As Ian Gillan himself points out in his short introductory sleevenote, the 7” single wasn’t really what hard rock bands were all about in the late 70s and early 80s. Yet, as this beautifully produced box set shows, time and again Gillan proved themselves masters of the form. The majority of the songs here, reproduced perfectly in miniaturised versions of their original sleeves, complete with B-sides, are concise blasts of melodic, bluesy rock, full of the testosterone-fuelled bluster that had been missing from the great man’s post-Purple work up to this point in his career.
Somewhere in the middle ground between “dinosaur” bands such as Rainbow and the sharper, heavier NWOBHM acts, Gillan successfully carved a niche for themselves and were, for a while, fairly regular visitors to the Top 40. There isn’t a bad single here, but the icing on the cake is the series of rudimentary but very entertaining videos, including Sleeping On The Job and the band-dressed-as-bankers classic Living For The City. Add a brief but informative 12 page booklet and you have a perfect set for Gillanites everywhere.
