DEEP PURPLE — Fireball (review)

Album · 1971 · Hard Rock

2/5 · 2011-08-03
Certif1ed

Where could Purple go after the awesome "In Rock"?

More of the same, of course!

The title track of Fireball is a kind of watered-down "Speed King", with similar, but more tired aspirations to speed, Paice's amazing Motorhead-esque drumming somehow bearing a slightly lethargic edge, Blackmore's chugga-chugga proto metal rhythms and Lord's keyboards permeated with a sluggish laziness at complete odds with the music's firey nature.

This is followed up with the pathetic "No, No, No", with any number of cheesey licks thrown in. And yes, by 1972, everything in here had been done better by someone else already. Even Gillan's legedary larynx is sounding hoarse and tired. The terrible tempo change just serves to underline the sense of a band on downers.

Deadly dull after a mere minute and a half - and there are another 5 minutes to go - and nothing new to hear, apart from Lord rehashing Manzarek - badly.

"Strange Kind of Woman" is the famous radio-friendly side of Purple - a classic, of course, and must have been recorded in a separate session, since the energy and "vibe" is there in spades. Then there's the classic melodic guitar solos - nectar to the ears of those tired of cheesey pentatonic bluff.

Some bizarre tinkling about begins "Anyone's Daughter", which begins in a kind of Pink Floyd vein - I've read about this being a progressive track - well, OK, if the most average side of Floyd is Prog to you, all power, I suppose.

Unfortunately, the song degenerates into a kind of Johnny Cash number. I suppose it's OK as a song, but it feels totally out of place, and country and metal never mixed until Hayseed Dixie.

"The Mule" follows, with a proud, crashing entry to something very different again. This isn't what we're used to hearing from Purple, and is pleasant, if unexciting. There's quite a strong late sixties vibe running through it, a la Procol Harum, or, more strongly, The Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows", giving a retrogressive feel.

Unlike TNK, it's not kept short and sweet, so gets very boring very quickly.

The penultimate track is "Fools", again, sounding like an outtake for "Revolver", or "LA Woman" - the twin influences worn openly on the sleeves here, until the crashing chords around 1:30, which mark the most exciting moment on the album, atop a fine collection of riffs that predict Blackmore's later work with Rainbow. Gillan is still sounding rather hoarse, and the screams are disappointingly absent.

The whole caboodle is kinda repeated, with the Beatles/Doors stuff dragged out unnecessarily. Purple were neither group, good as they undoubtedly were - and "Fools" ends up being 4 minutes too long.

Rounding off the album is something more chunky altogether. The late sixties vibe is still there - maybe Traffic, definitely Spooky Tooth.

Very low metal quotient on this rather average album - and I don't mean average for Deep Purple.

It's saved from "Poor" by the very few high points - which are genuinely great moments - but only just, as most of this is crushingly average dross.