SHADES OF DEEP PURPLE

Shades of greatness to come. Humble beginnings for the band as half of this album is made up of cover tunes. It did yield their first hit though in "Hush" a Joe South song and my favourite on the record. It has a good beat and some great organ work from Lord. And did you hear the wolf howling in the intro? The opening song "And The Address" is a very sixties sounding instrumental. "One More Rainy Day" opens with a sample of a storm and is quite mellow, not that good imo. "I'm So Glad" is such a good psychedelic song. "Mandrake Root" is a blues song with a good organ solo. I like the extended instrumental play and the guitar solos from Blackmore. "Help" is THE BEATLES song that they cover here, but instead of being a 2 minute uptempo song like the original this is a slow paced 6 minute version. It's ok. "Love Help Me" is another really sixties sounding song. "Hey Joe" is a cool cover song. It has a Spanish feel to it that works quite well.

A good record with some interesting songs, but not essential by any means. Barely 3 stars.