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If you're looking for something a little different in your metal, you're probably looking for the 1970's prog-rock icons Deep Purple. Instead of three-minute rockers about girls and drugs, Deep Purple specialize in 12 minute, guitar-solo-bending anthems about cosmic space adventurers. And drugs. The 1970's were the perfect time for progressive metal music; technically talented musicians were given the freedom to experiment with classical music structures and instrumentation, all in a rock arena context. And eager music fans were curious to hear sounds that they'd never heard before. Deep Purple formed in Hertfordshire, England in 1967. Drummer Chris Curtis, formerly of the groovy merseybeat combo The Searchers, decided that he wanted to put together an experimental band originally named Roundabout, based on the notion that any musicians that wanted to could get on or off whenever they felt like it. You couldn't swing a microphone stand in England in the 1960's without hitting a young musician, and there were no shortage of recruits. Over the years, Deep Purple has gone through extensive lineup changes, and detailing them all is a game for devoted fans (of which there are plenty.) Two key additions to the original Deep Purple were the classically trained electric organist Art Wood and The Maze's singer Rod Evans. The group's break-through single was a cover of American guitarist Joe South's haunting "Hush", which charted in the US but not the UK. On 1969's self-titled Deep Purple, the band took their interest in classical music further by adding woodwind instruments and strings to their songs. This trend came to a head with the albums Concerto For Group and Orchestra and Gemini Suite, both of which paired the band up with full orchestras. Deep Purple's biggest critical and commercial success came with 1971's Machine Head. In addition to hits like "Space Truckin'", "Highway Star" and "Lazy", the album includes Deep Purples biggest chart-topper, the massive riff orgy "Smoke On the Water." The legendary song was inspired by a fire at a Frank Zappa concert before a Deep Purple recording session, and it has gone on to inspire generations of bedroom rockers.

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