The group's Mark III line-up for their recording debut included Coverdale, Glenn Hughes (joining from Trapeze) on bass and vocals, Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, Jon Lord on keyboards, and Ian Paice on drums.

Followed by a successful tour, internal tensions would start to abrupt during the recording of their follow-up album would result in Blackmore's departure in early 1975.

However, in early December 1972, he wrote management a letter declaring that he wanted to leave on 30 June 1973; the decision was made "not impulsive[ly] but [after] at least six months of thought".

[5] Lord had called the end of Mark II while the band was at their peak: "the biggest shame in rock and roll; God knows what we would have done over the next three or four years.

[11] According to Paice, Glover told him and Lord a few months before his official termination that he wanted to leave the band, so they had started to drop in on Trapeze shows.

[1] Eventually, an agreement was made that Hughes would sing more on later tracks, gradually increasing on proceeding albums Stormbringer and Come Taste the Band.

[12] However, despite disagreement about Hughes' exact singing role, they considered themselves working as a four-piece group but settled on the idea of having a solo lead singer.

John Lawton (who would later become the singer of Uriah Heep) was also a candidate but refused, due to a press leak that talked about getting the job offer from the band.

Some later well-known singers who auditioned included Jess Roden, Graham Bell, Gary Pickford-Hopkins, and Steve Parsons (Snips).

[5] Twenty-one-year-old David Coverdale from Saltburn saw an advert in Melody Maker that said the band was hiring auditions for a lead singer, considering unknowns.

[1][17] Paice received Coverdale's demo tape from the management office and was impressed with his vocal technique and told Lord and Blackmore he found the lead singer the band had envisioned.

[1] On 23 September, a day after his 22nd birthday, the band held a press conference to announce Coverdale's recruitment as the next official lead singer of Deep Purple.

[5] Before the new line-up was announced, however, the band's management, John Coletta told Coverdale to correct his strabismus, resulting in him wearing contact lenses instead of glasses.

[18] In his experience, Coverdale told Classic Rock that he looked just fine as a rockstar, but referred to those changes as Coletta's "paranoid" opinion.

[5]At the beginning of 9 September 1973, the yet-incomplete 'Mark III' line-up commenced two weeks of writing material and rehearsal in Clearwell Castle at Gloucestershire.

They were booked to Rosenberg Studios but arrived late as Coverdale stayed back at his hotel room sleeping from the previous night.

For the first time, it features a more mainstream blues tone approach to their albums since Coverdale's introduction, although Blackmore wanted to give a new sound with different methods of genres.

He equated his opinion to the fact that no one is interested in listening to plumbers' stories about installation work or bankers talking about the financial world.

[25] "Might Just Take Your Life" starts as a mid-paced song with a funky-blues tone approach with an organ chord progression Lord had played, inserted as a solo intro.

[5][1] "You Fool No One" was inspired by Paice's drumming pattern, initiating a compromised rhythm sequence, whereas this is the only track Coverdale and Hughes sang together, to create an effect.

After Paice took about four tries to create drumming stems in the studio, he dosed off entirely in sweat and angrily told other recording members that they were apparently not able to keep up with the rhythm, threatening to walk out if the latter continued.

According to the 30th-anniversary linear booklet, the song was written by Blackmore a few years ago and was even considered one of the tracks for the Who Do We Think We Are album, but was scrapped until Coverdale brought the lyrics up for its composition.

Originally composed by Lord, Paice, and Blackmore, this was the only instrumental without vocals, with the exception of "Coronarias Redig", to be performed by the 'Mark III' line-up.

Blackmore, feeling that he was not required to be on the track chimed in on a guitar solo right before the song ended with the synths works panned across the audio channels.

Originally recorded on 10 December 1973 at Rosenborg Studios in Copenhagen, right after their first 'Mark III' line-up touring appearance had been concluded, it was the only track to be left out of the album.

Although the tour was sold out in record time, due to the new line-up and playing style, the audience at the first concerts received mixed reactions.

During the show, Blackmore struck one of the cameras five times with a guitar and set off a pyrotechnic device in one of his amplifiers, creating a large fireball that was quickly extinguished.

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Eduardo Rivadavia said: The phenomenal title track started things off at full throttle, actually challenging the seminal "Highway Star" for the honor of best opener to any Deep Purple album, while showcasing the always impressive drumming of Ian Paice.

The fantastic slow-boiling blues of "Mistreated"'s greatness qualifies it for the highest echelons of hard rock achievement, and therefore ranks as an essential item in the discography of any self-respecting music fan.

This was largely made due to unexpired contractual obligations with Ritchie Blackmore, particularly with his publishing contract, which resulted Glenn being cheated out of his songwriting credits.