The full interview with Deep Purple’s Roger Glover and Ian Paice about Machine Head and “Smoke on the Water” is available as an episode of the Consequence UNCUT podcast. Listen ahead or wherever you get your podcasts.
Many rock albums receive a “deluxe edition” treatment nowadays, but few are as deserving as Deep Purple’s 1972 tour de force, Machine Head.
While the UK band – whose lineup at that stage was comprised of singer Ian Gillan, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord, bassist Roger Glover, and drummer Ian Paice – had already issued two stellar LPs that helped trail-blaze hard rock and heavy metal (1970’s In Rock and 1971’s Fireball), Machine Head was an undisputed, front-to-back classic.
The album is getting a super deluxe reissue on March 29th, and you can enter to win your own down below.
Win Deep Purple’s Machine Head: Super Deluxe Edition Box Set
Ahead of the collection’s release, Heavy Consequence caught up with Glover and Paice to discuss Machine Head, its iconic hit “Smoke on the Water,” and much more.
“A lot of people want to know what was our mindset at the time,” explains Glover. “‘Did we think we’d written the ultimate rock album?’ We just made an album. You can only really look at it from the point of view of time. And you look back at it and you go, ‘Well, yes it was.’ But at the time, it was just another album. We didn’t know what was ahead.”
Rather than capturing the group’s sixth studio album in the sterile confines of a traditional studio setting, a decision was made to utilize a remote setup at the Montreux Casino in Switzerland, which also served as a venue for rock concerts. As has been well-documented over the years, a fire at the venue that occurred during a December 1971 performance by Frank Zappa nixed Deep Purple’s original plan.