Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Deep Purple
Label: EMI Records
Release: 1972
Runtime: 37:25
Rating: 5/5
»Machine Head«, the sixth studio outing from British heavy rock legends Deep Purple, was their magnum opus, the record that triumphantly seized the throne of the loudest, most technically refined hard rock/metal pioneers at the start of the seventies. No other Deep Purple album has so many classics on it: the band has played every single track from this monumental heavy rock masterpiece live to this day, and even the moody guitar virtuoso Ritchie Blackmore has said that, next to »Deep Purple in Rock« (1970), it’s his favorite studio effort by this legendary English rock outfit.
Strange as it sounds today, the making of »Machine Head« wasn’t smooth sailing. Thanks to its somewhat rawer production and generally punchier approach, it sits closer in feel to their rowdiest album »In Rock« than to its experimental predecessor »Fireball« (1971). Still, a few of the songs came together almost like a cat’s cough, from all kinds of sources of inspiration. The opening classic »Highway Star«, for instance, was written right on the band’s tour bus, after somebody in an interview asked how quickly their songs come together, and quite a few of the standards from »Machine Head« had already been rolled out on the »Fireball« tour.
This legendary studio record, the one most fans would take with them to a desert island if they could pick only one Deep Purple album that means the most to them, was less punchy than »In Rock« and less innovative than »Fireball«, and yet it went down in the people’s hearts as their favorite. The real magic of »Machine Head«, recorded in the picturesque Swiss town of Montreaux, where a good number of British rock giants besides Deep Purple have played over the years, was that every single track on the record was seasoned with exceptional songwriting perfectionism, just the right production balance, instantly memorable main hooks and downright astonishing chemistry among the legendary quintet. With emotionally incredibly intense vocal performances from singer Ian Gillan, Blackmore’s unpredictable guitar wizardry, the fiery organ passages of keyboard sorcerer Jon Lord, the devastating cannonades of drummer Ian Paice and the intricate bass lines of bassist Roger Glover, they made the most flawless studio album in the Mark II lineup’s story, if not in their entire career.
The opening banger »Highway Star«, the first »Machine Head« track to see the light of day, remains a ferocious album opener even four decades on, one that countless hard rock and metal bands still try, more or less unsuccessfully, to imitate. After a building intro, where Blackmore’s innovative guitar riff slices relentlessly through the air and Gillan’s wailing sends glass cracking, the cataclysmic chorus arrives, lodging itself in the memory receptors of the average lover of good music in an instant. The middle section doesn’t lack for fierce clashes between Hammond organ and electric guitar, which only deepen the overheated atmosphere of this supersonically wound-up evergreen. Ritchie’s run of innovative guitar phrases, along with the voluptuous phrasing in the melodramatic instrumental section, is still a real treat for the ears. Gillan’s lyrics about a fatal woman couldn’t be any more Purple-esque.
The mischievous, atmospheric »Maybe I’m a Leo«, which refers to Gillan’s astrological sign, suddenly slows down the album’s previously cranked-up tempo, though Paice still delights, as if on a bet, with complex, rolling drum fills. Lord’s piano provides a subtle refresher, while Blackmore serves up two heavenly guitar solos, which are still pure manna from heaven in the ears of worshippers of the legendary man in black’s extraordinary guitar talent. The hard-rocking energy boost »Pictures Of Home« puts the album’s tempo back on the fast train, with Blackmore firing off fiery guitar phrases like there’s a bet on, while Paice flattens everything in his path with wild drum rolls. Gillan’s inconsolable vocals tell a story of isolation and homesickness in a deeply felt way. Eventually maestro Lord takes over the main solo duties, staging an unforgettable organ orgy, while Glover doesn’t forget to throw in a short but fiery bass solo. Ritchie’s closing guitar solo adds some much-needed subtlety to this hard-hitting standard.
On »Never Before«, which was also released as a single and, contrary to the band’s expectations (they were convinced it would be the next big hit), commercially flopped, though it still convinced audiences that the new studio album was worth a listen, the legendary outfit wades into somewhat funkier waters. The shifts between slow and fast tempos are backed by potent guitar phrases and mighty drum swings, while Gillan’s foaming vocal approach, peaking in the romantic chorus, tells yet another unhappy love story. This time Lord is equally effective on both Hammond organ and electric piano.
Next up is the legendary »Smoke On The Water«, the biggest hit of their career and still by far the best-known song on »Machine Head«. Steve Lukather, guitarist and singer of Toto, once said in an interview that he was disappointed Deep Purple still isn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In his view they should have been inducted into that (over)rated American institution long ago, if for no other reason than that the main riff of »Smoke On The Water« is the first thing a schoolkid learns when learning guitar. The birth of this unforgettable rock classic comes with a really interesting story about the key inspiration, one that’s inseparably tied to the lyrics about ‘smoke on the water’ itself.
On December 6, 1971, the band members went to see the legendary Frank Zappa at the Casino in the middle of Montreaux and enjoyed a magnificent show by the unforgettable music icon from the front row, right up until a confused audience member shot a flare into the ceiling and started a fire. After the general evacuation, the smoke hung over the water for a long time, and while watching the scene through a hotel window, the inspiration for their most beloved classic suddenly struck. It’s marked above all by Blackmore’s iconoclastic guitar riff, which creates a irritated atmosphere. Gillan’s singing of the super catchy chorus is perfectly merged with melodic guitar improvisation, potent drum fills and Lord’s somewhat restrained organ finesse. Lord, who had his ‘wings clipped’ when it came to opening the doors of his keyboard kingdom, was also the only member of the band who wasn’t completely in love with this minimalist-flavored classic.
Well, accordingly, the keyboard legend really cuts loose with mighty organ improvisations on the evergreen »Lazy«, a lesser-known Purple standard compared to its famous predecessor, but a no less beloved classic live. Its monumental organ intro builds a mischievous mood, which Blackmore’s innovative guitar phrases soon join. He quickly stretches them out into a fast-fingered blues solo. Backed by hefty drum salvos, an unforgettable main motif quickly takes shape. Lord’s organ passages are nonetheless the main instrumental treat this time around, while Gillan’s vocals, delivering somewhat darkly humorous lyrics, only come in during the second half of the song. The legendary singer incidentally also treats himself to a witty harmonica solo.
The fiery hard rock carousel »Space Truckin’« has become one of their most beloved live standards over the years, one that in the ‘golden’ days was stretched out with feature-length instrumental jams to more than twenty minutes. Once again a sturdy guitar phrase takes center stage, and together with rattling organ passages and rolling drum fills, through which Gillan’s astonishingly elastic vocals roar, it creates a cataclysmic mood of space flight at the speed of light. Gillan’s furious vocal snarling, which hits some shamelessly high notes, and Roger’s fiery offering of bass lines together form the main melodic source of one of Deep Purple’s hardest-hitting classics.
The CD reissue of »Machine Head«, released for the 25th anniversary, includes among its bonus goodies the fantastic ballad »When A Blind Man Cries«, which would doubtless have deserved a place on the regular album had the time and space limits of the day allowed it, as it’s one of the most beautiful creations in the entire Deep Purple story, one they still occasionally remember during live shows. Gillan’s inconsolable singing, once again the spitting image of a broken-hearted man, is joined in an especially refined rhythmic way with the melancholy sound of Lord’s Hammond organ, while Blackmore, with a weeping guitar solo, demonstrates the specific subtlety that would keep thrilling people in the years when he was no longer a member of Deep Purple.
»Machine Head« is the golden crown atop Deep Purple’s finest studio efforts and represents the peak of the Mark II lineup, the one that created their most beloved classics to this day. Sparrows were chirping on the rooftops soon after its release that it ranks among the best rock albums of all time, and even though over the decades the Purples have worn certain evergreens, headed by »Smoke On The Water«, so thin at their live shows that you couldn’t possibly wear them out any more, the album as a whole is still the spitting image of songwriting-arranging-virtuoso brilliance and perfection. To close the review, one more anecdote is worth mentioning, about the meeting between Deep Purple and Frank Zappa, one that crazed fans in the early seventies stuck to one after another. During a live performance of »Smoke On The Water«, shortly after the news that Frank had broken his leg (among numerous other minor injuries) when some crazy, drunk fan pushed him off the stage mid-show, Gillan shouted »break a leg, Frank«, which can be heard on the later live album »Deep Purple in Concert« (1980).
Lineup
Ian Gillan – vocals, harmonica
Ritchie Blackmore – guitar
Roger Glover – bass
Jon Lord – keyboards
Ian Paice – drums, percussion
Production
Deep Purple
Tracklist
1. Highway Star (6:05)
2. Maybe I’m A Leo (4:51)
3. Pictures Of Home (5:03)
4. Never Before (3:56)
5. Smoke On The Water (5:40)
6. Lazy (7:19)
7. Space Truckin’ (4:31)
