Fireball (album)

Fireball is the fifth album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in 1971 and the second with the Mk II line-up. It was recorded at various times between September 1970 and June 1971. It became the first of the band's two UK No. 1 albums, though it did not stay on the charts as long as its predecessor, Deep Purple In Rock. Even though the album has sold over a million copies in the UK, it has never received a certification there.

Fireball
Studio album by
Deep Purple
Released9 July 1971
RecordedSeptember 1970 – June 1971
StudioDe Lane Lea Studios and Olympic Studios, London, The Hermitage, Welcombe, North Devon
GenreHard rock, heavy metal, progressive rock
Length40:30
LabelHarvest
ProducerDeep Purple
Deep Purple chronology
Deep Purple In Rock
(1970)		 Fireball
(1971)		 Machine Head
(1972)
Singles from Fireball
  1. "Fireball"
    Released: October 1971
Alternative cover
25th Anniversary CD slipcase
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Music Story[2]

Chart performance

Fireball reached the No. 1 position on the UK albums chart,[3] while also hitting No. 1 in several other European countries. In North America, it outperformed its predecessor, In Rock, reaching No. 32 in the US[4] and No. 24 in Canada.[5]

Singles

The original UK version had "Demon's Eye" as its third track, but did not include "Strange Kind of Woman", which was instead released as a single there. It was vice versa on the US, Canada and Japanese releases. The boogie-inspired "Strange Kind of Woman" single reached No. 8 in the UK. "Fireball", the album's title track, was also released as a single and reached No. 15 in the UK.

"Strange Kind of Woman" has been a staple of the live set up to the present day, and "Fireball" also made a few live appearances, mainly as an encore. "Strange Kind of Woman" and "The Mule" appear on the 1972 live album Made in Japan, with the latter morphing into an Ian Paice drum solo.

"Anyone's Daughter" was played on the 1993–1994 tours, while "Fools", "No One Came", "I'm Alone", "Demon's Eye" and "No No No" have all made periodic appearances in various tours since 1996.

Releases and reissues

The original vinyl release was in a gatefold sleeve, with a generic Harvest LP-bag and a lyric-insert.

In September 2010, a limited edition 24k gold CD was released by Audio Fidelity. The CD was mastered from the original master tapes by Steve Hoffman. The gold CD contained the original USA track listing with "Strange Kind of Woman" and does not have "Demon's Eye".

Members' views on the album

Most of the band do not consider the album a classic, although it is one of Ian Gillan's favourites. He stated in a 1974 interview: "The reason I liked that so much was because I thought, from a writing point of view, it was really the beginning of tremendous possibilities of expression. And some of the tracks on that album are really, really inventive."[6] However, Gillan also said that the inclusion of "Anyone's Daughter" on the album was "a good bit of fun, but a mistake."[7]

Ritchie Blackmore, in particular, stated publicly that he was not overly pleased with Fireball. He said of the production: "That was a bit of a disaster, because it was thrown together in the studio. Managerial pressure, we had no time. 'You gotta play here, here, there, then you've got to make an LP.' I told them, 'if you want an LP, you've got to give us time.' But they wouldn't. I just threw ideas to the group that I thought up on the spur of the moment."[6]

Jon Lord stated that Fireball "wanders slightly" and "goes to places that the band wasn't expecting it to go to." Lord did praise several songs on the album, including "No No No" and "Fools", and particularly singled out Ian Paice's drumming on the title track.[8]

Later influences

On 9 April 2011 episode of That Metal Show, guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen stated that his older sister had given him Fireball when he was eight years old, and "it changed everything" for him. Similarly, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich stated that he purchased a copy of Fireball within 12 hours after his father had taken him to a 1973 Deep Purple concert in Copenhagen, and he credits the concert and album for sparking his interest in hard rock music.[9]

Likewise, Michael Monroe stated on Eddie Trunk's podcast that it was the first album he ever bought, and one of the first he ever heard along with Led Zeppelin II, and was a major influence to get him into a career in rock and roll.

King Diamond also mentions Fireball as the first studio album he purchased as a teenager and an important influence in his future career.[10]

Track listings

All songs written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.

Original European release
Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Fireball"3:25
2."No No No"6:54
3."Demon's Eye"5:19
4."Anyone's Daughter"4:43
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."The Mule"5:23
2."Fools"8:21
3."No One Came"6:28

Original US/Canadian/Japanese release
Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Fireball"3:25
2."No No No"6:54
3."Strange Kind of Woman"4:07
4."Anyone's Daughter"4:43
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."The Mule"5:23
2."Fools"8:21
3."No One Came"6:28

25th Anniversary Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Strange Kind of Woman" (a-side remix '96) 4:07
9."I'm Alone (single b-side)" 3:08
10."Freedom" (album out-take) 3:37
11."Slow Train" (album out-take) 5:38
12."Demon's Eye" (remix '96) 6:13
13."The Noise Abatement Society Tapes (Midnight in Moscow, Robin Hood, William Tell)"Traditional4:17
14."Fireball" (take 1 – instrumental) 4:09
15."Backwards Piano" (Reversed piano solo at the end of "No One Came.") 0:56
16."No One Came" (remix '96) 6:24

Personnel
Deep Purple
Production

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[29] Gold 250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[30] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[31] Gold 500,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Deep Purple - Fireball review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  2. http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/album/A1353.htm
  3. "Deep Purple Official Charts". Official Chart Company. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  4. "Deep Purple Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  5. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 16, No. 8, October 09 1971". Library and Archives Canada. 18 August 1973. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  6. Steve Rosen Interviews with Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore, 1974 on YouTube Retrieved from YouTube "Ritchie Blackmore, Guitar God|Part 2/5" on 14 January 2014.
  7. Album liner notes in anniversary booklet
  8. "Deep Purple - Fireball (VEVO interview with Jon Lord) eturn". YouTube. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  9. Grow, Kory. "Read Lars Ulrich's Passionate Deep Purple Rock Hall Induction". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  10. King Diamond's official website: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Billboard Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 83 no. 48. 27 November 1971. p. 60. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  12. "Danske Hitliter: Fireball - Deep Purple". Royal Library, Denmark. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  13. "Charts-Surfer: Musik Nr.1-Hits". charts-surfer.de.
  14. "SwedishCharts 0969-0872" (PDF). Hitsallertijden.nl. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  15. "Deep Purple - Fireball (album)". Norwegiancharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  16. "Deep Purple - Fireball". Dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  17. "infodisc.fr Note : You must select Deep Purple". infodisc.fr. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  18. "Gli album più venduti del 1971" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia.it. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  19. AA.VV. (1990). Oricon Chart Book 1970-1989 (オリコンチャートブック〈LP編) (1 ed.). Tokyo, Japan: Oricon. p. 205. ISBN 978-4871310253.
  20. "Albumit 1972-02 helmikuu". Wiki.pomus.net (in Finnish). Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  21. "Go-Set Australian charts - 19 February 1972". poparchives.com.au.
  22. "Danske Hitliter: Strange Kind of Woman - Deep Purple" (in Danish). Royal Library, Denmark. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  23. "Single – Deep Purple, Strange Kind of Woman". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  24. "Deep Purple - Strange kind of Woman". Austriancharts.at (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  25. "infodisc.fr Note : You must select Deep Purple". infodisc.fr. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  26. "Danske Hitliter: Deep Purple" (in Danish). Royal Library, Denmark. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  27. "Single – Deep Purple, Fireball". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  28. "Deep Purple - Fireball". Dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  29. "Machine Head" (PDF). Cash Box. 1 April 1972. p. 46. Retrieved 16 April 2020 – via American Radio History.
  30. "Dutch album certifications – Deep Purple – Fireball" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 25 April 2019. Enter Fireball in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  31. "American album certifications – Deep Purple – Fireball". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 25 April 2019. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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