Very, very few musical acts are still working 50 years after they begin releasing music. Among those that make it that long, even fewer are still producing chart hits and successful albums. Deep Purple is one of the very lucky, very talented names that still claims a huge audience–one that’s always interested in new music.

Deep Purple returns to the U.K. albums chart this week with their latest studio effort, =1. The set is a quick winner in the group’s home country, and they almost found their way to the highest tier on the tally once again.

=1 launches at No. 12 on this week’s U.K. albums chart. It misses out on giving the band another top 10 smash by just two spaces. If the title had dropped at another time, when there were fewer exciting debuts to compete with, the legendary rockers may have cracked the uppermost arena.

Deep Purple earns their first new placement on the U.K. albums ranking since 2021. That year, their project Turning to Crime peaked at No. 28.

The two albums that came before that recent project both made their way to the top 10 in the U.K. Infinite rose as high as No. 7 in 2017. In 2020, Whoosh brought them to an even loftier placement, as it stalled at No. 4.

Deep Purple has accrued 11 top 10s in the U.K. Three of those albums have reached No. 1, though they haven’t topped the tally in decades.

The rockers have been going strong for more than half a century now, and clearly British fans are still loving their new music, as well as their older hits. The band first hit the U.K. albums chart in 1970. Just months after debuting, they landed their inaugural top 10, when Deep Purple In Rock shot to No. 4.