THE PURPLE IS BACK AND STILL DEEP

“PERFECT STRANGER.” Deep Purple. Mercury. A reunion of the prime, early-’70s Deep Purple lineup--Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Roger Glover and Ian Paice--should have produced a pathetic cacophony of burned-out-rock-star desperation. Instead, these old blokes have made an LP that stands up well alongside their best collections.

Even if radio didn’t keep playing the vets’ old records, today’s young rock fans would still have heard a lot of the band because most of today’s hard-rock groups base their sound on either Purple, Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath. In fact, every clipped-drone guitar riff and vocal nuance from Purple favorites like “Smoke on the Water,” “Highway Star,” or “Woman From Tokyo” has been lifted countless times since.

There was another reason for skepticism over a new Purple LP: Unlike Zeppelin with its inventiveness and Sabbath with its incredible instrumental sound, Purple never seemed more than a competent journeyman band. Once you get past the few really memorable songs, the quality trailed off considerably. It’s not so strange that Blackmore’s guitar work has been so influential, but the fact that hordes of hard-rock singers have copied Gillan’s faceless style is a little tougher to comprehend.

On “Perfect Stranger” the group’s sound is undiminished. Blackmore’s playing doesn’t pack the zing of the “Fireball” days, but it’s more satisfying than his work on the last several Rainbow albums. That Gillan’s vocals are even a little better these days, with more feeling and sharper phrasing, was already evident on the last Black Sabbath album.

But keyboardist Lord’s lack of excess is almost astonishing. Can this be the same guy who used to ruin the old Purple albums with his aimless noodling on the organ? He’s subtle, supportive and even matches Blackmore’s nimbleness in the swift and slinky “A Gypsy’s Kiss.” Also, the songwriting is frequently sharp-witted, with the engaging rocker “Knocking at Your Back Door” the top example.

One final irony: After being copied by so many others, Deep Purple comes up with a title track here that rips off--er, draws its inspiration from--one of its major rival’s songs: Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.” Just another sign of how up-to-date this album is.