Blogcritics: Comments on Song of the day: Deep Purple - Highway Star

Comment by Mark Saleski

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 22:21:05 EDT

Parts of "Born Again" do veer into Spinal Tap territory, though. yea, "Stone Henge"...eeeeck

Comment by Tim Hall

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 18:39:14 EDT

"Trashed" off the same album isn't bad. Parts of "Born Again" do veer into Spinal Tap territory, though. More seriously, I'll have to be boringly conventional and rate "Machine Head" as their best, just pipping "Burn" and the 1984 comeback album "Perfect Strangers". I think "In Rock" has dated badly.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 18:31:54 EDT

I do like Burn a lot, by the way, very bluesy, best Coverdale ever

Comment by Mark Saleski

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 16:48:50 EDT

my favorite Deep Purple song is "Disturbing The Priest". ...except that it's really a Black Sabbath song with Ian Gillan singing.

Comment by Douglas Mays

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 16:47:08 EDT

all I can say is that maybe Deep Purple wasn't history's most definitive rock band. But they were good enuf to be their own drug. "yeah, I feel like smokin' some Deep Purple. We smoked that Stones last night man, Do Purple tonight" If you want Deep Purple, you gotta get the real stuff. So, give them points for having the abiliuty to be selected over the rest of my album collection. And, as I see Deep Purple footage sometimes on VH1 Classics, They are holding out well in the "time honored" catagory. Sounds pretty damn good sometimes. Wouldn't recommend drinkin' it everynite. peaceloveguidance

Comment by Eric Olsen

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 16:40:30 EDT

my favorite DP song is actually "Woman From Tok-ay-o"

Comment by JR

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 16:38:40 EDT

whether it's their best or not, it's their definitive, career highlight album That's hard to argue with here in the U.S. Though from what I've read, In Rock seems to have made a bigger impact in Britain.

Comment by Douglas Mays

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 16:38:00 EDT

I'm a long follower of Deep Purple. When BURN came out, that was the end of DP as we knew them. I always wondered how far they could make it into the mid-70s blah world of music. They did OK. Oh, good to take notice to Jon Lord, keyboards. How about his intro to LAZY?! Him and Keith Emerson could go head to head in the abuse the B-3 contest. plg

Comment by Mark Saleski

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 16:25:22 EDT

actually, i have a hard time comparing Machine Head to Burn because i'm not a big coverdale fan. it's not that the music is 'bad' or anything...it's just that it has a different feel to it.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 16:25:11 EDT

whether it's their best or not, it's their definitive, career highlight album

Comment by JR

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 16:17:31 EDT

Not saying Machine Head's shortcomings keep it from being a great album; it's just not Deep Purple's best. Maybe second best (excluding live albums). Arguably fourth or fifth best... a matter of taste, I suppose.

Comment by Mark Saleski

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 16:04:58 EDT

c'mon...everybody was stoned out of their freakin gourds back then. what's sound quality got to do with it? lighten up!

Comment by SFC SKI

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 16:00:27 EDT

"Machine Head is a collection of great riffs and solos, silly lyrics and not terribly melodic singing, recorded with rather poor sound quality." Well, if I remember correctly, DP had gone to Montreaux, on the Lake Geneva shoreline, making the record with a mobile recording lab, but they did not have much time, that might explain the sound quality. All in all, it was a great rockin' album.

Comment by JR

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 15:34:26 EDT

Burn is Deep Purple's best album. Machine Head is a collection of great riffs and solos, silly lyrics and not terribly melodic singing, recorded with rather poor sound quality.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 14:31:21 EDT

Um, tut tut. So anyway, Made In Japan has the definitive "Smoke On the Water" - 11 comments and no one mentions this elemental nugget of truth?? Made is essentially Machine Head live, which is the band's best album in the best possible Nihongo-frenzied setting.

Comment by HW Saxton Jr.

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 14:29:39 EDT

Furthermore Duane,my post DOES address your statement about my comments in regard to "Highway Star". Something you failed to note in your much too witty riposte. Lighten Up Francis, jeeezus.

Comment by HW Saxton Jr.

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 14:21:09 EDT

Duane,First off I was just goofing a bit on this.Second, if I WAS being sarcastic you would know it.I do not give a fuck! about this enough to really give it too much energy. I already do have a girlfriend thank you very much. As for the grammatical gaffe, eh lalalalalalala. This isn't a thesis, a term paper or an article.I don't care. YOU'VE taken that post way outta context Duane. PS: Superior Attitude? Hardly.Are you in the throes of an inferiority complex ??? On a good day I'd consider myself about as bright as a small appliance bulb.On a bad day my Doberman pinscher can beat my ass at Chess.Your personal attack on me is really bitter and very distasteful. Seriously.Wow,unmuthafuckinbelieveable.

Comment by Duane

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 13:34:13 EDT

Look, Mr. HW Saxton Junior, can the sarcasm and your superior above-it-all attitude. What's with the "Good Sir" crap? And it's "King's English," not "Kings English." The King's English actually includes proper apostrophization. Do you know about that? I believe that the subject of this post was the song "Highway Star." If you have a problem with my comments on the song, you may disagree. But don't presume to tell me what I can or can't say, you, with your three exclamation marks. A little excitable, are we? Why are you trying to overanalyze my comment? Calm down, Junior, and find yourself a girlfriend. Sounds like you a need an outlet for all that pent up hostility. And to SFC SKI, good point. The keyboards were an integral part of the overall sound and feel to the song.

Comment by HW Saxton Jr.

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 13:00:29 EDT

Duane,Good sir my statement that Ritchie was "going apeshit mad" was only meant to imply that he was playing at quite a high energy level. Not actually primate poop flinging insane. Please pardon my etymological "ghettofication" of the Kings English. Besides I stand by statement vehemently. On the version of "Highway Star" I have from a Deep Purple show in Stockholm up there in Sweden, Ritchie is indeed going wild.Barely controlled feedback, serious Whammy bar abuse & volume swells pepper his solo on "Highway Star". And quit being soooooooooooooooo damned scienfuggintific!!! Over analysis takes the fun out of lifes simple joys, amigo. No need to analyze a great meal,a good fuck or a rockin' guitar solo.They just is or they just ain't. Peace Love and Marshall Stacks, HW.

Comment by SFC SKI

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 02:51:37 EDT

How can you mention Blackmore's fantastic solo and not even give a nod to Jon Lord's incredible synth solo on the same song?

Comment by Douglas Mays

Mon, 9 Aug 2004 19:36:15 EDT

Highway Star is definately a favorite in the Deep Purple catalog for me. I love what they do to other people's songs also. 'Kentucky Woman' (Niel Diamond) is such a great interpretation by DP peaceloveguidance

Comment by Duane

Mon, 9 Aug 2004 15:01:35 EDT

OK, I stand corrected. Thanks, JR.

Comment by JR

Mon, 9 Aug 2004 14:52:35 EDT

Which version are we talking about? The studio version of "Highway Star" was all worked out; it is one of the rare occasions when Blackmore double-tracked a solo. Later, in live performances, he got progressively farther away from what he played on record. As I remember, the version from the BBC "In Concert" recording is fairly close to the studio version. But by the time of the Japanese tour in Aug. '72, he was pretty much just going apeshit.

Comment by Duane

Mon, 9 Aug 2004 14:07:08 EDT

Blackmore's solo on Highway Star is one of the more famous solos in rock music. He is not "going apeshit mad," but is in complete control. It is precise. It's the kind of solo that should be played note for note live, to the extent that that's possible. Remember that there are two guitars doing the solo. Blackmore is harmonizing with himself, which is part of what gives this solo a distinctive sound. Again, that requires precision, not apeshitness. I think what made that song such a grabber is the driving bass line and Ian's vocals, not the guitar parts. It has a good beat and all the kids seemed to enjoy dancing to it. I give it an 85.

Comment by HW Saxton Jr.

Mon, 9 Aug 2004 13:39:32 EDT

I've gotta agree with Mark S. that the lyrics are kinda dorky.Of course the use of automobiles as a sexual metaphpor is nothing new.Check out "Terraplane Blues" by Robert Johnson or "My Little Machine" by Sonny Boy Williamson #1 for example. Just substitute "big fine ass" for "big fat tires" blah blah blah. Still it's a great driving song and Blackmore is just going apeshit mad on the solo.