MACHINE HEAD

If Fireball was a little weaker album , its follower is really more than making up for the slavk. Of course now , we are miles away from the proto-prog developped in the first three albums and definitely in the hard-rock realm (I am not keen to call Purple a Heavy Metal group , but clearly they were an influence on some Progmetal bands of the late 80's and 90's) although they are still hints of prog influences most notably in Lazy.

Highway Star is an answer to Speed King , and Leo and Pictures are excellent concise hard rock track but one proghead would wish for longer solo breaks and better interplay between the members. Never Before was the fourth single taken from the album and is yet another classic Purple track.

Side 2 starts with the most famous riff ever - and all Progheads are happy that a mention to Zappa's Mothers is made but it does not make the track proggier for it. It also mentions Funky Claude (Nobs) the Montreux Jazz Festival organizer. Lazy with its superb Hammond intro and great interplay is unfortunately real prog touch on the album - but the track was a lift off It's A Beautiful Day's Don & Dewey track. Space trucking rounds up the album and was yet another succesful single.

Of all the bonus (bogus?) tracks available on the different CD versions of this album , only When A Blind Man Cries is of interest to fans , the rest being remixes. Yes , a classic Purple album , but a low prog content.