A Devil’s Dozen – Deep Purple

Admittedly, Deep Purple falls a little outside Last Rites’ usual scope of coverage. Deep Purple is not, strictly speaking, a metal band, but the group is ten times heavier than some of the fruity bullsh… stuff we’ve covered on this site over the years, and the band’s influence on the heavy metal genre is undeniably massive.

Normally these intros feature a brief history of the band in question, but with the group’s numerous line-up changes, extensive discography and a career at least a couple decades longer than most of the bands that we honor with a Devil’s Dozen, crafting a brief history of Deep Purple proved all but impossible. Off to Wikipedia with you.

In the end, the background is not necessary, because the music speaks for itself and loudly, very loudly. What you need to know is this: When rock music really mattered, Deep Purple rocked hardest.

It is with great pleasure and fiercest appreciation that Last Rites presents to you a Devil’s Dozen of Deep Purple.

[JEREMY MORSE]

 • • • • •

SMOKE ON THE WATER

[Machine Head, 1972]

The riff: you know it, I know it, everybody knows it. For thousands of future guitar heroes (and at least one hack metal writer), the “Smoke on the Water” riff was the first bit of heavy metal thunder they were able to summon from their cheap, Christmas present six-strings. In lesser hands, as it so often is, “Smoke on the Water” can sound stiff, clumsy and almost artless, but in the hands of its creators, it’s a different story. The way Paice’s drums slink in slow, Lord’s beefy, snarling organ doubling the guitar, Glover’s bass pulse turning the stomp into an inescapable groove, Ritchie’s understated, slow-burning solo and Gillan’s vivid story of the fateful and nearly tragic event that is the songs inspiration all make “Smoke on the Water” not just the vehicle for the most iconic riff in rock, but a stone-cold, motherfucking jam.

[JEREMY MORSE]

 • • • • •

FOOLS

[Fireball, 1971]

Deep Purple wore a lot of hats over their many incarnations – blues, heavy metal, hard rock, psychedelia, proto-prog – but rarely all at once. The multi-part “Fools” is one place where they ran the stylistic gamut, but sneakily so. Beginning with a minimal, almost Doorsish intro, it bursts into raging metal suddenly before settling into one of Purple’s most infectious, irresistible choruses, wherein Lord’s organ and Paice’s drumming provide the heft while Gillan and Blackmore offer up the blues. Soon, however, the song drops back into minimalism. It’s a loose bit of experimentation, offering a strong contrast to the track’s rigid metal and providing the listener with a false sense of security, all the more effective for when Gillan bursts back in, reintroducing the metal. “Fools” had a bit of everything from the Purple arsenal, seasoned with just a touch of weirdness.

[ZACH DUVALL]

 • • • • •

STORMBRINGER

[Stormbringer, 1974]

The second Purple album to feature David Coverdale on vocals would also be the last to feature Ritchie Blackmore for a spell. The apocalyptic title track and album opener does not give a hint to the creative and musical direction to follow, with a soul/funk influence that led to Blackmore’s departure. Driven by space-age keyboards and a rolling thunder bassline, “Stormbringer” hits hard and fast. Coupled with Coverdale’s impressive vocal performance, which ranges from straight-faced croon to urgent screams, this one casts a shadow that looms over the rest of the album, not to mention the annals of hard rock and heavy metal.

[DAVE PIRTLE]

 • • • • •

PICTURES OF HOME

[Machine Head, 1972]

Lined up after the all-time classic “Highway Star” and the swaggering “Maybe I’m A Leo,” Machine Head’s “Pictures Of Home” hammers home that album’s true power. Ostensibly a jaunty Purple rocker built on the trademark lead-instrument interplay between Blackmore and Lord, “Pictures” is as much about the groove that Glover and Paice bring to the proceedings as it is about any guitar or keyboard flash. And if you’re gonna have the balls to break the whole thing down into an unaccompanied bass solo, then you’d better have Roger Glover on that bass. An overlooked gem from Purple’s biggest commercial success.

[ANDREW EDMUNDS]

 • • • • •

DEMON’S EYE

[Fireball, 1971]

I know what you’re thinking. This is precisely the sort of song your Uncle Carl might crank from the bowels of the garage during one of his classic “you kids think Flip Knot is heavy, check THIS out” rants. I got news for you chuckleheads: LISTEN TO UNCLE CARL AND HIS GARAGE. Sure, Sabbath had already dropped three albums that provided the fundamental groundwork for heavy metal, but album #5 from Deep Purple did heavy with a preeminent STRUT, and “Demon’s Eye” epitomized this ambition. Gillan’s devilish delivery, that greazy, extended hammond solo, and Blackmore’s brassy lead all parade alongside the song’s bone-rattling swagger to help make it imminently clear as to why dudes like Malmsteen and King Diamond site Fireball as a key gateway to their heavy days. Sly, sly, sly, like a demon’s eye.

[MICHAEL WUENSCH]

 • • • • •

PERFECT STRANGERS

[Perfect Strangers, 1984]

Up until about two months ago, all I knew about this song was that Shane Douglas used it in ECW…

I know so much more now.

So this is what, Deep Purple Mark II Version 2.0? Easily the best album of the era and arguably the last great one they released. The title track is of course the centerpiece. Jon Lord’s keyboard intro is one of the greatest in the history of rock music; Ian Paice’s drumbeat is more strut than percussion; and Ritchie Blackmore’s riffs lead a march of guitar, keyboards, and synthesizer in perfect lock step. Swaggering across it all is Ian Gillian, smoother than Billy Dee Williams drinking Colt 45 with Don Juan. Are there better Deep Purple tracks? Possibly. Are there any cooler? Unlikely.

[DAVE PIRTLE]

 • • • • •

HIGHWAY STAR

[Machine Head, 1971]

Yngwie Malmsteen will try to sell you some bullshit about Nicolo Panganini being his greatest influence, but one look at his stage get-up and Stratocaster will tell you that young Yngwie worshiped at the altar of Ritchie Fucking Blackmore. The seeds of neo-classical shredding were no doubt planted in young Yngvwie’s brain by the lengthy solo section of “Highway Star”. Yngwie wasn’t the only one paying attention, however; a host of future thrashers likely got their first dose of whiplash around thirty two seconds into their first listen to this hard-driving, proto-speed metal classic.

[JEREMY MORSE]

 • • • • •

SPEED KING

[Deep Purple In Rock, 1970]

The opening track on Deep Purple Mark II’s debut, “Speed King” is one of the band’s most blistering numbers, regardless of the line-up. Opening with a free-form instrumental jam that drops into a quiet Jon Lord organ solo, the song proper kicks in with a classic Blackmore riff and some of Ian Gillan’s most powerful vocals. Quoting lyrics from Elvis, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard, “Speed King” acts as a tribute to the rock’n’roll that influenced the band, all while ratcheting up the intensity to proto-metallic levels. It may not be Purple at its deepest, but certainly at its best.

[ANDREW EDMUNDS]

 • • • • •

MISTREATED

[Burn, 1974]

A classic case of Brittish understatement, “Mistreated,” this heaviest, hardest hitting, most anguished of blues tunes might be better entitled “Gutted” or “Brutalized.” It’s rough going from the outset, with Ritchie’s spare, howling licks, accompanied only by Ian Paice’s bass drum thudding like a boot to the ribs. The tension is built masterfully, so that when the rest of the band kicks in, it hits like a bomb. Coverdale, his voice shaking with what seems to be real and very agonizing heartache, matches a tour de force performance from one of the greatest guitarists in rock with a tour de force performance of his own, and without any backup from Glenn Hughes. If you’re wondering why you know the name David Coverdale, this is why. Total devastation.

[JEREMY MORSE]

 • • • • •

KNOCKING AT YOUR BACK DOOR

[Perfect Strangers, 1984]

A nine year hiatus brought to a glorious end in 1984 with the reformation of the classic MKII lineup, and what sort of tune does Deep Purple drop right from the chute? Something about fanny frolicking… Uphill gardening… Going in the tradesman’s entrance… The true missionary position… Renting downstairs… The Greek handshake… Fifth base… Ye olde “I’d like to get to know you really, really, really, really well” maneuver. Or Hell, maybe it really is simply about fists and back entryways and such. Regardless, “Knocking at Your Back Door” kicks off Perfect Strangers with a vigorously catchy diddle that’s plowed home with a seductively sleazy thrust and some of Ritchie Blackmore’s smoothest finger play. An absolute stone-cold classic hard knocker that I’m sure the lads intended to be rated PG. If anyone tries to convince you otherwise, firmly remind them that you’re not going to fall for the old banana in the tailpipe trick.

[MICHAEL WUENSCH]

 • • • • •

SPACE TRUCKIN’

[Machine Head, 1972]

One of the most classic aspects of the Deep Purple sound was the interplay between Ritchie Blackmore’s heavy metal riffage and the timeless warble of Jon Lord’s organ. The coolest aspect of Machine Head closer “Space Truckin’” was the way in which they unified their sounds to maximize the heavy. A low end keyboard riff starts it before a downbeat-loving drum drive from Ian Paice picks it up. By the time Gillan is wailing like a maniac during the unmistakable chorus, organ and guitar and unified in a descending attack that might as well be challenging you to a bar fight. It’s about as heavy as Purple ever got, which makes the song’s loose solo section all the more fun. Rarely has an album been as perfectly bookended as Machine Head, with “Space Truckin’” closing just as well as “Highway Star” opened.

[ZACH DUVALL]

 • • • • •

BURN

[Burn, 1974]

The inconsistent nature of Who Do We Think We Are was a harsh signal that the Mark II era of Deep Purple – masterful though it was – was rapidly disintegrating. And disintegrate it did, with both Ian Gillan and Roger Glover departing. In come some guys named David Coverdale and Glen Hughes to fill the void. From the first gauntlet throwing “BUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRN” in the title track, with the band’s shifting machinations beneath, it was clear that these moves completely rejuvenated one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Blackmore was in top form with the main riff, and when paired with Lord’s organ for a bit of neoclassical harmonizing during the bridge, made for a fun proggy counterpoint to the song’s main heavy blues. But in the end, the moment belongs not to the veterans, but to Coverdale, who soulfully and emphatically carries the biggest moments, making himself a star in the process.

[ZACH DUVALL]

 • • • • •

CHILD IN TIME

[Deep Purple In Rock, 1970]

In the pantheon of rock, only very few songs achieve this level of dramatic tension. Like all children, “Child In Time” starts small, easing in softly with Lord’s Hammond; Gillan follows not long after, his performance building up and up into a series of banshee screams that terminate in a machine-gun staccato beat that prefaces Blackmore’s guitar solo. Like the song itself ‘til then, the solo builds upon itself, before it just stops dead. And the whole thing begins again. It’s the musical embodiment of the frustrated Cold War era, push and pull. Emerge, increase, explode, don’t resolve, and repeat.

[ANDREW EDMUNDS]

 • • • • •

Posted by Last Rites

GENERALLY IMPRESSED WITH RIFFS

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