review by thomas

This is Purple’s most experimental album, which flirts with funk and groovy rhythms in ”No One Came” with good result. “Anyone’s Daughter” is an acoustic piece that flirts with Country&Western and it is not very good. Some tracks like “The Mule”, “Demon’s Eye” and the title track are natural followers from the last album, though not so metallic. “Demon’s Eye” would have been better if it had been one or two minutes shorter and “The Mule” is also dangerously close to this but manages to avoid repetitious boredom. “Fools” is both the heaviest and the most symphonic track on the album, it’s just brilliant with a calm intro were Gillan is whispering “I’m crying…” over and over before a super-heavy riff kicks in and is then relieved by some atmospheric playing and lovely percussion work from Paice, then back to the riff again with a strong vocal performance from Gillan before the crescendo. “No No No” is a very complicated piece that seems to be drawn from everything they experimented with – jazz, funk, heavy metal and more into one strange song.

Purple took a chance and didn’t just do “In Rock” part two. “Fireball” is a very experimental album and hard to describe, but it’s almost as good as “In Rock”. Don’t be afraid to try them out.