Gillan - Magic / Ian Gillan Band / Live At The Budokan

Patchy final shots from Gillan, the band

Before shocking the rock world by joining Black Sabbath, the former Deep Purple wailer and his cohorts delivered the rather unaptly titled Magic in 1982. The 10-tracker mixes typically ballsy Purple-style numbers, such as opener What’s The Matter, along with noodlefilled knocks like Bluesy Blue Sea. Plenty of discordant period synth work grates elsewhere, though Long Gone is a melodic AOR number and Living A Lie balladic respite. Only Living For The City really lifts things, though eight bonuses are a great addition, notably the road-jack beat of Purple Sky and the chorale-backed political comment of South Africa.

Child In Time was cut in 1976, and it’s a curio of mid-70s funk stylings, with Down The Road sounding like proto-Prince in places. Closer Let It Slide has decent harmonies and some contemplative guitar work, but it doesn’t make up for the worldleaning You Make Me Feel So Good, which doesn’t. Finally, the 1977 Japanese set, Live At The Budokan (released 1983), saw Gillan on fine vocal form on the likes of a funked-up Smoke On The Water and closer, Woman From Tokyo. The 12-minute Clear Blue Sky just meanders along, though, and some of Colin Towns’ key moves are hair-raising, and not in a good way.

Edsel / Demon / Edsel | EDSS 1006 / EDSS 1002 / E

Reviewed by Tim Jones
<< Back to Issue 337