Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Most importantly 1972 saw the arrival of the third album of what is regarded by metal and heavy rock history as the holy trinity. With that statement I've given the game away, but I want to spread the love around. 1972 saw the debut of Blue Oyster Cult with their self titled debut, upping the technical anti and giving the world an enduring anthem in "Cities A Flame With Rock And Roll". Sabbath returned with Vol. IV and brought one hell of a ballad with them in the form of "Changes". Alice Cooper continued to invent all the hallmarks of the Shock Rock genre with the iconic School's Out, while Hawkwind and Thin Lizzy offered up a pair of passable offerings.

But all of this great rock music played second fiddle to one album:

Among die hards debate still rages as to which is the greatest of Deep Purple's classic albums but for the casual fan and the metal genre at large there is no doubt. Machine Head is an album that changed music. Listening to it now it's impossible not to hear it's influence not only on Maiden and the bands of the eighties but on today's big riffing hard rockers. Ian Gillan's vocals are just as iconic, if not quite as distinct, as Ozzy and Plant before him. The riffage on this album is just off the scales, and the use of keys and organ to complement the guitar, while dated, helps Deep Purple sound utterly distinct even after years of cheap knock offs. Across this album there are riffs that crunch, that soar, that chug and that drive like a mother fucker. Oh and there's some song called "Smoke On The Water", if you've learnt to play guitar, you've played that riff, but behind the legendary riff, lies a stellar vocal performance and a hook laden chorus that I fear too few of today's aspiring metallers have actually heard.

Now when you think duel guitar solo's there's a fair chance you think Maiden but the true originators were Deep Purple. When it comes to metal classics, one track is shamefully under represented and that is the sheer mind blowing genius of "Highway Star". It almost astounds me that this track was made in 1972 it still sounds so fresh. The guitars are more visceral than they have any right to be (this is pre punk remember, not quite pre Iggy though), the track chugs and it nearly develops into a Maiden-eske gallop, Ian Gillan is exploding with energy, and the solos are just gorgeous. Across the rest of the album we get the big ballsy crunching blues riffs cranked up to the max and combined with some classic metal vocals that almost verge on the operatic. Listening to Machine Head now you can feel and hear the inspiration for a million different sub genres and deviations. It may not be metal's greatest listen but it's the type of album that make you want to pick up a guitar and start laying down some thick grooves. Perhaps more than Sabbath and Zeppelin, Deep Purple sound like an all star music collective. You can hear the blues, the classic rock and roll, the surf-arama, a touch of rock-a-billy and some big pop hooks that The Beatles would have been proud of, and most remarkably of all you can hear it on a single track like the wonderfully epic "Pictures Of Home", my person favourite Deep Purple track. So next time someone's raving about Ozzy & Iomni or Page & Plant make sure they don't forget Gillan & Blackmore.

The Metal Time Line (so far):