Down The Road, The Complete Ian Gillan Band Story – review

Down The Road, The Complete Ian Gillan Band Story – review
Edsel Recordings

Eight CD’s. That’s a helluva lot of seventies jazz rock. Fortunately, I am an ardent admirer of what Ian Gillan got up to twixt Deep Purple and Gillan (the band, not the Ian Gillan Band). Still. Eight CD’s. That’s a helluva lot of seventies jazz rock.

Good stuff first. The studio albums remain fabulous. Yes, “Child In Time” is a bit so-so, but “Clear Air Turbulence” and “Scarabus” are pure, dead brilliant, so they are. A couple of tracks aside, they see the band in full flight, and it’s a fabulous sound to behear. The remastering seems to have made things brighter, although I base that entirely on not listening to the previous CD issues, lurking on that shelf. Points that way.

So, full marks for all that. And for the “Live at Budokan” release, which is also lovely. So, then, what else are we getting. Well now. Anyone who has dived into the Ian Gillan Band (not the Gillan band) will know all about the Angel Air releases. “The Rockfield Mixes”, “The Rockfield Mixes Plus”, “Live At The Rainbow”. All these, and more, from Ian Gillan Band guitarist, Ray Fenwick. Cheers, Ray.

Well, they’re here. Again. And I won’t be listening to them. Again. “Child In Time” has a bunch of demos tacked on the end. None of which you’ll want to hear twice. There’s an entire disc of ‘rarities’ which has six backing tracks! Backing tracks! Cheers, Ray. And a single edit of the Budokan ‘Smoke On The Water’.

I suppose, in its favour, all those shitty CDs I foolishly bought are now all bundled together. The package itself follows the model of “Gillan: 1978 – 1982”. And it’s rather nice. It’s also easier to get the CDs out, thanks to toploading. There’s a booklet with lots of lovely old posters and whatnots, and text from Rich Davenport. However, the only member with any input is Ian Gillan, and he’s a chap with a penchant for rewriting history, so take that with a pinch of salt.

Is it worth it? Well, the original CDs are getting harder to find [a quick eBay check has the cheapest “Scarabus” at a tenner, with the others even more expensive], so if you don’t have them, then yes. The remastering seems to have improved them, but forty quids worth? That’s up to you. I got one of the autographed ones, so can go ‘ya boo sucks’ to you lesser mortals.

The original albums are tremendous. The assorted demos, ‘rare’ and “Live Yubin Chokin Hall, Hiroshima” aren’t. You can live without those.

It’s available from people who sell stuff on the internet including the Evil Amazon.