Album Release and Sound Overview
Manager John Coletta was surprised when he heard the trio's news, advising them to keep quiet about it until the tour was completed and they had returned home to England. Then, after coming home in early June, Deep Purple received notice from their American label that the album was finally ready for release overseas. As was also the case with most of the material on their previous two albums, the songs have a psychedelic rock sound, particularly in the seventh track "Bird has Flown", and a progressive rock feel that verges on classical music, particularly in the long introductory sequence of the 12-minute final track "April", Deep Purple's longest ever studio recording. The band also incorporated a 12-bar blues structure on the songs "The Painter" and "Why Didn't Rosemary?". The sound structure was as much a leap forward from Taliesyn, as Taliesyn had been from Shades. Songs were generally heavier and less fragile in their compound, and the sound of the album was similar to how the band sounded live during this period.
This album contains more original songs, six in total, than on either of their first two albums, now starting to fully endeavor to write original material. The only cover song on the album is "Lalena", which was originally written and performed by Donovan. Deep Purple, as the album was somewhat confusingly self-titled, was released on 21 June in the US. Derek Lawrence was once again credited as producer. As an effect of the album's heavier, rawer sound, the individuals of the band, perhaps Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Paice in particular, were starting to really showcase their instrumental abilities, which had both been hidden in the organ-heavy mix on the previous two releases.
When released in America, reception for the album was low. It did not come close to the same success as its two predecessors, peaking at #162 in the US Billboard charts. Tetragrammaton's financial problems were partially to blame, as promotion was lacklustre, but the lack of a hit single didn't help either. Sales could also have been improved had the album been released when Deep Purple were touring there, but that did not happen either with the production and manufacture being delayed.
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