Fireball

Fireball was the first album after In Rock.

A session in September 1970 produced only one song, Anyone's Daughter. Material was then rehearsed at Welcombe Manor in Devon in December 1970, where Strange Kind of Woman, I'm Alone and The Mule were written and recorded in January 1971. The first two were coupled as a single in February to keep the band in the public eye, and the single reached number eight in Britain and Germany and number one in Denmark. Demon's Eye was the last song, recorded in June. Warners grew impatient for the album before an American tour in July, so the US edition used Strange Kind of Woman in place of Demon's Eye. Martin Birch, Lou Austin and Alan O'Duffy engineered. It came out in Britain on 3 September 1971 and became the first of the band's three number one albums there. In North America it did better than In Rock, reaching number 32 in the United States and 24 in Canada. The title track also reached number 15 as a single.

Blackmore called the production a disaster that was thrown together in the studio under managerial pressure. Gillan, by contrast, named it a favourite, though he called the inclusion of Anyone's Daughter a good bit of fun but a mistake. Lord singled out No No No and Fools, and Paice's drumming on the title track. Yngwie Malmsteen, Lars Ulrich, Michael Monroe and King Diamond have all named it as an early influence. A 25th Anniversary Edition appeared on 21 October 1996 with nine bonus tracks, including the outtakes Freedom and Slow Train.