Deep Purple In Rock (1970)

Band bio/Album context: (Scroll down for the actual review)
While Black Sabbath’s debut was recorded in the gloomy months of February (As opposed to any other time of the year in Birmingham), the groundbreaker for Deep Purple, the first with the Mk II lineup, was released June 3rd, 1970. It’s important to note when I start this review that I hold the talent of this lineup of Deep Purple in more esteem than perhaps any mainstream artist ever. As a whole, they were more gifted than even the likes of Led Zeppelin and Dream Theater.

At the front you have guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and vocalist Ian Gillan, the first of which fathered the art of shredding, and the second is responsible for some of the most mind blowing screams in the history of the genre. Gillan’s range and versatility are nearly unmatched, even in today’s metal scene, and that’s on full display on “In Rock”. Holding down the rhythm you have bassist Roger Glover, and drummer Ian Paice. Paice and Glover are deceptively good, because it’s easy to lose track of their talent when they’re on the same stage as Blackmore and Gillan, but pay attention, and you’ll hear it, especially Paice, who could probably have gone toe to toe with John Bonham in a drum off.

But perhaps the most extraordinary, certainly the most unique, was organist Jon Lord, a man fluent in both the jazz and classical schools of piano, and who would often time take an equal share of the lead instrumentation with Ritchie. This lineup was an absolute legend, and in its original incarnation, only lasted 3 short years, releasing 4 albums and the double LP “Made in Japan” live release, the gold standard among live albums.

==Review begins here==

In Rock opens with a bang, a guitar solo that sounds like Ritchie is practically exploding off the record, it’s dirty, gritty, and most importantly, it rocks. Maybe “In Rock” was a bad pun for an album name, but it has some serious authority. After the guitar solo and an organ intro, Ian Gillan (Who I’ll refer to by his last name to remove confusion from Ian Paice) begins his show, the lyrics are more of a thrown together tribute to some of the best rock anthems, they don’t make much sense, but there’s something going on here that nobody had heard before. As the song approaches three minutes, Lord and Blackmore trade off solos foreshadowing Judas Priest and much of the power metal to come, that goes for more than a minute until Gillan again roars in, almost literally, with his distinctive wail and demented laugh that lets you know who you’re dealing with. 

If Gillan’s vocal aerobics were impressive on Speed King, then the world had nothing to defend itself against the onslaught that was “Bloodsucker”. Forgoing rational cause, Gillan lets it rip before every chorus, just because he can. With a voice like that, he doesn’t need a reason, and we don’t want him to think he does. Outside of that, the song is mostly a riff fest, serving as a vehicle for another set of solos from Lord and Blackmore (Yes, Lord Blackmore sounds like an incredible pretentious British name, and I’m surprised this moniker isn’t more widely used) punctuated by one of the songs many riffs. Gillan, not to be outdone, closes out the song with a section that makes me question if he knows the difference between his voice and his guitar. Not complaining, but this man is nuts.

After all this, you might they would let up sometime? Well, Child in Time is if anything, the album’s “ballad”, coming in at an impressive 10 minutes and 16 seconds though, this also was the albums most distinctive song. Opening with a gospel inspired organ solo, Child in Time is another showcase for Gillan’s voice, this time however, not involving so much untamed screaming, but a more careful, precise, delivery, still pushing the perceived limits of the male voice. There is everything going on in this song, including another defining moment for heavy metal with Blackmore’s first solo. It’s songs like these that make me want to punch the next idiot in the teeth who tells me that Eddie Van Halen invented shredding. Blackmore is scary precise here, especially when compared to his counterpart Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, who was a slop-machine more efficient than a military mess hall. I have this record on Vinyl, so I suppose I’ll have to test this theory next time I am home, but I can’t get the image out of my head of the LP trying to fly off the turntable during Blackmore’s solo.

Side 2 (Because some records are just so clearly oriented to the LP format) opens with Flight of the Rat. It touches on 8 minutes in length, but opens up much more straight forward than anything on side 1. A fast paced riff, a more normal vocal delivery from Gillan, and some great rhythm work from Paice, Glover, and Lord. The sound of Jon Lord’s organ, which really defies the limits of the English language, are a serious defining factor of this song, especially with the solos in the middle of the song, as this is the first song to contain an extended organ solo. The track length is rather deceptive, it has about as much “Composed music” as a standard four minute song, and an extremely long chunk o’ solo duel shoved in the middle, while in the years to come this may become a tedious practice, that’s only because bands could never pull it off as well as Deep Purple. The song ends with an impressive drum solo that’s nearly a minute long, because you can only keep a good drummer down so long. 

Into the Fire is another riff based song, only 3 and a half minutes in length. It’s slower, with more of a groove, which isn’t to say its any less good than the rest of the album, just that there’s less to say about it. There’s a perfectly fine guitar solo from Blackmore shoved in the middle. It’s a good use of three and a half minutes, and a wise decision not to stretch it out longer.

Living Wreck is a minute longer, featuring heavy use of the Leslie rotary amp on Lord’s organ. It’s another slower track, but unlike Into the Fire, which featured a more restrained organ presence, Living Wreck brings it front and center.

If my comments on the last few songs have seemed a bit dry, I’m already well into page 2 of this document, and am trying to save some space for the better tracks, and Hard Lovin’ Man certainly qualifies as such. It’s a song that might have felt right at home on side 1, if not for side 2 needing a rocking closer. It has all of the trademark Purple painted all over it, the vocal dexterity, the driving guitars, and the organ flourishes. Sometimes a standard song length just isn’t enough time for a band to really get rocking, and so Hard Lovin’ Man clocks in at 7:10, with some particularly loud organ solos played through a Marshall guitar amp. The sound of the entire shred section in the middle is just absolutely classic, and must have created some divine culture shock in summer of 1970.

Metal has always been a two headed beast, even at its origins. The first head is the Sabbath, the dark, heavy, evil, and gloomy side of things. The second head is Purple, Fist thumping, heart pounding adrenaline, high octane solos, and rocking until your head falls off. In Rock is absolutely an essential album, and while not a “Debut” in the truest sense, it’s a young band full of energy and I’ll shut up before this turns into a book.