Yep, “Smoke on the Water,”… Deep Purple, the metal band…relaxing! Remember to some heavy metal IS relaxing in itself. This song, however, is not very heavy at all and its sound would be generally accepted by anyone as relaxing. Your mom would like it! It gets a wee heavy in the middle but that ‘contradiction’ highlights the subtleties within.
The song starts out with a simple guitar line interwoven with an exceptionally emotive keyboard patch. In fact it is the ‘intense simplicity’ in the interplay between guitar and keys throughout that unclenches the distended soul.
The way in which keyboardist, the recently deceased, Jon Lord and guitarist Steve Morse play off each other sets up an incredibly concerted sonority only two Master musician’s could offer. Listen for the interplay throughout even the heavier parts to get the most out of the song.
Additionally Steve Morse masterfully plays off his initial motive even in the solos to give the song a connectivity from beginning to end. Steve’s use of delay and splitting the channels adds to the calmness of the guitar sound.
I cant believe this album is 33 years old today. I was young when Van Halen originally debuted in 1978 and I didn’t really know about them until after their fourth album, “Fair Warning,” my favorite VH alum, which was released in 1981. The upside to this was I had four incredible guitar albums to digest at one time including this one. When you are 12 years old and have nothing else to do, I really got to delve into these collections, “Van Halen,” “Van Halen II,” and the two previously mentioned albums.
Last night I watched, “Argo.” Yes, I know I am the last to see it. Director, Ben Affleck, utilized Van Halen’s, “Dance the Night Away,” to create the vibe of 1979/1980. This did put into perspective how old these albums are. Images of Jimmy Carter, Ayatollah Khomeini and the whole Iranian Hostage Crisis were memories from my childhood. Glad the music sounds fresher today than these old news stories!
“Women & Children,” the bands third album, was a little heavier in sound then their first two albums. A trend that continued through, “Fair Warning,” which was the bands worst selling album, although critically at least in my opinion and the fans I know, their best! Of note, on Women and Children, was Eddie Van Halen a notable pianist, as well as, guitarist’s first effort using keyboards on a VH recording. Ironically the sound of the keyboards on “And the Cradle Will Rock…,” was masked by running the sound through a guitar amplifier and virtually sounding, well, like a guitar. Also ironic is the fact that the use of keyboards propelled Van Halen’s popularity with songs like, “Jump,” “I’ll Wait,” and many of the Van Hagar Era hits.
In 2012 the boys teamed up once again with frontman David Lee Roth for a new album, “A Different Kind of Truth,” and subsequent tour. The best part of this tour was the fact they could play the true Van Halen songs that Sammy Hagar would never sing. From, Women and Children, they included, “Everybody Wants Some,” “And the Cradle Will Rock…,” and “Romeo Delight.” Check out the Setlist from the San Diego show, June 14, 2012.
Here’s to listening to these albums in another 33 years! Watch out grandkids cause you will be the wrath of my old man tunes!!!
This video contains the complete album, 33 minutes in length.
2012 continues to be a sad year in the music business. Today we lost Jon Lord keyboardist for Deep Purple.
Being a die-hard guitarist since I was about 14 I only had a mild interest in most keyboard music. Jon Lord however had an aggressive, unique and heavy sound that always stood out to me and I enjoyed. Even though Deep Purple was obviously guitarist Ritchie Blackmore’s project, they certainly would not have been the same without his keyboard riffs!
Definitely sad to hear the news but once again the band above’s talent grows!!
RIP Jon Lord!
Check out Lord’s unique sound in the intro of this song. This is his signature tone which really was unique and worked perfect for Deep Purple’s metal sound. Also his ‘Egyptian’ sounding harmonic minor solo at the end is very musical as he switches to a completely different sound.
Mike Slayen ~ Guitarist 