Friday, April 13, 2018

Throwback Thursday: "Who Do We Think We Are?", by Deep Purple



By 1973 Deep Purple was becoming a pretty hot commodity. They had made a HUGE impact with their 1972 smash hit LP Machine Head and from a commercial standpoint, things could only get better. However, this was sadly not the case. There had already been plenty of internal strife within the band (particularly between guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and vocalist Ian Gillan) and everyone was getting fed up. However, they still needed to get a follow-up record out, so the result was the troubled Who Do We Think We Are? which would be Gillan's and bassist Roger Glover's last album with Deep Purple until 1984's Perfect Strangers.

Who Do We Think We Are? does not seem to get all that adventurous in comparison to previous Purple records. Most of the songs on there are straight up blues grooving no frills rock n' roll songs. Stuff that in theory was perfect for radio for the time, though the only song from it that still gets any play these days is their hit "Woman From Tokyo". That said, there are still some other songs on there worth giving nods to.

"Woman From Tokyo" has some of Ritchie Blackmore's best blues riffing in all of the Deep Purple catalog. While the main riff isn't anywhere near as iconic as "Smoke on the Water", it will still get ingrained into your head pretty quickly and easily. The way the song ranges in dynamics and changes keys also shows that even when playing more commercial friendly rock, Deep Purple could shine and be the creative group that they are.

One of my personal favorites from this album that no one ever seems to mention has to be "Mary Long". That chorus (particularly the vocal melody) just gets to me every time. The band is pretty tight with the rest of the song. The organ squalls from Jon Lord really do give the song some timbre, but Ian Paice's technically proficient drumming brings it to a whole other level. Still though, it's definitely the vocal performance that makes it as excellent as it is.

Though this is not Deep Purple Mark II's best work, it is still a pretty solid album considering the tense circumstances it was written and recorded under. You can definitely tell that the band had had enough at that point and they were ready for a change. Regardless, it has some good and even a couple great songs on it and it is an essential part of any Deep Purple fan's collection. Also still worth checking out even if you're not the most into Purple.

Who Do We Think We Are?, by Deep Purple receives 3.2 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Woman From Tokyo
2. Mary Long
3. Super Trouper
4. Smooth Dancer
5. Rat Bat Blue
6. Place in Line
7. Our Lady

Buy the album on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Who-Do-We-Think-Are/dp/B000026KGA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523598468&sr=8-1&keywords=who+do+we+think+we+are+deep+purple

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