Released in 1972, Deep Purple's Machine Head launched "Smoke on the Water"-and,in doing so, helped create the blueprint for early heavy metal. The song echoes theBritish blues of Cream and Jimi Hendrix that Deep Purple grew out of, but also reflectshard rock's turn toward slower tempos and more brutish deliveries. The lyrcs-inspiredby the band's witness to a casino fire in Montreux, Switzerland-are as repertorial asclassic folk, and the harmonies are straight-up psychedelia. And where Led Zeppelin injected blues with elements of fantasy, and Black Sabbath made it sound doomy and occult, "Smoke on the Water" plays it with a sense of historical continuity-the next step in an intergenerational relay race. The members of Deep Purple didn't want to reinvent the wheel; they just wanted to soup up the engine.