Made in Japan
Released
Hot on the heels of their monster success with Machine Head, the Mk. II lineup of British hard rockers Deep Purple decamped to Japan for three sold-out dates. The label wanted a live record from them. They didn’t want to do a live record. Which means that the transcendent performances captured here come from the band not trying to impress. That doesn’t mean they didn’t care, though – they brought in expert producer Martin Birch to handle the actual recording. The insane extended guitar and organ solos – and even “The Mule”’s drum debauchery – may seem indulgent when you look at the runtime, but when these highway stars shift into fifth gear you’ll never want them to hit the brakes.