“Re-Machined” honors the 40th anniversary of Deep Purple’s masterpiece, “MachineHead,” an album that contained a song with what is arguably the best-known guitar riff in the world, “Smoke on the Water.” Oddly enough, the two weakest songs on the album are the versions of “Smoke on the Water,” one by Carlos Santana which is faithful to the original, and an odd, almost unbearable version by The Flaming Lips. I can appreciate what The Flaming Lips were trying to do, and I am a fan of the band, but their version is just too out there.
That shouldn’t scare you away from the album because there are some incredible moments as well, including an over the top version of “Lazy” by Joe Bonamassa and Jimmy Barnes. The two of them have worked together before and seriously need to sit down and record a whole album together.
Chickenfoot and Steve Vai both offered up versions of “Highway Star,” and both of them are incredible in their own way. The collaboration of Glenn Hughes and Chad Smith on “Maybe I’m Leo” is the other outstanding track. The rest of the album is very good, including appearances by Iron Maiden, Metallica and Def Leppard’s Joe Elliot.
Overall, a nice tribute to add to your collection!
