Deep Purple-Shades Of Deep Purple (1968)

Deep Purple's debut album would foreshadow the band's promising future, despite still displaying a nascent and somewhat vague style. The original Deep Purple lineup included Jon Lord (Hammond organ), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Ian Paice (drums), Rod Evans (vocals), and Nick Simper (bass). Although the production of this first recording leaves much to be desired, the future potential of Deep Purple is already evident in various passages, thanks to a high level of musicianship and accomplished arrangements driven by Jon Lord's blistering organ playing and Blackmore's neoclassical touch on electric guitar. However, the group's hard rock style here is infused with many psychedelic elements, featuring numerous sound effects and ingenious overdubbing. Composed mostly of covers, it also includes some songs written by the band themselves, which would soon become classics such as "Mandrake Root", a veritable mini-epic of psychedelic hard rock. Other tracks, like the ambitious "Prelude: Happiness/I'm So Glad", showcase the band's progressive side, especially thanks to Lord's lavish keyboards, while the powerful "Hey Joe" also reveals the roots of their signature style. On the other hand, there's a Deep Purple classic, a brilliant cover of Joe South's "Hush". ​​However, the rest of the album is somewhat inconsistent, with tracks like the lackluster Beatles cover "Help!", the disposable "Shadows", and the mediocre psychedelic pop song "One More Rainy Day". Ultimately, with this first release, the synergy between Lord and Blackmore was beginning to take hold, and although they were still far from perfect synergy, this was a very promising start.