Machine Head

[Zzzptm]

I'll level with you all, I think the first song is cursed, at least for me. No matter how freewheeling the road may be, AS SOON AS THAT TRACK COMES UP ON MY PLAYLIST, I hit traffic or closed lanes or both. Every time. But if I endure the traffic and restart the song, the curse is temporarily lifted and I can let my car sing along with the pounding V8 that is the rhythm section on this track.

Everything works on "Highway Star". Everything. This is first-class, top-shelf, heavy metal rock and roll. It's so easy to review an evergreen song like this, as I just kick back and enjoy the song - I find no fault at all with it, so I'll just stop typing and enjoy Blackmore's solo and the end, now.

Now, when I first heard "Maybe I'm a Leo", I didn't get it. Isn't Machine Head the album with the biggest, baddest monsters of rock that DP unleashed? I wanted ALL the tracks to explode and rip open the time-space fabric. It took me a few years, but I finally got it, and the payoff is good. A twisted lament of a dolt that let something special slip through his fingers, complete with a pair of fun solos. It's still a heavy song, just not a heavy metal song.

"Pictures of Home", however, I think steers back towards metal, especially with the cold, desperate lyric and the frantic rhythm line. Winter makes me think of this song and this song makes me think of winter, the two are forever intertwined. Like "Highway Star", I find no fault here and simply enjoy the hell out if it every chance I get.

If I find fault, it will be with "Never Before". It's a lovely tune, but does it really belong here, on *this* album? It's like a touch of Fireball leftovers. "When a Blind Man Cries" works much better in the #4 slot, overall, but "Never Before" is what was on the album when I first got it, and that's what I deal with. And I loved it as first, but it hasn't really stood the test of time the way the rest of the album does. If, after "Pictures of Home", DP did E5150 and "The Mob Rules", it would have fit perfectly. They didn't, so we have this heavy pop tune that isn't all that bad, really. It's just not as *good* as the rest of the album.

Flipping over to Side Two, we have DP's epic salute to Bossa Nova, "Smoke on the Water."

I kid you not, hear for yourself:

Even the phrasing matches what the band does, so it's not just Blackmore pulling off a musical heist on this one. At any rate, "Smoke on the Water" is "Smoke on the Water." DUH DUH DUH - DUH DUH DAH-DUHH - DUH DUH DUH - DUH-DUHHH. You know how it goes and, yes, it *IS* that great a song. I once made a playlist of ALL the versions of this song that I had, all versions of DP, Gillan solo, Black Sabbath, Motorhead, *everybody*! And I loved it!

Next comes "Lazy". I had no idea it was on its way - by the time Jon Lord ripped my face off with his Hammond Organ, it was too late. An absolute monolith of a song, dangerous, brutal, one of those monsters I was referring to earlier.

And then, "Space Truckin'". Just in case there's anything left of me after "Lazy", this song comes along to dance on the bones. This is heavy metal, no question about it. This is AWESOME heavy metal, no question about it.

This is a short review simply because the album is such a monster. It's straightforward for the most part, and it's amazing for the whole of the album. For anyone out there that hasn't heard it yet, what are you waiting for?