THE BOOK OF TALIESYN

Deep Purple's second album isn't quite as good as the first, but it does the trick quite well. Jon's keyboard mastery keeps getting better and better with every note. Ritchie's guitar solos are also more impressive than the first album (listen to Wring That Neck, kick-ass, man!!!) Ketucky Woman has its moments (Rod's attempt to sing like Ian, who's just around the corner). The ballads are quite lyrical (Shield, Anthem) and the covers, WOW!!! (Check out a funky Beatles cover of We Can Work It Out and a 2001-esque River Deep-Mountain High). Overall, 4 out of 5, just being fair because the sound could've been mixed better. Buy the CD instead of the vinyl, trust me!