This is the album that started it all. The original lineup of Rod Evans (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Nick Simper (bass) and Ian Paice (drums) came out the psychedlic ‘60’s with a huge hit in “Hush.” The band were meshing the popular Hammond B3 organ sound with hard rocking guitars, and while they were nowhere near refining the classic Deep Purple sound, they were creating something quite unique. Besides “Hush” there are many other high moments on this album. “And the Address” is an instrumental that contains many of the elements the band would develop to perfection on albums such as In Rock and Machine Head. There are a few cool remakes as I’m So Glad,” “Hey Joe” and “Help” all get reworked with the budding DP sound. “Mandrake Root” is another great track that features the raw talent the band had at the time. Bonus tracks include a US TV performance of “Hush” and a few other odd takes recorded around this time.

This one is a stab at a concept album as Taliesyn was the bard of the court of King Arthur in Camelot. The Book of Taliesyn showcases seven different feelings from the musicians in the band. The best of the bunch are “Wring That Neck” and the Neil Diamond remake “Kentucky Woman.” Some of the songs meander a tad but there are still fun moments as DP crank out “We Can Work It Out” by the Beatles and the classic anthem “River Deep Mountain High. This is not nearly as good as the debut but there are moments where you can hear the seeds of the future being planted. There are five bonus tracks, ranging from studio outtakes to BBC Top Gear Sessions to an instrumental tune not found on the original album called “Playground.”

By the third album, Deep Purple had gone as far as the talent in the band could take them. The songs are very hippie dippy and the album seems to struggle along. There are no standout tracks as all of them are pretty much mediocre. Even the bonus tracks struggle to live up to their potential.

It is hard to believe that in one short year Deep Purple returned with In Rock. Of course, for that album, Simper and Evans were let go and replaced by vocalist Ian Gillan and bass player Roger Glover. Such a change in styles and attitudes shows that with Deep Purple the band were out of gas and needed a jump start. Thank god the lineup changes were made or we may never have known what was coming at us, right around the corner.