GILLAN
"The Gillan Tapes: Vol 3"
Angel Air
5/5
Reviewed by David Wilson
Buy this album
There is seemingly no end to the tape vaults of John McCoy and that is truly a wondrous thing as evidenced by the third installment of this "Gillan Tapes" series. Here we have more of the driving English Blues/Metal that won the band such acclaim only most songs are in alternative or live versions with a few "never seen the light of day" goodies thrown in.
A good deal of the material features Jannick Gers on lead guitar which, is a nice treat as the bulk of GILLAN's recorded work used the flame of Bernie Torme's guitar to light the burners. I should add here that when I presented this disc to Gers at one of his IRON MAIDEN shows he had no idea that it was out and asked if I would loan him my copy! Right, "loan" a musician something? He did autograph it for me though.
If you are looking for the really heavy stuff there are a couple of tunes here that you will undoubtedly know if you have ever heard the name GILLAN. First, a live version of "Unchain Your Brain" taken from the bands Reading Festival gig. "Unchain" just smokes along as each musician tries to find their groove, then Ian enters the stage and away it goes like a horse running from the gelding shears. Second, a "live in the studio" version of "Smoke on the Water" that had only previously been released as a "B" side many years ago and then only in certain countries. These two songs spotlight the power of Ian Gillan's voice and the power of the musicians that performed with him needed to have. "Smoke" could have gone on for another half-hour and it still wouldn't have been too much, what a groove.
There is a second disc included in this package "For Gillan Fans Only which contains ten more tracks for the same money so at the end you are getting 27 prime GILLAN numbers for the price of a single budget CD, another Angel Air value which I am hoping will be repeated with a fourth volume of "THE GILLAN TAPES." If you have the first two editions of this series, this is a must. If you don't have either, buy this one first. If you have ever heard the name GILLAN, buy anything with the name on it!
