SHADES OF DEEP PURPLE

This is one fantastic album !!! Along-side 'Crazy World of Arthur Brown' (from 1968 also - no other relation...), this Deep Purple release show-cases the sonic extremes of the Hammond Organ. To me, it's absolutely wonderous what this line-up have come up with - whilst the Mark II line-up is heralded as the 'penultimate' version of the band, I, personally, have grown tired of Ian Gillan's vocal histrionics, though one of his later albums, 'Clear Air Turbulence', is an amazing prog-related item with wonderful musicians and virtuosic performances, and I really enjoy Black Sabbath's 'Born Again' - it's just the same problem as I find with Robert Plant - often-times the vocals are just too overdone...but then we have Hammill, who I just envy, one of the best voices in history.....

The problem I find with Purple mk I, is the roughness of the production ; it really sounds sixties, but the quality of the music, the high standard of playing, and the arrangements themselves are just mind-blowing. The album features many sound effects and clever over-dubs, giving the album a strong psychedelic feel, Ritchie Blackmore's sound and style takes the electric guitar's potential to a higher plateau. Jon Lord emerged as a force to be reckoned with his whirlwind organ playing (with his only major rivals at the time, Keith Emerson, whilst in 'The Nice', and Vincent Crane from Arthur Brown... ). I don't wish to ramble on about the the charateristics of each song - the album is certainly a masterpiece, depending on your taste, but this LP deserves much more exposure than it currently has. For lovers of embryonic hard-rock/metal, lovers of guitar and organ, and for those interested in some truly inventive music beyond the norm. 5 star.