Highway Star - Deep Purple
Song of the Day #32
Apple Music link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/highway-star/1099334597?i=1099334871
If Motorhead took rock 'n' roll to its dirtiest heights and if AC/DC & Aerosmith took rock 'n' roll to its cockiest heights, Deep Purple simply pushed rock 'n' roll to its most puffed up and absurd. Seriously, no band ever played rock 'n' roll with their levels of flashy pretense and showmanship easily on par with the likes of Keith Emerson and Jon Anderson. Even fucking Pete Townshend and Jimmy Page would know their limits, but nope, definitely not these guys. With the extravagant pompous soloing of Blackmore and Lord, the glass-shattering Pennimanesque vocals of Ian Gillian, and the monstrous charge of the rhythm section, this is a band that did not have the word "restraint" in their vocabulary, for better or for worse.
No wonder so many are quick to dismiss them under the banner of 70s excess, but if you ask me, they represented everything that was great about this era of rock music. Yes, many of these bands got so ambitious that they often reached the point of collapse rather quickly, yet most of them did not forgo the emotional gut-punch factor in the midst of their artsy zeal. In their golden era from 1970 to 1972, Deep Purple was one of the greatest pure rock 'n' roll bands on Earth, using their magnificent playing chops and "wankery" to actually amplify the kicking of ass rather than hindering it. At least for me, even their epically long live renditions of "Space Truckin'" and "Strange Kind of Woman" are thoroughly entertaining the whole way through.
Indeed, no other song of theirs captures this incredible magic of theirs than "Highway Star," a strong contender for their greatest work (only "Child In Time" competes for that title) and one of my favorite rock 'n' roll songs ever. This is just the ultimate 100-miles-per-hour car ride anthem, charging out the gate at full speed and not dropping the energy level for even a moment. Really, this is where the heavenly synergy of the band works to their advantage. The song whips up a powerful thunderstorm under the all-out triple assault of Lord, Blackmore, and Gillian pummeling your brain into oblivion, but it only feels like such a ferocious onslaught because Glover and Paice hold down the line, giving the song thick, heavy bottom so all of the showmanship of the more flamboyant members can properly blow your mind. And blow your mind they should: how mind-bending is that sonic vortex of Gillian screams in the intro? Better yet, how fucking magnificent are those classically-inspired solos of Blackmore? How many guitarists can sound so damn beautiful and violently aggressive at the same time? I sure as hell can't think of many.
It's no use in me pointing out more great details that makes the song a masterpiece. It's just a timelessly awesome recording that has never been bested by anyone, including themselves. They tried to make it rip even harder on Made In Japan, but it was no use when the original was already a force of nature to reckon with. If you haven't heard this song, I feel sorry that you haven't experienced the aural bliss of hearing a glorious band firing at all cylinders. And if you have heard the song, well, you're probably listening to it again as we speak :)
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