Fireball in Bloomington, MN

One of
Deep Purple
's three essential albums, 1971's
Fireball
finds the band taking the no-holds-barred,
hard rock
direction of the previous year's
Deep Purple in Rock
to new creative heights. Metal machine noises introduce the sizzling title track, which is an explosively tight group effort with
Jon Lord
's organ truly shining. The somewhat repetitive
"No No No"
threatens to drop the ball, but the fantastic
"Strange Kind of Woman"
picks things up again. The innuendo-encrusted hilarity of
"Anyone's Daughter"
features one of singer
Ian Gillan
's best lyrics, and guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore
shows his range with one of his most uncharacteristic, bluesy performances.
"The Mule"
is perhaps
's finest instrumental, and they flirt with
progressive rock
on
"Fools,"
which probably could have been done without the rather boring, drawn-out middle section. Closing the album is the exceptional
"No One Came,"
which sounds so fresh that it's plausible that the bandmembers improvised it on the spot. Their intertwining instrumental lines lock together beautifully, and
Gillan
weaves a comic, semi-autobiographical story that is equal parts rooted in fact and
Monty Python
. [This
25th Anniversary Edition
includes nine additional tracks -- B-sides, outtakes, and remixes.] ~ Eduardo Rivadavia