purple. You can therefore imagine what they thought when Blackmore, a genuine earthquake, fired Ian Gillan from the meanwhile reformed Deep Purple to replace him precisely with Joe Lynn Turner. Open the heavens! Indeed, at that moment, Rainbow (Ritchie's puppet group) and Deep Purple tended to dangerously confuse themselves. The product is "Slaves and Masters" from 1990, an album I think underrated but that is disliked by critics and fans. Despite the album's flop, the tour is hugely successful, but with the band's 25th anniversary approaching, the record company mandates Turner's dismissal and Gillan's return. Not long after, Blackmore will go crazy again and leave the band for good, but that's another story.
After this long historical premise, we come to the album at hand. For all that has already been written, two pieces of Deep Purple meeting cannot help but sharpen the ears. And indeed, the result is really good. I think thanks to Hughes and his groove-filled bass, the album doesn't fall into the dreaded AOR where Turner could play at home, instead, it churns out rockers that grab you after a couple of listens. Obviously, Hughes excels compared to his companion, but Turner also has a decent voice that I've never disliked and which takes me back to "King of Dreams" days. The album opens with "Devil's Road," a robust track very much from the late '70s (could well be from Whitesnake). The voices intertwine and chase each other (oh, those high notes from Hughes!). "You Can't Stop Rock'n'Roll" is cut from the same cloth, but already in the chorus, those flashes of soul with which Glenn's music is steeped begin to peep through. "Missed Your Name" has a frantic rhythm, and you begin to wonder if good Turner hasn't ended up in the lion's den. But "Mistery of the Heart" arrives to prove me wrong, a typical AOR piece in the Turner style. His fans will be happy; it's the typical piece where Joe can flirt with the female audience and indeed, leaves only the bass to Hughes. But in the end, even this song fits into the overall album. Glenn counters with "Sister Midnight", which, even though sung in two voices, is a typically Hughes piece with slapping bass and lots of funky. One of the best tracks on the album. The album continues along the same lines: more funky pieces for good Glenn, more melodic pieces for Turner, and some robust rockers as a meeting point between the two styles.
Given the good outcome of the album, and the success of the subsequent tour (from which a live will be drawn), there was a follow-up called simply "Hughes Turner Project 2." After that, from what I've gathered from interviews, Hughes preferred to amicably end the experience to continue with his solo career. Turner might have continued with the "Project," but there it is. Perhaps that's how it should be. The idea was good, but I believe Turner and Hughes have very different musical backgrounds and the only thing they have in common is having been part of Deep Purple fifteen years apart.
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