DEEP PURPLE

This third album by Deep Purple represents significant milestones for the band in three things. First, it was the last album when the band's American record company went bankrupt so the band was in limbo while they were basically broke. Second, it was the first time that Deep Purple explored their musical horizon using string arrangement in track called "April". Third, it was the time when Deep Purple fired Rod Evans and Nick Simper, so it was the end of Deep Purple Mark I. The rest is history that they entered Dep Purple Mark II which was then considered by many music critics as the peak line-up for Deep Purple. In my case, when I was teenager, actually I was not aware about the term "Mark I" or "Mark II" which actually meant "line-up". At that time, it was like the terminology only applied to Deep Purple.

Personally I like this album even though it's not considered as great albums by many people. But if we look at the foundations of Deep Purple music in the later stages, this album represents key elements that letter characterize Deep Purple music. Blackmore's stirring guitar and backward effects on `Fault Line,' foreshadow the same techniques used on `The Mule' from the 1971 Fireball album. This third album was influenced by classical music like Bach and Rimsky-Korsakov. This album did not yield a hit single and was not categorized under rock album. The material did not receive enough airplay or limelight. The music represents a blend of psychedelic, experimentation (observe "April"), and British rock. The cover of Donovan's `Lalena' is so well performed that it should have been considered as the band intention to go pop (?). The experimentation is rampant in Ian Paice's heavy percussion of the opener `Chasing Shadows'. Actually, in the history of prog rock, "April" contributed as milestones in progressive rock movement as it contains Deep Purple experimentation with string arrangements. Overall, this is a good album that represents critical milestones of Deep Purple. As we all know that after this album Deep Purple released "In Rock" (1970) which then was used as blueprint for their later music making, instead of pursuing the "experimentation" elements in "April": bein a true progressive rock band. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW (i-Rock! Music Community)