### Deep Purple: Fireball

#### 13/01/12 || Smalley

When it comes to old-school Deep Purple, 1971’s “Fireball” is pretty much in the middle quality-wise. Also in the middle chronology-wise, so it all lines up. Anyway, that isn’t really a bad thing at all; I mean, when you’re talking about such a busy, successful era of a band, it makes sense that there are a few records that are good, but not really stand-outs. “Fireball” undeniably had some great songs and some interesting style experimentations, but also a few tracks that rely too much on repetition, which just prevented the overall product from achieving greatness. Then again, any time you can avoid releasing a fuck-up so soon after your best album is a good time, and “Fireball” is far from a fuck-up, so I won’t nit-pick it too much.

We begin with the title track, where we’re almost immediately trapped in the off-kilter groove of Ian Paice’s opening drum pounding (who puts in high-energy work for the remainder of the track as well), before Blackmore kicks in with the groovy, stripped-down drive of his rhythm guitar, kicking things up into top gear. The second half sees some sludgy, stoner-y soloing from Ritchie, and some gonzo keyboard action courtesy of Jon Lord, the latter of which lends the track a bit more of a laid-back touch then it would’ve had otherwise, and also serves as a semi-throwback to the flower power vibe of DP’s 60’s records. And, while Ian Gillian’s vocals seem a tad restrained here when compared to his work on “In rock”, they’re still boisterous enough to satisfy, and don’t really hurt “Fireball”‘s status as a killer opener.

So far, so good, right? Unfortunately, while follow-up “No no no” is decently catchy, its mid-tempo approach is too low-energy, and worst of all, they basically just play the same things over and over for almost 7 minutes. Even the spacey lead guitar part seems draggy and tedious, and the increased pacing near the end is too little, too late. Not saying I don’t like it, but for how decent it is, it’s surprising how tiresome it still becomes. “Demon’s eye” basically follows in the same path, so I generally prefer to skip it as well whenever I come back to “Fireball”; let’s move on already.

“Anyone’s daughter” then gives the album the shakeup it so desperately needed by… being an acoustic guitar & piano-driven, country/blues hybrid?? Shockingly, yes; while that might sound terrible on paper to most metalheads (and a lot of other people, I’d bet), “daughter” is actually one of the best songs here. I guess there was a time when bands knew how to fuck around with their sound and actually make it work. Anyway, the playful tambourine and piano playing, sad-but-oddly-beautiful guitar work, and twangy, world-weary vocals from Gillian combine to make “daughter” one hell of a pleasant, outta left field surprise. Good fucken work.

Next to that, “The Mule” isn’t quite as experimental, but its intensely mellow, atmospheric intro still comes as unexpected, before it explodes into hard riffage and pissed-off(ish) vocals from Gillian. “Fools” is another good cut, with some surprisingly relaxing guitarwork and soft vocals, and “No one came” closes us out strongly with in-your-face, stop-start riffing and a nice, catchy chorus. So overall, despite a bit of a lull in the early tracks, the good shit saves “Fireball”, and ensures its status as another satisfying entry in DP’s intimidating body of work. You won’t hear as much songwriting consistency or as impressive performances here as you did on “In rock”, but a moderate dip in quality is more than forgivable when the basic product is still such good fun, so I can’t do anything but endorse “Fireball” in the end. Good shizzle.

- Information
- Released: 1971
- Label: Warner Bros.
- Website: www.deep-purple.com
- Band
- Ian Gillan: vocals
- Ritchie Blackmore: guitars
- Roger Glover: bass
- Jon Lord: organ, keyboards
- Ian Paice: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Fireball
- 02. No No No
- 03. Demon’s Eye
- 04. Anyone’s Daughter
- 05. The Mule
- 06. Fools
- 07. No One Came