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 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, 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. 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.Recording
'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. 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. A photograph of the burning Montreux Casino would ultimately be included in the gatefold of Machine Head's album cover.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. 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.
A ballad 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 would be included on the final cut of the original Made in Japan LP.
Release and reception
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 peaked at number 34; the album then peaked at number seven in 1973 when "Smoke on the Water" became a hit, and the album remained in the Billboard charts for two years. The first single released from the album, "Never Before", reached only number 35 in the UK and did not chart in the US. Prompted by heavy radio play of "Smoke on the Water" as an album cut, Warner Brothers eventually released it as a single in 1973. It would become a massive hit in North America, reaching number 2 on the Canadian RPM charts and number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100.Rolling Stone
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. 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.
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."
Kerrang! magazine listed the album at No. 35 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time" in 1989.
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.
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 in a new 5.1 channel mix and SACD 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.
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, Roger Glover's 1997 mixes, Original album quad SQ stereo , ' from Paris Theatre, London, 9 March 1972 – 2012 mix, 2012 high resolution remaster & surround mixes.Also as part of the celebrations of the 40th anniversary celebrations ' was released on 25 September 2012 by Eagle Rock Entertainment.
Track listing
Original vinyl release
25th anniversary edition
40th anniversary edition
Personnel
;Deep Purple- Ritchie Blackmore – guitar
- Ian Gillan – vocals, harmonica
- Roger Glover – bass
- Jon Lord – keyboards
- Ian Paice – drums, percussion
- 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
- Peter Mew – remastering at Abbey Road Studios, London
Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
| 1972 | Australian Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1972 | Danish Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1972 | Finnish Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1972 | French Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1972 | German Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1972 | Yugoslav Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1972 | UK Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1972 | Dutch MegaCharts | 1 |
| 1972 | Norwegian Albums Chart | 3 |
| 1972 | Austrian Top 40 Albums | 4 |
| 1972 | Italian Albums Chart | 4 |
| 1972 | Swedish Albums Chart | 4 |
| 1972 | Japanese Albums Chart | 6 |
| 1972 | The Billboard 200 | 34 |
| 1973 | RPM100 | 1 |
| 1973 | The Billboard 200 | 7 |
;Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1972 | "Never Before" | Danish Singles Chart | 4 |
| 1972 | "Never Before" | Swiss Singles Top 75 | 4 |
| 1972 | "Never Before" | German Singles Chart | 20 |
| 1972 | "Never Before" | UK Singles Chart | 35 |
| 1972 | "Highway Star" | French Singles Chart | 30 |
| 1973 | "Smoke on the Water" | RPM100 Singles | 2 |
| 1973 | "Smoke on the Water" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 4 |
| 1973 | "Smoke on the Water" | Austrian Top 40 Singles | 11 |
| 1973 | "Smoke on the Water" | Dutch MegaCharts | 11 |
| 1973 | "Smoke on the Water" | German Singles Chart | 20 |
| 1973 | "Smoke on the Water" | Belgian Singles Chart | 27 |
| 1973 | "Smoke on the Water" | French Singles Chart | 64 |
| 1977 | "Smoke on the Water" | UK Singles Chart | 21 |
Certifications
Accolades
Covers
- Yngwie J. Malmsteen covered "Pictures of Home" on his album Inspiration.
- Carlos Santana covered "Smoke on the Water" in 2010.
- Pat Boone covered "Smoke on the Water" on his 1997 album .
- 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