Best Deep Purple Albums with Ritchie Blackmore

Both 'In Rock' and 'Machine Head' are great albums and deserve the #1 spot.
'In Rock' is heavier and was more important than 'Machine Head' because 'In Rock' came out first and invented metal as we know it.

Probably the best so-called metal album of all time. Powerful guitar. Great songs. Just perfection.

Amazing album, my fave songs are:
1) Highway Star (containing the first true metal guitar solo)
2) Pictures of Home (a song with 5 solos on all instruments was unique circa 1972)
3) and of course - Smoke On The Water (the most legendary riff in rock history).

Burn and Mistreated are my favorite songs on this one

The title track is a masterpiece. Ritchie Blackmore said it was his favorite song by Deep Purple.

One of the best live albums of all time, a proof of their incredible musicianship.

A very underrated album - it's maybe because:
1) it was released in 1990 when Deep Purple weren't in their peak;
2) Ian Gillan wasn't the lead singer and die hard Deep Purple fans hated the album for this reason
My favorite songs: The Cut Runs Deep, King of Dreams, Fortuneteller, Love Conquers All

This isn't a bad album, it's just very different because they recorded it with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and it's like classical music. But playing with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a huge honor. Moreover, Deep Purple did it in 1969 when combining rock with classical was very innovative - Metallica played with a Philharmonic Orchestra 30 years later (S&M album). What Deep Purple did was so ahead of its time.