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Rating: So... what to say, a spectacular album, which however does not boast the experimental freshness of Fireball or the spectacular power of In Rock; nonetheless, it is a great album containing many of Purple's most famous songs like Highway Star, Lazy, Space Truckin, the single When a Blind Man Cries, not to mention Smoke On The Water... which enjoys a certain popularity even among those who listen to anything but hard rock. You won't find someone on the street humming its refrain, and this is annoying because it's not that they know it but they whistle it.
There are 7 songs in total plus the single When a Blind Man Cries... it starts with Highway Star, with a beautiful Hammond intro and Ian Gillan's screeching screams, the song is essentially about a car, and it’s one of the most beautiful, it has a very fast rhythm, mainly thanks to Blackmore who, with his technique, produces a Machine Gun effect. Not to mention the solos, quite standard for Lord but one, indeed the fastest guitar solo of those years. Then there's Maybe I'm A Leo, Pictures Of Home beautiful and very epic and then Never Before which are beautiful songs but little known because they were hardly ever performed live in those years; then it's Smoke's turn, a beautiful song with one of the best riffs on the face of the earth even if it is very simple, the song talks about their arrival in Montreux at the end of '71 and the difficulties they had recording this album due to the conditions in which they had to record it, basically running every moment from the cold Grand Hotel to the Rolling Stone Mobile Studio. The song also boasts a memorable solo!
Then there's Lazy, you could say that after Lord's haunting intro it's a rhythm'n'blues song based on solos of a Lord and a Blackmore challenging each other at their best: the song also has a small sung section that is interrupted by an accordion solo. The album closes with Space Truckin, a beautiful song that, however, has nothing special apart from the grit it contains... and another beautiful solo marked by Blackmore.
In conclusion, I would say that the album is fantastic but that it suffers in comparison to the legendary Made in Japan which enhances its best songs!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Highway Star (06:08)
Yeah---
Nobody gonna take my car, I'm gonna race it to the ground
Nobody gonna beat my car, it's gonna break the speed of sound
Ooh it's a killing machine
It's got everything
Like a driving power, big fat tires and everything
I love it, and I need it, I feed it
Yeah it's a wild hurricane
Alright, hold tight, I'm a highway star
Nobody gonna take my girl, I'm gonna keep her to the end
Nobody gonna have my girl, she stays close on every bend
Ooh she's a killing machine
She's got everything
Like a moving mouth, body control and everything
I love her, I need her, I seed her
Yeah she turns me on
Alright, hold tight, I'm a highway star
Nobody gonna take my head, I got speed inside my brain
Nobody gonna steal my head now that I'm on the road again
Ooh I'm in heaven again
I've got everything
Like a moving ground, an open road and everything
I love it, I need it, I feed it
Eight cylinders all mine
Alright, hold tight, I'm a highway star
Nobody gonna take my car, I'm gonna race it to the ground
Nobody gonna beat my car, it's gonna break the speed of sound
Ooh it's a killing machine
It's got everything
Like a driving power, big fat tires and everything
I love it, and I need it, I feed it
Yeah it's a wild hurricane
Alright, hold tight, I'm a highway star
I'm a highway star
I'm a highway star
02 Maybe I'm a Leo (04:52)
Peeping round the door I got a big surprise
Couldn't see a thing but open skies
They've taken her away where is she now
Wish that she was here wish she'd hold my hand
Maybe she could laugh maybe understand
Why was I so cruel where is she now
Acting like a fool I had to make her cry
Maybe I'm a Leo but I ain't a lion
I'm hurting oh so bad, I want her now
03 Pictures of Home (05:07)
Somebody's shouting
Up at a mountain
Only my own words return
Nobody's up there
It's a deception
I'm alone here
With emptiness eagles and snow
Unfriendliness chilling my body
And whispering pictures of home
Wondering blindly
How can they find me
Maybe they don't even know
My body is shaking
Anticipating
The call of the black footed crow
I'm alone here
With emptiness eagles and snow
Unfriendliness chilling my body
And whispering pictures of home
Here in this prison
Of my own making
Year after day I have grown
Into a hero
But there's no worship
Where have they hidden my thrown
I'm alone here
With emptiness eagles and snow
Unfriendliness chilling my body
And whispering pictures of home
05 Smoke on the Water (05:42)
We all came out to Montreux
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didn't have much time
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place in town
When some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
Smoke on the water
A fire in the sky
Smoke on the water
They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
Funky Claude was running in and out
Dragging kids out the ground
When it all was over
We had to find another place
Swiss time was running out
It seemed that we would lose the race
Smoke on the water
A fire in the sky
Smoke on the water
We ended up at the grand hotel
It was empty, cold and bare
And with the rolling truck stones thing just outside
We made our music there
With a few red lights and a few old beds
We made a place to sweat
No matter what we get out of this
I know I know we'll never forget
Smoke on the water
A fire in the sky
Smoke on the water
06 Lazy (07:22)
You're lazy Just stay in bed
You're lazy Just stay in bed
You don't want no money
You don't want no bread
If you're drowning you don't clutch no straw
If you're drowning you don't clutch no straw
You don't want to live you don't want to cry no more
Well my trying ain't done no good
I said my trying ain't done no good
You don't make no effort no not like you should
Lazy you just stay in bed
Lazy you just stay in bed
You don't want no money
You don't want no bread
07 Space Truckin' (04:34)
Well we had a lot of luck on Venus
We always had a ball on Mars
Meeting all the groovy people
We've rocked the Milky Way so far
We danced around with Borealis
We're space truckin' 'round the the stars
Come on let's go Space Truckin'
Come on
Space Truckin'
Remember when we did the moonshot
And Pony Trekker led the way
We'd move to the Canaveral moonstop
And every 'naut would dance and sway
We got music in our solar system
We're space truckin' round the stars
Come on let's go Space Truckin'
The fireball that we rode was moving
But now we've got a new machine
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah the freaks said
Man those cats can really swing
They got music in their solar system
They've rocked around the Milky Way
They've danced around the Borealis
They're Space Truckin' everyday
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Space truckin'
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Space truckin'
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Space truckin'
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Space truckin'
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Other reviews
By blackmore 72
The song immediately stands out with its terrifying energy, featuring solos by Lord first and then by Blackmore, almost as if they were challenging each other.
SMOKE ON THE WATER immortalizes the difficulties the Purple encountered during the recording of the album.
By Filippo Guzzardi
"Smoke On The Water boasts what would become the most famous riff of the century."
"Machine Head is THE album par excellence of Deep Purple, defining hard rock with brilliant, evergreen sound and unforgettable solos."
