(4 / 5)
This man really does deserve the label “legend”. Still going strong at the age of 64, still in very fine voice indeed. Solo and as part of the Supergroup Black County Communion with Joe Bonamassa, Glenn is a man for all seasons as one of the most powerful voices and most dynamic front men of rock music ever.
“The Voice Of Rock”, first came to prominence in Trapeze, a band featuring future Whitesnake guitarist Mel Galley, and future Judas Priest drummer, Dave Holland. With their third album, “You Are The Music, We’re Just The Band” (1972), Trapeze were on the brink of a major Stateside breakthrough, where they’d been building a large and loyal following.
But, Glenn was offered the golden opportunity to play bass and sing with Deep Purple in 1973, joined by David Coverdale for “Burn”, “Stormbringer” and “Come Taste The Band”. Deep Purple eventually split in 1976, its members following various solo and side projects. The first fruits of Glenn’s post Purple career appeared with “Play Me Out”, issued in July 1977. Glenn went on to collaborate with Pat Thrall in Hughes/Thrall, Joe Lynn Turner in the Hughes Turner Project, with Tony Iommi in Black Sabbath and the self-titled “Iommi” album, plus a prolific solo career.
This, Glenn’s fourth solo album, was originally released in 1995, and saw Glenn treading more pop, soul and funk territory than the hard rock that he’s better known for. Former Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum guests, and the album sees a welcome collaboration with his Hughes/Thrall partner, Pat Thrall.
This double disc edition offers the original 11 tracks of the 1995 album, plus a bonus track “Holy Man”, a re-recording of the Deep Purple song, originally recorded for the “Stormbringer” LP. Plus lovely exclusive acoustic versions of ‘From Now On’ and ‘Lay My Body Down’. The four unplugged tracks were recorded in Stockholm in 1993 and Japan a year later.
The live versions of Deep Purple’s ‘You Keep On Moving’, ‘Gettin’ Tighter’ and ‘Stormbringer’ are worth the entry fee on their own. The live stuff on this record comes from recordings made at Carola in Holand in October 1994 and Schottdorf Open Air in July of the same year. It is a tough ask to pick out the standout tracks from the 27 cuts here (12 on disc one and 15 on disc two), because it is pretty much all good stuff. * The expanded booklet features liner notes by rock writer Malcolm Dome based on new interviews with Glenn.
By Christopher Weston
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’
(3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’ (4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’
(5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
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