Deep Purple-Machine Head (JHO Hall Of Fame)

It would be hard pressed for me to find an album I adored as much as Deep Purple's "Machine Head" when I was a young kid and never waive that admiration as years went on. I was probably somewhere between 6-8 years old going through my dad's vinyl collection and asked him which album had "Smoke On The Water". He directed me to "Machine Head" and said "Fireball" was just as good. But not trusting me with vinyl and a needle at a young age (who would), he gave me a copy of "The Book Of Tailesyn" instead for my "kid's" record player. It was an earlier album by the band that didn't even feature lead singer Ian Gillan or bassist Roger Glover but did have a mean version of Neil Diamond's "Kentucky Woman" on it though. I don't know when I graduated to actually listening to "Machine Head" on the main stereo, but my father was smart. I scratched the hell out of "The Book Of Tailesyn". That wouldn't have been allowed for one of the greatest, and sometimes overlooked, heavy metal albums of the early seventies and of all time.

That's my back story. What always struck me about Deep Purple's "Mark II Lineup" was that it was a band firing on all cylinders for three great albums ("In Rock", "Fireball", and "Machine Head"). While Zeppelin got inspiration from old blues singers and Black Sabbath were writing the book on stoner metal, this version of Deep Purple were inventing their own definition of heavy metal, and at times, speed and thrash. They were proto. "Machine Head" is where it all culminated to seven fantastic songs.

The starter "Highway Star" chugs along on Glover's bass line until the abrupt screams of Gillan break through the speakers...and you've got a song about loving your car, or as Gillan reminds you..."Nobody's Gonna Take My Car!". Typical for Deep Purple's finer moments was the great solos coming from keyboardist Jon Lord and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and their turns on "Highway Star" are nothing short of remarkable. Blackmore's guitar solo has to be one of the best of all time. Gillan's vocal chords are gold as well as screeches "I love her, I need her...". Two other well known AOR staples are "Lazy" which has Lord's Hammond organ swirling around the room like a church sermon in purgatory for the intro and "Space Truckin'" which shows how great of a drummer Ian Paice is with his snare drum roll at the end of the song sounding so tight you feel as though it could be illegal to play "that" tight. With "Lazy", by the time Gillan chimes in, you've already been through one of the greater jams with Blackmore delivering a great guitar line and Lord churning the organ relentlessly then Gillan's harmonica solo adds even more depth. With "Space Truckin'", as the song fades into oblivion with Gillan screaming and the rest of the band pounding out the incessant rhythm, you just don't want the album to end...but you feel as though the band is fading into oblivion, or into the heavy metal Milky Way.

Sometimes the album tracks or lesser known songs on albums can be less than desirable, but "Machine Head" has a first side that includes the beautifully sinister offbeat melody of "Maybe I'm A Leo", the theatrics that metal bands in future generations have tapped into but not as gracefully as "Pictures Of Home", and the understated, woe is me boogie of their first single "Never Before", which for some reason was never a bigger hit than it was in 1972.

Of course the pinnacle moment on "Machine Head" is Deep Purple's biggest hit "Smoke On The Water". The song pretty much tells the story of how and why the album was made. The guitar intro is something all guitar players starting out try to learn because it seems simplistic and is downright catchy. The way each instrument is brought in until Glover's bass ties it together for the first verse paints an ominous scene. Its theme is brought together by Gillan who tells the story of the band going to Montreux, Switzerland to record their new album. It was going to be live, but the venue/casino they were going to record in burned to the ground during a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention concert. "Some stupid with a flare gun", as Gillan states in a verse, is the guy responsible for the fire. After losing their venue, the band scrambled and ended up recording a lot of the album at the Montreux Grand Hotel. Can you honestly think of another song that tells a fascinating story of recording circumstances of an album...all in a top five hit? "Smoke on the water.........Fire in the sky."

"Machine Head" is only seven songs long, pretty much on par with any Deep Purple album from their early days, but what a dynamic seven songs they are. But as with any band who records six albums and tours relentlessly for a period of only three and a half years, exhaustion and inner feuding is bound to set in. And it did. And Deep Purple never had a moment as shining as "Machine Head" again. But to its credit, it can be a fascination to a young guitarist or a kid like me just learning the vast sea of music and it can hold that staying power as you get older. And with countless fads and genres of music that have passed since 1972, "Machine Head" still stands as a weathered warrior, one who ushered in heavy metal and did it with smart songwriting and some excellent instrumentation. Put it in the hall....I say.

Source: http://www.jhostation.com/2010/11/deep-purple-machine-head-jho-hall-of.html

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