10 Hard Rock Albums Critics Were Completely Wrong About
9. In Rock - Deep Purple
It almost goes without saying how much Deep Purple has effected the rock landscape. With their use of classical and jazz backgrounds, these guys brought a level of sonic sophistication to the typical hard rock and blues coming from the British club scene. Even though the band's 4th record In Rock is heralded as one of the greatest in the genre, not everyone was exactly head over heels.
Way back in its heyday, Rolling Stone reviewer Lester Bangs was having absolutely none of the band's fury, as he tears into them about their lack of expertise on their instruments and criticizes the band's riffs as some of the most poorly-thought-out of the genre. It's almost comical looking back on these kind of harsh words nowadays.
Not only did In Rock change the game in hard rock, but also expanded the palette for what a rock band could do, like on the manic 10 minute journey of "Child In Time" or the precursor to heavy metal with "Speed King." For every fan that a band makes, they're going to make their fair share of enemies, but it seems that time is a lot kinder to Deep Purple than Bangs could have ever imagined.