Last Updated on 27 January 2026 by Massimo M.
Deep Purple’s fourth studio album, Deep Purple In Rock,is without any doubt an important record.
Its importance is determined first of all by the fact that this album decrees the triumph of the band on a planetary level giving way to what, in an article of the time, Melody Maker will baptize as Purple-mania.
Secondly because it is the album that, together with “II” by Led Zeppelin and the first album of the same name by Black Sabbath, constitutes the turning point of rock music of the seventies representing the quintessence of the newborn genre that is hard rock. 
Deep Purple in rock was recorded between October 1969 and April 1970 in four different recording rooms namely IBC Studio, De Lane, Lea Studios and Abbey Road Studios, all located in London. The publication took place in June 1970.
The first release of the album was made for the United Kingdom only and was handled by the Harvest label that released the album with catalog number SHVL 777.
The album was in an openable format with lyrics on the left and five black and white photographs of the individual band members on the right. The cover instead shows the faces of the members of the group as if they were carved in place of the American presidents on Mount Rushmore.
The image of the cover, born from an idea of the band’s manager Tony Edwards, evidently plays on the ambivalence of the album’s title. In fact Deep Purple in rock can be interpreted both in a musical sense, Deep Purple playing rock music, and with a different sense that is Deep Purple hard as rock or something very similar.
The first copies, quite rare, are recognizable because they have a line around the EMI logo printed on the front.
In its history this record has received 14 silver records, 33 gold, 57 platinum records and 79 diamond discs, it is therefore not a rare record but it is still a milestone of rock and, therefore, it is practically indispensable for the collection of rock records.
The tracks on the album
Speed King – 5:49
Bloodsucker – 4:10
Child in Time – 10:14
Flight of the Rat – 7:51
Into the Fire – 3:28
Living Wreck – 4:27
Hard Lovin’ Man – 7:10
to these tracks were added those that I list below in the version of the album released for the 25th anniversary of the first release of Deep Purple in rock
Black Night (original single version) – 3:27 Studio Chat (1) – 0:28 Speed King (piano version) – 4:14 Studio Chat (2) – 0:25 Cry Free (Roger Glover remix) – 3:20 Studio Chat (3) – 0:05 Jam Stew (instrumental) – 2:30 Studio Chat (4) – 0:40 Flight of the Rat (Roger Glover remix) – 7:53 Studio Chat (5) – 0:31 Speed King (Roger Glover remix) – 5:52 Studio Chat (6) – 0:23 Black Night (unreleased Roger Glover remix) – 4:47
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