* live recording *

Recorded:

8/15/72 – 8/17/72

Released:

December 1972

Rating:

Genre:

British hard rock/ heavy metal

Quotable:

“A landmark in the history of heavy metal music.” – William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Album Tracks:

1. Highway Star
2. Child in Time
3. Smoke on the Water
4. The Mule (Drum Solo)
5. Strange Kind of Woman
6. Lazy
7. Space Truckin’

Sales (in millions):

1.0
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--
1.0

Peak:

6
16

Singles/Hit Songs:

• Strange Kind of Woman (2/27/71) #8 UK
• Lazy (6/72) --
• Highway Star (10/72) –
• Smoke on the Water (5/26/73) #4 US, #21 UK. Sales: 0.5 m

* chart information for original studio versions

Notes: In “1998, Warner Archives/Rhino issued ‘the remastered edition’ of the album, a two-CD set that added more than 20 minutes of encores on a second disc that contained Black Night, previously released only as a European B-side, and versions of Speed King and Little Richard’s Lucille that were previously unreleased.” ^WR

Awards:

Review:

“Recorded over three nights in August 1972, Deep Purple’s Made in Japan was the record that brought the band to headliner status in the U.S. and elsewhere, and it remains a landmark in the history of heavy metal music.” ^WR

“Since reorganizing with singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover in 1969, Deep Purple had recorded three important albums – Deep Purple in Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head – and used the material to build a fierce live show. Made in Japan, its selections drawn from those albums, documented that show, in which songs were drawn out to ten and even nearly-20-minutes with no less intensity, as guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and organist Jon Lord soloed extensively and Gillan sang in a screech that became the envy of all metal bands to follow.” ^WR

“The signature song, of course, was Smoke on the Water, with its memorable riff, which went on to become an American hit single. But those extended workouts, particularly the moody Child in Time, with Gillan’s haunting falsetto wail and Blackmore’s amazingly fast playing, and Space Truckin’, with Lord’s organ effects, maintained the onslaught, making this a definitive treatment of the band’s catalog and its most impressive album.” ^WR

“By stretching out and going to extremes, Deep Purple pushed its music into the kind of deliberate excess that made heavy metal what it became, and their audience recognized the breakthrough, propelling the original double LP into the U.S. Top Ten and sales over a million copies.” ^WR

Review Source(s):

• ^WR William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

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Last updated March 28, 2011.