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Old 06-08-2013, 07:19 AM   #302 (permalink)
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10. Ian Gillan Band Child in Time 1976 (Polydor)
Jazz-Rock Fusion

Look to the future and an odd step in time.


Overview

Ian Gillan would be the first of the so-called giants of the heavy genre of the 1970s to start a solo career and release a solo album, Robert Plant and Ozzy Osbourne were still a few years off from doing this. This solo career of course had been laid in his path through his sacking from Deep Purple rather than through choice, the sacking had largely been due to his constant creative bust-ups with Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple. It was thought initially that Ian Gillan would stick with past glories and return to the Deep Purple sound of old circa Machine Head 1972, but instead he carried on the funk induced sound that Glenn Hughes had brought to the band and just decided to thump up the volume a notch or two in places! Funk though of course was not exactly a novelty for Ian Gillan, as a funky sound had already been hinted at by Deep Purple on the Fireball album several years earlier. Fireball had often regarded as a ‘sore thumb’ of an album by the Mk.II line-up of the band, but was always loved by Ian Gillan himself and I was always a big fan of it as well. In surely what was a commercial ploy the Ian Gillan debut was named after the classic Deep Purple track “Child in Time” and given a musical overhaul by Ian Gillan on this album. When it came to a selection of backing musicians the name ‘Ian Gillan’ was certainly going to attract a quality set of musicians for the album. These include the always excellent John Gustafson ex Quatermass and Hard Stuff etc who was the best known band-wise and then there were quality session musicians in Ray Fenwick, Mark Nauseef and Mike Moran, along with a number of other uncredited musicians who appear on the album. The album would unsurprisingly be produced by Roger Glover now a full-time producer and surely one of the busiest producers on the scene along with Jack Douglas at the time. When it came to album material, it really was a band effort as all the principal band members along with Roger Glover were contributing here. The album would also turn out to be one of the harder rocking offerings in the Ian Gillan discography and after this he would continue to stay with the jazz-fusion style of this album.

Ian Gillan- Vocals
Ray Fenwick- Guitar
John Gustafsson- Bass
Mike Moran-Keyboards
Mark Nauseef- Drums

Production- Roger Glover

Album
Lay Me Down
- From the word go there is a heavy rhythm section evident here and Ian Gillan enters proceedings without too much bravado by his standards. The song also feels like a simple album opener rather than an opening statement. You Make Me Feel So Good- I saw a review that stated that this song sounded similar to something that Sly Stone would’ve recorded, but as I’m not familiar with Sly Stone that much so I’ll take their word for it. Shame- At just 2 plus minutes this essentially feels like typical album filler. My Baby Loves Me- A song that doesn’t really go anywhere but drives itself along at a steady pace. Down the Road- the first real obvious vocal dominant track on the album and the best song on the first side of the album. Child in Time- The showpiece track of the album and a cover of the classic Deep Purple epic from the In Rock album. Let it Slide- A jazz rock number that is also atmospheric in its execution and at 11 plus minutes is a real quality bit of work.

Verdict
Child in Time represents a strong blend of a funky rhythm heavy sound, which at times accommodates Ian Gillan’s voice rather than Ian Gillan simply taking centre stage. On the album’s second track “You Make Me Feel So Good” we can see a more experimental slow plodding side of the album and this is a heavy number with another high dosage of funk and I think this song may well sum up the scope of the album as a whole. “Down the Road” the side closer shows a certain maturity by Ian Gillan and is probably the best song on what is not an overly strong first side of an album. The simple fact of the matter is, that the type of sound that Ian Gillan is trying to put out here, was certainly more suited to the talents of an artist like Glenn Hughes who cut this type of thing better! Now when we go onto the second side of the album, this is where the album actually does cut it and its two songs a cover of “Child in Time” and “Let it Slide” are essentially the highlights of the album. "Child in Time" is a heartfelt cover of the original and the guitar of Ray Fenwick is the real highlight here, as his guitar gives the song a luxurious and warm feel, making it a different song in essence from the original. “Let it Slide” is lengthy album piece dominated by its feel and atmospherics and sits perfectly with “Child in Time”. In some ways the quality distribution of this album which favours its second side, is similar to the well-known Iron Butterfly In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album, which also suffered from an average first side and only really took off with its classics title track which dominated the second side of that album. This is also an album that gives over to repeated listens, but I’ll be clear now and say, that despite the album offering us a dense and mature feel and with a lot of talent on show with its array of session musicians the album is far from being a classic. The album though, does offer us an interesting insight in to what Ian Gillan was doing at this time, which might surprise some people who were probably not familiar with what the special one was doing around this time! Child in Time stands as an interesting start to Ian Gillan’s solo career, rather than a sounding like the high profile debut that could’ve been expected from him.

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Last edited by Unknown Soldier; 06-08-2013 at 08:25 AM.
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