Another iconic album that every one and his dog has waxed lyrical over. This is the 3rd album recorded by the classic Mk2 line up of the band, and their peak with them. The animosity between Gillan and Blackmore also reached its peak at this point as they were hardly talking to each other. So it’s amazing it turned out the way it did.
Kicking things off with the epic driving song Highway Star, with the Hammond intro and driving beat before that Gillan trademark scream that announces the arrival of this future DP classic. Every rock band for the next 10 years and beyond would follow this format. All the elements that you associate with Purple are here, namely over-the-top everything. Now the next three tracks Maybe I’m A Leo, Pictures Of Home, and Never Before are not bad tracks – it’s just they are nestled between some of the most iconic tracks in the history of rock, so they have this tendency to get lost somewhat, which is a shame – if they were picked for Made In Japan things may have been different.
Over on Side 2 and we get the most recognizable riff ever in rock music with Smoke On The Water. Now I don’t care if I ever hear this song again as it has been played to death, but you can’t take away from the fact that it’s a good song with a simple structure – and the simple ones are the ones that people remember. Now what set Purple apart from most other bands at the time is they were all amazing individual instrumentalists in their own right, as well as performing as a band. If you ever caught them live you would know what I mean with all the extended solo sections.
The next 2 tracks are both Purple classics as they emphasize that point to the max with Lazy, and Space Truckin’. Lazy starts off with that over top Hammond sound that only Jon Lord could do, followed by that Blackmore riff, and we’re away and runnin’ – great stuff. The perfect end to an album with Space Truckin’, which shows a band at the height of their power.
I would say this is my favourite version of Purple, even though I have a soft spot for the Burn album which will come later. My favourite track is Lazy.
8.5/10 from The Grooveman.
