Gillan
Gillan (aka The Japanese Album)

When, in 1973, Ian Gillan left Deep Purple, he had to reinvent his career from scratch. He formed the Ian Gillan Band, a group with jazz-fusion sounds, which, however, did not achieve the hoped-for success. After this brief hiatus, the English singer returned once again to the more fitting path of hard rock. He began the reformation, recruiting new musicians, and formed a new band with the original name... Gillan!

In 1978, the debut album was released, also titled "Gillan (aka The Japanese Album)". Initially, this album was distributed only in Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. In 1993, a reissue of the record was released, containing some tracks from Mr. Universe, from 1979 (the reviewed album is the '93 reissue). The lineup included guitarist Steve Byrd, keyboardist Colin Towns, drummer Liam Genockey, and bassist Jon McCoy. No marquee names, apart from the frontman, but all experienced and talented musicians, qualities that enhance the technical quality of the album, undoubtedly well-played and offering several interesting insights.
First of all, it must be stated that Gillan's voice is changing, but it still presents that fierce and aggressive thrust from the golden times.

The intro "Street Theatre", which seems to want to echo contemporary classical compositions, opens the 14-track album. A very heterogeneous album based on solid Hard Rock, but which offers many theme variations, for instance: immediate and aggressive high-paced songs like "Secret Of The Dance", "Roller" and "Message In A Bottle", or slow and massive tracks like "Dead Of The Night" and "I'm Your Man", based on a solid keyboard and guitar riff, which recall the early Deep Purple of “In Rock” and “Fireball”. McCoy and Genockey work well in providing the hard rhythm base, while Byrd and Towns, who frequently uses the moog (and is a co-author of many tracks), skillfully handle the embellishments.

Ian Gillan has always proposed fun songs, also influenced by his passion for musicals (an atmosphere present also in "Who Do We Think We Are" by Deep Purple); "Not Weigh Enough", "Bringing Joanna Back" and "Back In The Game" are presented this way. There's also room for blues and boogey on this album ("Vengeance" and "Move With The Times").

The song, perhaps, most interesting is the ballad of the album: "Fighting Man". Opened by Towns' piano, it slowly unfolds into the early '80s sounds, then giving way to Byrd's cutting guitar, creating an exciting atmosphere, but never banal.

Solo Gillan never reached the great heights of the global mainstream; he may not have achieved the peaks of David Coverdale with Whitesnake, but he has always been capable of writing excellent Hard Rock songs and producing great albums, like this one indeed.