![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/paice1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey.jpg)
Cruise control is the key
For all the fans of lovely Elizabeth: watch her giggle her way through the masterpiece that, by our count, have spawned at least three heavy metal sub-genres, before lending the name to an obscure website.
Thanks to Mike Whiteley for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
The Ultimate Heavy metal song of all time.
January 23rd, 2023 at 20:04To be honest Martin Birch should have been inducted into the hall of fame as well. He was the six member.
Peace ✌️
@1. I’d sooner go with the heaviest “car-song” ever recorded lol ! And imo, it’s way-too-musical to be branded Heavy Metal, with all of its movement & key-changes…But so-be-it if it’s spawned “x’ amount of sub-genres, as who am I to dispute this ?…
“8-cylinders, all mine”…( Yes, Ian sings 6-cylinders most of the time, but I have 8 under the bonnet ).
The only problem with Martin & the R&RHoF, is that the Wasp would have collected many awards for his efforts with other bands inducted over the years !
Peace !
January 23rd, 2023 at 22:06I don’t care what anybody says.
January 23rd, 2023 at 22:08Highway Star is the greatest song in the history of this planet!
Always has been, always will be!
All things considered, Purple’s best overall song. Miles ahead of “Smoke.” Yeah, there are times I want to listen specifically to any number of classics – “Child in Time,” “Speed King,” “Burn,” “”Perfect Strangers,” “Lazy,” “Space Truckin,””Hard Lovin’ Man,” “Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming,” “Hush” all quickly come to mind, depending on my mood. But give me “Highway Star” absolutely anytime, any place – and I’m happy.
January 23rd, 2023 at 22:41She insulted Roger’s bass as a “pedal tone” – we should burn her at the stake, the woman is damned, let’s make her burn with a wave of the ha-and!
Seriously, it’s a glorious song. Swift, but not rushed, pushy, but not heavy-handed, life-affirming, but not dumb, with two wonderfully melodic solos and a catchy melody. What’s not to like?
January 24th, 2023 at 03:17… and Sammy Hagar says so, too!
😀
January 24th, 2023 at 09:44She does a great job reviewing this and other songs!!
January 24th, 2023 at 11:07“Highway Star” is the best A1 (Ritchie’s fast song)
January 24th, 2023 at 12:18“Speed King”,”Fireball, “Burn” ,”Kill the King”,”Death Alley Driver”,”Spotlight Kid ” “Wolf To The Moon” fantastic songs too ,but HS is something special
HS has all the best things that DP gives instrumentally as best RnR band. Intro, melodic phrase, energy, middle part “eternal war in solos of guitar and keyboard”, rock drumming with jazz soul,solid bass line and top singing.
The ultimate driving song of all time. She is most “excited” kinda like an orgasmatron! don’t ya think.
January 24th, 2023 at 13:20In my recollection, these guys were the first ones to cover it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEISlPjMK9I
They did it faithfully, but with a Yank, almost Southern Rock (Point Blank were from Texas) feel, the harmony vocals during the chorus and Blackmore’s iconic solo actually played by two guitars live are kinda cute.
January 24th, 2023 at 16:07‘“8-cylinders, all mine”…( Yes, Ian sings 6-cylinders most of the time, but I have 8 under the bonnet ).’
You ghastly show-off. I only have two and they are not even hiding from sight underneath some bonnet! Take the torque to the wild side …
https://ridermagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/I5-KWP_4035.jpg
January 24th, 2023 at 23:04My favorite song of all time….not just DP but ALL! I enjoy all MK’s versions of this iconic tune as well as covers by other bands, but nothing beats the original and the MIJ version 🙂
January 25th, 2023 at 11:20@10 Uwe, The Puhdys covered it in 1973 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpJOiFSUIQU
January 25th, 2023 at 14:55I also happen to like this version by Metal Church:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VI7eOm1v7M&ab_channel=MetalChurch-Topic
January 25th, 2023 at 16:53Hey guys what do you think of this one …..? Enjoy…..
https://youtu.be/Ree-byztoJs
January 25th, 2023 at 17:38@13 Yes, one of my first Singles; A-Side Hell Raiser, also covered by Puhdys
January 25th, 2023 at 19:22@11… Well, Uwe, if you “only” have 2-cylinders, they don’t get much better than that ! And perhaps you’re not quite a ‘Highway Star” with regards to what Ian’s suggesting…But among the ranks of a “Speed King” you’d certainly qualify for sure, especially when the traffic-jams start around peak-hour !
( That said, the 8-cylinders I have are only small ones, though the burble, economy & easy-going smooth power delivery are quite nice…( 1973 MB 350 SLC ).https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/mercedes-benz/slc/1974/188503
Peace !
January 25th, 2023 at 22:04That’s actually one of the greatest aspects of riding a bike to get to work (which I mostly do unless there is ice on the streets or a monsoon coming down), Gregster, traffic jams lose their dread! But don’t worry, my car-crazy little brother has a Dodge Hellcat (replacing the Mustang he had before) so 8-cylinders are well taken care of in the family.
Liebe Landsmänner aus dem Osten: Ah, yes, the legendary Puhdys! I saw them around 1978 in Darmstadt at a DKP-Festival (introduced by no less than Herbert Mies, then-chairman of the West German communist party) – it was a great gig, back then I only knew their Rock’n’Roll album with 50ies standards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGTxn872tRI
and perhaps a handful of songs that had been played on West German radio. Live, the Deep Purple influence in their sound was clearly (and pleasantly so) audible. But I’ve never heard their version of Highway Star before, so danke for the enlightenment (though the guitar solo harmonies on their version are a bit on the doubtful side and it doesn’t really swing!).
The Metal Church version is already way too speedy for me, I regret to say, I can’t relate to that ultra-fast stuff. As a matter of fact, Highway Star in its Machine Head version (and perhaps also Fireball, the song) is/are about as fast as I still like “my rock” – Rainbow’s Kill the King for instance never did anything for me, because it was just too darn fast. Can’t move my butt to that in time I guess!
January 26th, 2023 at 15:42The Machine Head version of Highway Star is the one for me. no doubt because it was the first heard & those studio enhanced vocal screams were a revelation to a innocent 13 year old. And it isn’t as frantic as the much loved MIJ version. Also inspired back then to the opening to Speed King in all it’s cacophony glory & the ‘lift off’ sound at the start of Fireball before Paice’s incredible drumming intro kicks in. Regarding fast songs yes I can take only one per album at best, but I do have a liking for Fireball, Kill the King, Spotlight Kid & those sort of songs Blackmore seems to inspire. Not to the point of mosh pitting with the clan at a gig though. Although I would prefer to do that than in my younger days than ‘shake my butt’ at a gig. That could get anyone into trouble, especially in the mosh pit with those rabid metal heads. Cheers.
January 26th, 2023 at 19:58Ok, MacGregor, you’re beginning to sound all, uhum, rooful, let’s start gently with a few easy moves first at 02:05:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLGJXbl6g8o
For more advanced learning, we’ll then progress to this here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBPm2Xom_y4
For consolation: all beginnings are difficult …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gyM3aieQSo
January 26th, 2023 at 22:53I find it interesting that in my 4 decades of listening to the 5 decade old album that in the early days it was side 2: Smoke on the Water, Space Trucking, and especially Lazy that got me hooked on Deep Purple, but over the years Highway Star and Pictures of Home have become my favorites.
January 27th, 2023 at 06:53Thanks for those clips Uwe, however I was seriously thinking of going in at the deep end, ala David Lee Roth. Better call an ambulance first though, just in case. Let’s Dance the David Bowie clip filmed in an outback Australian, (Carinda in central NSW) one horse & one pub town. We have observed a few dance moves out here in Oz land in our time, especially all the way out here in the outback & even whilst living under a rock. Bowie knew were the real dancers were lurking. Cheers.
January 27th, 2023 at 07:17Who else though that “Cruise control is the key” was in reference to DP playing on a FL cruise in a couple of weeks?
Lovely Elizabeth’s sheer joy expressed while listening to Highway Star is so infectious. I am not sure that I experienced that much fun and shouts of “that’s so cool” upon my 1st listen.
January 27th, 2023 at 07:25