Greatest Hits vinyl

Before there was Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Sabbath and even Led Zeppelin, before even heavy metal was a thing at all, there was Deep Purple. Famous, obviously, for 'Smoke On The Water', it's true, but with a whole lot more going for them. Try the buffeting riff, courtesy of one Richie Blackmore, of 'Black Knight', or Ian Gillan screaming the house down on 'Child In Time'. Try the undeniable grooviness of 'Highway Star' or 'Speed King', the evolutionary links between the stonerisms of Hendrix and the haze of distorted metal fuzz that would descend on the rock scene as the 70s progressed. Debates will aways rage over the absolute definitive tracklisting of an album with such an all-encompassing title as this, but this collection of studio and live tracks, some borrowed from the Live In Europe 1993 album, certainly puts in a respectable showing.