DEEP PURPLE

A bit of a transitional album this, with Deep Purple honing their songwriting chops and dialling back their reliance on cover versions compared to its two preceding albums. The band's own compositional abilities aren't quite ready for prime time yet, to my ears; they seem to be casting around a little aimlessly looking for a new sound, which they'd only attain once personnel shakeups yielded the Mark II lineup. The tension between going all-out progressive on the one hand and going hard rock on the other does yield some interesting moments, but there's more heat than light coming off Deep Purple at this point in time.