DEEP purple
Machine Head
(1972)
Heavy metal grandiosity from the genre’s other founding fathers
“Deep Purple’s Machine Head is the greatest metal album of all time. I remember – I might have been 10 at the time – hearing my sister play it and thinking, ‘Who is this?!’ She said,
‘You can play the album, go ahead,’ and I was just listening to it constantly.
“I can still remember hearing Ian Gillan for the first time on the first track, Highway Star. He had this high, amazing scream when he went balls to the wall, but great tonality as well. Then you had Jon Lord, who brought the organ and made that instrument the greatest thing since sliced bread in rock’n’roll. And I think that Ritchie Blackmore was so integral to the guitar. The whole approach, with the solos that he did, the playing and all the little nuances he added throughout – yes, it was rhythmic, heavy and aggressive, but it was his unique touch that made Ritchie so classic. He was one of the best at that time. The whole band were just a formidable force. So, for sure, Machine Head definitely tips the scale for me.”