Best Deep Purple Lineup

MK II, especially 1970-1972

I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan, I own

Burn
Stormbringer
24crt Purple on vinyl

30 the Very Best of on CD

So by that logic, I should like Mk III more, but I don't, it's just the way things are, I have owned most of the records up to Perfect Strangers at one point, but nothing after.

I am a sucker for Deep Purple - Ian Gillan vocals!

My collection includes:

Shades of Deep Purple, Deep Purple, Deep Purple in Rock, Fireball, Machine Head, Burn, Stormbringer, Perfect Strangers, The House of Blue Light, Slaves and Masters, The Battle Rages On,  Purpendicular, Rapture of the Deep.

California Jamming, Live in Japan, New York 1973, and Best of Deep Purple 30 years.

Whoops! I voted mkI........I totally forgot they had albums before Gillan!  
I should have voted mkII!

Mk II by a wide margin.... that said, the new Deep Purple album is excellent and one of the best releases of the year so far!

I voted Mk II, but there is a certain charm to the Mk I albums.

MKII. I'll be shocked if there are 5 votes total for all the other lineups combined.

bgsully wrote:

Whoops! I voted mkI........I totally forgot they had albums before Gillan!  
I should have voted mkII!

I was wondering who had done that lol. It's cool; we'll keep it in mind.

So far Mk II is unanimous.

I like all the line-ups, but the Gillan line-up was unbeatable.

I saw Deep Purple on the Bananas tour a few years ago and they were fantastic. I like the newer albums with Steve Morse quite a bit. Purpendicular is a darned fine album IMO.

S.D. wrote:

Of course I would be willing to bet the number of people that actually own more DP than Machine Head (or a Greatest Hits collection) are very few on this board.  So I'm not the least bit surprised that Mark II gets all the votes.  

Who cares about Machine Head? In Rock was their best record.

Really, one could mash In Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head into one stellar album. Every song has equal weight, IMO.

For the record, Who Do We Think We Are was almost as good as those three, and underrated, again IMO.

corplhicks wrote:

Really, one could mash In Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head into one stellar album. Every song has equal weight, IMO.

For the record, Who Do We Think We Are was almost as good as those three, and underrated, again IMO.

I find "stormbringer," "the house of blue light," and "the battle rages on" all underrated. Not perfect albums, but darn good.

MetallicSeminarian wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Really, one could mash In Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head into one stellar album. Every song has equal weight, IMO.

For the record, Who Do We Think We Are was almost as good as those three, and underrated, again IMO.

I find "stormbringer," "the house of blue light," and "the battle rages on" all underrated. Not perfect albums, but darn good.

Oh yes.

Today I'm gonna say Mk III & that's who I voted for. Tomorrow it could be Mk II. I love every era of DP & would call their new album my favorite of 2013. And I own every album of theirs including import live albums.

Mk II.

Gillan rules! Followed closely by the Coverdale era.

Easily the Mk. II lineup.

corplhicks wrote:

Really, one could mash In Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head into one stellar album. Every song has equal weight, IMO.

For the record, Who Do We Think We Are was almost as good as those three, and underrated, again IMO.

 Who Do We Think We Are is most definatly an underrated album. 

Gillian was my favorite as well, though I also I have a soft spot for the Turner era.

Vexer6 wrote:

Gillian was my favorite as well, though I also I have a soft spot for the Turner era.

 Deep Rainbow....nothing wrong with that!

Wow, this poll is really neck and neck!

I think the band lost a lot of its heavy metal edge after Blackmore left. And after Gillan left it turned even more bluesy and funky. Obviously it's a matter of preference, like a lot of these kind of things, but there's absolutely NO WONDER a metal message board would think of MK II as their pinnacle.

ElectricEye93 wrote:

Wow, this poll is really neck and neck!

 

Mark II > Mark III > Mark IV

MK II 69'-72' Insane live band! Love MK III Burn is Great!

Machine Head alone makes MKII the winner.
That album contains some of the best songs of all time.
Smoke on the Water
Lazy
Highway Star
Heck, every song on it is perfection to me.