Deepest Purple

“Black night, black night,
I dont need black night,
I cant see dark night.
Maybe I'll find on the way down the line
That I'm free, free to be me.
Black night is a long way from home.”
--Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple from the single “Black Night.”



As I was playing the Heavy Metal Box Set, I was surprised and pleased by some of the artists/selections chosen.

I have always been a Deep Purple fan and have always felt that a box set of the band is long long overdue.

Noting that, the selection from Heavy Metal Box Set, Highway Star, is better than the obvious Smoke On The Water, but I would have preferred Black Night.

Minor whining, I suppose—as Speed King would be another great choice.

Since all of the Deep Purple albums have been remastered and now are available, I would highly recommend snagging them. The band has a long and entertaining history, as I am more convinced now than ever that Ritchie Blackmore is a true originator in the classification of Heavy Metal—considering his solo work, his work with Rainbow, and of course his groundbreaking talent in Deep Purple.

For an excellent book on Deep Purple, I recommend The Complete Deep Purple by Michael Heatley http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Deep-Purple-Michael-Heatley/dp/1903111994/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-4229849-1028705?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192968229&sr=1-2

The best albums (in my opinion and in order) are In Rock, Machine Head, Fireball, Burn, Come Taste The Band, Stormbringer, Who Do We Think We Are, and The Battle Rages On. For a nice discography, go here: http://www.thehighwaystar.com/rosas/jouni/discoidx.html

In the meantime, some of these albums are available at Yahoo Music for a try. This is truly the band that set the tone for what today has been classified as Metal. Lemmy agrees with me that Deep Purple are the true original Metal Band, not Sabbath.