Gillan - The Singles (Box Set)

Details :

• Year of release : 2007
• Label : Edsel Records
• Review format : CD/DVD

I mentioned this a couple of weeks back when the announcement of it’s imminent release was first made and have since managed to get a hold of a set, which in itself is no mean feat given that I’ve heard this is limited to something like just 3000 copies so you may have to move fast to secure your own copy.

And is it worth securing? Most definitely!

Housed in a glossy, top opening cardboard box you get 11 CD singles complete with reproduction sleeves, for the first time seven of the Gillan promo videos are also made available on a bonus DVD, and the detailed booklet includes a page of memories from Ian Gillan himself. All this and a list price of just £19.99.

Looking past the packaging, its also fine reminder once more of just what a fine body of work Gillan assembled before he chose to put his solo band on hold to first join Black Sabbath, then reunite with Deep Purple. Indeed in these days of seemingly continuous Deep Purple world tours and the likes of Planet Rock playing something by them every couple of hours it’s easy to forget the major role Gillan the band played in the re-emergence of hard rock at the end of the 70s and the early 80s.

Perhaps the best thing about this box-set though is the memories of afternoons spent spinning single after single that you get playing each disc in turn. It would have been easier, and probably cheaper for the record company to simply assembled the tracks onto one or two discs and release it as a regular compilation but the care and attention to detail here is what makes it special. Take for example the cover to the excellent 1980 release “Trouble”. On the cover they’ve even reproduced the effect of the sticker declaring the inclusion of a free Live In Reading single… and included those tracks on the said disc making it a five track effort. Likewise, the superb “No Laughing In Heaven” has the declaration that it’s a “Four Track EP” that retailed at £1.15. To a collector like me this is superb stuff and it’s almost churlish for me to point out that “Mutually Assured Destruction” was released with a booklet cover that sadly isn’t reproduced.

Musically of course it’s excellent stuff all the way through. From the opening single of “Vengeance” from the excellent Mr. Universe, through the superb, saucy cover adorned “Sleeping On The Job” to the excellent rendition of the Stevie Wonder song “Living For The City”. Promo video wise its mainly “live performance” type affairs with the odd bit of dated video trickery but look out for the bigger budget efforts for the aforementioned “No Laughing In Heaven” with bass-player John McCoy playing God and the job centre pastiche on “Living For The City” with Ian Gillan transforming from suited business man to Rock God before your very eyes.

Summary : Try as I might, I struggle to fault this set. The concept, the attention to detail and the presentation are all top notch and the music is excellent too, as is the fair price set for the release. To a collector and Gillan fan like me this is an essential addition to my collection and is a hugely enjoyable journey through an important phase in a rock legends career.

Score : 5/5

Here’s the full run-down on what you get in the set….

1. Vengeance / Smoke On The Water (live at Kingsway Recorders)

2. Sleeping On The Job / Higher And Higher

3. No Easy Way (single edit) / Handles On Her Hips / I Might As Well Go Home (Mystic)

4. Trouble / Your Sister’s On My List / Mr. Universe (live) / Vengeance (live) / Smoke On The Water (live)

5. Mutually Assured Destruction / The Maelstrom

6. New Orleans / Take A Hold Of Yourself

7. No Laughing In Heaven (single edit) / One For The Road / Lucille / Bad News

8. Nightmare / Bite The Bullet (live)

9. Restless / On The Rocks (live)

10. Living For The City / Breaking Chains / Purple Sky

11. Long Gone / Fiji

Bonus DVD tracks are….

Sleeping On The Job / No Laughing In Heaven / Lucille / Nightmare / Restless / Living For The City / Long Gone

and for the record here’s a good indication, through the chart position, of just what appeal Gillan the band had in the UK at the time as eight of these singles reached decent positions….

No. 55 - Sleeping On The Job

No. 14 - Trouble

No. 32 - Mutually Assured Destruction

No. 17 - New Orleans

No. 31 - No Laughing In Heaven

No. 36 - Nightmare

No. 25 - Restless

No. 50 - Living For The City

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And your probably in the mood for a little Gillan now so here’s a You Tube upload of “Sleeping On The Job“, the track that opens the promo DVD collection but is re-produced, I’m pleased to say, on that DVD in much better quality and minus the captions….

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BL