Machine Head (album)

Machine Head is the sixth studio album released by the English rock band Deep Purple. It was recorded during December 1971 in Montreux, Switzerland, and released in March 1972.

Machine Head
Studio album by
Deep Purple
Released25 March 1972 (1972-03-25)
Recorded6–21 December 1971
StudioGrand Hotel, Montreux, Switzerland with the 16 Track Rolling Stones Mobile Studio
Genre
Length37:46
LabelPurple (Europe, Oceania, South America)
Warner Bros. (USA, Canada & Japan)
ProducerDeep Purple
Deep Purple chronology
Fireball
(1971)		 Machine Head
(1972)		 Who Do We Think We Are
(1973)
Singles from Machine Head
  1. "Never Before"
    Released: 18 March 1972
  2. "Highway Star"
    Released: March 1972
  3. "Smoke on the Water"
    Released: May 1973
Alternative cover
25th anniversary CD slipcase

Machine Head is often cited as a major influence in the early development of the heavy metal music genre. Commercially, it is Deep Purple's most successful album, topping the charts in several countries following its release. The album reached number 1 in the United Kingdom and stayed in the top 40 for 20 weeks. It reached number 7 in the United States, in August 1973, remaining on the Billboard 200 for 118 weeks.

Background

Deep Purple initially planned to record Machine Head in December 1971, at Montreux Casino in Switzerland. A mobile recording studio owned by the Rolling Stones had been booked and hotel reservations made,[1] but lead singer Ian Gillan contracted hepatitis. Cancelling a forthcoming tour of America, the band placed all their plans on hold, and Gillan was advised by his doctor to spend the next few months recuperating. Nevertheless, enthused by the new project, the band travelled to Switzerland to begin recording.[2] The Casino was a large arena built in a complex of casinos, restaurants and other entertainment facilities. The band had performed there in May 1971 and enjoyed both the location and Claude Nobs, founder and general manager of the famous Montreux Jazz Festival. Among others, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath had all performed there. The Casino closed for refurbishments each winter, and so the band arrived there on 3 December. One last concert date remained, following which they were to have the location to themselves.[3]

Recording

Frank Zappa's concert of 4 December at the Casino was made infamous when a member of the audience fired a flare into the building's roof. Although there were no fatalities, the resultant fire ruined Deep Purple's plans.[4] Nobs relocated the band to a nearby theatre called the Pavilion, where they recorded the basic tracks for a song provisionally named "Title No. 1". Bass player Roger Glover said he woke up one morning saying the title "Smoke on the Water" out loud. Later Gillan, based on the title, wrote the lyrics describing the band's experience in Montreux, recording the Machine Head album.[5] A photograph of the burning Montreux Casino would ultimately be included in the gatefold of Machine Head's album cover.

We had the Rolling Stones' mobile recording unit sitting outside in the snow, but to get there we had to run cable through two doors in the corridor into a room, through a bathroom and into another room, from which it went across a bed and out the veranda window, then ran along the balcony for about 100 feet and came back in through another bedroom window. It then went through that room's bathroom and into another corridor, then all the way down a marble staircase to the foyer reception area of the hotel, out the front door, across the courtyard and up the steps into the back of the mobile unit. I think that setup led to capturing some spontaneity, because once we got to the truck for a playback, even if we didn't think it was a perfect take, we'd go, 'Yeah, that's good enough.' Because we just couldn't stand going back again.

Ritchie Blackmore[6]

As a new location the Pavilion proved to be impractical, as nearby residents flooded the local police station's switchboard to complain about the noise the band made. Although the police were prevented from entering the building by the band's roadies, who held the venue's doors shut, the band were quickly evicted. They searched for other locations in which to record and settled on the empty Grand Hotel, on the edge of Montreux. With the mobile recording unit parked at the main entrance, they set up at the end of one of the building's corridors, off the main lobby.[7] An assortment of equipment and sound-insulating mattresses meant that to get to the recording van the band were forced to walk through bedrooms and across balconies. This proved so arduous that they stopped listening to playbacks of their recordings, instead performing until they were satisfied with what they had.[8]

A song entitled "When a Blind Man Cries" was recorded during these sessions, but not included on the album. Instead, it was used as the B-side on the "Never Before" single. The song appears as a bonus track on the album's 25th anniversary edition.

The supporting tour for Machine Head included a trip to Japan that would later become the double-live Made in Japan album. Four songs off Machine Head ("Highway Star", "Smoke on the Water", "Lazy" and "Space Truckin'") would be included on the final cut of the original Made in Japan LP.

Release and reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
BBC Musicfavourable[10]
Christgau's Record GuideB[11]
MusicHound[12]
Record Collector[13]
Rolling Stonefavourable[14]
The Daily VaultA[15]

Machine Head hit the number one spot on the British charts within seven days of its release, remaining there for two weeks before returning in May for a further week. In the US, on initial release in 1972 the album charted at number 34 the album then peaked at number seven in 1973 when 'Smoke on the Water' became a hit and remained in the Billboard charts for two years.[16]

Rolling Stone's Lester Bangs praised the lyrics to "Highway Star" and "Space Truckin'" as well as the entire album's music, although he was less complimentary about the lyrics for the remaining songs: "In between those two Deep Purple classics lies nothing but good, hard-socking music, although some of the lyrics may leave a bit to be desired." Concluding: "I do know that this very banality is half the fun of rock 'n' roll. And I am confident that I will love the next five Deep Purple albums madly so long as they sound exactly like these last three."[14] Robert Christgau rated the album a B, writing "I approve of their speeding, and Ritchie Blackmore has copped some self-discipline as well as a few suspicious-sounding licks from his buddies in London."[17] AllMusic critic Eduardo Rivadavia called Machine Head "one of the essential hard rock albums of all time."[9]

Machine Head contains classical and blues influences. Blackmore confirmed that the chord progression for the solos in "Highway Star" was inspired by the work of 18th-century composer Johann Sebastian Bach.[18] The song was actually composed by Blackmore and Gillan at the start of the Fireball gigs on a bus travelling to Portsmouth Guild Hall, in response to a question from a member of the press as to how the band created their material.[7]

Blackmore noted that Machine Head was recorded in about three weeks, remarking that "everything was natural and it all worked." He further stated, "I didn't like Fireball very much because we were just working too much. But we had about a month off before Machine Head, which allowed me to get my head together and write some stuff."[19]

Kerrang! magazine listed the album at No. 35 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time" in 1989.[20]

In an Observer Music Monthly Greatest British Albums poll, Ozzy Osbourne chose Machine Head as one of his ten favourite British records of all time.[21]

Machine Head is the subject of one of the Classic Albums series of documentaries about the making of famous albums. Machine Head was released on the multichannel formats DVD-Audio (2001) in a new 5.1 channel mix and SACD (2003) with the European quadraphonic mix, and more recently, also on SACD on 17 August 2011, by Warner Music Group in its Warner Premium Sound series (which has the same 5.1 channel mix as the 2001 DVD-Audio version).[22]

40th anniversary releases

The 40th anniversary edition of Machine Head was released on 8 October 2012 by EMI; it is a five-disc set accompanied with fully illustrated 60-page hardback booklet. Its contents include: Original album 2012 remaster (CD1), Roger Glover's 1997 mixes (CD2), Original album quad SQ stereo (2012 remaster) (CD3), In Concert '72 from Paris Theatre, London, 9 March 1972 – 2012 mix (CD4), 2012 high resolution remaster & surround mixes (DVD, audio only).

Also as part of the celebrations of the 40th anniversary celebrations Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head was released on 25 September 2012 by Eagle Rock Entertainment.[23]

Track listing

Original vinyl release

All tracks are written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Highway Star"6:05
2."Maybe I'm a Leo"4:51
3."Pictures of Home"5:03
4."Never Before"3:56
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Smoke on the Water"5:40
2."Lazy"7:19
3."Space Truckin'"4:31

25th anniversary edition
Disc 1: 1997 Remixes
No.TitleLength
1."Highway Star"6:29
2."Maybe I'm a Leo"5:30
3."Pictures of Home"5:24
4."Never Before"4:01
5."Smoke on the Water"6:16
6."Lazy"7:33
7."Space Truckin'"4:54
8."When a Blind Man Cries" (B-Side)3:31
Disc 2: Remastered
No.TitleLength
1."Highway Star"6:09
2."Maybe I'm a Leo"4:52
3."Pictures of Home"5:06
4."Never Before"4:00
5."Smoke on the Water"5:42
6."Lazy"7:23
7."Space Truckin'"4:34
8."When a Blind Man Cries" (B-Side)3:32
9."Maybe I'm a Leo" (Quadrophonic mix)4:59
10."Lazy" (Quadrophonic mix)6:55

40th anniversary edition
Disc One: Original Album 2012 Remaster
No.TitleLength
1."Highway Star"6:08
2."Maybe I'm a Leo"4:52
3."Pictures of Home"5:08
4."Never Before"4:00
5."Smoke on the Water"5:42
6."Lazy"7:24
7."Space Truckin'"4:35
8."When a Blind Man Cries"3:32
Disc Two: Roger Glover's 1997 Remixes
No.TitleLength
1."Highway Star"6:39
2."Maybe I'm a Leo"5:25
3."Pictures of Home"5:21
4."Never Before"3:59
5."Smoke on the Water"6:18
6."Lazy"7:33
7."Space Truckin'"4:52
8."When a Blind Man Cries"3:33
Disc Three: Original Album Quad Sq Stereo
No.TitleLength
1."Highway Star"6:11
2."Maybe I'm a Leo"4:55
3."Pictures of Home"5:04
4."Never Before"3:59
5."Smoke on the Water"5:39
6."Lazy"6:53
7."Space Truckin'"4:34
8."Smoke on the Water" (US A-Side Edit)3:50
9."Lazy" (Japanese B-Side)2:30
Disc Four: In Concert '72 (2012 Remix)
No.TitleLength
1."Introduction"0:16
2."Highway Star"8:32
3."Strange Kind of Woman"9:17
4."Maybe I'm a Leo"6:17
5."Smoke on the Water"7:09
6."Never Before"4:34
7."Lazy"10:22
8."Space Truckin'"21:46
9."Lucille" (Albert Collins, Richard Penniman)7:21
10."Soundcheck: Maybe I'm a Leo"4:32

Personnel
Deep Purple
Production
  • Martin Birch – engineering, mixing with Deep Purple
  • Jeremy "Bear" Gee – assistant engineer
  • Nick Watterton – Rolling Stones Mobile Studio operator
  • Ian Hansford, Rob Cooksey, Colin Hart – equipment technicians
  • Shephard Sherbell – photography
  • Roger Glover and John Coletta – cover design
  • Peter Denenberg and Roger Glover – remixing (1997)
  • Peter Mew – remastering at Abbey Road Studios, London (1997)

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
France (SNEP)[47] 2× Gold 200,000*
Italy (FIMI)[48] Gold 50,000*
Japan (RIAJ)[49] Gold 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[50] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[51] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Accolades
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Kerrang! United Kingdom "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time"[52] 1989 35
Q United Kingdom "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time"[53] 2001 no ranking
Mojo United Kingdom "The Ultimate CD Buyers Guide – Rock"[54] 2001 66
Q United Kingdom "The 30 Greatest Classic Rock Albums Ever"[55] 2004 no ranking
Kerrang! United Kingdom "100 Best British Rock Albums Ever"[56] 2005 34
Classic Rock United Kingdom "100 Greatest British Rock Album Ever"[57] 2006 26
The Guardian United Kingdom "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die"[58] 2007 no ranking

Covers
  • Yngwie J. Malmsteen covered "Pictures of Home" on his album Inspiration (1996).
  • Carlos Santana covered "Smoke on the Water" in 2010.
  • Pat Boone covered "Smoke on the Water" on his 1997 album In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy.
  • Metallica covered "When a Blind Man Cries" for Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head
  • Iron Maiden covered "Space Trucking" for Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head

References
  1. Various Mojo Magazine (1 November 2007). The Mojo Collection: 4th Edition. Canongate Books. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-84767-643-6.
  2. Thompson 2004, pp. 123–126
  3. Thompson 2004, pp. 125–126
  4. Thompson 2004, p. 126
  5. Thompson 2004, p. 127
  6. "100 Greatest Guitar Solos: 15) "Highway Star" (Ritchie Blackmore)". guitarworld.com. 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2011.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  7. "Classic Albums – Deep Purple – Machine Head" (DVD). Eagle Rock Entertainment. 2002. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  8. Thompson 2004, pp. 126–129
  9. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Review Machine Head". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  10. Smith, Sid (18 April 2007). "Review of Deep Purple – Machine Head". BBC Online. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  11. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: D". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 24 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  12. http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/061024/A257.htm
  13. Staunton, Terry (October 2012). "Deep Purple - Machine Head". Record Collector. No. 406. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  14. Bangs, Lester (25 May 1972). "Album review Machine Head". Rolling Stone. Jann S. Wenner. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  15. Thelen, Christopher (2019). "The Daily Vault Music Reviews: Machine Head". dailyvault.com. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  16. Thompson 2004, p. 131
  17. Christgau, Robert (1972). "Deep Purple". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  18. Campbell & Brody 2008, p. 217
  19. "Ritchie Blackmore - Recalls Life with Deep Purple". Guitar.com. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  20. Oliver, Derek (21 January 1989). "Deep Purple 'Machine Head'". Kerrang!. 222. London, UK: Spotlight Publications Ltd.
  21. "Observer Music Monthly – Greatest British Albums – June 2004". Kerrang. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  22. Warner Premium Sound 17 August 2011 releases Archived 13 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  23. "Re-Machined Deep Purple Tribute". Eagle Rock Entertainment. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  24. "Go-Set Australian charts - 8 July 1972". poparchives.com.au.
  25. "Hits of the World", Billboard 27 May 1972
  26. "Albumit 1972-04 huhtikuu". Wiki.pomus.net (in Finnish). Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  27. "infodisc.fr Note : You must select Deep Purple". infodisc.fr. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  28. "Charts-Surfer: Musik Nr.1-Hits". charts-surfer.de.
  29. "Deep Purple Official Charts". Official Chart Company. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  30. "Deep Purple - Machine Head". Dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  31. "Deep Purple - Machine Head (album)". Norwegiancharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  32. "Deep Purple - Machine Head". Austriancharts.at (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  33. "Gli album più venduti del 1972" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia.it. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  34. "SwedishCharts 0969-0872" (PDF). Hitsallertijden.nl. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  35. AA.VV. (1990). Oricon Chart Book 1970-1989 (オリコンチャートブック〈LP編) (1 ed.). Tokyo, Japan: Oricon. p. 205. ISBN 978-4871310253.
  36. "Deep Purple Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  37. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 20, No. 1, August 18 1973". Library and Archives Canada. 18 August 1973. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  38. "Danske Hitliter: Never Before - Deep Purple" (in Danish). Royal Library, Denmark. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  39. "Deep Purple - Never Before". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  40. "Single – Deep Purple, Never Before". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  41. "infodisc.fr Note : You must select Deep Purple". infodisc.fr. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  42. "Top Singles - Volume 19, No. 26, August 11, 1973". Library and Archives Canada. 11 August 1973. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  43. "Deep Purple Chart History: The Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  44. "Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water". Austriancharts.at (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  45. "Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water". Dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  46. "Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water". Ultratop.be (Flanders) (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  47. "French album certifications – Deep Purple – Machine Head" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 13 April 2017. Select DEEP PURPLE and click OK. 
  48. "Italian album certifications – Deep Purple – Machine Head" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select "2017" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Machine Head" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
  49. "Japanese album certifications – Deep Purple – Machine Head" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  50. "British album certifications – Deep Purple – Machine Head". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Machine Head in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  51. "American album certifications – Deep Purple – Machine Head". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  52. "Kerrang – 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time – January 1989". Kerrang. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  53. "Q – 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time – July 2001". Kerrang. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  54. "Mojo – The Ultimate CD Buyers Guide – Rock – July 2001". Mojo. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  55. "Q – The 30 Greatest Classic Rock Albums Ever – October 2004". Q. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  56. "Kerrang — 100 Best British Rock Albums Ever — February 2005". Kerrang. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  57. "Classic Rock – 100 Greatest British Rock Albums Ever – April 2006". Classic Rock. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  58. "The Guardian – 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die – November 2007". Classic Rock. Retrieved 10 February 2009.

Bibliography

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.