How does one at all cover the whole Deep Purple oeuvre?  (How, indeed, does one even use the word “oeuvre?”) Well, I won’t even try. I’ll just throw out a random sampling of their gems.

This one from Machine Head should’ve gotten at least as much play as “Smoke On the Water” (if only for the brief Roger Glover bass solo):

And another tour de force from the same album, in which Ritchie Blackmore shows us how foolish we were in our arguments about who was the best guitarist in the ’70s:

I’ve always really liked “Speed King:”

And how about “My Woman From Tokyo?”

And last, at least for our limited tribute, who can forget “Burn,” which remedies the tragedy of not having Ian Gillan in his longtime vocalist slot by highlighting instead David Coverdale, who does a fine job and almost makes you forget he would later get seriously slapped around by Tawny Kitaen.  Meanwhile, drummer Ian Paice completely outdoes himself, while the dueling solos of Blackmore and keyboardist Jon Lord — who would go on later to serve as a vehicle for highlighting the vocal genius of former ABBA member Frida Lyngstad (now Her Serene Highness Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reusse, Countess of Plauen — I kid you not) — are also taken to new heights: