As has become traditional on the DPAS website; a quick round-up of what Deep Purple fans can look forward to over the coming year. 2008 is of course the fortieth anniversary of the group, though whether they have anything lined up to mark the occasion is something we can't predict at this stage - despite Jon Lord raising the subject a few times lately (though his devil's advocate approach that 1969 is the anniversary of Mk 2 kind of misses the point for me!). Let's just hope they can come up with something more interesting than the lacklustre re-recording of Hush from the twentieth...

Still no word of a new studio album either, although we're getting on for three years since Rapture. Still, if you want to catch the band live again, there should be plenty of opportunity as the diary is already fast filling up. Keep checking our gig list.

Oldie wise, EMI have a few things on the go, including the vinyl singles box set. This will be followed by the upgraded CD edition of Stormbringer in April / May. Work has also begun on Come Taste The Band, but I wouldn't like to predict this for 2008 as there are some hurdles to be jumped still. I'm hoping the third archive DVD will also be finished.

Purple Records have a few new titles on the go too, including the long awaited CD release of Jon Lord's original studio recording of The Gemini Suite, and much requested back-catalogue titles from Silverhead. There are also plans to revisit the Springfield 76 show, and around 110 minutes of music have now been confirmed, although it shuld be cautioned that some songs are incomplete.

It's possible that newly upgraded editions of the early reunion albums might also be on the cards at long last, and we'd dearly love to hear Roger Glover strip off the 80s commercial veneer from some of the tracks.

There are also a couple of exciting new books on the go which we cannot yet announce, but rest assured as soon as we can twist the publisher's arm we'll bring you details.

Away from Deep Purple, we will certainly see new albums from both Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale. The former DP bassist has described his new one as his "greatest work" and reckons it is "very, very funky" and "extremely soulful." Well, he may have said this about any of his last six albums, but there's usually something to reward the listener, and his last one was certainly a powerful offering. More crucial perhaps will be Coverdale's offering as this is his first all new album in many years, as of late he's been touring on the back of numerous Greatest Hits collections. It'll be interesting to see whether he comes up with anything to match the quality of 1987. Don Airey is also issuing his first new solo album since K2. The delayed Gillan archive DVD is finally slated for 2008, and we will also see the Ashton Abbey Road DVD at long last.

Blackmore's Night are believed to be working on a new studio album, pursuing their own particular musical direction, and Roger Glover has also promised his new solo work in the early part of 2008.

Jon Lord has been very busy of late and 2008 will likely see two or three new albums. First up is the studio recording of The Durham Concerto, and we're still waiting for confirmation of the Boom Of The Tingling Strings and Disguises works, which were recorded last year. Live dates seem to be promised every year, and fail to materialise, but he will be doing a reprise of the Durham work in Liverpool. The Hoochie Coochie Men may yet get it together for some shows which would be great, but we're not holding our breath.

As for the old (I use the word advisedly these days!) DPAS, well Issue 59 isn't far away, and we also have Issue One of a brand new Deep Purple archive magazine on the go as well. The members area of the web site is also undergoing final testing and should be active before very long. There will be additional content, more competitions, plus detailed archive sections here, and it will be open to all Darker Than Blue subscribers.

There is also a new download site launching very soon, and we'll have exclusive details of that in a couple of weeks time. As always we'll do our best to keep you up to speed on developments in the Deep Purple camp, and don't hesitate to email if you've got any news you think we should be aware of.