The Ian Gillan Band– Anthology
Angel Air
http://www.angelair.co.uk/
Rating: B
After leaving Deep Purple in 1973 vocalist Ian Gillan would
spend some time away from music before eventually ending, what
turned out to be a short lived hiatus in 1975, when he returned
to front The Ian Gillan Band. If fans expected him to follow in
the musical footsteps of his former band they must have been
scratching their heads and somewhat perplexed at the bands
jazz-fusion direction. By the time of their second album
Clear Air Turbulence in 1977 Gillan had assembled a top
notch supporting band which included guitarist Ray Fenwick,
bassist John Gustafson, keyboardist Colin Townes and drummer
Mark Nauseef.
Even though the title of this reissue looks a little deceiving,
it’s not so much an anthology as it is another update on The
Rockfield Mixes, which were the original mixes of Clear
Air Turbulence first issued on Angel Air Records back in
1997. Reissued again in 2004 with more bonus material,
Anthology takes it another step further by including all the
material, plus a bonus DVD recorded live at London’s Rainbow
Theater in 1977.
The Clear Air Turbulence material is a reminder once
again of just how different this band was. Ray Fenwick and Colin
Townes absolutely shine on this album as they trade off plenty
of jazz infused solos, while Nauseef and Gustafson hold down the
bottom end admirably. The lively horn section which is peppered
throughout the album adds a nice touch as well. The title track
and songs like “Five Moons” and the bouncy “Angelo Machenio”
also find Gillan stretching out a bit more and exploring the
richer, warmer textures within his voice. The bonus live version
of “Over The Hill” which clocks in at almost ten minutes,
although a bit of a drop down quality wise, reveals just how
potent this band could be in the live arena. What doesn’t work
quite as well are the bands re-worked arrangements of the Purple
classics “Smoke On The Water” and “Child In Time” on the DVD,
although they pretty much stick to the original version of
“Woman From Tokyo”. It is a blast though to see the first few
rows of The Rainbow erupt into a virtual air guitar frenzy the
moment those familiar opening chords of “Smoke On The Water”
ring out loud and clear.
Bottom line is this anthology is a unique look back in time in
the sense that the jazzy direction of The Ian Gillan Band was
just a blip on the singer’s radar which only lasted a few years.
By the close of the decade his new band Gillan found him firmly
back on track and pursuing the hard rock / progressive direction
of the group that made him a superstar.
-Ryan Sparks
