DEEP PURPLE 'MACHINE HEAD' RARE QUAD VERSION '74 W/INSERT TOP MINT-

	£		78
	$		103

>Nr Archive Copy<

Deep Purple

'Machine Head'

Purple, USA, 1972

BS4 2607

ALONGSIDE 'IN ROCK' this has to be the perfect rock album form the perfect rock band. Sure, the blues rock of Led Zeppelin made it to a bigger level and Black Sabbath placated the masses with their dirge like metal but if it was intelligent, sophisticated hard rock that floated your boat then Purple were the kings of the scene back in the early seventies. 'Machine Head' is about as good as it gets and the band were unquestionably at the top of their game, talent ouzing from their fingertips.

Amazingly the entire album is stuffed with grade-A material. No filler and no room for half baked ideas. Kicking off with 'Highway Star', the frantic hard rocker that stiff remains a live favourite to this very day featuring tremedous organ/guitar interplay and straight into the funky yet hard as nails 'Maybe I'm A Leo' and then 'Picture Of Home' complete with  brilliant Jon Lord hammond organ propelling the track into overdrive. Side one finishes on another high with the brilliantly catchy (and heavy) 'Never Before'

Side Two commences with the world's greatest guitar riff; 'Smoke On The Water'. Blackmore's presence is all pervasive but none more so than here. It's just the most perfect guitar song ever composed, right from the monumental riff to the exacting solo. The seven minute long 'Lazy' cuts an isolated groove with its jazzy tempo and guitar driven riff allowing Blackmore to shine until, once again, Jon Lord steps up to the plate with some deft Hammond touches. Final track 'Space Truckin'' knocks the point home in fine fettle with its big and blustery hard rock riffage and Gillan reaching for the stars. Definitely one of the best tracks in the vast Deep Purple cannon.

So there you have it, arguably the bands best effort alongside 'In Rock' and an album that simply refuses to lie down and be forgotten. If you really want to know what the early seventies was all about musically then I suggest you start here.

This is the extremely rare Quadraphonic version of the album issued for a nanosecond at the time of release to cash in on the fad for Quad sound. Sadly the public voted with their feet to reject that format and this version was deleted almost immediately. The mixes here are unique and different from the regular stereo version...hence the rarity.  

This auction is part of a fantastic collection of seventies rock which I was lucky enough to acquire. Most of these records were stored with the utmost care and sparsely played. Some were possibly never played or may have been for just a handful of times.

Pressing: Purple, USA, 1974

Vinyl: Nice clean condition. Only minor signs of any use - can't see any spindle marks on labels. Displays a familiar mottled effect on the surface that all US pressing from this era show - this has no egffect on playback what so ever. My one time playback reveals near perfect sound. Grades as a shop fresh MINT-!

Cover: Again, no signs of use. Issued in a beautifully illustrated thick heavy guage gatefold cover retaining full printers bloom. Sharp corners, no dings, no bends, no ring wear, no creases and no split seams. Spine is straight, stiff and uncrushed - beautiful 'creak' appeal on opening. Looks like it stepped out of the factory yesterday. Beautiful and impossible to find like this 42 years after release. Grades as a shop fresh MINT!

Inserts: Unique original folded lyric insert

Matrix:

1st Pressing

Side One: S40687 - QUAD - 1B

Side Two: S40688 - QUAD - 1B

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