IAN GILLAN BAND ‘Rarities 1975-77’ (Angel Air 2003)
A must for Gillan/Pruple fans as this draws together demos/rare tracks
for the first three albums released by bthe Ian Gillan Band - the jazz rock
era as it’s known to many fans. The line-up varied over this period but
guitarist Ray Fenwick and drummer Mark Nauseef remained constants. Add to
this the musical skills of bass players John Gustafson and fellow Deep
Purple member Roger Glover plus three keyboard players appear over these
tracks - Colin Towns (now a renowned TV music composer), Mike Moran
(QUEEN/SAS BAND) and Mickey Lee Soule (ex-ELF/RAINBOW).
Highlights are many including the 60’s style ‘Down the Road’, the
straight rockin’ ‘My Baby Loves Me’ and the ballad ‘Reaching Out’, which
builds up nicely from a gentle piano start. There are Deep Purple tunes
including a live ‘Smoke On The Water’ and the re-recorded ‘Child In Time’ -
much slower on here, with more percussion filling in the quieter moments.
John Gustafson takes lead vocal on ‘Vindaloo’, with lyrics from the David
Coverdale school of subtlety! He also sings on ‘You Get What You Ask For’
and the weakest track on this CD ‘Raped By Aliens’. There is even some space
rock here with the 10 minutes plus instrumental ‘Let It Slide’, where
guitarist Ray Fenwick comes into his own.
A great CD package with very informative sleeve notes by Jerry Bloom. A
must for Gillan fans and anyone who likes the varied sounds that were 70’s
rock.
***** Out of this world | **** Pretty
damn fine |
*** OK, approach with caution unless you are a fan |
** Instant bargain bin fodder | * Ugly. Just ugly
