DEEP PURPLE released "Deep Purple in Rock" on June 5th, 1970, through Harvest Records — the album that defined what heavy metal would sound like for the next decade and beyond. Featuring the classic Mark II lineup of Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice, the record exploded with revolutionary energy on tracks like "Speed King," "Child in Time," and "Into the Fire." Blackmore's ferocious guitar attack, Lord's screaming Hammond organ, and Gillan's stratospheric vocal range combined to produce something genuinely unprecedented in British rock. Reaching number four on the UK charts, the album sold over a million copies worldwide and directly influenced JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, RAINBOW, and essentially every British heavy metal act that followed. The cover art — the five band members' faces carved into a Mount Rushmore-style rock face — matched the album's monumental ambition in every way.
