The mass cancellation of hard rock’s heroes at the hands of punk has always been greatly exaggerated, but by the late 70s Ian Gillan had lost his way. The Ian Gillan Band’s jazz-fusion direction hadn’t thrilled his old Deep Purple fan base, and, incredibly, Gillan – his new, reassuringly hard-rocking outfit – couldn’t get a UK label to release their self-titled debut in 1978.
It became known as The Japanese Album, and its reissue in this seven-disc set of the band’s albums shows its rejection wasn’t due to lack of quality. Exhilaratingly urgent, high-octane romps Secret Of The Dance, Back In The Game and Message In A Bottle subsequently ended up in marginally superior form on 1979’s Mr. Universe, as the classic Gillan line-up took shape with Bernie Tormé on guitar and the ever-photogenic John McCoy, scaring Top Of The Pops viewers, on bass
