Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Deep Purple
Label: EMI Records
Release: 1973
Duration: 34:27
Rating: 2.5/5
»Who Do We Think We Are« was the seventh studio album by English hard rock giants Deep Purple and, up to »Perfect Strangers« (1984), the last effort from the lineup fans love best, the so-called Mark II. After a grueling world tour that peaked with the shows in Japan, where they recorded the monumental double live album »Made in Japan« (1972), the band members were literally wrung out and badly in need of a well-deserved rest, but their ravenous management leaned on them mercilessly to get cracking on new material as soon as possible.
According to charismatic singer Ian Gillan, who left the band not long after the release of »Who Do We Think We Are« together with bassist Roger Glover, to the general shock of those who weren’t in on the behind-the-scenes games, this had disastrous consequences for the mood inside the band and with it the whole creative process in the studio. Pressure like that alone wouldn’t have been decisive for the breakup of the Mark II outfit, which under different circumstances might have stayed together for a long time yet, if Gillan’s squabbles with the moody guitar genius Ritchie Blackmore hadn’t grown into open hostility, to the point that the two men eventually weren’t even talking to each other anymore.
Blackmore’s provoking hit its peak one day when he, out of the blue, shoved a full plate of hot spaghetti into Gillan’s head. Contrary to the guitarist’s expectations, the charismatic singer couldn’t have cared less, simply wiped off his head and kept chatting calmly with his friends, which in the end only made the man in black even angrier. Working together with the other four members and Blackmore, who repeatedly announced the start of a solo career and the formation of a never-realized project called Baby Face with drummer Ian Paice and Thin Lizzy singer/bassist Phil Lynott, was getting harder and harder. On the other hand, Gillan wasn’t much better either, since he also behaved like some kind of prima donna, changed his look (beard and shorter hair) to set himself apart from the rest of the band, dodged his musical companions at every turn and dragged his then ‘great and eternal love’ (until next month) around everywhere, who just sat there sullenly the whole time, giggling like an idiot.
The bad atmosphere inside the band, outside pressure and a considerable lack of artistic inspiration made »Who Do We Think We Are«, recorded in two different locations (Rome and Frankfurt), the Mark II lineup’s most unconvincing effort by a wide margin, one that is chronically short on classics that could even come close in quality to the material on its famous studio predecessor »Machine Head« (1972). The album’s title was inspired by a bad review of the cult live album »Concerto for Group and Orchestra« (1969), published by an unnamed reviewer for the music magazine Rock. In his devastating review of the record, the writer put it as ‘who do Deep Purple think they are’.
On »Who Do We Think We Are«, where the songwriting fatigue can be felt almost at every turn, there isn’t a single track where the listener could experience hard rock heaven, at best a feeble approximation. The closest to Deep Purple’s usual high artistic standards is perhaps the opening evergreen »Woman From Tokyo«, inspired by their first concert visit to Japan. It’s by far the best-known song on the album and the only one from »Who Do We Think We Are« that they still play live today, which says a lot about what most of the members think of this studio effort, one Blackmore couldn’t stop criticizing after its release.
The intro, which soon grows into the central motif of this popular live classic, is marked by an inventive guitar riff and a shimmering layer of Hammond organ. Gillan, pierced by Cupid’s arrows, sings inconsolably about a fateful Japanese woman who completely turned his head while he was wandering around Tokyo. The calm psychedelic section, with suddenly dreamy vocals and gentle piano textures, nicely livens up the rather minimalist structure of this solid but in no way dramatically shattering evergreen, where the main motif returns near the end with the melodic chorus, only this time Lord finds himself at the piano.
The hard rocker »Mary Long« is also a fairly solid effort, with its satirical, fun lyrics about the well-known English conservative Mary Whitehouse, whom Pink Floyd would later settle scores with too on the album »Animals« (1977). The mocking mood is the product of a harmonious interplay between a mischievous guitar riff and full-bodied organ textures, while Gillan puts on a downright burlesque vocal show and asks in the lyrics when the neurotic Mary will finally lose her virginity and her stupidity. With its punchy nature, »Super Trouper« tries to follow the successful structural formula that produced past hard rock Purple classics, but crashes and burns completely in the attempt, held back by a rather unfortunate chorus where Gillan relies on a special vocal effect. Blackmore’s uncompromising guitar passages are still inspired enough to keep the whole thing from sinking into gray mediocrity.
One of the few fun and successful creations on the album is »Smooth Dancer«, whose lyrics, without Ritchie’s knowledge, are Gillan’s dig at the often glum, black-clad guitar virtuoso. Ironically, it’s Blackmore who this time serves up the most inspired guitar phrases on the entire album, accompanied by cheeky piano passages and mighty drum crashes. Especially in singing the chorus, Gillan allows himself plenty of mischief at the expense of ‘his best friend’. »Rat Bat Blue« is an average hard rocker with obvious bluesy tendencies on guitar, while Mr. Gillan hits some distinctly high notes again after a long time. The rather simple structure and uninteresting chorus, where the witty guitar phrase stands out most, are eventually spiced up with nice instrumental improvisations, which goes especially for Lord, who delivers his best organ soloing on the whole album.
»Place In Line« is a drawn-out blues rocker set to a slow tempo that goes nowhere with its sleepy rhythms, dirty guitar riff and wailing vocals about the hard social standing of the working class. What keeps the whole thing from coming out below average is the man in black’s mouthwatering blues guitar soloing, soon joined by the organ masterpieces of Lord, in great spirits this time. The closing melodramatic confession »Our Lady« is yet another rather average effort, with glamorous vocal harmonies in the melodic chorus that faintly recall some standards of their hard rock ‘fellow sufferers’ Uriah Heep, while hefty guitar phrases and a massive layer of Hammond organ take care of the dynamic atmosphere.
The CD reissue of the album, which came out on the 27th anniversary of its release, contains alternative and remixed versions of the »Who Do We Think We Are« standards and another bluesy rocker called »Painted Horse«, which is most interesting for Gillan’s exuberant harmonica playing and Ritchie’s phenomenal guitar soloing. The ‘painted horse’ is neither better nor worse in quality than the songs that made it onto the original version of the album. »First Day Jam« is a longer instrumental jam between Lord, Blackmore and Paice, while Glover got lost in traffic that very day and couldn’t join the rest of the members in the studio.
»Who Do We Think We Are« is by far the least inspired album from the Mark II Deep Purple lineup. They fell apart in a gloomy atmosphere, a by-product of the studio slog their management forced on them and the constant Blackmore-Gillan feuding, right in the middle of their biggest commercial success, when their records were topping the charts as if it were child’s play. Soon after the release of this extremely average album, arguably the worst in Deep Purple’s story, Gillan, having failed to smoke the peace pipe with Blackmore, left and in the following years launched a successful solo career. The much dirtier details concerned Glover’s departure: Blackmore, who threatened to quit on the spot unless Roger was replaced, quietly hatched a plan with the secret backing of Lord and Paice to get rid of the disappointed bassist and replace him with Trapeze singer/bassist Glenn Hughes, originally intended to replace Gillan as lead vocalist too, but the initial plans, whose end result was yet another stunning sonic rebirth, changed radically with the arrival of the then almost completely unknown singer David Coverdale.
Lineup
Ian Gillan – vocals
Ritchie Blackmore – guitar
Roger Glover – bass guitar
Jon Lord – keyboards, organ
Ian Paice – drums, percussion
Production
Deep Purple
Tracklist
1. Woman From Tokyo (5:48)
2. Mary Long (4:23)
3. Super Trouper (2:54)
4. Smooth Dancer (4:08)
5. Rat Bat Blue (5:23)
6. Place in Line (6:29)
7. Our Lady (5:12)
