1001 Albums Generator
Machine Head by Deep Purple

Machine Head

Deep Purple

1972
3.57
Rating
29342
Votes
1
2%
2
10%
3
33%
4
36%
5
18%
Distribution
Genres: Metal, Rock Styles: Hard Rock, Blues Rock, Heavy Metal

Reviews (page 12 of 14)

straight jams

It’s got some classic rock hits. Kind of a good mix of blues rock with a little more hard rock/metal influence. I wish hush was on it

Space truckin, highway star, when a blind man cries and last but not least smoke on the water are such good songs. The other ones are just ok. So nearly 5 stars.

Pretty good album loved the instrumentals got me through the day

i liked this a lot more than i thought i would.

Classic hardrock with epic guitars and vocals!

Awesome rock album. Personal favorites are Lazy and Highway star. Loaded with organ and I love Blackmore's guitar sound!

Nice album!

Beautiful rock album which some amazing highlights

I like it! No nonsense

Dad rock, kinda boring

It was fine . I have heard this one before.

sadly the first thing I think of is guitar hero.

Classic. A couple of weaker tracks but Space Truckin, Highway Star, Smoke on the Water and Lazy are good enough to secure its 5* status for me

Solid album

way better than I expected, some bangers for sure

While I never considered myself a fan of Deep Purple I do not dislike them. Highway Star and Smoke on the Water are the tracks I recognize the most from this album. It is music.

Not bad, know smoke on the water already of course. Classic 70s rock I would call it, none of the songs are particularly memorable it's not my thing, but I think I can appreciate that this was probably quite a new sound when it was released maybe. 5/10

As good as the hard rock genre gets. Stick to side 1

Not bad, but this genre of music has not aged well

Great album, really enjoyed it. Obviously know the main hit but album was full of other ace songs.

I had a decent time listening to this. Normally "Dad Rock" isn't my thing but everything, except maybe some lyrics, meshed well for me.

Short, good sounds, some songs are similar. 2 classics

One of Dad’s favorite albums. Amazingly complex and fun to turn up the volume and blast it.

IDK, fine I guess.

Fun stuff! Probably wouldn't throw it on at home too often, but I'd totally rock out to this while eating slices of pizza and playing pinball at Old School Pizza.

Wow so many flashbacks to Simpsons episodes while listening to this album. The raw guitar line of Smoke on the Water is unforgettable. Deep purple. Can't go wrong with this one.

My friend Ken played this album for me in 9th grade. Gotta appreciate how good it is 50 years later!

It’s funny that’s smoke on the water is the most well known song off this album, it’s probably the worst track on here. Well, Lazy is worse, but this record still rips. I love Deep Purple

Kicks ass. Highway star is one of the best rock tracks ever idgaf

This is very much a tale of two albums. First, we have 4 tracks (Leo, Pictures, Never Before, Lazy) which are some funky white boys playing the Blues. I’d this were the main facet of Deep Purple’s sound, I wouldn’t care for them. Execution is fine, I love the mix of distorted organ and guitar weaving together in these arrangements, but these songs don’t do much to make a lasting impact. BUT the other three tracks (Highway Star, Smoke On The Water, Space Truckin’) are the famous songs from this record for a reason. They RIP! They’ve got their own weird and at the time innovative style that I feel really holds up. Great stuff. So overall? I lean positive, this is a very strong 3.

Surprised by how much this rocked. Some duds, but highwaystar really make everything worth it

It's the grandaddies of butt rock!

Similar feelings as the thin lizzy album, but not quite as boring. I liked two or three tracks. Hoping I’m done with the early 70s metal albums for a minute.

Decent classic rock album

Just meh

los agudos en la voz... no la calidad de sonido es regu para ser un remaster de 2012 muy buen guitarraso those solos tho solito de bajo cliffhanger en pictures of home la voz y las partes cantadas son lo que me estropea la experiencia un poco (en never before mejora) lazy divertida, country, blues?jazz??? 7 mins y es brutal 4 estrellas me ha divertido la ultima mola para cierre y la voz mejora mucho

This is a very good classic rock album. A couple of recognizable songs with some extremely recognizable riffs. A great example of the genre. 4 out of 5.

I thought it would be more “country” but it really wasn’t that bad. Doll

Iconic album in the world of rock n roll. The good songs are really good and the others are mediocre.

a bit dad rock-y

It was a fun novelty to hear the album that contains the first song I ever learnt on guitar, as I'm sure it was for many people. Unfortunately the cheese is too much but it has some moments.

It's a precursor to sludge metal, I guess?

I liked this more than the live album. I would rate higher if the rest of the tracks matched the dynamic energy of "Highway Star."

Not bad. Just more radio fodder I've heard a million times.

Great driving down the highway music! Love prog rock.

Perfectly sleazy and has that iconic guitar tune throughout. Good album through and through.

Classic rock and roll. No tricks or mechanical synthesizing. Just some pretty great music and instrumentation.

Minus one point for having smoke on the water on

Songs are long and pretty repetitive. Not completely without interest, but I'm not sure in what situation I'd ever want to put this record on.

Some fun and iconic riffs. Not 100% my cup of tea but fun to listen to. 3.5/5

Heisssssse Gitarrensoli, psychedelisch Der Inbegriff von Hatd Rock schätze ich Sehr konsistentes Album Toller letzter Song

Very very good, classic

Deep Purple is the least interesting of the Unholy Trinity. They're just so... dad-ish. 3 stars out of obligation

pretty goddarn cool, the organ solos rip, and the compositions flow nicely with punchy segways

before listening to this, i knew 'highway star' and obviously 'smoke on the water' - 'highway star' is as killer as ever, i think it's a very good song. but unfortunately, that's where it ends for me. the rest of the album did not do much for me. it's not bad, i just found it fairly uninteresting. i don't mind bluesy hard rock, but this was pretty formulaic to me, not much going on. the organ playing throughout the album, however, was great and fairly unique. but otherwise, i feel like there wasn't of much interest to this one.

I can't believe how much I enjoyed an album that has a song called "Space Truckin'". Genuinely great metal with psychedelic and funk influences.

Solid solid vibe. I like how it's rocking but not excessively hard. "Highway Star" was a fun one. The guitar riff in "Smoke On the Water" is of course unmatched. Low key enjoyed "Space Truckin'" quite a bit it's a solid closer.

Je m'attendais à un peu plus. Les pièces moins connues de l'album ne m'ont pas particulièrement impressionné. Je comprends le statut de Deep Purple, mais ce genre de hard rock reste un style que j'aime un peu moins. 7/10

a classic in my childhood music education

Gonna fall into the couch on some deep purple kush

Smoke out the water

Millennials know that Deep Purple rocks they were the first song in Guitar Hero 3 AND the intro to Rockband

Smonk on the water

Just not their best work, really surprised to see it on this list. Unless they have other albums on here, I'd really question the decision to put this album on this list over their 70s work.

Standard rock band executed very well. Good to listen to but hard to stand out as an album other than Smoke on the Water obviously

Damn good solid all the way through

A pretty good entry into the "classic" blues-rock canon. Lord & Paice prove themselves as perhaps the most vital part of the band on this record, keeping most songs in the groove and in time. Ian Gillan is a perfectly serviceable hard rock vocalist but lacks the fireworks or the attitude of a Plant or a Mercury. Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord are supremely talented (guitar and keys/organ, respectively) technicians and pretty good at melodies, but they can tend a bit toward the baroque, eventually. Machine Head is a tremendously competent album and a big influence on heavy rock to follow, but after twenty minutes of the gymnastics running from Highway Star through Never Before, it's pretty refreshing to arrive at Smoke On The Water, which feels downright restrained in context. Lazy is a great, fairly straight blues if you wade through the first five minutes of it. Space Truckin' is a bit more riff and rhythm based (almost like slow motion Helmet, thirty years early). Ultimately, for all their influence on what was to follow, Deep Purple are a band better at playing music than writing it. Machine Head is a masterclass in playing, but you're unlikely to hear something new in the composition. Listen to this once and understand its importance, but you already know the best two songs on the disc. Unless you really love guitar solos, you're probably not coming back regularly.

I can definitely understand how they're considered pioneers in heavy metal. "Smoke on the Water" is likely their most popular song (and one of the most popular rock songs of all time...), and the only one I recognized from this album. Overall, I think it's a good album, but not a great one. I can understand its importance in music history, but I wasn't really 100% feeling the songs on this one. "Smoke on the Water" is probably my favorite, but I also enjoyed "Never Before." I give it 3 out of 5 space truckers!

Average rock, instrumentals are good but vocals are super dated. Space Truckin is the best song.

Classic hard rock!

Good classics on this one.

- Only ever heard Smoke on the Water before - I feel like I've had a lot of classic rock lately, so I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this one - Some really good tracks, especially Lazy - Fav songs: Lazy, Space Truckin', Highway Star

not bad. Smoke on the water is the most popular song, but there are quite a few good ones on here

Very solid album front to back. Highway star all the way to Space Truckin' was nonstop 70s dad rock. I find that the lyricism is like that cheesy late 60's early 70s "IM GONNA TAKE MY TRUCK TO SPACE FUCK YEAH" kind of writing which I don't really find that interesting because I'm not of that era. The musicality is on point though. Solid 4

Classic rock. Pretty solid.

Highway star. Good intro song, sweet bassline, cool keyboard/organ. maybe im a leo. cool riff. Both songs have melodies and a sound that remind me of 8 bit video games. pictures of home. cool mix of solos, guitar then organ then even bass for a second! never before. funky intro. smoke on the water. classic, not sure why its so iconic, every other song so far has been just as good if not better. maybe just because the main riff is catchy and the chorus? lazy. sweet organ intro, trippy, cool. followed by guitar, cool instrumental through the first half. space truckin. catchy chorus. Cool guitar strumming in later verses adds some 'texture' or something. dig. little drum solo action when a blind man cries. ballad. pretty good

Cva, nice riffs, nice melodies

Surprisingly good. Can see how this influenced later metal bands.

Much better than the live album I had a couple of weeks ago with a 7 minute long Smoke On The Water. This is the kind of music I grew up and I’ll always love it.

Half hokey half inspired classic classic rock

"highway star" is pretty good but outside of that it's basically just that song but worse for the next 30 minutes. i guess the funny riff on smoke on the water is cool. not really my groove.

Decent 70’s power psychedelic rock. Won’t be in rotation on my playlist, but still a good album.

super lazy review today but i like this album a lot. i've never been a fan of super long guitar solos but other than that yes good

Classic rock, pretty fun

Amazing! Every single song is a masterpiece. Definitely, adding it to my personal list of favourite albums!

Was surprised not to enjoy this more. Think I would get more out of it having heard it a few times. There's obviously some fine musicianship on display, but it doesn't always feel like it serves the songs.

Not as uninspired as I originally thought, and much better than In Rock. Still not sure how these guys get mentioned in the same breath as Zeppelin and Sabbath though, they are clearly inferior in every way. Sometimes I wondered if I was listening to rock or elevator music. Ian Gillan has one of the most boring voices in rock. Smoke on the Water in retrospect is not that great of a song, yes it’s an influential riff, but it’s super rudimentary, a child could have come up with that riff. Best songs are Space Truckin and Maybe I’m a Leo.

This is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Big dumb rock

3.5/5 Foundational early metal Highway Star best track Maybe I'm a Leo always gets a relisten

total classic. Life changing!

Pretty dumb but also really great. Here is one where I was definitely more interested in the deeper cuts. Maybe I'm a Leo has a great groove and I like how Pictures of Home showcases each musician. The Sword are fans for sure (and so is Koji Kondo). Overall, I was impressed by the level of musicianship and could tell they had a bit of fun. Ritchie Blackmore would go on to some great stuff with Dio a few years later.

Forever tied to the Rock Band start screen. Solid! I like the singles and the ones I don’t recognize too.

Its ok. Not my kinda music tho

A classic and influential rock album but I’m not fully convinced it’s aged particularly well.

I mean, I grew up in the 70s so good lord, this album was played.

okkk 6.5/10

feel like some douchebag driving an old pickup truck but in a cool way

Album #500 for me! Pity it's not a 5, but still pretty good. Highway Star is a classic. I think Smoke on the Water is the worst song, and is only famous because everyone can play the riff.

I think a common theme with this site is to think a classic album is an album with one of the "hits" on it but doesn't really have any other good songs on it. This is the case with Machine Head, Deep Purple In Rock is such a better album that Machine Head, but it doesn't have smoke on the water on it, which is a pretty average song anyway.

A fun album. Most definitely will be adding it to rotation. No song is bad

This album just doesn't do it for me. I have a lot of appreciation for Deep Purple and recognise their classic and influential status, however the only tracks of this album I enjoyed were Smoke On The Water and When A Blind Man Cries.

Highway star and smoke on the water on same album is real impressive

Great classic electrified rock and roll...not my favorite though.

This also goes pretty hard. It sounds a lot like their live album that I just listened to.

DUN DUN DUN! DUN DUN DA-DUN!

Great classic rock. The mixture of overdriven guitar and Hammond organ was a stroke of genius. Not a bad song on the whole album. Highly recommended!

After nearly forty years, I finally dove into the album that surrounds that single string riff I learned in 7th grade. It sits somewhere between the Doors and Judas Priest, but knows exactly in which direction it's facing. For its not quite forty minute runtime, it seems like they mostly let the drummer play through while the band starts and stops and starts again. I say this was the right call.

love machine head

I’ve never liked Deep Purple’s studio work as much as I’ve liked them live. That’s a me problem I guess. This album’s great, and a classic. But I’d have preferred it if it was live.

Hard rock was perfected in the 70's. Everything after that was either something so different that it wasn't pure hard rock anymore, or it was derivative. You can sing your praises about Led Zeppelin or The Who, but for my money it was Deep Purple that had the genre on lock. Machine Head is dead proof that Deep Purple mastered hard rock. All you need is Highway Star, really. All the songs are still worth a listen, if you have the time. Now if you take these songs and hear them live (say, in Japan), then you get what is effectively the epitome of rock performance.

Slow, old school rock and roll, maybe some early metal. Some tracks, you can hear the influence of soul and r&b seeping through. For me, not a memorable album, probably will not seek out again.

I had Highway Star on an existing playlist, but otherwise not a big fan of Deep Purple. It's all kind of basic 1970s rock, nothing really stands out for me.

Great drumming. Nice keyboards. Heavy, but with swing and swagger combined. I like.

Wow okay the first four songs were incredible. A little long but that's okay. You can definitely see influences that other artists had from this. However I personally can't stand Smoke on the Water and Lazy so 5/7 songs is gonna have to bring this one down a little.

Превосходный альбом. В deep purple in rock они дурачились, а здесь принялись за реальное дело и выдали мощнейший перфоманс. 2 культовых трека и еще куча крепких треков. Твердая 5.

Nah, it was enough having heard Smoke on the Water countless time. Didn’t need this.

This is the promised rock, this is what they promised us when they said Rock

Good album, I've previously heard and enjoyed smoke on the water and it was nice to hear more of their songs.

Smoke on the Water has that recognizable melody

Riff heavy. Monotonous. Classic heavy rock that seems tame now. Can see why it's important but not my music.

Hardrock vom feinsten. Zeitenweise etwas uninspiriert, Space Truckin' gefällt mir gar nicht, aber insgesamt solide 4 Sterne.

Excellent album from start to finish. In fact, the only negative for me is that "Smoke on the Water" is on here and we've all heard that played a million times before. "Highway Star" is an excellent opening track and it just carries on from there.

Wildly overrated

I've only ever heard Smoke On the Water, and was not a fan. This album made me appreciate the band a bit more, but I'm still not a fan. Too many solos that go on for so long. 2/5

That's what "classic rock" means

Deep Purple were already a respected name in the burgeoning genre of heavy metal, so them taking things to the next level with their essential Machine Head was not only fitting but inevitable. While some of the most revered songs of their discography garners the majority of the attention, it's the others that are worth giving a further look, most notably Never Before, Pictures of Home, the first half of Lazy and the closer Space Truckin'. Machine Head has proven to weave a long leash in terms of relevance and longevity within their genre in the coming decades and that's all due to the contributions of everyone in the band. Favorites: Highway Star, Pictures of Home, Never Before, Smoke on the Water, Space Truckin'.

This album likely contains one of the most famous rock songs in the world. Also, if some YouTubers are to be believed, simply uttering “zero three five” will get their videos demonetised (the frets played in Smoke On The Water’s famous riff). That aside, it will be interesting to hear the rest of the tracks surrounding this. Songs I already knew: Smoke On The Water Favourites: Highway Star Firstly, Smoke On The Water is undoubtedly a very good, catchy song, but I think I’ve just heard it too many times at this point so it’s not quite as exciting as it once was. Highway Star shows some pretty amazing musical talent, and I loved the guitar solo in this. Conversely, the closing song Space Truckin’ might have been one of the silliest songs I’ve ever heard. It feels more like a Deep Purple parody than an actually serious song.

Can’t help but enjoy the vocal histrionics

We had a live album by Deep Purple before, 'Made In Japan', that I was expecting to be bad but turned out to be very good. This is almost the opposite situation. I saw 'Smoke on the water' on this record and expected it to be a banger, but almost all songs turned out to be boring. This was also a stupid expectation to have from me to have, since I can't find any joy with 'Smoke on the water' to begin with, I have simply heard it to many times, and it has lost its magic. My overall feeling with the album is also a bit perplexing. On paper, this album really has everything I should like. Good singer, rock from era I usually enjoy, cool electric piano etc, but it just doesn't get up there for some reason. The album was saved by the last two songs, 'Space truckin'' and 'When a blind man cries' which were actually very good songs, many steps above the rest.

Deep Purple has some amazing tracks but my god is "Smoke on the Water" not one of them. I don't know it if is because it has been played to death but it's just a weak track with a boring riff. Luckily this album starts off with "Highway Star" which is one of the better Deep Purple songs (sadly my version didn't have the extended intro). This album is an early metal album and sadly it sounds slightly generic today but i guess that back in it's day it was groundbreaking. Still "Highway star" and "When A Blind Man Cries' are great tracks but the rest doesn't really reach the same heights. I don't feel like I want to listen to it again but just cherry pick the first and last track while the rest was ok but brings me no real excitement.

Klassisk rock

70's jam band music, it's what you'd expect & nothing to write home about

First album from the list I already listened. Short and great album, not bad tunes at all, some songs get burned with time like Smoke on the water but some classics don't, like Pictures of Home, Space truckin, Highway star or When a blind man cries. 5*

Nice bit of old school rock

Pretty great!

Kudos for being one of the foundations of metal, but I have an irrational hatred at this brand of hard rock.

Listened to this one before. Highway Star, Smoke on the water and Pictures of home are really good songs. I think everyone's heard Smoke on the Water. It's a good album and certainly a classic. I do think Deep Purple in rock is better though. This one is missing the energy of Deep Purple in rock that really drives it home.

one famous song but not a fan of metal

Whew! Ritchie Blackmore melts all the faces on this one. Highs: double tracked solo on Highway Star and the super soft-overdrive tone on Lazy.

Some great hits on this one. Others sound alike to me. We've come a long way in the recording production quality these days!

I’m tired of Smoke On The Water, but Highway Star reminds me of Rock Band, and some of the organ solos tickled my fancy. Better album than I was expecting!

4.5 Classic

Heard several of the songs before. Did not download any. Don’t care much for the keyboards. Love the guitar playing.

Proto metal, with proggish elements and some of the best classic rock staples. Just makes 5 stars, but too many bangers

For whatever reason I enjoyed this album so much more than Deep Purple in Rock. Machine Head definitely has more memorable songs and sounds exactly how you expect it to if you are familiar with “Smoke on the Water.”

Drei plus

I love this album and my own personal opinion of it is a 5/5, but I realize that this isn’t fair. The instrumentation on this record is perfect and I will die on that hill. The structure stays interesting and original. There’s nothing wrong with the lyrics or production either. These songs are all fun to listen to. They expanded on the genre, maybe not by much, but they did some experimenting and had fun with it while also making every track enjoyable. My issues are that there isn’t a ton of range here. All exciting, but not very different. I also, don’t think the vocals are on par with the playing. They’re alright, but occasionally fail to achieve the gravitas I imagine the band is going for. No huge complaints, just can’t give it a perfect score. 4/5

3.5/5 Apparently I have been confusing Purple Haze and Deep Purple since high school. Whoops... Lmao. I liked this album. I thought it was one of those cheesy hair bands that are one hit wonders, but I was wrong. I think it was because of the cheesy lyrics, and overt macho energy. But who doesn't like cheese?

Had that one hit I knew and that's about all I remember. Chugged along nicely but a mostly unremarkable album for me.

happy birthday to me It’s my birthday. Fun. Anyways, Machine Head is a great early metal album, especially on the faster songs. ’Maybe I’m a Leo’ and ‘Never Before’ are my least favorite songs as a result of this. Also, ‘Smoke On The Water’ gets all the attention, but ‘Highway Star’ is the real best song. I will die on this hill. Anyway, hope I get a good birthday album.

Some old classics in there. Not so sure about the Re-Mastering.

decent, gets the juices flowing

Solid early '70s guitar/Hammond organ rock. "Smoke on the Water" remains iconic, and "Space Truckin'" is awesome as always.

I did some rockin’ today, but the tunes don’t exactly speak to my soul.

I only recognized Smoke on the Water from the track listing but, oh!, Highway Star sure is familiar, as is Space Truckin'. I enjoyed rocking with all of this today!

Oh yeah! I LOVE Highway Star, Smoke on the Water, and Space Truckin’. Yet I have never before listened to a Deep Purple album. Well, glad that has been taken care of because this album kicks ass from start to finish! I also learned what Smoke On The Water was all about, a nice bonus. Terrific!

0-3-5! I've been very surprised at how imaginative this record has been to listen to. I think most people don't bother giving deep purple a chance nowadays given how amateurish they consider smoke on the water. But man, this record slaps! I feel it pulling influence from of led zeppelins early work and quite a lot from black sabbath. Whether it be writing styles or production choices, its kind of hard to tell. The drumming is fantastic and so far ahead of its time. Guitars sound fluid and locked into every song so neatly, and the lyricism and vocals are wonderful. Can't wait to listen to this with the headphones on

Deep Purple were actually a pretty respectable band back in the 1970s, decades before they became a comedy band. Lots of talent on display here from the classic Mk2 line up. This was a fun listen, where I knew half the tracks really well, but hadn't heard the other half much at all. I was expecting this to be a strong 4-star album, based on the fact that I predicted to find the tracks I hadn't heard before were all filler, but they weren't and this is a strong 5 star album.

An absolute classic of an album today! Smoke on the Water has a song riff that almost everyone who ever picks up a guitar learns early on. Apparently the recording studio that the band was to use in Switzerland burned down, leaving the band to seek out another space. The song Smoke on the Water is loosely based on that. Overall, a phenomenal album. Highway Star, Smoke on the Water, and Space Truckin' are all powerhouses. Not my first time listening to this record, and it won't be my last! Favourite songs: Highway Star, Smoke on the Water, Space Truckin', Maybe I'm a Leo, Pictures of Home Least favourite songs: Lazy 5/5

Tout est bien qui finit bien

smoke on the water etc

Awesome album! Favorite Track: Highway Star

classic hard rock

good album! dont really have much extraordinary or bad to say about it, 7 or 8/10 all around

I enjoyed it. Didn't overstay it's welcome and you can't beat smoke on the water

Not bad. I'd listen to it again

Pretty rocky. I liked some of the more bluesy songs - they reminded me of black keys.

Very fun listen! Honestly, Smoke on the Water was one of the lesser tracks imo. Thoroughly enjoyed Highway Star. Interesting to hear the use of distortion and reverb with some of the bluesier riffs, knowing where this album falls in the timeline and history of rock. Curious if the title has anything to do with the increased use of modulatory effects pedals

Liked it. Didn’t realize these were the smoke on the water guys. Kind of gives Motörhead vibes? Also really liked when a blind man cries. 7/10? Solid but feel like I’ve heard similar bands

This album was consistent with the band name as it gave deep purple hues and vibes (connection with the cosmos if trying to be technical with color frequency). The Color of magicians and wizards to be fun. That is to say with all of these so far, I haven’t heard any of their other music but I would listen to them willingly and knowingly. Highway star scratched the brain itch and I really liked. My favorite was Pictures of Home. Simple visual for this album (bringing in the purple and cosmos) Is just a band playing on a floating stage in space (distant galaxies in background and streams of purple hues mixed with some yellows and reds in front - also coming from the chords they’re hitting. Pulses of vibration over the whole field of vision) Good Vibe

Though only seven songs long, Machine Head displays a satisfying cross section of early seventies rock. With two classics and an ensemble of four- to seven-minute tracks, the album does not disappoint. Unfortunately I now associate “Highway Star” with an overzealous Griff’s regular who, each and every Friday karaoke night, thought it would be a good idea to “sing” the song through 12 PBRs and a Hawaiian shirt as unfashionable as any I own. Had our nameless vocalist replicated the multiple guitar solos, I could forgive him, but the air guitar must not have been tuned right. Regardless, it’s a good song and a great way to begin the album. A monkey with a typewriter has a better shot at writing a perfect copy of Hamlet than I have at playing a Scott Joplin rag on the piano, but the signature chords of “Smoke on the Water” are apparently simple enough to be replicated by a severely piano-challenged child like I was. Regardless, it’s the band’s most iconic track for a reason. And while it may chronicle a gathering of rock royalty in Switzerland, I prefer to think it’s about the mishaps of a redneck firework shooting spree over a sorry excuse for a lake holding raw sewage from half of Arkansas. To each their own, I guess. The album digs deeper than these two tracks, though. Look down at your feet while listening to “Maybe I’m a Leo,” and you may find them tapping on their own accord. During “Pictures of Home” you may find yourself running in place, and you’ll be fine with that. Around the three-minute mark, I felt like I was being flung around a pinball machine by a roadrunner on crack. Meep meep motherfucker. “Lazy” is not lazy at all, with electric blues harking back to John Lee Hooker and foreshadowing Stevie Ray Vaughan. “Space Truckin” is a bit repetitive, but it did get me jazzed up. Maybe I shouldn’t have listened to this album before bed. Oops.

I was introduced to Highway Star by the game Rockband. I spent many hours during college in the Weenie Loft grinding on the plastic drum kit and I could never pull this song off on hard. It's a shame too because the song is fucking gas. Machine Head is an incredible rock album. The fact that these guys were shredding like this in 1972 makes me realize how little I understand the timeline of rock n' roll. My favorite song this listen = Lazy.

Really enjoyed this, lots of songs I knew, but I've never actually listened to the album before.

Highway: "Highway Star," "Pictures of Home," "Smoke on the Water," "Space Truckin'" Consistently excellent performers. The songs tend to be more downbeat and groovy than on In Rock a few years ago, with a little more dithering and drag in the middle, but the keyboardist definitely comes through as feeling himself on this album: loud, distorted wurlitzer with the most inspired solos in the group for a clear standout. And the opener is probably the best song they ever had.

Funny this should be the first album, have been a massive Machine Head fan since their Burn My Eyes debut and am aware they named themselves after this album but have never actually listened to this record. That was a mistake. All I really knew about Deep Purple up to this point was Smoke on the Water. Opener is already sucking me right in. This is my type of album for sure.

Not sure what to think about this one. At times I was really vibing, another times it felt like the songs were going on for too long.

I'm always more impressed with Deep Purple's stickiness than I think I am going to be, I end up humming their hits a lot more. We had gotten the live version of this album a few weeks back, and this is way more engaging than that! I'm not NOT a fan. 3/5

De songwriting van deze cd stelt niet veel voor, maar de solos zijn leuk om naar te luisteren. Het is alleen jammer dat je telkens minstens een couplet en een refrein moet luisteren om bij de coole gitaren en orgeltjes te komen. Eigenlijk is 21st Century Schizoid Man het ideale Deep Purple nummer.

Really fun!

Love Deep Purple, love this album. Will always be a classic

Better then I expected

These songs are way too long. Recognizable, but not good

listened to this 4 hours ago. dont remember a single note my own thoughts overpowered it. wholly lackluster but I cant remember it being actively bad

Pure classic rock. The opener and closer are clunky but the rest is a blast. Fun history behind the album too.

Fairly fun solid glam rock, Everything you'd expect from the Smoke on the Water band

Very good album. Short, but awesome.

The cool thing about going through these albums that have impacted history is that one can encounter an album from 1972 that would arguably carry itself in the 21st century. While the album does not hit particularly hard or profound, it is a testament to Deep Purple that they were doing this music in 1972. The old scripture from Ecclesiastes in which its author laments that 'there is nothing new under the sun' rings all the more true here and while trends and styles may certainly change, a decent album at any point in history is a decent album at any point in history.

Rating: 10/10

I used to listen to a ton of classic rock, so I've heard a few of the songs on this album a lot over the years. I have a copy of this album on vinyl as well, but this was my first time listening to this album in its entirety. Overall, this is a really good album, and and it's easy to see how it influenced a number of hard rock and metal bands that came after its release. I love the heavy use of lower notes on the guitars that are present on a lot of songs, and I love that there's also some fast tempo guitar playing here too, like on "Highway Star" (perfect opening track for this album in my opinion). The drums are fast and manic, but also manage to be tight and clean as well. I also love the way that the keyboard and organ are utilized here; sometimes it's to provide a contrasting higher sound to the deeper guitars, and sometimes it's deeper as well to compliment them. Ritchie Blackmore is a great guitar player, and his talent is really on full display here. "Smoke on the Water," "Highway Star," and "Space Truckin" are my favorite tracks here, but everything else wasn't terribly memorable to me. The album works well as a whole, but in my opinion, the most important thing here is the influence that this album would go on to have.

7/10 Beaucoup de classiques. Ecoute facile.

I own this one on vinyl.

bangers alle sammen 4.5

Eh. Tempted to give it a 3 because there were a couple good songs and actually some nice riffs, but I also don't really care and I could go without listening to it ever again. We'll call it a 2.5 rounded down.

This is the second album I’ve listened to recently that had a weird car song. Less weird car songs please. The guitarist is jamming throughout (that’s like half the album) but not really feeling any strong feelings about this one overall, generally pretty neutral on this old school heavy rock. Talked myself into a 3 because Smoke on the Water is iconic at least. Also I really like When A Blind Man Cries as the last song on the album, much slower and more ballad-like than the rest of the album, which was more guitar-shredding (Note: I learned this after finishing listening; When A Blind Man Cries was not on the original album, it was a B-side to the Never Before single. It was recorded when the album was first recorded but got added to the end of the album for the 25th anniversary release. I'm keeping it as my favorite song anyway because there's no rules here). Favorite song: When A Blind Man Cries Other: Never Before, Smoke On The Water

Big hairband energy

Cat: the only song I’ve ever heard from them is the first track Highway Star, and holy smokes does it rip! Makes me wonder why I never dug deeper. They groove harrrrrrd. Oh yeah, and smoke on the water. They’re all really great musicians. Not every song hits, but they are great! AJ: awesome time. Just rock and roll fun. Thought highway star was Judas Priest my whole life. They crush.

Dad rock really is a hit or a miss. You may get sleaze. You may get the most revolutionary shit you've ever heard. You may just get a decent time. I don't really find Machine Head to be particularly remarkable, but the songs on it were fine, and I can understand why some of them are well known. Highway Star really is *that good*

Magnificent

A great classic full of memorable songs and other interesting tracks.

It has a song called Space Truckin'

Four big hits on an eight track album. 'Highway Star', 'Smoke On The Water' (cool story), and 'Space Truckin''. 'Lazy' is a cool 12 bar blues with an awesome Hammond Organ intro.

This is dad rock to a T :chefskiss:

cool bit of rock

A highlight of the early heavy metal scene. It's a lot of improvisation. With how much the music keeps shifting, it's a bit of a challenging listen. But with only 7 tracks, and each has something distinct about them, it's fairly digestible with plenty of memorable and enjoyable moments. "Highway Star" is one of their most famous songs, and features a killer guitar solo and catchy loud vocals. "Maybe I'm a Leo" is a bluesy jam song featuring cool keyboard and guitar moments with a groovy bassline. "Pictures of Home" is an acid rock track, probably the least memorable here but most similar to the doomy sound of contemporary Black Sabbath. "Never Before" has that distinct cheesy hard pop rock sound of the 70s you'd find in contemporaries like Bad Company or the million forgettable one-hit wonders, with some Beatlesesque power chords and harmonic vocals. It's the most optimistic track yet still interesting due to the proggy nature of the constantly changing melody and surprise parts. "Smoke on the Water" is one of the most recognizable rock songs in history, and it deserves this recognition. It's a classic: catchy, memorable, groovy, and impressive. "Lazy" is another bluesy jam track, mostly consisting of what feels like an improvised instrumental session, mostly showcasing guitar feats. "Space Truckin" is a bit cheesy but grew on me over time. Really awesome deep distorted guitar sound and studio mixing.

Превосходно!!!

This journey has made me aware that there are so many more shades of 70s rock (and especially of British 70s rock) than I ever dreamed. At the same time, I think I could have died happily not being so aware of this, and I'm getting burned out on the entire decade. This had some okay tracks, but was overall incredibly forgettable. I will avoid listening to it again. It wasn't horrible, just unmemorable. 2/5

Another really solid album by DP.

Solid 70s blues inspired hard rock. Kind of hits a lull in the middle and, as a guitarist, I've heard "Smoke On the Water" enough to fill several lifetimes. Still, it's impossible to deny how hard some of these tracks rip. Favorite tracks: "Highway Star", "Maybe I'm a Leo", "Space Truckin'"

Good stuff, not anything I hadn’t heard before and not my jam at the moment, but it was interesting listening to it from a perspective of it being an important album instead of just a tired song being played on classic rock stations 😅

No matter its historical relevance (especially to me, born in '89), Machine Head has half the teeth and sounds only half as heavy as In Rock, a record that truly blasts you to bits from the opening second. There's no ground here that they hadn't covered previously. Only a handful of flagship songs which are classics in their own right. They just happen to be on this album. I much prefer to listen to the Made in Japan live workouts of these songs.

some classics on here, pretty nice

Highway Star: 7.5/10 Maybe I'm a Leo: 5.5/10 Pictures of Home: 7.5/10 Never Before: 6/10 Smoke on the Water: 8.5/10 Lazy: 7/10 Space Truckin': 6/10 When a Blind Man Cries: 8/10 Overall: 7/10 (3.5/5)

classics

I've always liked Smoke on the Water but the rest of it not so much

a good album overshadowed by it's reputation for one of the most iconic riffs of all time

Dad rock as hell, it's opening track is great, then there's a few tracks of fluff, then from smoke on the water onwards its really solid, the ending track when a blind man cries was a real shock

Really enjoyed. Swampy, psychadelicy sound holds up and extremely well produced. Hesitate to give a four but I think it’s like 3.9

Two classics, no other stand outs

Clasico del rock...

I go back and forth with this. I kind of prefer Highway Star to Smoke on the Water thanks to Dazed and Confused and now I want to drive around the US neighbourhood smashing US Mailbox things with a baseball bat. The rest, is way honkier than I was expecting, and while it's not bad, I'm not that arsed. Space Truckin' is great fun though, so that's three songs genuinely enjoyed. 3 out of 8 should warrant a 2, but these are 3 very good songs. Seeing the live album also in the book which is these songs but twice as long, fills me with some trepidation, but it could be excellent. Will find out in due course.

Smoke On the Water is overplayed, but the album as a whole was pretty good. A nice surprise after Cheap Trick. No offense Cheap Trick. Actually, some offense.

Enjoyed this. Heard Smoke on the Water so many times it feels like the worst track on there now! Maybe I’m a Leo / Lazy were my highlights. Chunks passed me by, but for what it is - a classic rock staple - it’s pretty good!

As good as classic rock gets, full of riffs and leaves you wanting more. No hint of prog so no random noises or filler tracks to hide behind. Smoke on the water is a classic but I thought nearly all the other tracks were a similar level. Mint.

Second half of the album was really bombastic.

Not heard much Deep Purple before and thought this was some decent rock music. I didn't particularly dislike anything but nothing blew me away either. Highlights: Highway Star Smoke On The Water Space Truckin'

Enjoyed that. Wasn't sure I would as not all classic rock does it for me. Highway star, pictures of home and smoke on the water were all great. Got a little tired of it towards the end but overall really good

rock on, deep purple. i unfortunately thought that deep purple was overrated in my naivety, but these thirty-seven minutes have absolutely changed my mind. deep purple rocked their hardest on machine head. while i only knew two songs going in, i quickly realized that didn't matter. there was so much to enjoy and appreciate. each song has a significant instrumental section, and they are always unique and fascinating. also, that deep guitar opening "smoke on the water" melts your face off, which is just a statistical fact. with all of their instrumentals, they do come off sounding slightly progressive rock, which was just beginning to find its footing in 1972. with this album recorded in three weeks, there's a natural element found here. these songs don't contain quickly created, unpolished jam sessions. their instrumentals rock out hard and are polished but only to the point of still being natural. 4.5

I don't know what to say here that hasn't already been said; this album is really just killer. Deep Purple shaped hard rock and metal, and there's just no denying that; they were laying the groundwork in the 1970s with this and other albums. This album opens with such a bang and really just keeps the momentum for all ~40 minutes. There just isn't much at all that this album gets wrong, in my opinion, and there isn't much to say either, except for reiterating that this is a birthing ground for metal music and a fantastic example of a genius band not only pioneering the sound, but doing it so very right. This is about a 4.5 for me, but I see no reason not to round it up.

I mean, do I really have to say why this is a classic?

Enjoyed listening to this. Love the falsetto vocals, driving guitar riffs, and the drum fills. A short, but sweet album. Favorite songs: Never Before, Smoke on the Water, and Space Truckin’.

Album actually got better as it went on, solid enough

Smoooooooke on the waaaaaater. Sex drugs rock n roll 2.5/5

3/8, 38%

Oops gonna do Janis and Purple on this one, accidental publish on last one. Pearl- JJ Great range of tracks, immense vocal performance, so much poured into each track. Purely personal taste but at times I found the vocals a little much, although when I decided to surrender to them there was an undeniable power and felt quite moved. Fav track: Get in while you can 4/5 Machine Head- DP Indulgent guitar solos and the performative rock from this era is so far from my jam, but quite enjoyed this. Atleast the solos in this felt consistent with the album and had purpose. Good range of tracks, particularly enjoyed the moodier numbers. Fav track: When a Blind man cries 3.5/5

These guys just do nothing for me. Can't find anything particularly visceral or engaging in any of their compositions or lyrics. By no means are they bad tunes, but boy do I find them boring. Really wish there was a one album per artist cap. Two and a half. Fave track: Space Truckin'

Another pretty enjoyable record here from Deep Purple. Though it's not exactly my rhythm I can understand the legacy this band and album have earned. Towards the end of the album in particular it was fun to really hear them not take things too seriously and just connect lean into having a good time while playing music. Probably somewhere between and a 3 and a 3.5 Fave track by a country mile was Space Truckin'... I mean come on.

Another classic album, with their established anthem, Smoke on the Water. 50 years on and their sound is still awesome!

Another great album from a classic rock band. Has aged well!

Highway Star is the best Deep Purple song and I won't hear otherwise

- drumming really interesting - adds more than just a sense of direction to the piece, truly driving - the drums in Space Truckin' are just beautiful...probably my favourite song on the album - story behind Smoke on the Water (and the history of the whole recording of the album) very interesting From Wikipedia: As previous recording sessions had been slotted into the group's gigging schedule, Deep Purple wanted to dedicate time to record an album away from the typical studio environment, hoping it would result in a sound closer to their live shows. They hired the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio for recording, and block-booked the Montreux Casino as a venue, but during a Frank Zappa concert immediately before the sessions, the casino burned to the ground. After a week of searching for an alternative venue, including a session at a nearby theatre that was abandoned due to noise complaints, the band managed to book the Grand Hotel, closed for the winter, and converted it into a live room suitable for recording. These events, particularly the casino fire, became the inspiration for the song "Smoke on the Water".

This is a band that would be on Guitar Hero if I've ever heard one. It's pretty generic 70's rock for the most part. That being said it's not bad. The first track is pretty good. I could see myself listening to this in the car with my dad. They do suffer from the 70's music trope of "This song doesn't have a good ending so we'll just stop/add an instrumental part at the end that pads the runtime" Oh these are the "Smoke On The Water" guys. This is music that would be playing in a biker bar though. Really just any bar that serves an older crowd. Can't decide if this is a low 4/5 or a high 3/5 It's a 3/5 because they have a 7-minute song that takes 4 minutes to start

holy shit smoke on the water. i played that on my guitar when i was like 14. wicked.

F’ing METAL

It’s nothing to write home about, but it gets bumped to a four for having some fantastic guitar and keyboard tone and for being so concise.

funkier than expected, which is always enjoyable. otherwise very emblematic of the era. i didn’t particularly enjoy it but there were some fun solos

3.5 Duh duh duh, dun dun, duh duh, dun dun dun, dun, duh a

Highway star is awesome, other than that everything else is pretty good too. I think they are trying to be hard but it's just regular classic rock. Just needed a few more bangers to be great.

Honestly, it's basic hard rock with mid songwriting, but it's just so concise with some really classic songs on it, so I really enjoyed it.

This is another one of those classic albums/bands I have little personal experience with. I’m not sure if I’ve even ever heard Smoke on the Water all the way through until now, which seems impossible. The point I’m making here, much like Hotel California, I have zero sentimentality associated with this album, nor was it played to the point where I am sick of it. It’s hard reviewing albums like this on just a play through or two, because they frankly don’t always hold up. That’s how I felt about Hotel California, and it is sort of how I feel about this one. There’s good songs here, Highway Star in particular is a perfect opener, but I come more from a punk background which got its start being the antithesis to albums like this. Songs like Lazy get boring to me so quickly, and the well songs like that come from feel incredible wide but extremely shallow these days. There’s only so much guitar virtuosity one can take in a sitting, and while their abilities are impressive, I feel like I’ve got it after hearing it just once. It’s not always easy to listen to something old for the first time, and trying to appreciate it for the period it came out in, but it is a requirement when you want to love something like this. This go around, that was too high of a mountain to climb for me.

The sound of this album is the definition of classic hard rock. I read that they were a precursor to heavy mental and that makes a ton of sense from this album. The tone is much harsher then other classic rock albums. I liked it but I don’t think it aged as well as other bands like Pink Floyd or Creedence Clearwater Revival. Might be for me I’m not a fan of heavy metal. I didn’t read all the lyrics but read that they were mediocre. Lazy and smoke on the water were stand out tracks.

Decent enough

I was a bit of a metal fan as a kid and so this was a rush of memory. I enjoyed it. Metal that is closer to rock.

I lost my review for this album, but it's okay because I didn't really like it very much 2/5

One of my dad’s favourite band

I like stoner rock. I like prog rock. So it stands to reason that I like Machine Head.

Really great classic rock.

I didn't know Highway Star was Deep Purple. That song is a jam! Some serious Dazed and Confused nostalgia there. Their biggest hit, Smoke on the Water, is ok. The rest of the album is pretty good.

Perusrockia

Erittäin toimiva. Klassikkokamaa

Solid album, I especially love the guitar and other instrumentals, but not really my thing personally.

Second half of the album is much better than the first, including the mighty 'Smoke on the Water'

This seems much more about perspiration than inspiration. And am not sure I'd want to be in that room. All a bit ploddy and the tunes aren't all that. The story behind 'Smoke' sounds quite interesting, but the song itself doesn't really reflect that.

Bailed after the first track. Shocking, awful sound.

When it comes to rock music Deep Purple is solid and so is this album. But it's nothing that will be too memorable for me.

One of the albums that shaped hard rock. Some good bangers here, definitely. Historic piece

shit ass dad rock

I'm sure this sounded better in 1972, before generations of rock bands that all sound exactly like this made the same record 500 times. It's not bad, though. Smoke on the Water is obviously a classic for a reason. Highway Star is cheesy fun. Lazy was a standout for me, love its more bluesy sound. Overall a very middle of the road classic rock album. Favorite track: Lazy

Although I'm not a huge fan of guitar, this album was pretty cool. 70s vibes

Thank you Album Generator for having me listen to more Deep Purple. I loved the last loud, glorious album and obviously this one is also a monster. Perfectly pointless lyrics but riffs and licks for days.

Deep Purple is one of the pioneering heavy metal and classic rock bands of their time. With that being said, I hated it.

When I think of the 70's rock, Deep Purple has never come to mind. I have AC/DC, the Led, the Doors... but this proves that other's were executing rock at another level. I'll be back to dive in once again.

Hell yeah- what a relief from Megadeath. This is good classic rock in my book. It goes hard with some sick solos but it's not gratuitous. It pushes the edges in the right way. I never new the story/lyrics to smoke on the water were so basic, lol. Did you read the Wikipedia entry? Listened to it twice

Nothing original, soulless

By far my favourite purple album

Great album

Classic Rock n Roll