Machine Head

Machine Head is a defining Deep Purple album from the Mark II lineup, joining riff, improvisation, vocal power, and groove with astonishing economy. Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar lights the fuse with sharp, simple phrases, while Jon Lord’s Hammond organ becomes not accompaniment but an equal lead voice, constantly challenging the guitar. Ian Paice’s drums and Roger Glover’s bass keep the music in motion even when the arrangements become intricate, and Ian Gillan’s high, forceful vocal fixes the level of heat in every song. From the headlong rush of “Highway Star” and the sticky rhythm of “Maybe I’m a Leo” to the tightly locked ensemble of “Pictures of Home” and the bluesy improvisational space of “Lazy,” every track reveals the band’s strengths from a different angle. “Smoke on the Water” is so famous that it is sometimes treated as a simple riff song, but its huge impact comes from the restrained beat, the timing between the vocal and instruments, and the sense that all five musicians share the same center of gravity. With “Space Truckin’” closing the record, there is no display of technique merely for its own sake. The group turns the smallest amount of material into the greatest possible heat by reacting to one another in real time. More than a template for 1970s hard rock, it is an exceptionally concentrated document of band interplay.