Bananas is the seventeenth studio album by English rock band Deep Purple, released on 25 August 2003 by EMI Records and on 7 October 2003 by Sanctuary Records in the US. It is the first album to feature Don Airey on organ and keyboards, replacing founding member Jon Lord.
Overview
The album was recorded in Los Angeles during January and February 2003.
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
- Ian Gillan – vocals
- Steve Morse – guitars
- Roger Glover – bass
- Don Airey – keyboards
- Ian Paice – drums
Additional musicians
- Paul Buckmaster – string arrangement and cello on "Haunted"
- Beth Hart – backing vocals on "Haunted"
- Michael Bradford – guitar on "Walk On"
Production
- Michael Bradford – producer, engineer
- Chris Wonzer – assistant engineer
- Andy Vandette – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
Charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
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! Chart (2003)
! Peak<br/>position
|-
!scope="row"|Argentinian Albums Chart
| align="center"| 212
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Polish Albums Chart
| align="center"| 24
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}