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Deep Purple - Singles A's & B's (1976)

Track listing:
  1. Hush 4:24
  2. One More Rainy Day 3:39
  3. Kentucky Woman 4:04
  4. Emmeretta 3:00
  5. The Bird Has Flown 2:54
  6. Hallelujah 3:44
  7. Speed King 4:26
  8. Black Night 3:29
  9. Strange Kind Of Woman 3:49
  10. I'm Alone 3:06
  11. Fireball 3:22
  12. Demon's Eye 5:13
  13. Never Before 3:30
  14. A Blind Man Cries 3:32
  15. Smoke On The Water 3:48
  16. Black Night (live) 5:00
  17. Might Just Take Your Life 3:35
  18. Coronarias Redig 4:54
  19. You Keep On Moving 4:29
  20. Love Child 3:04

Notes

This generous package from EMI is one of the better Deep Purple compilations. Singles A's & B's focuses on the group's original period of recording (1968-1976) and dutifully collects all the single-oriented highlights from this era, including such hard-rocking classics as "Smoke on the Water," "Black Night," and "Hush." It also includes a number of non-album sides that make the package worthwhile for anyone seriously interested in the group. One of the most surprising aspects of this collection is that the B-sides are often just as good as the A-sides: "I'm Alone" is a hard-swinging rocker worthy of the band's better-known hits and "When a Blind Man Cries" is a wrenching, blues-inflected ballad that is one of group's best slow numbers. The format also allows re-evaluation of Deep Purple's lesser-known material: A great example is "One More Rainy Day," a catchy tune from the group's oft-overlooked late-'60s period that weds a hook-laden pop melody to a combination of flowery organ riffs and Ian Paice's hard-hitting drum fills. The package is rounded out by a comprehensive set of liner notes from Simon Robinson that supplies context and trivia in equal measure in a colorful layout full of rare single sleeve images. All in all, Singles A's & B's works both as a comprehensive primer on Deep Purple's heyday and also as a consistent double album's worth of well-crafted hard rock.