singer Ronnie James Dio has the standard hard rock lead vocal down pat, with little individual style but plenty of lung power.

As for Blackmore himself, there's an inordinate amount of subtlety in his soloing here (there's little to do but step out, and he chooses not to), and with the exception of a rather highly charged instrumental reworking of the Yardbirds' "Still I'm Sad," he seems listless and bored in relation to past performances, specifically Machine Head, which looks more and more like an achievement of accident rather than design. (RS 198)

BILLY ALTMAN