NationStates Jolt Archive

For a reason I can not understand, no one seems to remember Deep Purple. They were such a great band. Without a doubt the greatest classic hard rock band. I always thought they were better then Zeppelin, but that's just my opinion. Any thoughts here? Anyone like Deep Purple other than me?

Never heard of 'em. :(

Ritchie Blackmore 4tw@11 ;)

they rock but don't actually have any of their stuff myself :(

Never heard of 'em. :(

They wrote Smoke on the Water.

For a reason I can not understand, no one seems to remember Deep Purple. They were such a great band. Without a doubt the greatest classic hard rock band. I always thought they were better then Zeppelin, but that's just my opinion. Any thoughts here? Anyone like Deep Purple other than me?

Which Line up (MK II I guess - Paice, Glover, Lord, Blackmore, Gillan)?

They would have been great if Blackmore hadn't been such a prima donna. As it is they recorded half a dozen great songs over a few years, in between the in fighting.

For a reason I can not understand, no one seems to remember Deep Purple. They were such a great band. Without a doubt the greatest classic hard rock band. I always thought they were better then Zeppelin, but that's just my opinion. Any thoughts here? Anyone like Deep Purple other than me?
Knew I had a pic of it (good thing cause I am at work and could not have taken one)

http://geek.upwardthrust.us/collection/pic4.jpg (big picture little bandwidth so give me a break)

Which Line up (MK II I guess - Paice, Glover, Lord, Blackmore, Gillan)?

They would have been great if Blackmore hadn't been such a prima donna. As it is they recorded half a dozen great songs over a few years, in between the in fighting.

Blackmore may have been a bit stuck up, but the man is a guitar god. Mk II was the best line up, but the others weren't bad. And only a half a dozen songs? In Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head are some of the greatest albums ever.

They wrote Smoke on the Water.

I've heard the title of that song, but I can't recall the tune.. I'll have to look them up sometime. :)

I've heard the title of that song, but I can't recall the tune.. I'll have to look them up sometime. :)
bam bam bam, bam bam bambam, bam bam bam, bam bam :)

bam bam bam, bam bam bambam, bam bam bam, bam bam :)

Impressive interpretation.:)

Blackmore is my second favorite guitarist ever. His solo on Highway Star is simply amazing, a masterpiece of the instrument.

Blackmore may have been a bit stuck up, but the man is a guitar god. Mk II was the best line up, but the others weren't bad. And only a half a dozen songs? In Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head are some of the greatest albums ever.

Being a guitar god (which he nearly is, but not quite - just an avatar I guess) does not permit you to behave like the Terrel Owens or Cristiano Ronaldo of rock. Deep Purple had everything to be a great band, but Blackmore's ego prevented that. Paice and Glover are the best rythm section that any British band ever had, Lord is a musical genius and few people in the world could match Gillan for ability. But no - RB had to be the star, had to have the type of music he wanted, regardless of the preferences of the rest of the band.
Half a dozen great songs, the rest are good, but not great.

The great ones are: (IMO)

Woman of Tokyo
Smoke on the Water
Sweet Child in Time
Black Night
Highway Star
Speed King

What makes a great song - for me - is that no matter how long it is since you have heard it, it is there in your head when you want it.

Being a guitar god (which he nearly is, but not quite - just an avatar I guess) does not permit you to behave like the Terrel Owens or Cristiano Ronaldo of rock. Deep Purple had everything to be a great band, but Blackmore's ego prevented that. Paice and Glover are the best rythm section that any British band ever had, Lord is a musical genius and few people in the world could match Gillan for ability. But no - RB had to be the star, had to have the type of music he wanted, regardless of the preferences of the rest of the band.
Half a dozen great songs, the rest are good, but not great.

The great ones are: (IMO)

Woman of Tokyo
Smoke on the Water
Sweet Child in Time
Black Night
Highway Star
Speed King

What makes a great song - for me - is that no matter how long it is since you have heard it, it is there in your head when you want it.

The rest of the band is incredible as well, but just because Blackmore was egostistical dosen't mean anything. That's like saying Lennon wasn't a good songwriter because he and McCartney got in fight's about the direction of the band. And Blackmore is a guitar god, but I guess it's your opinion. Howeverm some songs are missing from your list. Also, the song is called Child in Time.

The rest of the band is incredible as well, but just because Blackmore was egostistical dosen't mean anything. That's like saying Lennon wasn't a good songwriter because he and McCartney got in fight's about the direction of the band. And Blackmore is a guitar god, but I guess it's your opinion. Howeverm some songs are missing from your list. Also, the song is called Child in Time.

You are missing the point. That Blackmore was egotistical meant that MKII only produced four albums in total before Gillan couldn't take it any more. Had Blackmore been willing to compromise, just a little, and recored some stuff that suited the taste of the other band members a little better, they could have gone on to produce a really impressive body of work.

I do not place Blackmore in the same class as Clapton, Page, Vai, Satriani, Hendrix. He is in the sewcond tier with Van Halen et al. However that is my opinion.

The point about the songs I listed is that I haven't actually listened to any DP for about five years now (No particular reason - just haven't played it) so I was naming songs from memory and those were the six that came to mind. That Child in Time is not called Sweet Child in Time is my mistake - I remember it by the lines

"Sweet child in time
You'll see the line
The line drawn between
The good and the bad" etc.

If I stretch my memory I can remember other song titles - but they are not immediately available to my memory as those six were.

Deep Purple are one of the greatest bands of all time. I'm seeing them when they play their London gig this April.

Concidentally, I've got "Ted the Mechanic" in winamp right now. :)

I like a lot of their stuff. BTW- it took me ages to find the part of "Child of Time" that they play in the movie "Twister". Wonderful guitar solo wrapped around some odd lyrics.

You are missing the point. That Blackmore was egotistical meant that MKII only produced four albums in total before Gillan couldn't take it any more. Had Blackmore been willing to compromise, just a little, and recored some stuff that suited the taste of the other band members a little better, they could have gone on to produce a really impressive body of work.

I do not place Blackmore in the same class as Clapton, Page, Vai, Satriani, Hendrix. He is in the sewcond tier with Van Halen et al. However that is my opinion.

The point about the songs I listed is that I haven't actually listened to any DP for about five years now (No particular reason - just haven't played it) so I was naming songs from memory and those were the six that came to mind. That Child in Time is not called Sweet Child in Time is my mistake - I remember it by the lines

"Sweet child in time
You'll see the line
The line drawn between
The good and the bad" etc.

If I stretch my memory I can remember other song titles - but they are not immediately available to my memory as those six were.

That's debatable. The whole band wrote all of their songs. Also, at that point, they might have run out of ideas. Gillan had a stint with Black Sabbath, which was absolute crap. On the other hand, when Blackmore left he made Rainbow, another incredible band. You judge a band on their ability and their songs, not how they are in real life. Roger Waters was an egomaniac, but that dosen't mean he is a band songwrittter or bassist. Same with Blackmore. And the Beatles.

I think Page is the most overrated guitarist in history. He is nowhere near my top tier.

Guitar Gods (In order of greatness, starting with the best)
David Gilmour- Pink Floyd
Ritchie Blackmore- Deep Purple, Rainbow, Blackmore's Night
Eric Clapton- Yardbirds, Cream, Derek and the Dominoes
Jeff Beck- Yardbirds, Solo, Session man
Kirk Hammett- Metallica
Jimi Hendrix- Solo
Tony Iommi- Black Sabbath
Carlos Santana- Solo
Randy Rhoads- Quiet Riot, Ozzy

the list goes on.

I like them, but I can't say I love them - then again, I haven't *really* listened to them.