Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Deep Purple
Label: Harvest Records
Release: 1971
Length: 40:30
Rating: 4.5/5
Legendary English hard rock giants Deep Purple were smack in the middle of their biggest artistic and commercial bloom when their fifth studio album »Fireball« came out, with their dream of taking the throne as the loudest heavy rock band fast becoming reality. Their previous studio masterpiece »In Rock« (1970) had finally brought them worldwide recognition, so the lineup that’s still the most beloved among most fans today (Mark II) decided to carry on with the predecessor’s winning sonic formula on »Fireball« and push it even further with a few adventurous stunts that made it perfectly clear Deep Purple were still burning for the highest possible songwriting perfectionism and constant sonic evolution.
»Fireball«, which featured quite a few Purple classics that are still beloved today, repeated the huge success of its famous predecessor, even though of the Mark II members, only singer Ian Gillan still counts it as a masterpiece today, and he left some of the best vocal performances of his entire career on it. The others didn’t share his enthusiasm, especially guitar virtuoso Ritchie Blackmore, who was most bothered by the changed, much more polished and less raw production compared to the predecessor. The moody, unpredictable Blackmore, who liked to kill his spare time by scaring his bandmates at night, with an axe in hand if need be, was a fiery champion of harsher sonic shades in the traditional Deep Purple sound, and during the recording of »Fireball« he clashed with Gillan for the first time. That would only escalate over the following months and eventually grow into open hostility.
By far the most recognizable classic on the British version of the album, where »Demon’s Eye« sat in third place instead of the big hit »Strange Kind Of Woman«, was the title track and opener, which at its core is a wound-up hard rocker in the best Purple manner. After a short, ‘windy’ intro, Paice’s drumming stampede kicks in, teamed up with Glover’s snarling bass lines, creating a hyperactive rhythmic foundation for Blackmore’s mighty guitar passages and Lord’s wild organ meanders, while Gillan shines on vocals with his usual deeply felt emotional outpourings and the traditionally generous range of his vocal cords. Interestingly, this classic, which was also released as a single, doesn’t contain a guitar solo, contrary to Ritchie’s usual practice. The lyrics are typically ‘Purple-esque’, telling of a romantic escapade starring an enigmatic woman from outer space.
»No No No« is an interesting hard rock energy-filler where a temperamental guitar riff rules over Gillan’s furious vocal performance, while Glover weaves teasing bass lines and Lord has a blast with unpredictable organ experiments. Despite a fairly basic hard rock foundation, this somewhat overlooked Purple standard contains numerous interesting tempo changes and unpredictable swapping of instrumental motifs, and Blackmore’s mouthwatering guitar solo is not missing either. Right at the first opportunity Lord throws down the gauntlet with a monumental Hammond solo, which is far from the end of their duel with each other that runs through most of the album.
The evergreen »Demon’s Eye«, which appears only on the British version of »Fireball« in place of »Strange Kind Of Woman«, is a mid-tempo track marked by an enigmatic atmosphere. This standard, soaked in mysterious ambient magic, is defined by a resolute guitar phrase with repeating rhythmic patterns, while over it all Gillan’s vocals, stretchy as chewing gum and brimming with a wild mix of emotions, command with authority. The main chorus, as it tells yet another strange love adventure, sounds cheeky and boosts the overall mysterious mood even more, while Blackmore is once again incredible, both in offering teasing guitar phrases and in creating the closing solo.
The bizarre country experiment »Anyone’s Daughter« is a third-rate song that came about as a pure goof and has no business on the album to this day. In fact, it was originally never meant to make the »Fireball« track list at all, but the Man in Black, who to this day remains its only fan, got into a serious fight with Gillan and started threatening all sorts of things if it didn’t end up on the album. Blackmore’s hillbilly excursion into a cowboy saloon is still by far the worst creation, not only of the Mark II lineup but of the entire Deep Purple career, and it seriously jeopardizes »Fireball«’s status as one of the classic Purple masterpieces. With its sleepy piano accompaniment and classic country guitar chords forming a mind-numbing melody, you could much more easily imagine some cowboy ‘whiner’ like Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash on vocals. Unbelievable but true: even all the bonus material on the CD reissue of »Fireball« is light years better than this barn-manure-reeking effort, which says it all about its quality.
The bad taste is fixed in an instant by the splendid classic »The Mule«, which is still one of the most interesting Mark II experiments today when it comes to effectively fusing complex instrumental nuances with somewhat psychedelic-tinged vocals. Lord’s sacredly spiced organ solo deepens the dramatic mood even further, while Blackmore, with an exceptionally refined guitar orgy, doesn’t owe him anything when it comes to solo muscle-flexing. The lyrics are quite atypical by usual Deep Purple standards, containing traces of occultism, while the experimental structure proves that somewhere deep beneath the hard rock surface, a trace of prog rock adventurousness was still smoldering.
The complex standard »Fools«, which successfully crosses prog rock subtlety with hard rock uncompromising, is still a criminally overlooked achievement. It begins as a gentle ballad with a simple, pastoral melody, which lasts right up until a furious guitar riff barges in and once again starts ‘throwing’ a properly fired-up Gillan ‘in all directions’ amid emotionally deep vocal outpourings. The intricate instrumental section in the middle features varied percussion play and a gloomy keyboard sound, slowly building tense atmosphere, which reaches spectacular proportions once the remaining two instrumentalists join the shared sonic collage.
The temperamental hard rock evergreen »No One Came« makes for an excellent closer, where all the classic Mark II ingredients shine at full power once again, led by Gillan’s vocal snarling, Blackmore’s untamed guitar riff, Lord’s rustling organ flights, Paice’s massive drum volleys and Glover’s melodic bass lines. The positive atmosphere and playful lyrics are backed by funk-tinged rhythmic nuances. Blackmore once again has a blast with a lengthy guitar solo and, in passing, pulls into a solo duel Lord, who is in great form as ever and conjures up an unforgettable organ masterpiece. Gillan’s lustful vocal moaning over a lost situation adds an extra dose of high spirits to the song’s overall atmosphere. The psychedelic ending is completely unexpected and hits like a bolt from the blue.
On the CD reissue of »Fireball«, released for the album’s 25th anniversary and stuffed with numerous bonus goodies, the standout is the big hit »Strange Kind Of Woman«, which came out as a single and originally appeared only on the American and Japanese versions of the record. According to Gillan, the lyrics tell the story of a prostitute (the song’s original title was »Prostitute«) and an especially wicked woman one of his acquaintances once had dealings with. A simple structure built on an easy sequence of guitar phrases, a boogie rhythm and a quickly catchy, mischievous chorus instantly won over crowds of music lovers all over the world, which put the ‘strange kind of woman’ among the immortal rock evergreens for good. It’s still a real shame that this big hit wasn’t released on all the original versions of the album in place of »Anyone’s Daughter«. The latter could also have been replaced by the funk-tinged single B-side called »I’m Alone«, which, thanks to its playful rhythms and positive vibe, is a seriously fun creation.
This experimentally tinged masterpiece, »Fireball«, is in many ways an even more interesting studio record than its famous predecessor, and it would overshadow it in every respect if it didn’t carry one single flaw named »Anyone’s Daughter«. In the early seventies Deep Purple were on a staggering rise and masterpieces were dropping one after another, so at that time Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were the only serious rivals for the heavy rock throne. The Man in Black, the eternal perfectionist whose odd spare-time whims often overshadowed his brilliant guitar technique, meanwhile made no secret of his dissatisfaction with »Fireball« and had already started hatching plans for how, together with the most obedient and manageable bandmates possible, he would create the ultimate hard rock album.
Line-up
Ian Gillan – vocals
Ritchie Blackmore – guitar
Roger Glover – bass
Jon Lord – organ, keyboards
Ian Paice – drums
Production
Deep Purple
Track list
1. Fireball (3:26)
2. No No No (6:54)
3. Demon’s Eye (5:21)
4. Anyone’s Daughter (4:43)
5. The Mule (5:22)
6. Fools (8:20)
7. No One Came (6:26)
