Artist: Gillan, Ian
Label: Silverline
Release: 2006
Rock granddad Ian Gillan is enjoying his “golden” years, and he’s earned every minute of it. The man has given his huge 40-year legacy a fresh spin, boiling all the newly re-recorded classics, dressed up as a “big party” in the studio, down onto a dual disc that’s now out there for all of us to look at and listen to.
Ian invited a whole crowd of people, i.e. musicians, into the “Gillan’s inn” pub, people he’s made history with, both his own and rock’s. Picking was tough, there were so many handy candidates! Sadly, the man in black, the great Blackmore, is missing from the list. Two more glaring holes among the big names are the former Gillan members Bernie Tormé and John McCoy.
Unchain Your Brain is the opening sawmill of a track, with the infallible guitar machine Joe Satriani stretching his fingers on the fretboard, stepping in on this Gillan “Glory Road” classic for the original guitarist Bernie Tormé. Bluesy Blue Sea, which comes next, is already a mini Gillan reunion, with guitar lines from Janick Gers (Iron Maiden), who back in the early eighties, still a greenhorn, was rubbing strings in Gillan. Then comes another great Ian solo classic, Day Late And A Dollar Short, seasoned with superb playing by the great Uli Jon Roth (ex-Sciorpions), who really tears the guitar apart on this song like he’s in a trance. That song marks the first peak of this interesting historical cross-section of Ian Gillan’s rock journey. The track gets some extra shine too, since none other than Ronnie James Dio stands behind Ian on backing vocals.
“Gillan’s Inn” is played in high gear! The experience and talent of these big names shine through, and this batch of freshly played classics isn’t just a routine “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” job (read: everyone gathered in the studio returning favors). You can feel the commitment and a real musical performance running through the record, and the songs have the proper “groove”, the balls, in other words. Studio get-togethers and jam sessions like this often sound unconvincing, for the simple reason that there’s no actual band in the studio breathing as one for the same cause. Michael Schenker’s “Heavy Hitters” (2005), for instance, failed this test, a completely hollow product. “Gillan’s Inn” is a different story. The people involved are former Deep Purple/Gillan members, or huge Deep Purple devotees who obviously carry Deep Purple in their blood. “Gillan’s Inn” also features the attractive Thrashed from Black Sabbath’s “Born Again” (1983), a band Ian was also a member of for a very short time. On this version the great godfather of the guitar riff, Tony Iommi, rolls out his “riffs”. Interesting stuff! It’s a flipped situation, one I’d have expected on a Tony Iommi compilation with Gillan guesting.
Of course it couldn’t go without the Deep Purple classics. When A Blind Man Cries is a lot sharper than the original. It doesn’t have that recognizable Blackmore softness, well… Jeff Healey plays it, a truly blind guitarist. The warm embrace in this lament naturally comes from Lord’s Hammond, while Gillan brings far more improvisation to the song than the original version carries. And no way around Smoke On The Water. The ambience of this one nicely calls back the feel of how the song came to be, so the injection of real “seventies” nostalgic atmosphere works. No wonder, with Lord on Hammond and Paice on drums. Blackmore is replaced by John Rzeznik (Go Go Dolls) and current Deep Purple man Steve Morse. The song’s beat and the production itself (especially of Ian’s vocals) effectively bring a whiff of the recent past, while the two Blackmore stand-ins add the modern dimension you’d expect to the classic. Loving On Borrowed Time is an excellent choice and proves once again all of Satriani’s refinement, as he approached the song with just the right sophistication, which fits nicely with Gillan’s mature-years vocals.
Gillan’s holding up well vocally. With all his experience he weaves and wriggles brilliantly, dodging the more extreme acrobatics, while his unmistakable vocal approach still shows all its greatness today. The wickedly witty rendition of No Laughing In Heaven confirms that Ian’s power is far from ready for the scrap heap, and in terms of sheer feeling, the already mentioned Loving On Borrowed Time stands out.
Three little gripes. Smoke On The Water is redundant, not bad at all, but completely redundant, since the Deep Purple Mk II lineup left so many phenomenal versions of this classic that any later re-run can hardly reach its ankles. Speed King proves that Gillan’s voice simply can’t do what it once beat with ease, and one step too far is the closing goof-off, the cover of I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight with Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) on vocals (UB 40 and Robert Palmer have already done it too), which knocks a few points off the record’s otherwise great “rock” ruthlessness.
The DVD section naturally includes studio footage, among it an extra Demons Eye (Deep Purple), a few snippets from a Deep Pruple concert (Ghent, Belgium, 1994) and your typical “classic bonus content” found on DVDs these days. In short, it’s a treat especially for all the listeners whose hair is increasingly, year after year, being covered by a shimmer of gray, a chance to revive memories of the big days, which many of us who are picking up “crumbs” today were forever deprived of. So Ian Gillan has won again across the board, and a visit to his pub “Gillan’s Inn” to taste his freshly brewed classics is a must-do classic hard rock excursion for everyone.
Line-up
Ian Gillan – vocals
guest musicians:
Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) – guitar
Joe Satriani – guitar
Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) – vocals
Janick Gers (Iron Maiden) – guitar
Uli Jon Roth (ex-Scorpions) – guitar
Johnny Rzeznik (Goo Goo Dolls) guitar
Ronnie James Dio (Dio) – backing vocals
Jeff Healey – guitar
Michael Lee – drums
Jon Lord (ex-Deep Purple) – Hammond organ
Ian Paice (Deep Purple) – drums
Roger Glover (Deep Purple) – bass guitar
Steve Morse (Deep Purple) – guitar
Don Airey (Deep Purple) – keyboards
Production
Nick Blagona
Track list
CD (Dual Disc)
audio section:
1. Unchain Your Brain
2. Bluesy Blue Sea
3. Day Late And A Dollar Short
4. Hang Me Out To Dry
5. Men Of War
6. When A Blind Man Cries
7. Sugar Plum
8. Trashed
9. No Worries
10. Smoke On The Water
11. No Laughing In Heaven
12. Speed King
13. Loving On Borrowed Time
14. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Album length: 65:00
DVD section:
•”Smoke On The Water” – choose your own mix with your choice of Joe Satriani, Steve Morse, Jeff Healey
and more
•Making of “Gillan’s Inn” video featuring in-the-studio footage of Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Ian Paice,
Roger Glover, Joe Satriani, Ronnie James Dio, Michael Lee, and Jeff Healey
•Bootleg basement-amateur audience shot footage. Tracks include “Speed King” and “When A Blind Man Cries”
by Deep Purple (with Joe Satriani on guitar) from Flanders Expo, Gent, Belgium on June 18, 1994
•Liner notes written by Jeff Miers, Music Critic for The Buffalo News
•Witness Protection Program – a selection of never before seen photo’s featuring the bonus track
“Can I Get A Witness”
•Bonus Track – “Demon’s Eye” featuring Jeff Healey, Jon Lord and Michael Lee
•Special DVD Launcher ROM features that enable fans to access another version of “Smoke On The Water”
featuring Steve Morris
