The influence of Machine Head songs like "Smoke on the Water" and "Highway Star" can still be felt in today's rock and metal world, and to commemorate the 40th anniversary of one of hard rock's most influential albums, artists from every corner of the rock world come together on
Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head, which contains some of the band's most instantly recognizable songs. While covers from bands like
Iron Maiden and
Black Label Society make
Re-Machined worthwhile, the album's most interesting interpretations are the two covers of "Smoke on the Water," with one performed by guitar hero
Carlos Santana and the other by alt-rock weirdos
the Flaming Lips. The two versions show just how ingrained in our rock memories the song is, and while they are about as different as possible, they both have that special something that marks them as a
Deep Purple song. It's the sound that made the band, and Machine Head, such an enduring classic. ~ Gregory Heaney