Oh…Fuck…Yes… – 94%
ThunderheaD, June 8th, 2003
What an overlooked classic this album is! Not only in the world of heavy metal, but in 70’s hard rock as well. People were so busy praising all those other bands that people seem to forget that at times Deep Purple could rock just as hard as Sabbath and their technical ability at times could surpass Zeppelin. Deep Purple released many great albums in the early 70’s, but none quite so tight, quite so well-written, and quite so heavy as Machine Head. And what a great album title as well.
One of the absolute highlights of the album, and one of the things that separated Purple from the other bands of the erea, was the relationship between Blackmore’s guitars and Jon Lord’s keyboards. Their trade-off solos are mindblowing, but the riff like sounds Lord pulls out of his keyboard are amazing as well. No band has ever utilized the keyboard as well as Deep Purple on this album.
Now to the songs. The first song on the album….lets all get down on our knees and bow to the mind-blowing greatness of Highway Star. Like Boris said, this was the first speed metal song, and remains one of the greatest metal songs ever. The lyrics are rather cheesy, but the riff under the verses is crushing and Gillan proves why he is one of the greatest rock singers ever. There is solo after solo and they are played to perfection. By far the highlight of the album. Maybe I’m a Leo is a lot slower and bluesier but still a very enjoyable song. Gillan once again sounds great and the solos are once again remarkable. The third song is Pictures of Home. The drum intro is absolutely brutal and leads straight into pummeling riff after riff. This song isn’t quite as heavy as Highway Star, but this song is practially perfect. Great riffs, great vocals, and perfect solos.
Never Before is probably the lowlight of the album, and ironically was the first single off the album. You could tell that they tried to simplify this song a bit so it would be more appropriate as a single, because the riffs are a lot simpler. However, the vocals and solos save the song (do you see a patern forming here?). Smoke on the Water. Everyone has heard this song a million times, so I won’t explain this one too much. That riff, that riff, that riff. ‘Nuff said. Lazy is next and is a borderline instrumental. This song takes a few minutes to build up and then we get a little bit of singing until we get more solos. This song isn’t quite as strong as some of the others. Although it has the great bluesy feel that Maybe I’m a Leo had, it is probably the most dated song on the album.
The last song on the album is Space Truckin’ and seems to be overlooked. This song is, along with Highway Star, the most metal song on the album. It starts off with a heavy keyboard riff and then the keys and guitars come in and together play a heavy as fuck riff. The chorus is punishing with pummeling drums and guitar riff. Also along with Highway Star, the lyrics are cheesy as hell, “We had a lot of luck on Venus, we always had a ball on Mars.”
What more can be said about this album? It contains seven classic songs, it is an extremely influential metal album, and the playing and songwriting is top-notch. If you are a metal fan, buy this fucking album.
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