Facts about Deep Purple's album covers

Deep Purple – ‘Shades of Deep Purple’ (1968)

Released in September 1968 via Parlophone Records, the 'Shades of Deep Purple' album cover depicts the Mark I line-up of Deep Purple – Rod Evans (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitars), Jon Lord (organ), Nick Simper (bass) and Ian Paice (drums) – wearing sharp suits they had purchased from esteemed fashion designer Michael Fish... not to be confused with the weather forecaster of the same name.

Deep Purple – ‘Shades of Deep Purple’ (1968)

Released two months earlier in the US on the back of the huge chart-denting success of 'Hush', the Stateside version of 'Shades of Deep Purple' came with a slightly different cover that's a very literal translation of the album title.

Deep Purple - ‘The Book of Taliesyn’ (1968)

Deep Purple's second studio album 'The Book of Taliesyn' saw the band embrace a psychedelic rock sound and the artwork reflects their US imprint Tetragrammaton's wish to aim it at a "hippie audience." The fantasy cover (complete with Arthurian Bards, minstrels, troubadours and a castle) was created in pen, ink and colour by the British illustrator and author John Vernon Lord, the namesake of late-great Deep Purple organist Jon Lord.

Deep Purple - ‘The Book of Taliesyn’ (1968)

In a 2013 blog post, John Vernon Lord said he was paid 30 guineas (just under £500 today) for creating the artwork, however 25% went to the agent. Vernon Lord said of his brief: "The agent gave me the title saying that the art director wanted a 'fantasy Arthurian touch' and to include hand lettering for the title and the musicians' names. I mainly drew from The Book of Taliesin, which is a collection of poems, said to be written by the sixth century Welsh bard Taliesin.

Deep Purple – ‘Deep Purple’ (1969)

The dark and macabre cover artwork to 1969's self-titled 'Deep Purple' is adorned with the right-hand painting from Hieronymus Bosch's 15th Century triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights, which depicts hell.

Deep Purple – ‘Deep Purple’ (1969)

Deep Purple weren't the first band to use The Garden of Earthly Delights on their album sleeve – Floridian psychedelic folk act Pearls Before Swine had a detail from it on their 1967 debut album 'One Nation Underground'.

Deep Purple – ‘Deep Purple in Rock’ (1970)

The 'Deep Purple in Rock' album cover was the brainchild of the band's manager Tony Edwards, who suggested placing the US Presidents' heads on Mount Rushmore with the heads of the Mark II line-up; Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice. Created by London design agency Nesbit, Phipps & Froome, the resulting cover is one of the most iconic sleeves in rock history.

Deep Purple – ‘Deep Purple in Rock’ (1970)

For some unbeknownst reason, the German edition of 'Deep Purple in Rock' featured a white sky. Pictured is Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills in Keystone, South Dakota. Created by Gutzon Borglum, the sculpture features the 60-foot (18 m) heads of Presidents George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865).

Deep Purple – ‘Fireball’ (1971)

An album cover that is definitely of the era, 'Fireball' was adorned with a gloriously naff (and slightly sperm-esque) image of Deep Purple shooting through space in a fireball. The photography was by Tony Burrett.

Deep Purple - ‘Machine Head’ (1972)

The cover for Deep Purple's sixth studio album 'Machine Head' was created by punching the words into a metal sheet. In the reflection, you can see the band and the photographer! 'Machine Head' is the band's best-selling album, going Gold in the UK and 2x Platinum in the US.

Deep Purple – ‘Who Do We Think We Are’ (1973)

If you look closely at the cover of Deep Purple's seventh album 'Who Do We Think We Are', you'll see images of the band members inside red coloured bubbles against a stormy sky or sea background. The album's title is representative of negative fan mail received by the band.

Deep Purple – ‘Burn’ (1974)

Photographed by Fin Costello, the image used on the front of 'Burn' shows five melting candles, shaped to represent the faces of Deep Purple's band members. 'Burn' went Gold in the UK and US, following its release in 1974.

Deep Purple – ‘Stormbringer’ (1974)

The cover for 'Stormbringer' was created by using an iconic black and white photograph of a tornado taken back in 1927 Minnesota and editing it to include colour...and a unicorn in the sky! The picture, originally taken by Lucille Handberg, was once referred to as the "finest photograph of a tornado ever taken" by The Illustrated London News.

Deep Purple – ‘Come Taste The Band’ (1975)

In 1975 Deep Purple released 'Come Taste The Band' which went to Number 19 in the UK. The cover features a wide glass of what appears to be red wine, with the title engraved on the glass. In the glass, we also see the faces of the band members, a theme which seems to reappear through many of Deep Purple's album covers.

Deep Purple ‘Perfect Strangers’ (1984)

Nine years after their last album, Deep Purple recorded 'Perfect Strangers' with its new 'Mk II' line up. The artwork was relatively simple, with a chrome coloured DP interlinked on a black background, with the name of the album signed in red. The record did pretty well, going Gold in the UK and Platinum in the US.

Deep Purple – ‘The House of Blue Light’ (1987)

Deep Purple – ‘Slaves and Masters’ (1990)

Deep Purple – ‘The Battle Rages On…’ (1993)

Deep Purple – ‘Purpendicular’ (1996)

Deep Purple – ‘Abandon’ (1998)

Deep Purple – ‘Bananas’ (2003)

Deep Purple – ‘Rapture of the Deep’ (2005

Deep Purple – ‘Now What?!’ (2013)

Deep Purple – ‘Infinite’ (2017)

Deep Purple – ‘Whoosh!’ (2020)

Deep Purple - 'Turning To Crime' (2021)

Deep Purple - '=1' (2024)