12 No-Skip Hard Rock Albums
6. Deep Purple - Made In Japan
The only live album on this list, and what a masterpiece it is. Those in attendance during the summer of 1972 were witnessing Rock ’n’ Roll history.
From start to finish, this album demonstrates the mastery, skill, and ability to have fun Deep Purple possessed.
Beginning with Highway Star, a fast-paced Rock anthem, the band take their time as they each show off their abilities, with special credit going to guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, for his outstanding solo.
Child In Time brings the pace down while displaying the lost art of keyboards in Rock music.
Despite Smoke on the Water being the most overplayed song in history, hearing it live, where the band were free to improvise, gives it a new coat of paint. It reminds listeners that it is overplayed for a reason.
Towards the end of the album, there is Lazy, a seminal song in 70s Rock. Essentially a jam between all members, all members play their parts well in this exuberant exhibition.
Concluding with the 19-minute epic, Space Truckin’, Ian Gillan shreds his vocal cords in his delivery of this frisky, drum-filled bash.
In the final five minutes of Space Truckin’, the pace is dropped dramatically, and there is lots of percussion play intermittent with speaker feedback and organ hums, which then leads on to a noisy crash-landing.