The Official Deep Purple Thread
 

For some strange reason, these giants of rock don't have their own thread on these forums yet which - on a music forum - is frankly just embarassing. Maybe the reason they don't have a thread is because everyone knows them already. After more than 4 decades (okay, with breaks) of hard rockin' and over 100 million albums sold, maybe people take them for granted.

As you know, the band formed in England in 1968 and were at their height from 1969 into the early 70s when the band consisted of members Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboard), Roger Glover (bass, synthesizer) and Ian Paice (drums). In 1972, they released the kickass album Machine Head which is frequently cited as a major influence on the later heavy metal. The album also included their most known song with what's probably the world's most famous guitar riff. The song is of course "Smoke on the Water" which tells the story about when the band had a mobile studio at a complex where Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were playing a concert .. "Some stupid" with a flare gun set fire to the place and so everything burned, including their studio.

They've put out lots of awesome rock music before and since, a lot of them revolving around central rock & roll themes like scoring chicks or driving fast cars. Members of Deep Purple have also been in other famous groups. For example Ritchie Blackmore which is perhaps the most moody diva in the guitar world, branched off and created Rainbow with our dearest Ronnie James Dio on vocals and Ian Gillan has sung for Black Sabbath.

That's perhaps enough trivia for a first post. So what do you guys think about Deep Purple? Any favourite songs or albums?


I'm not very original. Machine Head is my favourite album though I do have appreciation for their other albums. To get the ball rolling on vids and such, I'll post my favourite classic from that album which is of course "Highway Star". ROCK AND ROLL!



Don't have sound on this comp, but I'm guessing it sounds okay :p:

edit :

Changed the vid for one which will hopefully embed!

Hey, this is a well presented thread and you`re right its hard to believe there isn`t an official thread for one of the greatest hard rock bands of all time.

Ian Gillan-One of the best singers around with his glass shattering shriek.
Ritchie Blackmore- Up there with Jimmy Page as a guitar God.
Ian Glover- One of the coolest bassists ever.
Jon Lord- Used the keyboards to stunning effect.
Ian Paice-Just a great drummer.

As for the albums, well I`ll forget their first couple (not that tey're bad or anything) and start with In Rock.

In Rock-Fast, Loud and heavier than Black Sabbath`s debut, its a classic. favourite track though is the mellow "Child in Time."

Fireball-One of my personal favourites with its funky hard rock feel. Favourite track, well its a hard choice.

Machine Head-The definitive Deep Purple album and up there with Led Zeppelin IV. I love this album especially "Highway Star" and "Space Truckin" my version also has the brilliant "When a Blind Man Cries" on it.

Made in Japan-One my favourite live albums of all time.

Who Do You Think We Are- A dud and a big disappointment.

After this it's the David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes era.

^Nice post with insightgul comments :D

I'll say that although their later albums (as post who do you think we are) are not as strong, they still churn out awesome songs now and then later in their discography. Take the opener track from their 1984 comeback album Perfect Strangers (with Ian) for example .. I think it's awesome :D



"Knocking on Your Backdoor" seems to be about the bands collective mission-style efforts to score with certain chicks. Cheesy, a bit dumb and pretty darn cool I think.

I think Perfect Strangers is an average and listenable album but with some good songs "Knocking at Your Backdoor" and "Perfect Strangers" But by and large for this album and the follow up House of the Blue Light, the group were just dishing out there old sound and the whole thing at times sounded like a flat battery. Things went from bad to worse in the 90`s, especially bringing in Joe Lynn Turner ex Rainbow fame. A shame really, as Steve Morse was a great addition. I`ve not listened to either Bananas and their most recent but I know that Bananas received some good reviews.

The only 90s album I've heard from them is Purpendicular (96) which is okay, I think. It has the memorable live staple "Vavoom: Ted the Mechanic" in which Morse as you say does a fine job.



I haven't heard anything post Purpendicular, though .. Hmm, I'll add it to my mental to-do list, though.

Purpendicular is better than the albums either side of it The Battle Rages On and Abandon. The most recent two releases Bananas and Rupture of the Deep are on my long term music listening list and Bananas should come up in the next couple of months or before.

DP raged. Another era (or MARK IV, V, I can't keep track) that gets overlooked was the Come Taste The Band line-up, which featured guitar whiz extraordinaire, Tommy Bolin. Very funky, very fiery style. During their hey-day, they failed to put together back to back classic, but In Rock, Machine Head, and Burn are expertly played and inspired hard-rock albums.

Saw them live about a month ago. Decent.

Child in Time is one of my favourites. Everyone knows Smoke on the Water and it's sad that most peoples common practice is to listen to this then not bother to dig deeper.


EDIT Damn can't post the live version but Child in Time (Y) top ****ing notch.

My dad gave me a Book of Taliesyn album a long time ago and ever since it's been the only Deep Purple album I can listen to. The other albums just don't do it for me. Smoke on the Water is honestly a pretty terrible song after hearing it 15+ times.

What? Lies!!

I've heard it hundreds of times and I'm not tired of it. I may get tired of it for a few years but then it kicks ass again :p: I think it's an awesome song.

Tore have you got any of Ian Gillan's solo stuff?

I'm after Clear Air Turbulence and everywhere seems to be drawing a blank.

Sorry, no .. but now that you've mentioned it, I do feel a bit curious. I'll try and keep a lookout.

Smoke on the Water doesn`t just have a great riff but also very insightful lyrics that surrounded the recording of the album, its one of those legendary hard rock songs that never gets boring to listen to.

I was listening to Hush as this thread was bumped :laughing:

I was listening to early Cradle of Filth and getting a headache, when I thought about Deep Purple:p: Then thought, whatever happened to that DP thread.

One band I have never got into despite my tastes. I like Speed King a lot, that track is brilliant and I like a couple off Perfect strangers but that's it. I do really like early Gillan and the first 2 Rainbow albums though.

Have you heard the Fireball album? Its Ian Gillan`s favourite DP album but not liked by the rest of the band. You may enjoy it.

I`ve finally got around to listening to Bananas, an album that is regarded as a true return to form for Deep Purple (their 17th studio album) I`ve got to say, that I`m shocked at how good it is, given the countless medicocre albums that the group has put out since the 1980's.

Its one of those classic sounding rootsy rock albums so typical of the early 1970`s, along with a great vocal performance by veteran Ian Gillan:bowdown: No Jon Lord on keys though but Don Airey fills in well.

If only all of their tracks were like this I would be a lifelong fan:


This is a very commercial track but I love how each instrument kicks in after a few bars:

^Another two good songs :) I think all who like hard riff-rock will find some songs in the Deep Purple arsenal they can dig.

Unknown Soldier, I'll check out Bananas!

From 70 to 72 they were brilliant, without the combo of Gillian and Blackmore I'm not too interested.

Also, because of childhood nostalgia, whenever I hear Highway Star I think of the old SNES classic Rock n' Roll Racing.



Damn, even in 16 bit this song is still awesome.

I found Bananas to be just "meh". Didn't hate...didn't like it. It was just new Deep Purple I could listen to. But then again it has been a few years since I listened to it, so maybe I can find something to appreciate now. However, I did get to see them live because of the Bananas tour. It just made me a bit sad as I saw them in Singapore where they are really only known for Smoke On the Water. No one even moved until they played that song.

I gotta off my ass and find a good Steve Morse era Purple record. Check out all the old folks rocking out.



FACT: Deep Purple is Dimitri Medvedev's favorite band.

Just need to reinstate how ****ing awesome Machine Head is. Seriously that album is so incredible, there is not one part of even one song Id ever think of FF through. One of my favorite bands The Atomic Bitchwax covered Maybe Im a Leo and its imo just as good as the original, just heavier.

These guys are rock icons! It used to be years ago, every guitar player that owned an amplifier with distortion effects knew how to play the intro to Smoke On The Water. Even if it was one of the only few songs they knew how to play.

It just doesn't get any better than Deep Purple when it comes to vintage Rock and Heavy Metal.

I`d say no hard rock or metal collection is complete without the three killer albums from the Deep Purple MKII line-up, they`re the stuff of rock legend.

i love In Rock

The heaviness and speed of that album for 1970 is amazing.:pimp:

I saw in some interview they said anyone who said they were metal were idiots. Thats absurd in my opinion. Many of there songs are pure chugging with breakdowns galore. Although I dont think they downtuned past eb. I may be wrong there though.

I enjoy Perfect Strangers, I got this album from a friend and its good listening, I must admit the only other Deep Purple album i've listened to is their Essential album which isn't very big.

i saw Purpendicular for cheap yesterday, but i didn't buy it

what do you guys think of it?

Not much but its probably better than the albums either side of it The Battle Rages on and Abandon. The only album worth getting from this period is Bananas its a hidden gem.

I kind of lost interest after "Who do we think..." which was pretty poor.
Though they produced some great individual tracks over the years, (Child in Time, Highway Star, Fireball etc), I always felt DP were a bit one dimensional.
They were/are great musicians, but the music seemed to be formulaised -you know, intro riff, verse, screaming chorus by Gillian, short organ interlude, Blackmore guitar solo, back to riff, verse/scream, fade to end.
Am I being unfair?

Could someone recommend a Deep Purple album?

Made in Japan is their magnum opus, imo.

I'll check it out.

Ive got Machine Head (1972).

Gotta have Highway Star, Smoke On The Water, and Space Truckin'.

i just heard it

probably one of the best live albums ever

Deep Purple live recordings stomp the **** out of their studio work. Machine head is a fantastic album song-wise but the mixing/balancing is awful.