Customer Reviews

Who Do We Think We Are

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everything is said about this album... It is as powerful as all three previous efforts of the mark II era. All 7 songs are great whatever even members said. I want to mention only one less known thing - did you ever thought why this album is too short ? 34 minutes only ! It should have been one more track but remained unmixed due to internal conflict within the band. What a pity ! I mean PAINTED HORSE mixed only in 1977 and firstly appeared on POWERHOUSE release. CD version of POWERHOUSE released only in Japan. Also available on NEW, LIVE & RARE. WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE released in 1987 on CD and it still remains the only version despite EMI promised to re-release it as digitally remastered 25 Anniversary edition. It never has happened and PAINTED HORSE still never included to where it should be ! This album released digitally remastered in vynil-like case only in Japan so far. Why Japanese did it but their homeland did not ? What a significant oversight !

The only reason I can think of, that led this album to be somewhat of a relative failure, both, in sales and artistically is the title. How can you expect success when you follow three "Bombers" like 'In Rock', 'Fireball' and 'Machine Head' with the self-doubting 'who do we think we are?'. In the world of heavy-metal, there's no room for these sort of confessions and self-mockery isn't received too well by fans, either. This is a title for wimps, for Singer/songwriters, pop bands perhaps. And indeed, this is in Purple terms, quite poppy, but as such, it holds, apart from the famous (and only 'hit' on this album)'Women From Tokyo', also a real pearl called 'Our Lady' - a reminder of some Beatles influences. Forget the title, this one is as good as the three classics mentioned above by this Line-up (Mark 2 with Gillan and Glover).

This album is often lightly regarded when compared with In Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head, and perhaps deservedly so. Yet it is still the classic lineup of Deep Purple and that means you can bet your life it is going to be a damn good album. "Woman From Tokyo", the opener and the highlight, is one of the best songs Purp ever did. And there's other songs here that will reward repeated listenings by the committed Deep Purple fan.

Gillan and Glover left the band after this album released in 1973, both of them were replaced by Coverdale and hughes in the same year.
My Woman from Tokyo is a timeless song, Rat Bat blue is a timeless powerfull song, our lady is a slow rock but effective, Smooth dancer is a quite
powerfull song with the guitar and organ sound. buy this one, a must for all DP fans.

The last effort for Mark II, before 1984's "Perfect Strangers." It's a good effort, but not the best material they did. When people refer to this album, as the lost Deep Purple album. I say it's worthy to listen too. "Woman From Tokyo" the song most known on the album. To me is the worst song on it. Songs such as, "Rat Bat Blue", "Super Trooper", "Mary Long" and "Place In Line" show there was good material from the band. Even though they were at odds. Give it a try Deep Purple sure did worse albums then this one.

Classic Purple. Amazing musicianship. Great songs. Machine Head, Fireball, In Rock and WDWTWA all are five-stars. If you love true rock you must have the four.

Deep Purple's 1973 "Who Do We Think We Are" is a fantastic album that's been shuffled into the background behind some of those other Purple classics "Machine Head" and "Made In Japan". The great production, the hard driving polished playing and the killer songs make for one really enjoyable album. It's a shame that this lineup (Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord and Paice) didn't stay together after the `73 tour. I've read all the reviews on this album and it seems that the big favorites are "Woman From Tokyo", "Smooth Dancer" and "Rat Bat Blue". While other songs like "Mary Long", "Our Lady" "Super Trooper" and "Place In Line" get there share of votes too. Even the unreleased bonus track "Painted Horse" gets votes and I've always liked that rare track. All this great feedback proves something I've known all along, this is one great album.
Long Live DP!

Gillan and Glover left the band after this released in 1973, were replaced by Coverdale and hughes in the same year. My Woman from tokyo is a timeless song, Rat Bat blue is a timeless powerfull song, our lady is a slow rock but effective, Smooth dancer is a quite powerfull song with the guitar and organ sound. buy this one, a must fro DP fans.

I enjoy the songs on this CD very much. Unlike the previous albums from this incarnation of Deep Purple, I don't find a distinctive song on this one, though. They strike me as well written and performed, however, unmotivated. It is still a great heavy metal album from 1973. The LP version is worth a trip to a used record store because the lyrics are included on the record sleeve. The CD jewel sheet contains press clippings which are humourous. Some sound "Spinal Tap-ish": "I play guitar very well and I feel I'm entitled to kick it around a little bit. You know you can get sounds with your feet you can't get with your hands" -- Ritchie Blackmore. During the making of this album, Blackmore and Gillan were feuding, and I think that it shows. Particularly interesting to me are SUPER TROUPER and SMOOTH DANCER. The first verse of SUPER TROUPER is self-referential, "I was a young man when I died / I was flash I was full of pride / I gave it all I gave with soul / I was so strong / I felt the truth I felt the pain / in every song" Ian Gillan is talking to his audience, sounding exhausted and disillusioned. Further, Blackmore is almost non-existent until his enigmatic, tightly constrained, eight bar solo. It is the shortest song at the made-for-radio format of 2.56, it is somewhat melancholy to me. SMOOTH DANCER reflects a frustration developed from a lack of communication between band members. The notes provide a brief history of the band, mentioning RAT BAT BLUE, OUR LADY, SMOOTH DANCER as "showstopping originals", and WOMAN FROM TOKYO as a "smash signature tune." Some bands were able to build from success to develop new musical directions, regretably, for DEEP PURPLE, in 1973, their success let to self-destructive excess. If you are interested in heavy metal music of the early seventies, or in hard driving rock 'n roll, this CD will be interesting to you.

Blackmore, one of the smoothest and most melodic of the pre-Van Halen metal fretters, gives another fine performance on this, the final Mark II recording. Come, taste the band! Unique; well worth a listen.