Fireball (1971)
After an extensive worldwide tour in support of In Rock, Deep Purple returned to the studio to pen and record their 5th album Fireball. Contrary to many of the earlier albums Purple had more time in the studio but also had the monumental task of writing a follow up to In Rock. Even if Fireball was their 5th album, In Rock had redefined the band and so in the eyes of many this was only their second album. So how did Purple approach the success of In Rock and did they avoid the sophomore slump?
The title track, Fireball, opens the album in the same vein as most of the material on In Rock. Fast, furious and aggressive. Paice and Glover leads the way here, proving that they're really both quite underrated musicians. Paice is all over his kit and Glover inserts tasty bass licks throughout with the highlight being a pretty fantastic fuzzy bass solo midways through. Gillian sounds a little rougher on this album in general perhaps because of the grueling touring but of course still belts out some great vocals. Strangely enough Blackmore isn't very prominent on this track, more or less "just" contributing to the churning feel with his riffs. Speaking of strange.....Anyone's Daughter is a little country ditty with Lord playing western piano and Blackmore on slide guitar and country picking. Not really sure how I feel about it, sometimes I like it, sometimes I feel like it should never have been included. Definitely the odd one out on this album. Side two picks things up again with The Mule, a psychedelic tune with washing guitars and a hypnotic drum pattern by Paice with Blackmore's majestic guitar melody theme driving it. Largely an instrumental if it wasn't for the more or less spoken part by Gillan that tells of the Mule, a devil or Lucifer character that drives people forward and make them do his evil deeds.
No-one sees the things you do
Because I stand in front of you
But you drive me all the time
Put the evil in my mind
Used to sing and say my prayers
Live my life without a care
Now I have become a fool
Because I listened to the mule
How can I change when my mind is a friend
Of a Lucifer hid in the ground
Just another slave for the mule
Apparently The Mule was also in part based on the fictional character The Mule from Isaac Asimov Foundation series but as I haven't read that I can't really comment on that further. Perhaps someone else can?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule_(Foundation) A fantastic song nevertheless which most people here SHOULD know from their live concerts with Paice using the song to launch into his drum solos. The Mule comes to an end in what sounds like a whirlwind of dissonance that dissolves before next track, Fools, begins with a soft floating intro. Then unexpectedly hitting like a hammer and turning into one of the heavier tracks on the album. Gillian tells the story of man who tries for all in the world to hide his feelings and not show emotions. The tune is a little on the long side but is saved by Blackmore's slowed down and absolutely beautiful breakdown solo in the middle. No One Came is a fantastic rock song with a driving rhythm, another highlight on the album, again with fantastic solo bits by Lord and Blackmore!
Overall perhaps a bit of an overlooked album wedged in between landmarks In Rock and Machine Head. But there is no doubt in my mind that Purple dared to step out of the shadows of In Rock and attempt new material here. This album contains bits of country, funk, jazz whereas In Rock was more direct in it's approach. Also in some ways Fireball contains nods to the albums prior to In Rock, particularly with the quasi-psych bits of The Mule, the ending of No One Came and the unorthodox breakdown in Fools. Overall a more playful album than In Rock but not as consistent.
I think it's very clear that there's a big sense of urgency on this album. Blackmore wanted to take the band in a new harder direction so he knew it was make or break and you can sense that energy on the album. The band is pulling all the stops, leaving everything out there...
