Who Do We Think We Areby Deep Purple

In 1972, things are gettin' tighter for Deep Purple MkII. Relations between Blackmore and Gillan have deteriorated to the point where the band suffers from the no-dialogue situation between the singer and the guitarist. A recording session in Rome will lay the basis of what the successor of the brilliant 'Machine Head' album will sound like. 'Who Do We Think We Are' shows the band in crisis: the title is self-speaking while the inner sleeve features a collection of press cuts illustrating the difficulty of Deep Purple to cope with their dazzling fame, only five years after its creation. In this context, 'Who Do We Think We Are' has long been considered as the ugly duckling of Purple's discography. Blamed for lacking the magic of the three previous album, unfairly compared to the incandescent live 'Made in Japan', the fourth album of the legendary MkII definitely deserves a new listening. While it is true that it doesn't provide hit material such as 'Machine Head', it contains a real treat of classic hard rock. The opening track Woman from Tokyo is by far the most famous number. Mary Long gets back to the irreverent character of the band by criticizing English media prudishness. Super Trouper is an aggressive, nervous rock'n'roller that shouldn't blush compared to any previous Purple classic. Rat Bat Blue smells the good old time when Ritchie's talent was flourishing into skiffle music. Place in Line is an interessing mid-tempo while Our Lady sounds definitely anything else than a Purple song (possibly a Led Zeppelin song?), but who minds a little surprise? All in all, 'Who Do We Think We Are' is an album to be (re-)discovered. It is joyful, colourful and clever ('smart' could one even say). It is the last album of the line-up that made Deep Purple enter the rock history. The year of its release, Gillan left the band, Glover was sacked and Purple move to a totally different direction with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.