MACHINE HEAD

This is a phenomenal album released at a phenomenal time for music. Arguably the greatest, most creative period in musical history. There were so many great bands around in the early 70's. In my opinion Deep Purple were at their peak in 1972. What an unbeatable combination of great musicians! Together they came up with a very special sound and there's also nothing quite like Ian Gillan era DP!

Since "In Rock" the band really delivered a crunch and became heavier, louder and a lot more distinguishable. "Machine Head" was a commercial breakthrough. After this album's release the public put them into the same league as bands like Led Zeppelin. True fans of course already knew how great they were.

"Highway Star" kicks things off to a fantastic start. It's a gritty, speedy, ballsy rocker. There are also a lot of bluesy moments such as "Maybe I'm A Leo", while "Pictures of Home" has a slightly folky feel. The album's greatness doesn't stop or slow down, it's steam and power just keeps going. For me, the best moment has to be "Lazy". It's absolutely fantastic! Of course the most well known song is "Smoke On the Water" especially for it's guitar riff. "Space Truckin'" is also great. It's a hard hitting, fast, energetic ending to the original release. A perfect copy of "Machine Head" should include "When A Blind Man Cries" at the end. What a beautiful, melancholy, bluesy track. This is classic hard rock at it's best and has been extremely influential. Just listen to Richie Blackmore's unique guitar style, John Lord's unmistakable classically influenced keyboards (often very bluesy too) not to mention Ian Gillan's vocal range! Amazing stuff.

This would be an essential part of your progressive collection.