Track Listing

1. Speed King
2. Bloodsucker
3. Child In Time
4. Flight Of The Rat
5. Into The Fire
6. Living Wreck
7. Hard Lovin' Man
8. Black Night
9. Studio Chat 1
10. Speed King (1)
11. Studio Chat 2
12. Cry Free
13. Studio Chat 3
14. Jam Stew
15. Studio Chat 4
16. Flight Of The Rat (1)
17. Studio Chat 5
18. Woffle And Speed King
19. Studio Chat 6
20. Black Night (1)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #762 in Music
• Released on: 1995-06-19
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Monolithic, immense and enduring--much like that cover image: the band-members' heads carved into the side of a mountain, a la Mt. Rushmore. Perhaps they felt they'd earned such veneration, having emerged relatively unscathed from the experience of Jon Lord's overblown Concerto For Group And Orchestra. Whatever the rationale, the band regrouped in early 1970--complete with new vocalist Ian Gillan--and set about making one of the decade's undisputed hard-rock classics. For all their undoubted power--and despite the jazzy inflections of Ian Paice's drumming--there's little in the way of groove to these tracks; rather, they're about volume and density, the simple piling-on of dynamics. Clocking in at over ten minutes, "Child In Time" ranks as a classic of its kind, while tracks like "Speed King" and "Into The Fire" see the band at its most unfettered--Richie Blackmore and Lord trading solos with a dazzling sort of ease, and Gillan loosing the full-throated roar for which he soon became renowned. --Andrew McGuire

Customer Reviews

The album that put the wow in wow!!!!!!!!!!
Its probably fair to say that this is the one album that sits in just about every self respecting rock fans collection, whether they, like me, were knocking about on its original release, or for younger enthusiasts have bought it for its historical value.
This mk2 version of Purple, benefiting from the addition of Ian Gillan's wonderful vocal range (my daughter calls him 'the voice') and Roger Glover's excellent bass and knowledge of musical arrangements, kicked off with an album that not only became the first example of genuine 'hard rock', but unlike some other bands also allowed the depth of their music to shine through.
While not wishing to be critical of the albums contents, how can you knock the likes of 'child in time', 'hard lovin' man', 'speed king' etc or the prowess of the band members, they all featured in the music papers top ten polls for guitarists etc, for me the overriding feature of this album is its intensity. From start to finish the wow factor seems to leap straight at you, and personally I have never experienced that with any other album.
Often rated in tandem with Sabbath's debut album as the influencing factors for 'heavy metal'. If indeed this is true, had bands such as Motorhead, Def Leopard etc listened a bit more carefully they may have created something a little less shallow than the dross that they eventually put out, after all this album shows them how to do it.

Should be no need to recommend this to you rock fans out there, so all I'll say is 'carry on enjoying'.

Mark II - change in direction for the better
For those of you who are unaware this was the second incarnation of Deep Purple, the most notable change being the vocalist Ian Gillan with his screaming, howling and soulful vocal chords. Faint of heart beware, this could have been the founding point of heavy metal (Speed King). They went in an instant from being an art rock band to being a hard rock band. The three pronged attack of organ, vocal and guitar make this album see-saw between brooding and frantic. However, nothing can be taken away from the very tight rhythm section of Ian Paice and Roger Glover. This is really the best of Mark II, and in the later albums of this grouping most of the songs are done better on live versions (especially Machine head - Smoke on the Water is pretty lame as the studio version).

Definitely not dull and spiritless
I've owned several versions of this album on vinyl, cassette and CD since it was first released, so know it pretty well, so I thought I'd comment on some of the other reviews. The comparisons with Led Zepellin made me play the "Remasters" double-CD, then look up Leaden in the dictionary, as it sounded more like Leaden Zeppelin. Well, one definition was, yes you've guessed, it "dull and spiritless". I'd also like to address comments about Ian Paice having "less bash", and the band "never having been a rhythm section". Could you imagine Deep Purple with John Bonham or, say, Ginger Baker? I think not. Even Paul McCartney chose Ian Paice, when he could have had any drummer in the world. The golfing terms "swing" and "drive" come to mind in describing Ian Paice. And,as for a rhythm section, can you imagine what Leaden Zep might have sounded like with Ian Paice and Roger Glover after John Bonham's demise?