04. Deep Purple Deep Purple In Rock 1970 (Harvest)
Hard Rock
Blistering solos and glass shattering shrieks!
Overview
Deep Purple's fourth album
In Rock, would prove to be the first studio album of the new revamped Deep Purple Mk.II line-up. Out had gone vocalist Rod Evans and bassist Nick Simper (who had stuck around for their
Concerto album) and in came Ian Gillan-Vocals and Roger Glover-Bass to form what would be the seminal Deep Purple Mk.II line up. The aforementioned live
Concerto and Group Orchestra recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the help of the Philharmonic Orchestra and composed by Jon Lord, had been a self-indulgent exercise by the band to demonstrate their overblown pseudo-classical leanings in a live environment. But now back in the studio, they would continue from the conclusion of their third studio album the eponymous
Deep Purple (which of course featured at no.10 on my 1969 list for those reading) This continuation of the heavy theme that Deep Purple had been leaning towards on this album, would be dramatic to say the least. Band leaders Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord, now took the band by the scruff of the neck and in vocalist Ian Gillan with a voice that would be the envy of the rock world, the sky was the limit for the band. On
In Rock they would lay down the future blueprint for the Deep Purple sound and this would be the album, that would launch the band into the major league of heavy rock along with British counterparts Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
In Rock was just so important in the development of heavy music and ranks as an essential listen to any music fan. The album cover of the five heads of the band members in place of the American President's heads, has to be one hard rocks best and most prestigious album covers ever.
Ian Gillan- Vocals
Ritchie Blackmore- Guitar
Roger Glover- Bass
Jon Lord- Keyboards/Organ
Ian Paice- Drums
Production- Deep Purple
Album
Speed King- The band just drop their trousers here with a blistering Ritchie Blackmore intro, before moving into a quieter Jon Lord organ piece and then Ian Gillan opens up full throttle! The song then shifts through differing tempos at mind numbing speed, accompanied by Gillan's bursts. One of the band's most revered tracks.
Bloodsucker- The speed drops here, but Ian Gillan's voice drops superbly into the groove that is being laid down by his band members, highlighted by the organ of Jon Lord and Ian Gillan's vocals again.
Child in Time- An amazing song that runs over 10 minutes and a great band effort, especially Ritchmore's guitar midway through the song. This is a song that would fully display Ian Gillan at his very best, starting off with sublime mellow parts built around power, before building up into mid-range cries, back to mellow singing again, before finally culminating into his famous glass shattering shriek!
Flight of the Rat- Straight up hard rock with searing power chords and at 8 minutes may seem overly long for some. The song though, does have some great soloing on show from both Jon Lord and Ian Paice and is typical of the album.
Into the Fire-One of the band's slower songs and features some slow paced guitar soloing as well, was often a concert favourite.
Living Wreck- Great song about a failed romance, that has some great instrumental crying out moments at several moments within the song.
Hard Livin' Man- Initially the poorest song on the album, but is then saved by some great instrumental displays that make up much of the song and ends up being a great album closer, the band often freaked out in concerts playing this song. Some versions of the album featured
Black Night, which was the single that came out just before the album, very melodic and with a strong eye on commercialism here but a great addition to the album.
Verdict
A sublime album and a highly revved up affair throughout, with hardly a poor song in sight. It would be this album that would finally cement Deep Purple in heavy music history and would usher them in with the likes of Sir Lord Baltimore, as a band that could unleash a level of power that had been mostly unseen before. The Mk.I line-up had offered us a taste of these things to come, but with the arrival of Ian Gillan and Roger Glover they unleashed a power that would simply blast much of the competition away. Just listening to Ian Gillan perform on the first three songs that make-up side one of the album really justifies this claim. With this album, Deep Purple finally established themselves as the most important organ/keyboards heavy band around and only one other album in their complete studio discography
Machine Head would better this album a few years later. Most importantly for the band, the album was their huge commercial breakthrough and ushered in a new period in their creativity, that would make Deep Purple a name on most people's lips for the rest of the decade. Basically this is essential listening, as the band here has now completely made their heavy organ sound their own. Not only was this the album that cemented Ian Gillan into the annals of rock history, but it also launched Ritchie Blackmore right up there to share the same pedastal as Jimmy Page, as one of the most revered guitarists in the history of rock music.