release date: Jun. 1969
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]
producer: Derek Lawrence
label: Harvest Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Chasing Shadows" - 5. "Why Didn't Rosemary?"
3rd studio album by Deep Purple is also known as 'Deep Purple III', and its the last album to feature the original line-up of the band. Stylistically, the band experiments even more on this one, or at least so it seems. Arguments during studio recordings on what direction to choose finally led to a change of band members after the release. The band had faced huge success playing both psychedelic rock inspired by Jimi Hendrix but also for contributing with an experimental progressive rock attitude, which is strongest on this album. Basically, the band had been on a search for their trademark over the first three albums, exploring a vast variety of styles and genres without really making it any clearer. The original line-up would later become known as the 'Mark I' constitution of the band, but already one month after the album release, both vocalist Rod Evans and bassist Nick Simper would be replaced to turn the band in the direction of hard rock.
I don't fancy this album nor their take on what one may see as a classical music fusion approach. Numerous of artist did that at the time. Also, another great British act, Pink Floyd started out playing highly experimental rock progressive rock and psychedelic rock before finding their own unique sound.
I find this to be somewhat dull, uninspiring experiments, and perhaps more accurately something that sounds more like mere studio improvisations. One of the most fascinating things about the album is its front cover showing a detail of the right panel of the triptych 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' painted in the late 15th century by Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, PopMatters 3/ 5 stars ]
