Made in Japan

Recorded on 15 and 16 August in Osaka and 17 August in Tokyo, it came out in Japan on 8 December 1972 as Live in Japan, in Britain two weeks later and in the United States in March 1973. Martin Birch recorded it to eight-track tape without overdubs, on a budget that Lord put at about $3,000. Only Glover and Paice attended the mix. Highway Star, Child in Time, Strange Kind of Woman and Space Truckin' come from the second Osaka night, The Mule and Lazy from Tokyo, and Smoke on the Water from the first Osaka night, the only usable take because Blackmore played the studio intro riff.

It reached number 16 in Britain and number six in the United States. Jon Tiven's Rolling Stone review in 1973 called it Purple's definitive metal monster. Lars Ulrich called it hands down the best hard rock live album ever, Paice said it was probably the best live rock 'n' roll album ever made, and Lord named it his favourite Deep Purple album. In a 2012 Rolling Stone readers' poll it ranked sixth among live albums.

Later editions include a 1998 remaster with encores, and a set released on 15 August 2025 with a remix by Steven Wilson. Dream Theater played the whole album in Tokyo on 13 January 2006.