The House of Blue Light - Deep Purple (1987)
in the past, I’ve tried to sync up my posting here with holidays like July 4th, letting the music–subtly or unsubtly–somehow make a statement about the moment. But honestly, folks: just like you probably are, I’m exhausted. So, much like my approach to my beloved Atlanta baseball club or my questions about whether there will ever be another interesting Stars Wars property, When things are this bad I just have to stop inviting myself to be angry and try to check back in periodically in the hopes of things becoming less stupid.
Any listicle of “most important forefathers of metal” or whatever will list Deep Purple in the mix, and that’s justified. Like some of the other bands that will be on that list, though, their product was pretty scattershot over the course of dozens of personnel changes and changes to popular taste over the decades.
Wikipedia helpfully labels the various versions of Deep Purple throughout the years as “Mark I,” “Mark II,” etc.
This is one of a couple of 80s albums that reunited the early 70s lineup responsible for the band’s undeniable magnum opus, Machine Head. Singer Ian Gillen, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and drummer Ian Paice come back together in the era of big hair and heavy studio compression and they play something that’s definitely of its time, but is actually pretty great inside those confines.
A big part of Purple’s sound has always been organ, usually by John Lord. Here Lord mostly avoids the temptation to try to update the sound with buzzing synths and sticks to organ, which makes this album a lot better than it might have been.
Bassist Roger Glover had grown into a hard rock producer of pedigree over the years, and by now was driving what Purple would sound like on record. He has a definite savvy for getting cleanly recorded solos and grooves down, and you can forgive him for burying his own basslines a bit to avoid showboating.
It’s a fun record that will never be on most people’s best-of lists, but one that’s definitely worth a listen.
