One of the reasons for the break up of the Mark II era of the band was that they had no time off whatsoever. Constantly on tour, they even had to resort to writing and recording albums on two week layovers from tour dates. It all proved too much, and eventually the tensions between certain bandmates created rifts that meant members were moved on. And yet, despite all of those signs, and the obvious need to set out their calendar better in order to have time off, Deep Purple returned to the studio in August 1974 (just 6 months after “Burn” had been released) in order to star writing and recording the follow up album. It was a grinding schedule, and surely it must have been questioned why the band needed to release an album less than nine months after their previous effort, especially one that had done well in sales, and of the further exposure the band had been receiving because of its live schedule. Or, indeed, is this the reason the band was pushed to the studio, to back it up with another album in order to cash in on this all? Whatever the actual reason was, the band spent two months in studios in Germany and then Los Angeles putting together the follow up to “Burn”, a time that would bring further desperation to the future of the band, but also give the world some of their best songs, in the form of the album “Stormbringer”.
The opening blast of the title track “Stormbringer” is the perfect start to this album, highlighting the vocals of Coverdale and Hughes, the organ of Lord and timekeeping of Paice, that wonderful sounding bass of Hughes and the trademark Blackmore riff and solo. It’s a brilliant song, matching the awesomeness of the opening title track of the previous album “Burn”. From here though, the true new focus of Deep Purple’s progression comes to the fore. “Love Don’t Mean a Thing” is the immediate best focus of this sound, coming after the bombastic nature of the opening title track, moving into that tight blues funk groove which sounds so natural, but of course is so different from what the Mark II lineup had produced. And as much as Coverdale and Hughes’s vocals can sing that earlier stuff, they are made for what they write together here. This has a beautiful combination of their vocal strengths and serene guitar solo that suits the song perfectly from Blackmore which fades out the track. “Holy Man” has Hughes taking on lead vocals, and he just kills this with his vocal chords. One of the most amazing voices in music history, and Blackmore’s guitar is again superb on this track. “Hold On” continues on this musical path, but also almost adds a small taste of gospel in the backing vocals of the chorus, all of it combined together in another perfect session. Apart from the opening track, the first side of the album is such a world apart from what Deep Purple had done previously that it is okay to believe that it is a different band altogether. In fact, the more you listen to the first half of this album, the more you hear the direction that the beginnings of the band Whitesnake took on, and begin to understand where that direction began. Both Hughes and Coverdale had brought elements of other genres with them to the band, Hughes with funk and Coverdale with blues, and that all begins to come more into focus on “Stormbringer” than it did on “Burn”. And as Blackmore himself was not involved in writing either “Holy Man” or “Hold On”, you begin to hear why they sound the way they do, and perhaps why Blackmore’s disillusion with the direction of the band was building.
The second side of the album heads back to a much more upbeat and energetic way with “Lady Double Dealer” coming out of the blocks with a similarity to Led Zeppelin, combining the blues elements with the higher velocity vocals and guitar. Blackmore’s solo also brings back memories of his best days on the guitar and a sectioned off Lord solo as well to remind fans of when they formed that lasting partnership. “You Can’t Do It Right” mirrors what a harder version of an old styled blues track would sound like, but comes across as so much more than that. “High Ball Shooter” continues down this same path, a true Blackmore rocking riff throughout with great vocals again from Coverdale and Hughes that is punched higher with Jon Lord’s first true organ solo of the album after the opening track, one that truly reminds you this IS a Deep Purple album. “The Gypsy” falls back to mirroring the songs on the first side of the album, while the last track on the album, “Soldier of Fortune” is the acoustic ballad written by Blackmore and Coverdale that while never released as a single has become one that has reached folklore status within the Deep Purple fandom. Not only has it been covered in latter years by Coverdale in Whitesnake and Blackmore in Blackmore’s Night, but also by many other bands. Given the way the album had progressed to this point, it feels as though it is a strange choice in which to close out the album, though its overall popularity seems to suggest that the band knew what they were doing, and not this reviewer.
When people think about or have promoted to them the band Deep Purple, it is basically the Mark II lineup that is highlighted, with Blackmore and Gillan as the central pieces of the puzzle. It generally brushes over the first three albums and that Mark I lineup, and often ignores the band of this era with Coverdale and Hughes, and eventually Tommy Bolin. And that is a huge disappointment because the two albums of the Mark III lineup are especially brilliant in the Deep Purple discography.
There is so much different here from those hard rock albums of the Mark II phase of the decade, but this is a transformed band with two main songwriters gone and two more brought in in their place, and with a different focus. But that doesn’t make them any less excellent at what they do. The double change though perhaps brought in a faster incorporation of a different sound than would have been the case if just one of the writers and players had been substituted between albums.
Despite this, what is not to love on this album? Don’t compare it to other albums, just sit there and enjoy the wonderful musicianship, the amazing blending of vocals, the guitar, the organ and the excellent songs.
What interests me most about this album, and the subsequent tour, is Ritchie Blackmore’s involvement. Blackmore publicly disliked most of the album, suggesting in later interviews that it was "shoeshine music" out of his distaste for its funk and soul elements. And of course he was already in the process of preparing to leave Deep Purple to start his own band that would become Rainbow, and band that moved back to a sound that concentrated on... Ritchie Blackmore. But having said that - is this Blackmore’s triumph? It his time in Deep Purple he had gone from the first three albums where he was important but playing second banana to Jon Lord on organ, to being the centre focus with his duels with Lord on keyboards on those seminal Mark II albums, and yet here proves he can still provide an amazing sound on guitar on tracks that provide funk rather than hard rock, and still be as impactful on each song without the bombasticness that he had become renown for. It really is a triumph for his craft, even though he decided to leave because of the direction the music was going in. And certainly, he revived his stature in Rainbow as a result.
I first came across these Mark III and IV albums around 35 years ago, getting all of the Deep Purple Mark II, III and IV albums in a box set on CD from a mail order record club I joined at that time, which for a while was a great source of old albums on the newest format. And I enjoyed all of them. Even then the difference in the music was noticeable from one to the next, but that didn’t deter me in the slightest. And just as “Stormbringer” brought a change from “Burn”, so again did “Come Taste the Band” after this album.
I’ve probably already explained here in this spiel that the style of this album doesn’t bother me. In fact, just a few weeks ago I was at our local record store Music Farmers in Wollongong, buying some albums on my birthday as my own present to myself, and came across an original 1974 Australian vinyl pressing of “Stormbringer”, and bought it immediately. And it has barely left my turntable since. It is remarkable timing given its anniversary and therefore requirement for me to do a podcast episode on it... fate has a funny way of coming around when required... but it has been a joy to sit in the Metal Cavern and have this playing often, and continued to enjoy it each and every time.
Blackmore’s departure almost spelled the end for Deep Purple at that point in time, but a determination to try and make the band work meant that they went on the search for a new guitarist, and then to conjure up another album. That story of course is yet to come, and that further storm was just on the horizon.
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