Deep Purple
Fireball

THE REVIEW

On the laurels of "In Rock," a year later Deep Purple resumed churning out songs and live performances repeatedly... primarily the famous single "Strange Kind Of Woman," an excellent song energetic enough. The song would prevail in live performances, but not in the upcoming album: "Fireball," an album that was supposed to replicate the success of "In Rock." At least in this objective, "Fireball" fails completely, selling fewer copies than its predecessor, but it must be said that the album is instead excellent, and despite new psychedelic and country glimpses, we are faced with a product in pure "Deep" style, with frenetic playing but, unlike its predecessor, less incendiary.

Despite the titular "Fireball" suggesting otherwise (the song really seems like it's come out of "In Rock"), the rest is different music. "No No No" is a remarkable rock ballad, but not exceptional; "Demon's Eye" is a composition in the style of "Bloodsucker," but in slow motion; in "Anyone's Daughter" you can feel a breath of novelty, as this song is Gillan's homage to country, partially revisiting the sounds from the band's early albums; with "The Mule," we enter psychedelia with almost Egyptian soft sounds (mentioning the live version of this song is a must, with a wild Paice on the drums with a long and fierce solo that extends the original length of the track), while with "Fools" we return to more prog rock atmospheres. "No One Came" is instead a return to finally more rock sounds.

In conclusion, the album is truly excellent, very varied but inferior to its predecessor...