In the eyes (and ears) of
many, “Machine Head” is the quintessential
Deep Purple album. When my peers start
throwing round labels like heavy metal
pioneers and hard rock landmarks, Machine
Head is, like it or not (the band themselves
don’t), the one they cite to back up their
claims. The fact that the album contains
the perennial millstone round the neck
song and the bands best known song “Smoke
On The Water” merely secures to further
this train of thought.
Now, nearly thirty years on, the songs
sound just as super charged as they did
then. Underpinned by a tight rhythm department,
metallic riffing from that doyen of society,
Ritchie Blackmore, just a touch of a classical
tinge in the keyboard breaks and text
book ‘tongue in the cheek’, totally politically
incorrect lyrics, all beautifully balanced
with a clear modern sounding production
job (engineered by a very young Eddie
Offord), the album is still influential
today. Musical shops across the world
constantly have to brace themselves for
yet another generation of spotty strat-copy
buyers eager to impress with their dodgy
attempts at Machine Head licks on the
object of their dreams.
The songs themselves were to be the lynch
pins of Deep Purple sets to the present
day, seeing them through several lineups
and reformations. In fact, Deep Purple’s
last live album, “Total Abandon Live”,
contains four of the seven songs recorded
here.
The kick of “Highway Star” remains as
powerful as ever. An opening shot few
bands ever get close to emulating, pushed
on relentlessly by Ian Paice, some glorious
bass work from that master of the dirty
side of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Roger Glover, Ian
Gillan’s distinct screams, but it’s the
work of Blackmore and Lord that really
make everything tick (or should that be
thud). Blackmore’s riffing is the best
it has ever been, broken up by some oh
so casual chord bashing. What is basically
a very simple song structure is kept so
busy that you hardly notice it as both
Blackmore and Lord merge, the former throwing
in a meticulous solo, which still thrills.
Ian Paice, in turn, gives him the room
to stretch for just so long before bashing
back in as if to say: “Time Up!” To think
that this song was written in the back
of the Transit van on the way to a gig
and then performed that night makes it
all the more remarkable. It has stayed
in every set list since then either opening
or closing the show.
There are no fillers on this album (in
fact, the fantastic “When A Blind Man
Cries”, recorded at the Machine Head sessions
had to be left off, eventually emerging
as a flip side), they are all rock standards
now. “Lazy”, with its dramatic organ introduction,
was a logical extension of Lord’s on stage
work. It drives Jon firmly back into the
spotlight as he and Blackmore trade fun
on a fast bluesy-based vehicle made for
solo-ing.
“Space Truckin’” closes the album and
gets back to the heart of Deep Purple
in its original version, before Deep Purple
took it out onto the boards, and eventually
dragging it out into a 30 minute explosion
of pure, hard rocking brilliance.
A lot of Deep Purple fans were turned
on by the explosive live album “Made In
Japan”, issued less than a year later.
Machine Head (which, as usual, provided
the bulk of the songs) suffered in comparison.
However, at the end of the day it’s always
the originals that stay with you the longest.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
