The Best of Gillan

• Artist: Gillan
• Rating:
• Release Date: October 10, 1995
• Total Time: 74:56
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Rock

Review

This collection almost achieves the impossible: providing a wide-ranging and nearly complete sampling of Ian Gillan's long and turbulent career outside Deep Purple. Free from the iron grip of Deep Purple guitarist and creative sparkplug Ritchie Blackmore, Gillan quickly turned his back on his hard rock glories and fully embraced any musical style which struck his fancy. This included experiments in everything from funk to doo wop to the jazz fusion of his two Ian Gillan Band albums, Clear Air Turbulence and Scarabus. (Both of these, incidentally, are strangely MIA here and account for the only serious omissions.) Still, despite his wildly schizophrenic body of work, the singer could almost always rely on his expressive and powerful voice to carry him through, whether tackling refreshingly comic material ("No Laughing in Heaven") or paying a rare visit to his metallic past ("Mr. Universe"). And in the end, his many charismatic cover versions of classic songs (Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City," Elvis' "Trouble") are proof positive of his great talent as an interpreter. Rounded out by a few commercial hard rock cuts taken from the two mid-'90s efforts he recorded while on hiatus from Deep Purple once again, as well as a live version of "Smoke on the Water," The Best of Gillan mostly fulfills its promise. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Trouble	Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller	Ian Gillan	(2:38)
New Orleans	Joseph Royster, Frank Guida	Ian Gillan	(2:38)
Fighting Man	Colin Towns	Ian Gillan	(7:25)
Living for the City	Stevie Wonder	Ian Gillan	(4:26)
Helter Skelter	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	Ian Gillan	(3:26)
Mr. Universe	Ian Gillan, Colin Towns	Ian Gillan	(6:14)
Telephone Box	Ian Gillan, Roger Glover	Ian Gillan	(5:15)
Dislocated		Ian Gillan	(3:22)
Sleeping on the Job	Ian Gillan, Colin Towns	Ian Gillan	(3:12)
M.A.D. (Mutually Assured Destruction)	Ian Gillan, Bernie Tormé, Colin Towns, John McCoy, Mick Underwood	Ian Gillan	(3:08)
No Laughing in Heaven	Ian Gillan, Bernie Tormé, Colin Towns, John McCoy, Mick Underwood	Ian Gillan	(4:56)
Nightmare	Colin Towns	Ian Gillan	(3:15)
Restless	Ian Gillan, John McCoy	Ian Gillan	(3:17)
Purple Sky	Ian Gillan, John McCoy	Ian Gillan	(3:24)
Born to Kill [Live]	Ian Gillan, Colin Towns	Ian Gillan	(9:27)
Smoke on the Water [Live]	Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice	Ian Gillan	(8:53)

Credits

Ian Gillan (Harmonica), Ian Gillan (Vocals), Ian Gillan (Producer), Ian Gillan (Main Performer), Roger Glover (Producer), Mick Glossop (Producer), Paul Watkins (Producer), Paul Watkins (Engineer), Paul Watkins (Mixing)