Review Summary: Although surrounded by the band’s more seminal records, Fireball stands alone as a display for Deep Purple’s powerful, yet still evolving musicality.
As a harder edged rock ‘n’ roll sound emerged into the 1970s, bands in the confinement of this genre had less reliance on hit singles and instead focused on the albums as wholes and the development of their electrifying live concerts. The album and concert-based focus was heralded by hard rock bands like Grand Funk Railroad, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and also above all, Deep Purple. With their fifth full-length LP release, Fireball, Deep Purple had refrained from a hit single focus since 1968’s “Hush”. In the years following their commencement, the band had revamped and developed their highly electrified and unpredictable live shows. In the studio, they attempted to mimic their live performances, best showcased as a technique on the precedent album, In Rock. However, the sessions for Fireball aimed at a more clinical process of recording. Nevertheless, this album continues to suggest the band’s in-studio experimentation while simultaneously maturing their songwriting.
Although fans and even band members alike, with the exception of vocalist Ian Gillan, criminally underappreciate the album, Fireball was a crucial release for the progress of the band’s growth. When juxtaposing the albums that bookend Fireball, In Rock and Machine Head are highly individualistic albums with distinct musical qualities. Without Fireball’s release, the band’s magnum opus would represent a much-differentiated sound. In this light, the record’s track listing of “Fireball,” “No No No,” “Strange Kind of Woman,” “Anyone’s Daughter,” “The Mule,” “Fools,” and “No One Came,” despite lackluster or praise-worthy commentary, are all pertinent to the band’s developing career.
As it goes for In Rock and Machine Head, Deep Purple continues their inclination to introduce their records with fast and powerful songs. For this record, the title track serves this purpose, although uncharacteristically of the band for lacking a guitar solo performance by the short-fused Ritchie Blackmore. Thus, the title track opens the record up into an unusual mixture of genres tackled by the band, most notably in the country-tinged “Anyone’s Daughter”. The second composition, “No No No,” serves both as Blackmore and Lord’s first soulful solo trade on the record and as Ian Gillan’s lowest point of lyricism. “Strange Kind of Woman” brings back the intensity in form of Blackmore’s solo-dominated performance. Side B originates with the highly psychedelic number, “The Mule,” which although features introductory lyrics by Gillan, is largely an instrumental piece that quickly became virtuosic drummer, Ian Paice’s showcase in a live versions that feature six minute drum solos. The album closes with two fairly unknown Deep Purple cuts in “Fools” and “No One Came”. The latter song features Blackmore’s ear pleasing classically inspired solos in volume swells and the former features an unusual use of backwards taping of his outro solo.
Aside from Blackmore’s outings, the band mixes well into a record that greatly demonstrates full songwriting from all members, a technique that is not atypical with the band. In retrospect, Fireball displays one of Deep Purple’s best studio releases in terms of compositional spontaneity and maturation.
