Doing a 180: Deep Purple, In Rock / Fireball

Rhino has made it a point to reissue classic albums on 180-gram vinyl on a regular basis. These are the latest to get that treatment. You're welcome.

Deep Purple, In Rock: This may have been the fourth studio album released by Deep Purple, but for some of the band’s fans, it might as well be their debut, as it’s the first album to feature the so-called Mark II lineup of Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice. The seven-track album is probably best known for the songs “Speed King,” which opens the proceedings, and “Child in Time,” a epic track which lasts more than 10 minutes. Although it’s not as well known in the US, having topped out at #143 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, Deep Purple’s British fans are far more familiar with In Rock, which was the band’s big UK breakthrough, hitting #4 on the album charts.

“Child in Time”: Listen here

Deep Purple, Fireball: This album’s title turned out to be rather apropos, as it exploded up the UK charts and became the band’s first #1 album in their homeland. Fireball found Deep Purple’s career on the rise in America as well, hitting #32 on the US album charts, but it was the English fans who embraced the singles, with the title track hitting #15 and “Strange Woman” giving the band a top-10 hit with “Strange Kind of Woman,” which made it to #8.

“Strange Kind of Woman”: Listen here