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One of the most influential albums in the history of heavy metal? Yeah, I'd say so. It laid the groundwork for all those NWOBHM bands and basically all of speed metal, and without Deep Purple, in general, but especially in this album, you wouldn't have any of that. And if you ask me, Deep Purple is the earliest form of power metal. Think about it: a guitar player who opened the doors for all those neo-classical players, an operatic singer, keyboards, and later in their career, fantasy based lyrics. Deep Purple were ALOT more important than you thought, huh?
"Highway Star". Can you say "the first speed metal song ever created"? It's fast, it's aggressive, it's over the top, it has a furious main riff, and oh my god... the solos. Jon Lord may be a keyboardist, but he and Ritchie Blackmore put most dual guitar teams to shame. Some great dualing solos between them here. A MASTERPIECE.
After the fast ride of "Highway Star", we got the slower, groovier, more blues-based, "Maybe I'm A Leo". Sure, it's not very fast and it's more rock-ish than the previous track, but hell, a good song is a good song, and it delievers. It kind of serves as a rest break for what came before it, and what's coming next...
......Which brings us to "Pictures Of Home". We're greated by an insane drum intro and then slapped silly even further with a nice riff by Mr. Blackmore. Some very cool, distorted, heavy keyboards are displayed here, some very infectious melodies. Three things though, that really jumped out at me during this song is A.) the solo. Just great. Ritchie Blackmore rules. B.) Ian Gillan's inspired vocal delivery. It's melodic and it shows off his talent very well. And C.) That bass solo towards the end is really cool. Not the best I've ever heard, but it jumps out at you. It does the trick.
After that, we get another break with "Never Before", the first single released for this album, and you can tell with the simplified melodies and riff work. But it does its job. It doesn't dazzle you, but it amuses you, maybe the weakest song here, but it's still pretty good.
And of course, Deep Purple's best known song and quite possibly one of the most recognizable riffs in the history of music: "Smoke On The Water". It is an awesome riff and should be remembered, and it's also the best thing in the song. The whole song is catchy and sticks with you for quite awhile, and it just screams "hit single", but the riff is the best thing in the song.
"Lazy" is, for the most part, a big instrumental exercise, with a verse or two chiming in towards the end, which prevents it from being a full-on instrumetal, but most of it is, and it kicks ass! Very cool keyboard arangements by Jon Lord, good, solid rhythm by Ian Paice, and as always, a high quality job in the guitar department by Ritchie Blackmore.
And finally, perhaps the heaviest song here, and one of my favorites, "Space Truckin'" Some very odd lyrics, but that's not what makes this song special. Great riffs, neat keyboards, especially at the intro, solid drum beats, it all works as one cohesive unit. It all comes together as one bad ass heavy metal tune.
Well, there you have it, one of the most important albums in heavy metal history by one of the most important bands in heavy metal history. If you like Priest, Accept, or any NWOBHM, or you just want to explore the roots of some of metal's best bands, you owe it to yourself to go out and buy this gem.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Highway Star |
| 2. Maybe I'm A Leo |
| 3. Pictures Of Home |
| 4. Never Before |
| 5. Smoke On The Water |
| 6. Lazy |
| 7. Space Truckin' |
: N/A
| Buy other Deep Purple albums |
