DEEP PURPLE IN ROCK

It was Ritchie Blackmore, who decided to take the band in a heavier direction, and what a great decision that was! Add to that, the recruitment of vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover, and what you have is a powerhouse!

The album kicks off with "Speed King" and is a strong nod to Little Richard (But much more heavier) who is one of Ian Gillan´s influences.

On "Bloodsucker" Gillan shows the world just what he can do with his silver scream, the same scream that would influence hundreds of hard rock vocalists. "Child in Time" is the standout classic track on this album, showing remarkable musicianship and screaming (actually wailing in octaves) vocals. Blackmore releases a fiery solo on his Stratocaster which is now regarded as one of his best solos ever, while Jon Lord unleashes sounds from his organ that were unheard of in the day! Ian Paice somehow keeps it altogether with one of his best performances on drums. A true classic.

The rest of the album has classic Blackmore riffs (It´s actually quite incredible how he could have come up with so many classic riffs on one album) "Into the fire" and "Hard Loving Man" are good examples. Ian Gillan really lifted the band to new heights when he entered the band, with his classic vintage scream as heard on "Into the fire".

The song writing on this album is fantastic (also thanks to Roger Glover) and their creativity was at it´s peak. Deep Purple´s MK 2 debut, is one of the greatest rock albums of all time and is almost a blueprint of what the Hard Rock genre became (and still is to this day) A Masterpiece.