Ian Gillan - Gillan's Inn

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Although it's hard to tell from the inexplicably lame (and almost disturbing) cover, Ian Gillan is the legendary voice behind British hard rock icons Deep Purple (though he was also known for a one year stint with Black Sabbath and the leading role in "Jesus Christ Superstar"). This album follows a recent trend for older rock stars where small side projects are released as a way to keep diehard fans happy, although it seems they are not intended for the main part of their personal canon. Ex-bandmate Richie Blackmore did it earlier this year as Blackmore's Night (where he re-recorded the Deep Purple classic "Child in Time"), and here Ian has made an album completely comprised of re-recorded takes on some classic songs, both from his time in Deep Purple and his solo catalog (a career retrospective, as he calls it).

Gillan has enlisted some famous friends (Satriani, Iommi, Dio) to spice things up and bring a little new life into the old songs. The songs have a really polished feel to them, which may be a disappointment to some, but in a way it also adds more new sound to the old songs. Gillan has lost a step with age, unfortunatly, but he obviously still is an amazing singer. It's hard not to feel a rush of excitement when he really goes for the high stuff. "Bluesy Blue Sea", a song from his solo career now re-recorded with Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers, is the first song where he hits higher notes, and is greatly aided by a backing which sounds great and a nice solo from Janick.

Probably the main draw for listeners is the appearance of great guitarists playing the old songs, and thankfully the names don't dissapoint. For example, ex-Scorpions guitarist Uli John Roth adds a lot of new life to "Day Late and a Dollar Short". Although perhaps the most exciting name in the group is Joe Satriani. Best known as an instrumental rock virtuoso, "Satch" also filled in for Ritchie Blackmore during a Deep Purple tour back in the days, though he never recorded with them. Satriani is in 3 songs on here, and it's nice to hear him in a more rock band song context than a guitar virtuoso instrumental rock setting.

Ian also teams up with a few other old bandmates: ex-Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord on "Men of War" and his old Deep Purple rhythm section of Ian Paice and Roger Glover on four songs. Other former, although less "classic", bandmates join Ian, such as the beformentioned Satriani, Tony Iommi (from Ian's stinit in Sabbath), Steve Morse (Deep Purple's new guitarist), and Michael Lee Jackson (from Ian's solo band).

The new take on the Deep Purple classic "Speed King", featuring Satriani, is lackluster (especially since Gillan doesn't recreate his performance well enough). However the new take on the megaclassic, iconic song, "Smoke on the Water" (featuring essentially the rest of the current Deep Purple line-up), feels right and sounds inspired if not especially different than before. Morse's new solo and a new drum part (is that a conga?) sound good in the midst of the legendary riff, and Ian sounds as good as he did originally.

The good thing is the songs are obviously compelling, the musicianship is excellent, and the production beats any 1970's production. The bad thing obviously, is you're just getting a bunch of old songs that do not sound especially different than beforen (and you're most likely to just prefer the originals). As such, it's pretty much either for diehard fans, or perhaps for newcomers to get a taste of Ian Gillan (especially his solo career). A nice addition is the DVD portion of the album, on the flipside of the CD (it's a DualDisc). I think for a lot of people, actually seeing Iommi or Satriani along with Gillan is cooler than just listening to it. Overall, it's non-essential, but it delivers on it's premise.

-Luis