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Class 6(66)
Deep Purple: Machine head
24/11/08 || Daemonomania
Released: 1972
Introduction
It has been a damn long time since Deep Purple put this puppy out. Some may argue it has been a damn long time since they put out anything worth listening to at all. Owch. But at the risk of sounding like one of those elitists who says, “you have to buy this disc or you’re not metal,” I’m gonna say JUST that. If you don’t already have it…in fact, if at any point from conception to your current age you have not had “Machine head” in one way shape or form, you’re about as metal as the gun Malkovich smuggled on a plane to ice the President. And we all know that wasn’t very metal at all.
Songwriting
8. Overall quite good. Each track has itself a mission. That mission is to rock and to stick right in your head like Odysseus’ arrows. You know, when he wasted all those suitors? Read a book. However, there is some bluesy wankery here and there, and some repetitive riffery (there’s this song called “Smoke on the water,” dunno if you’ve ever heard it before). But most songs shall be forever remembered in the great books of proto-metal yore. There is some fat to trim in “Lazy” and “Never before,” but neither is totally horrendous.
Production
10. I know, I know, it was the seventies. But I’ll be damned if this could have sounded any other way than it did. Just perfect. The warm sound of Lord’s organ (?!), the fuzzy guitars and drums, the slightly compressed vocals, a bass so fat it makes your mom look like Kelly Ripa. I heard this was remastered by the bassist to include even more bass, but I’ll be buggered if I emblazon my belfry with that much bionic bassitude.
Guitars
9. Riff machinery from the wanderer of Midaeval mists himself. Sure there’s some tired travels down Blues Lane, but overall this shit would lay the blueprint for the Motörheads and Priests of the world. And some great solos to boot. These are the type of solos where you remember every note, not the ones trying to cram in every note there is. And the guitar solos are generally accompanied by a solo from John Lord on the Hammond. I just love the sound of that Hammond organ, it immediately gives the music it that bellbottoms and LSD vibe.
Vocals
9. Ian Gillian has a good mid-range, a bit of bite to his voice here and there, and one hell of a scream that would later be claimed by Srs. Halford and Diamond respectively. I’m not sure about the other dudes who sang for Deep Purple across the ages, but this is one fine performance. Gillian picks up the ball at the typical white dude vocal 20 yard line (think Steppenwolf or The Guess Who) and carries it to the shrieking end zone.
Bass
8. Good I say. See the production section for some alliteration on the subject.
Drums
7. For the most part, the drums are mixed pretty low and don’t stand out – just complement the music. But there’s some ass-kicking in “Pictures of home,” and if the last track “Space truckin’” doesn’t sound like metal drumming to you, well, I don’t even want to say what that means. It’s negative, that’s for sure. It will not reflect well on your transcript to Metal University.
Lyrics
8. Songs about loving your car, being trapped on windswept mountains, about some fuck burning down something with a flare gun, about being lazy as shit, and last but not least about driving trucks through outer space. Hooray for drugs! Quite varied and entertaining, now that I think about it. My buddy and I always joke about the emptiness, eagles, and snow nonsense in “Pictures of home.”
Cover art
2. Uh, this sucks. The dudes are there and they’re all distorted and drippy with some purple-esque stuff in the background. Then again, they all had long black hair and looked ugly. So I guess that’s some more metal foundation work being laid right there.
Logo
3. Hmmm, not on this one. Just the band name and album title in some raised-glass looking font. Nothing to get hot and bothered about. Maybe the idea was that you were looking at this whole thing through a glass jar or a rainy windowpane? Got me.
Booklet
1. I’m pretty sure my disc came with just about nothing in the booklet. No cool details about the recording, no pictures of the band trapped on a mountain and being deceived by emptiness, eagles, or snow. Just the names of the songs again, which is also on the back. Typical BMG style bullshit. How could I have known that all those free CD’s for a penny wasn’t really a good deal at all?
Overall and ending rant
8. Wondering where “Ace of spades” or “Painkiller” arose from? Needless to say, those were two huge albums. So if those were big, the storied loins from which they sprung must be gargantuan. And I can safely say if you listen to the opener and closer of “Machine head,” you’ll need wonder no more. The massive genitals of Deep Purple shall become evident. Many a writer wrote many written words on the subject of das Purple’s influence on the metal genre, so I won’t bother yapping much more. A most essential pickup from the 70’s. A bunch of these dudes went on to be in Whitesnake, and there’s a groove-thrash band around today who borrowed the album title, but don’t hold that against them.
