Top 10 Best Deep Purple Songs

The Top Ten
1 Child in Time

This is one of THE greatest songs ever written, by anyone! Listen to the variety of versions Purple played during the Mk2 period. Truly a fantastic mixture of musicianship, music colour, and emotion. Gillan stood head and shoulders above ALL other singers during the early '70s. Blackmore was just incredible, and Lord (RIP) was an immense influence on the Purple sound. Incredible song, that testifies to the genius of the band. Written within a few weeks of this version of the band getting together. This song has NO PEERS.

2 Highway Star

This is the template of how a classic Deep Purple song is: fast, heavy, and loud!

With lyrics that will make you crazy, an organ solo that will make you feel like the best driver ever, and a guitar solo that will make you go absolutely insane, this song truly is among the best songs of all time.

The theme about cars is not so common in music, unless you listen to Highway Star, the greatest masterpiece of the Speed Metal genre and the band Deep Purple. I have seldom read the lyrics of the song, since it is not necessary to read them to learn it. The Metal type arrangements mixing Hard Rock and somewhat heavier elements of music make it shine as a quite catchy song and difficult to forget! Highway Star is mega legendary.

3 Smoke on the Water

This song helped us to get into Deep Purple. But there are other better songs of theirs than this. You just have to listen to more songs of theirs.

Legendary song!

Class apart! Bow down in respect for Sir Blackmore!

As good as Child In Time is, this song is clearly more number 2 material than Highway Star. We have to accept it, even if it hurts.

4 Burn

The drumming in Burn is the best drumming in a rock song ever. Smoke on the Water, Highway Star, and this song have to be in the top three! So, I hope the people that haven't voted yet will follow me and vote for Burn. If not: I think the damned women will burn you!

Lovely drum rhythm... It has harmony, speed, and power... I'm a drummer, and heck, I didn't know any Deep Purple songs until my friend forced me to cover this song... And I like it very much. But, this song always makes my drums go wild and splatter all around. Wahhahah.

5 Perfect Strangers

This song gives me chills every time I listen to it. The vocals are simply amazing, the way Gillan makes his voice mysterious. As said above, it is a perfect song.

The most underrated song ever. Epic song with a riff better than Smoke on the Water. And there's not a single doubt about their vocal excellence.

Definitely a noteworthy song. Those who haven't given it a listen must. Perfect guitaring, and I can't think of a better voice to go with it. Don't find an all-around perfect song these days.

6 Soldier of Fortune

There's just no way that this should be below Child In Time! Screw that song if there's any song that should be right below Smoke on the Water, then it's Soldier of Fortune. A great song when you've just been deserted by someone whom you never thought would do so...

In my opinion, this one shares the first place with Child in Time. Do not forget that the popularity of a song does not show that it is the best.

It excites a spark within me! The perfect song with beautiful lyrics. Should have been at the top of the list! Love it!

7 Black Night

Not only is this song unique in every way possible, but it also is my favorite song of theirs! Screw Smoke on the Water! The lyrics are heartwarming, and you can tell that the instrumentation is at its finest!

This song gets my blood pumping, and it's made for that! Somebody wrote before me, "It's more metal than rock - fine!"
Yeah, baby, bang your head - it's one of the best songs for this business!

I really like the guitar riff, the rhythm, the solo as well as the vocals! A little similar to a classic metal song! Great!

8 Lazy

My fellow rockers, why is this masterpiece so low? Ian Gillan's vocals here are perfectly timed and perfectly uttered, and the bluesy piano soloing of Paice is unmatched. Don't forget the blues-based guitar solo of Sir Ritchie Blackmore! This should be number 2 or 3 because it contains the Deep Purple spirit and style. God damn you guys.

Not a Deep Purple fan per se. I'm more of a blues fan. I was getting out of my car and this song came on, and I was wondering who it was. Had to stay and listen to the whole song. Super impressed. Great song. New respect for Deep Purple.

9 Hush

I love this song... Smoke on the Water is legendary, but this is their best song ever.

Awesome song! I would put this one at #2 on the list, after Smoke on the Water.

Best song ever... Riding down the road, singing like I was in the band...

10 Fireball

Agree, the drums are awesome - it's double bass. Can you imagine, Ian Paice played double bass in 1971! Go beat Deep Purple when it comes to inventing metal and metal subgenres, and using advanced metal techniques in every area - vocals, drumming, guitars...

Lars Ulrich of Metallica attended one of the DP shows in Copenhagen, Denmark (he was 9-10) and was mesmerized by this double bass on Fireball (he saw such a thing for the first time).

The prototypical hard rock song: very hard, heavy drums, heavy organs, fast beat, and overall a very compact rock song. This song defined hard rock for decades to come. Still wonderful to listen to when in a car, working out... so much energy and power!

The Contenders
11 Knockin' At Your Back Door

A song that's as underrated as underrated can be, glad to see it's moving up the list. The guitar riff especially is superb.

This song got me into Deep Purple. I thought they were just Smoke on the Water, but they are the most underappreciated band of all time, and this song is the best, no matter what anyone says.

Masterpiece. Should be in the top 5 at least.

12 Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming

I love the solo by Steve Morse. It is impossible to get more feeling in one guitar solo than Steve Morse got here. I can listen to it for hours.

Wonderfully emotive. Smouldering, dynamic, and evocative, topped off with Steve Morse's explosive finale.

This song is full of feelings. It's one of the best musical compositions of "Deep Purple". The guitar solo is truly epic and reminds me of a solo from Dream Theater, which is really virtuosic.

13 Mistreated

The opening guitar line is so cool, straight into the amp, no soup like all the guitarists today. Stunning original riff yet again from Ritchie and a great vocal too.

This and Led Zeppelin's Since I've Been Loving You are the best blues songs I've ever heard.

Mistreated at 109?! It has some of Ritchie's best guitar playing ever!

14 Space Truckin'

"Made in Japan's" Space Truckin' is one of the few songs off the top of my head where the live version is better than the recorded. The others include Midnight Rambler and Street Fighting Man from "Get Yer Ya Ya's Out" by the Rolling Stones, and Smoke on the Water from the same record.

This should replace Soldier of Fortune in 4th place, and then the top 5 will be perfect. The studio version is amazing, and Deep Purple always used this to end their live shows where they would stretch it out to 20 minutes.

Top five without a doubt. Simply a fun, jamming, rocking tune. Why complicate music?!

15 Pictures of Home

One hell of an overlooked gem from an album highly esteemed by rock and metal fans alike - great keyboard work and a flawless solo, these guys were so ahead of their time.

A great epic song! The live version is a masterpiece! Jon Lord at his best. Deep Purple forever...

This song is awesome. The drum solo at the beginning is enough to sell it for me.

16 When a Blind Man Cries

Everyone knows Smoke, but Metallica's cover of this brought me to the deeper side of Deep Purple (pun intended).

This song makes me feel many emotions.

17 Stormbringer

Please. This is a kick-butt song. Deep Purple is credited with the first heavy metal album of all time (Machine Head), and you all can't give the Stormbringer album its due? Please. Go back to your cave.

Not my favorite, but it shouldn't be 18th, it should be at least 6th. The guitars are amazing, and the vocals are incredible and incredibly catchy. Can't get the "RIDE THE RAINBOW!" out of my head.

This is my favorite Deep Purple song. God, the riff is so good and so heavy. Hands down the most underrated song in rock.

18 Kentucky Woman
19 Woman from Tokyo

Man, this song is amazing. Great vocals, great solo, nice keyboard all the way through, not to mention the great bass all the way through the song!

All the elements blend so beautifully that they make the song sound familiar to even those who haven't heard it before.

Purple at their best - tender and ferocious in equal measure. Not their very best, but a fabulous trouser-splitting rock song.

20 Strange Kind of Woman

The MIJ version of this song is one of the most entertaining pieces to have come from Deep Purple.

This song is way too good to be number 14! Amazing solo, amazing vocals, amazing tune.

21 Speed King

Fantastic instrumentals, love the crazy guitar mayhem leading to the serenity of the organ interlude, then into a vocal attack by Gillan with "Good golly Miss Molly". Should at least be in the top ten, very surprised.

Child In Time is their best for me, but that is top. And this should be 2nd. The intro and energy with Gillan at his prime blew me away as a 15-year-old 35 years ago, and I still get a massive buzz from this song. Burn at #3 for me.

Come on, guys! This should be number 3. It has a mind-blowing intro, sheer speed, great lyrics, and the call-and-answer solos are at the same time virtuoso and heavy. The live '84 version just blows you away.

22 April

This song is incredible. I can't believe why it's so down in this top. If everyone could give it a listen, I'm pretty sure it would be much more appreciated than the basic Smoke on the Water.

Absolutely incredible song. 114? This is one of their best songs. Please, if you scroll far down enough to see this, give it a listen!

April isn't just the best Deep Purple song - it's the single most underrated rock song ever. Basically a perfect song.

23 Hard Lovin' Man

0%? You're kidding! When the band reformed in '84, each member picked their favourite DP song for a Radio One special, and this was Jon's choice - and he knew a thing or two about music! Perhaps it takes more time to appreciate than some songs, but it's worth the effort. It's certainly risen in my top ten over the last forty odd years, maybe because it sounded a tad messy on the lo-fi mono record player we had back then. Surely the band's most breath-taking, exciting, and simply OTT studio recording. Epic indeed.

Agree - pure speed metal, and epic! All those gallops in current metal came from DP's speed metal.

24 Blind
25 Hungry Daze

Deep Purple are again one step ahead - besides its awesome melody and riff, this song has some elements of symphonic (power) metal. Go beat Ritchie Blackmore when speaking of metal invention, and respectively - metal subgenres.

And Gillan even growls towards the end - it's so metal.

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