Deep Purple arrived in the right place at the right time. Initially called Roundabout, the group at this time consisted of Rod Evans (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitars), Jon Lord (organ), Nick Simper (bass guitar) and Ian Paice (drums) at this stage of their musical career. Recorded in a mere three days in length, and split 50/50 on covers and originals on the album, this is obviously not the greatest Deep Purple album of all time. However, it does point ahead to the future of music itself at the time, with it being heavily influenced by both Psychedelic and Progressive styles of Rock Music, with some Classical Music overtones throughout it all. This album was released in the second half of 1968 to mixed reviews, yet was a moderate commercial success in the USA, despite being commercially a failure elsewhere. However, this is largely because the band were not at their prime and had a different lineup from their early 1970s peak, notably lacking the presence of future singer Ian Gillan. Still, let’s listen to this important debut album and hear if it is any good.

And The Address is an original instrumental. It begins with some keyboard-based sounds, including organ washes and quickly enters in a Psychedelic, Surreal and decent musical fashion. The organs gradually become louder and louder, reaching an early climax. The rest of the band enters with drum rolls and awesome playing, and the group get playing away nicely. This is really amazing and superb musically and has some neat guitar and chordal progressions throughout. A really awesome tune to listen to. There is a cool guitar solo section in the middle of this piece, which sounds extraordinarily great and very listenable. The music present is just killer, even for a simple piece such as this. The performance present is well done. Organ galore is here in the second half, just sounding really killer. This reverts back to the main section of music and is a good, but not great, song to listen to. It’s decent overall, however. It ends with some great guitar playing and a ton of drum rolls. Sweet.

Hush is a famous cover and the most popular piece from this album. It begins with some wolf wailing in the background, and quickly launches into a glorious sounding tune. It has some interesting sounds via guitars and organ here. All in all, this is a mind-blowing and loveable tune. It has harmonies, catchy melodicism and wonderful instrumentation throughout. A really top and great listen, although this is merely a cover. “Hush, hush…though I heard her call my name now. Hush, hush, she broke my heart but I love her just the same now…” is a great example of the lyrics and melodicism that work wonderfully on this song, and indeed, the album as well. A really powerful and delightful listen musically, even if the music here is not Deep Purple’s best musically. There is a colourful palette of awesome musical sounds throughout, and this launches into a really cool and well-played keyboard/organ solo. This is exactly what the world of Rock music needed at the time, and the sounds and playing throughout are fantastic. A bit lengthy for a tune of its sort, but it does work exceptionally well. A really great song to listen to and this music does work out well. A very nice song with glorious harmonies, Rock guitars and organ galore.

One More Rainy Day begins with a recorded sound of thunder and sounds interesting. Rainfall sounds enter as well, followed by dual-tracked organs and this enters into a good Rock-styled groove. Singing emerges, and this tune gets going nicely. A really interesting and enjoyable listening experience, this is a simple song about rainy weather and sounds good to this very day. It sounds like a painting of art set to music. There are some pleasant ba-ba-ba styled harmonies in this song as well. A pleasant and interesting listening experience, this has many layers of playing and instrumentation that sound really awesome. A great, great song to listen to. The playing and performances throughout are really professionally done and are killer. A simple and enjoyable song, the drum fills towards the end are insanely good. Worth a listen.

Prelude: Happiness / I’m So Glad (Medley) is a medley of an original song and a famous cover. It begins with some spacey keyboard-driven Electronic sounds and quickly launches into a cool sounding song. Soon enough, the music goes quiet and has some good bass guitar and organ to match rolling drums. It sounds clever, unique and awesome in the history of Rock Music. A suspenseful and decent listening experience, the organ solos and drumming get quite wild soon enough. The different instruments duke it out in competition with each other, before synchronising their movements musically. A really top listen, this sounds dynamic and wonderful. Crashing organs indicate the next section entering, with the cover quickly entering nicely. Singing enters from Rod Evans and this launches into a great cover that was made famous by the Rock supergroup Cream. A powerful and interesting listening experience with excellent playing, performances and guitar soloing present. A really great tune to listen to. Deep Purple knew how to impress people, even back in 1968. It quickly launches back into the verses of the song with some incredibly great guitar parts by Ritchie Blackmore. A great rendition of the classic song, this sounds thoroughly awesome. Worth your time and ears. Deep Purple certainly had potential musically, even at this point in their career. A fantastic tune to listen to, especially through some great headphones. It ends with a bunch of awesome singing, organ and thunderous drum rolls. The singing here is fantastically sweet. Worth hearing, it ends with some absolutely chaotic playing. Excellent.

Mandrake Root is a six-minute-long original by Deep Purple. It begins with the sounds of chirping birds and lawn sprinklers. This is a tune about a hallucinogenic-inducing plant, oddly enough. It quickly launches into an excellent and well-played organ-led Rock tune that sounds killer. A more underrated piece from this album, and Rod Evans sings this tune quite well here. It is more groove-based and textural than the sings before it, but sounds very, very good. A really awesome listening throughout, this was recorded in the late 1960s and reflects a lot of the Hippie philosophy of the time. The sound of thunder enters, and this leads dramatically into the next section of the song, with an organ and a pounding drum section. Nonetheless, this is excellent. The music and musicianship are both absolutely top-notch to listen to, from start to finish. A really killer listening experience and vibe throughout. The drumming is very skilful and sounds quite psychotic, in its own way. A powerful tune with some great playing and instrumentation on bass guitar, organ and drumming. This no doubt would have been great to trip on LSD to. Some electric guitar solo does briefly enter, followed by a very Middle Eastern-sounding solo section. This is theatric, different and brilliant, as a result. It sounds killer and awesome throughout, with guitar soloing that is absolutely top-notch. This tune ends with some drumming and a crashing finale. Excellent.

Help! is of course a cover of the famous song by The Beatles. It is an extended cover at over six minutes in length. It begins with some spacey and enjoyable keyboard electronics, and quickly launches into a really excellent and moody cover of the original song. It has some sweet sounds, including guitars, deep basslines and a lot of keyboards. Soon enough, guitar arpeggios begin this song properly and singing emerges that is really excellent and passionate. It eventually kicks in with drumming and this sounds like an awesome and moody tune, and it is a really pretty and wonderful sonic version of the original. Wonderful to listen to. A call-and-response vocal section is present here, and this leads into a great and interesting organ-led solo section that sounds electric. A really top-notch listen. Some fuzz-based guitar lead solos follow, and this tune is a complete winner. Following it, the vocals resume to finish off this tune sweetly, along with thudding bass and hi-hats, with other melodies seeping through the mix. A real joy to hear. This is a very interesting listening experience. Eventually, this wraps up with some interesting guitar work from Ritchie Blackmore and other subtle sounds. Great.

Love Help Me is another original, this time with a very Jimi Hendrix-styled introduction (think along the lines of the Axis: Bold As Love album) and this is quickly followed by some crashing drums and interesting organ playing. Nonetheless, this enters into a really good and straightforward tune to listen to throughout. This is likely filler, but regardless, this does sound like an adventurous tune that is really cool. A wonderful, upbeat and enjoyable piece of music. This song is a plea for a lover in one’s life. It leads into a cool wah-wah guitar solo and goes quickly back into the verses afterwards. A good song, even if this isn’t Deep Purple’s best effort. Ritchie Blackmore proves himself to be a fine guitarist here, and his talent has been worth listening to over the decades. A short and simple Pop/Rock song. It ends with some psychotic lead breaks and a good conclusion. Nice.

Hey Joe is a reinterpretation of a Jimi Hendrix cover, originally written and played by Billy Roberts. It begins with cars honking and sirens, before launching straight into a cool tune to hear, with organs galore. A Gustav Holst Mars styled intro then occurs with organs, drums and guitars. This stops and starts on and off, and sounds really cool as a result. Soon enough, this musical backdrop changes and we launch into a fiery, feisty and powerful listening experience, before going into the backdrop of doom, yet again. A really cool and awesome listening experience that does not disappoint. Some wonderful organ swells then occur, and this song quickly gets going. The song itself then begins and sounds like a really great cover of a traditional, Blues-based song. A really cool tune, this sounds really fantastic. The drumming, singing, loud organ and subtle electric guitar are great, along with the pleasant backing vocals. In the second half of this piece is a loud organ playing, followed by the Spanish guitar and Mars section, once again. Eventually, after an organ swell, Ritchie Blackmore plays some amazing guitar soloing and in some ways, this is just as good as the Jimi Hendrix version. A really awesome tune to listen to, this sounds electric. It is a sonic adventure through a cover, with colour and suspense as well. The marching band section gradually concludes this awesome and epic song, and this ends with a lot going on nicely. This is followed by some very quiet studio talk and the sound of a door closing. The main album ends here.

Shadows is a rarity from this era. It sounds interesting and different, with some romantic lyrics and a rawer vibe to the music than the main album present. A really great and cool listen, this sounds like a straightforward 1960s Pop/Rock song. Worth hearing, even though this isn’t the best that Deep Purple ever did. It is simple, musical and melodic, however. This isn’t hugely necessary to hear unless you are a big fan of Deep Purple. Still, the wah-wah guitar solo in the second half of the song is refreshing. A cool tune for what it is. A worthy and interesting listening experience. This has a breakdown with harmonies in it, before reaching a gradual conclusion that is really good. Not bad.

Love Help Me – Instrumental begins with hi-hats, an organ and some loud and chaotic musicianship from Deep Purple. It sounds quite good, even for an instrumental piece. It sounds very thrilling, a bit like a different take on a traditional song by The Who. Nonetheless, this is excellent and killer to listen to. The guitar playing and musicianship present are really decent and amazing throughout. Ritchie Blackmore plays expressive leads using the wah-wah pedal here, a relatively new invention at the time. A really interesting and cool listening experience, this was proof that Deep Purple were very much ready to conquer the musical world at this point. A good listen throughout. Great and interesting to hear. It ends with some fully sick guitar work.

Help! – Alternate Take begins with some neat organ and some nice guitar work. It has drums quickly enter, and this slowly builds up momentum throughout. A good listen, this eventually leads into guitars and vocals that illustrate the pain and suffering of the human condition. A really cool, deep and interesting listen, covered in emotional despair, this is another really good version of the original song by The Beatles. Much slower than you’d expect, this is a marvellous and sensationally good listening experience. Although this is not the final version of the main Deep Purple album, it sounds crazy and excellent in its own way. The drums and organs duke it out in the solo section, followed quickly by nice-sounding electric guitar soloing by Ritchie Blackmore. A very, very good listening experience. The tune has a very nice and quite Psychedelic outro to it, and it ends with a solo guitar solo section that is brilliant, with some volume swells to conclude. Awesome.

Hey Joe (BBC Top Gear Session) begins with some crashing organ, and quickly launches into an excellent cover listening experience that sounds really quite cool. This is a nicely condensed version of the song that is perfect for Poppier audiences. The backing vocals aren’t great here, but the playing and instrumentation are. A really great listening experience that still sounds cool today. There is a dramatic organ solo in the middle of this song, followed by the Spanish Mars styled section. It is quickly followed by a really fantastic guitar solo that Ritchie Blackmore fans will love. He has some amazing playing and techniques throughout, showcasing a stunning ability musically. This is quickly followed up with the final verses and organ that swells nicely to conclude with the Mars section to conclude. Sweet.

Hush – Live; US TV is the last song on this extended album. It begins with some very different sounds and poor audio quality, just as the band launches into a good live version of the song from this album. Ritchie Blackmore plays like the Rock legend he is. The singing, playing and performances here are really quite cool. A minimal, decent and simple rendition of the Deep Purple classic, this sounds ridiculously good. Fun, fresh and different. The guitar work by Ritchie Blackmore is really great. An enjoyable listening experience, there is a nice organ solo in the second half, although the mixing kind of kills it here. Still, this is easily forgivable. The drumming is a great point of note and sounds very well done and interesting. This wraps up with cool harmonies, brilliant guitar playing and cheering from the audience. The album ends here.

This is a very good album, warts and all. It was a product of its time that has still very much lasted to this day. It is neither the best Deep Purple album nor the greatest album of all time. Still, it is good for all its patchy musical quality and proves that Deep Purple would make it in the Rock music scene of the time. That time was yet to come, however. Should you listen to this album? If Psychedelic/Progressive Rock history is your thing, you’d be a fool not to listen to this album. Other music fans may not like it, however.

Good, but patchy.

7/10