DEEP PURPLE IN ROCK

Deep Purple's 'In Rock' is of course most famous for its hit 'Child in Time', which by the way was a rework of a song by the psychedelic rock band 'Its A Beautiful Day'. This classic song is a real treat; with its famous up-tempo rhythm and blues guitar solo and keyboard-guitar interplay by Richie Blackmore and Jon Lord. I would however argue that its not much of an example of what makes this album stand out. This is is actually one of the best studio-recordings of a great live band, catching Deep Purple at their most energetic and raw. On 'In Rock' you'll get to hear wild experimentation (the album opens and closes in a acid-rock fashion), some great rhythm and blues type swing (which would be sorely missed on later hardrock type releases), piercing hard rock, some of the best stratocaster playing ever recorded, shrieking organs and madmen performances by Ian Gillan. The performances are so energetic that a later album like 'Machine Head' pales in comparison. I would recommended listening to those songs on the 'Made in Japan' live-version anyway. Deep Purple's 'In Rock' is an historic document and it would prove extremely difficult for all copy-cat bands to creating anything like it. This is probably where hardrock got loose from its psychedelic rock roots.

The cover art was copied from Vanilla Fudge by the way, a very influential band heavy prog listeners should also check out.