Uwe also never thought Speed King such a great opener, I know this sounds sissy, but I found the opening sonic avalanche noisy and the following song minimalist, if I’m truthful I actually prefer the piano version of the song, maybe because it echoes Little Richard more …
I think the most rounded and impressive opener DP ever managed is actually Burn. Imposing riff, great Gorgan, it’s speedy, but not rushed, vocalists changing between verses, bridge/middle eight and chorus, great guitar and keyboard solos, awesomely busy drums that work within the context of the song and Glenn’s melodic bass line - the song is perfect. Ok, it’s a song about a witch, but then - is Karin around? - we all know they are a fact of life …
In Rock is my favorite DP studio album. Part of the reason for this is how Speed King grabs you right out of the gate and shakes the crap out of you. Fabulous, pounding riff, with Jon and Ritchie’s first call and response example in the studio. And Highway Star is inarguably a classic starter to a classic album. Great solos by Ritchie and Jon, and much better lyrics than SK. It’s even better leading off Made in Japan - good as the studio version is, the live version blows it out of the water, in my opinion. So excellent cases can be made for either as Purple’s best album opener.
All that said, I’m inclined to call Burn my favorite opener. The Gershwin riff they use as the basis is incredibly well adapted and more interesting to me, and you do have two vocalists as opposed to one to develop the riff and harmonize. And being a keyboard player, I give Jon the edge on the Burn solos over Ritchie (as opposed to Highway Star, where I give Ritchie the nod). That’s what I think today, anyway. I reserve the right to change my mind - and probably will, depending on the day and my mood.
Honorable mention goes to Ted the Mechanic and Knocking at Your Back Door.
Speed King on the In Rock ‘debut’ album is the ultimate statement, in the sense of the timing and everything else. A message in waiting if ever there was one, to simply blow the doors off and lay down a template. Not so though as a concert opener I couldn’t imagine. Highway Star and Burn are much more suited to the live setting. Burn was also a message of sorts with a new beginning etc, very different in many aspects. Cheers.
Comin’ Home - cos it always brings a smile to my face and mentions BB King
Knocking at your Back Door - for I still get the goosebumps remembering the first time I heard that divine intro …listening to that world wide release show on a tiny radio during night shift at the rescue station…praying noone would call ..
It is beyond me how anyone can call Simple Song a bad one.
I agree that KAYBD was a great atmospheric intro - with positive vibes and thus unusual for Mk II in the 80s and early 90s since both Bad Attitude and The Battle Rages On (the song) were filled to the brim with negative vibes which turned me off a little. Even King of Dreams was rather moody and dark.
In contrast, in the 70s all first songs on DP albums had been positive and life-affirming: Speed King, Fireball, Highway Star and Woman From Tokyo. I guess that stood for something and showed that the amount of reciprocal goodwill among the members diminished quickly after the initial reunion phase.
Best - Flight of the Rat. Top of my list for old songs to be brought into the set.
And yes - it was the album opener. At least for those of us who first heard In Rock via EMI’s “Fame” label in the early 1980s as they got the sides mixed up.
It still is a bit weird. I had the tape (though I think the vinyl was the same) for about 10 years before I picked up the 25th Anniversary CD in 1995 and realised.
Uwe - or as you please - Caesar, I have to disagree. While KAYBD sure has an atmospheric intro it is a killer song all the way until the end which of course should have been a proper ending. Bad Attitude was an attempt to do the trick again …to follow up a succesful number with something similar (Black Night/ SKOW et al). And Bad Attitude does well, nice song, glad Ian Paice played it last time around …no negative vibes for me. It’s one of those Gillan numbers that transforms frustration into anger und a lust for life. He’s really good at that. I’ll rip your Spine Out, Vengeance, Bloodsucker, Money Lender, Mad Dog, Dirty Dog. Works perfectly fine for me.
And A Simple Song is just a sad affair to these ears. I remember it taking me days to dare to listen to the other tracks on that album back then because I was afraid they would be just a bad. And in a way it ruined Now What for me. Although I was soon to find out there were other songs I did not like either. All in all Now What maybe the weakest no-Joe Lynn Turner-era DP album for me - with A Simple Song marking the low point.
Re WFT, Herr MacGregor, yup, that was a positive song - with its major key (unusual for DP) and Fernweh/wanderlust lyrics. But of course you have a point if you are alluding to the circumstances of WDWTWA’s recording and Ritchie already boycotting the great and atmospheric middle part with Roger’s wonderfully melodic bass solo (which he never gets enough credit for, people always pointing to his solos in Fireball and Pictures Of Home which are nowhere near as tasteful and melodic).
Now What?! is likely for me the best DP album featuring IG since WDWTWA. I know that Purpendicular is more diverse, but Now What?! speaks to me even more.
Well yeah, speak it does. It screams stay the f*ck away from me. Or in a more sophisticated way: Pathetisch, hüftsteif, negativ, gewollt und kitschig. Well, some of it at least. The only attempt to get at least a little Rock’n’Roll in here may be Hell to Pay … which is more or less run of the mill and a choir to better not speak about. Vincent Price is beyond peinlich - as are Above and Beyond and Uncommon Man if for totaly differnt reasons. But I liked the cover.
Are there children among us?! Was the title perhaps Flight From The Pram?
Guilty as charged!
Ok - I heard Made in Japan in the mid-70s and first got into the Purple family c. 1980. I would have heard In Rock about then, but not enough to learn the track order.
I had certainly heard the band before the current banjo player was born!
Imposing riff, great Gorgan, it’s speedy, but not rushed, vocalists changing between verses, bridge/middle eight and chorus, great guitar and keyboard solos, awesomely busy drums that work within the context of the song and Glenn’s melodic bass line - the song is perfect. Ok, it’s a song about a witch, but then - 
is Karin around? - we all know they are a fact of life …
