Anthem 5

4.5 "Anthem' is a revelation, a really pretty ballad with some astonishing classical guitar riffs and a great sense of a lonely and mournful atmosphere. Of all of the many major guitarists of the late 60's and early 70's, Blackmore was the one with the deepest appreciation and ability when it came to classical music inspired guitar work. One of the best early Deep Purple tracks, with nice, soft parts and some harder and very emotion filled played solo - and the best one on the second album in my book. Rod Evans was reminiscent of singers like Elvis when Elvis did ballads on this one, striking a good balance between traditional crooning and eerie folk or psych on this stellar cut. As usual, Jon Lord provided some memorable work on organ.