10 Hard Rock Albums That Were A Nightmare To Make
1. Machine Head - Deep Purple
As the 60's were fading from view, Deep Purple were quickly becoming one of the most exciting acts in hard rock. Off the success of singles like "Black Night" and the monumental album In Rock, the band were on a fast track to becoming kings of all things heavy. Though the band took a different direction with Fireball, they were determined to make a pure hard rock classic when going in to cut Machine Head.
Not wanting to perform in the studio environment, the band decided to use a mobile studio and record live at the Montreux Casino. However, the day before they were to move their equipment inside, someone set off a Roman candle in the building, which caused the entire place to go up in flames.
Without a place to go, the band went through different locations before finding the Grand Hotel, whose foreboding presence would have to do for the time being. As the band cut the tracks, they would perform, then have to climb over balconies and through the long courtyard in the freezing cold just to hear their performance played back, after which they'd have to make do or go all the way back and do it again.
Though the album gave us songs like "Highway Star" and "Smoke on the Water," Deep Purple truly had to go through a barrage of problems just to get an inkling of their classic sound.