Deep Purple's Ian Gillan: It's 'Unconscionable' to Reunite Old Lineup — rollingstone.com

"To the general public in America, the lifespan of Deep Purple probably finished with our 1984 album, Perfect Strangers," frontman Ian Gillan says. "America's been a world of its own since the beginning. I think people have gotten locked in the past." Although the hard rockers have put out eight LPs since Perfect Strangers – the most recent of which, Now What?!, came out last year – the singer says that when the band does radio interviews, all anyone wants to ask about is "Smoke on the Water." "I think things have just developed at a different pace internationally," he says. "It's like starting over every time we go to the U.S." Nevertheless, Stateside interest appears to be growing: Now What?!, a prog-leaning collection of 11 songs that the group recorded with producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd's The Wall, Alice Cooper's School's Out), was the group's first album to crack the Top 200 since 1993's The Battle Rages On, and this week, the group is kicking off its most extensive U.S. tour since 2007.

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