During an interview with The Prog Report, drummer Mike Portnoy mentioned his favorite Deep Purple album ‘Machine Head,’ considering it an early prototype metal album.
As one of the pioneers of heavy metal and progressive rock, Deep Purple was considered among the most impactful names in the 1970s rock scene. They have sold more than 100 million albums internationally throughout their music career.
‘Machine Head,’ released in 1972, became their most globally successful album. It reached high rankings on various countries’ charts, gaining the number one position in the UK. As the album has been considered an influence in improving heavy metal, it has received positive reviews from critics.
Former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy declared that ‘Machine Head’ was his favorite Deep Purple album in a recent interview. Portnoy chose the record as one of the most excellent hard rock albums. According to the drummer, ‘Machine Head’ was a classical one as the first example of a metal album.
Portnoy mentioned that this album put Deep Purple in the best place as a hard rock band. He also added that Deep Purple was the master of combining different genres like progressive rock, jazz, and symphonic.
In an interview, Mike Portnoy explained:
“Deep Purple’s ‘Machine Head’ is surely one of the greatest hard rock, early prototype metal albums of all time. And this is just an absolute classic for its time. And I think it’s Deep Purple’s masterpiece. I mean, they’ve put out many great albums, but this is the one that I think cemented them as one of the greatest hard rock bands of all time.
And, of course, the thing about Purple is they did have some prog elements. They started doing some symphonic stuff and jazzy stuff. When you think about what early prog was, it was that kind of melting pot of all those different styles. They had hard rock, prog, symphonic, and jazz, all thrown into this melting pot. And they were all such great musicians, every one of them was so great on their instruments.”
You can watch the entire interview and listen to ‘Machine Head’ below.
