Deep Purple

Deep Purple formed in Hertford, England, in 1968. The classic Mark II lineup — Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Roger Glover (bass), Jon Lord (keyboards), and Ian Paice (drums) — is the one that made history. Five musicians, each a virtuoso, competing with each other on stage every night.

The tension was the fuel.

They started as a psychedelic pop band (Hush was a US hit in 1968), but Deep Purple in Rock (1970) turned everything heavy. Machine Head (1972) — recorded in a corridor next to a burning casino in Montreux, Switzerland — gave the world Smoke on the Water and Highway Star. Made in Japan, recorded live in Tokyo and Osaka in August 1972, captured the band at their most ferocious.

The lineup changed constantly — Mark III with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes gave us Burn. The band split in 1976, reunited in 1984 for Perfect Strangers, split again, reunited again. Ian Paice is the only member who played every era.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame finally inducted them in 2016, and they're still touring with Ian Gillan at age 80.

Deep Purple in Rock (June 1970) is where heavy metal begins to take shape. Speed King opens with a Hammond organ assault, Child in Time builds for ten minutes from a whisper to a scream, and the whole album sounds like five men trying to outplay each other in a room that's on fire. The Guinness Book of Records would later certify them as the world's loudest band.

Machine Head (March 1972) is the masterpiece. Recorded at the Grand Hotel in Montreux after a fire at the casino destroyed their original recording venue — which became the subject of Smoke on the Water. Highway Star is the greatest driving song ever written.

Lazy is seven minutes of blues-rock perfection. Every track on this album is a clinic in hard rock.

Made in Japan (December 1972) was supposed to be a contractual obligation. Instead, it became one of the top three live albums in rock history. Highway Star stretches past six minutes, Child in Time past twelve, and Space Truckin' closes the show at nearly twenty minutes.

The audience in Osaka got something nobody could ever reproduce in a studio.

After Gillan and Glover left, David Coverdale joined for Burn (1974) — the title track is possibly the heaviest thing the band ever recorded. The 1984 reunion gave us Perfect Strangers, proof that the Mark II chemistry was still combustible. Purpendicular (1996) with Steve Morse on guitar showed the band could reinvent itself yet again.

Without Deep Purple, there's no heavy metal as we know it. Black Sabbath brought the doom, Led Zeppelin brought the blues, but Deep Purple brought the speed, the precision, and the classical ambition. Ritchie Blackmore's neoclassical guitar style influenced every shredder from Yngwie Malmsteen to Randy Rhoads.

Jon Lord's Hammond organ work created a template that nobody else has matched.

Smoke on the Water's riff is the first thing every guitar student learns. It's the "Happy Birthday" of electric guitar — four notes that define an entire instrument. Highway Star is still the benchmark for what a rock song can do at full speed.

Child in Time remains one of the most emotionally devastating vocal performances ever recorded.

The band sold over 100 million records. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 — decades late, but the music never needed validation. Put on Made in Japan and you'll understand why people who were in that Osaka audience in 1972 still talk about it like it happened yesterday.