Name one song by Deep Purple. If you said, "Smoke on the Water," give yourself half a point.
Now name another.
Deep Purple remains the ultimate, head-shaking example of a one-hit wonder that made it big and stayed there. Somehow, it managed to sneeze its way into the elite ranks of rock n' roll and never leave. The group has released dozens of records - along with several upcoming live sets - and its 1972 album Machine Head remains a recognized "classic," but you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who has the gall to claim to be a Deep Purple fan. For a group that's so well known as a '70s heavy metal powerhouse, the band doesn't have a whole lot going for it.
Deep Purple has seen significant changes in its line-up, to the extent that the reunion tour (which yielded yet another album) had to feature the "most successful" of the many musicians who had once called themselves Purple band members. Style changes were swift and dramatic, from a fusion of rock and classical fusion recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to such prototypical heavy metal that the Guinness Book of World Records touted Deep Purple as the world's loudest band.
With Machine Head, Deep Purple credits itself with "forging heavy metal." This is worth a laugh when one realizes that "to forge" means both "to give shape to" and "to counterfeit." It's not that Deep Purple is bad at what it does - the guitar falls into a nice groove that surely worked nicely at concerts. But the overall sound is as indistinct as you could ask for. Rather than the prototypical heavy metal band, Deep Purple seems more a precursor to modern jam bands - a group with talented guitars and no appreciable songwriting ability.
But the guitarists involved have been some of the most talented around. Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple's original and most enduring guitarist, can rip fast chords with the best of them, and experimental guitarist Joe Satriani (who replaced Blackmore briefly on one of the reunion tours) has produced some of the world's most confusing, intricate, beautiful guitar sequences.
The songs on Machine Head run the gamut from slow to uninteresting, with the group's one "gem" hidden somewhere in the middle. Never has a seven-track, 37-minute album felt so long and incoherent. Songs like "Pictures of Home" and "Never Before" blur into a headachy drone. After listening through, one feels certain that there must have been some "air-guitar" worthy solos but disappointed that you can't remember them at all.
The bright, shining moment that brought the band to fame? "Smoke on the Water," a song with one of the most simple and memorable guitar hooks ever seen in rock n' roll. It is on the strength of this 12-note sequence that Deep Purple has floated across the radio for nearly three decades. The more you hear it, though, the less impact it has. Sure, it's amazing that the song's still punchy and cool after 29 years. Give it a few spins, though, and soon, hearing the first minute of the song (and maybe the chorus once or twice) will be plenty - you'll remember the hook and move on.
Besides those 12 magic notes, everything on Machine Head has been done elsewhere to more distinctive effect - not unrelated to the fact that everyone keeps ditching the group for other (often better) things. When the '80s and hair-metal beckoned, who would have wanted to keep playing for an ever-unenthusiastic fan base? Nostalgia can only grease things so far along, and the only reason Deep Purple has been such a fixture since 1968 is its ability to replace its members at will. The band is like a poor sports franchise, and that's not the most complementary association to give a band - few people would ask the Red Sox to record album after album for 33 years.
You like keyboards in your classic rock? Listen to the Doors. You like epic ballads? Listen to Whitesnake, featuring former Deep Purple singer David Coverdale. You like heavy metal? Quit playing around and just buy some Metallica already. If you were convinced to buy Machine Head based on the apparent strength of "Smoke on the Water," you'll have to live with it - good luck finding anyone to take it off your hands.
