Unknown Soldier

Overview
After the disappointment of Ian Gillan’s new hard rock project debut being slated for a Japanese only release in 1978 (see Gillan review) The majestic one luckily decided to keep some of the best bits from that album and re-issue them the following year, along with his new material for the Mr.Universe album for both a UK and international release. The borrowed material would now be re-recorded with what would be his definitive line-up under the Gillan moniker and this included highly talented musicians such as John McCoy on bass and the vital Colin Towns on keyboards who had both been on the Gillan album. Added to these two would be the talented Irish guitarist Bernie Torme and the much travelled Mick Underwood on drums. Ian Gillan’s current project Gillan, now very much focused on what he did best and that was his Deep Purplish hard rock sound which resonates across the Mr.Universe album, where we have him firmly realigning himself with his Deep Purple heyday from earlier on in the decade. As with the debut album, keyboardist Colin Towns co-writes nearly all the songs with Ian Gillan and also has two solo efforts credited to himself as well on the album, making him the biggest writing contributor for the album as a whole. Mr.Universe would also give Gillan their commercial breakthrough as a band with the album clocking in at no.11 on the UK album charts and its success was surely no surprise really given the song quality on offer musically, along with a certain Ian Gillan posing as a superstar on the album cover, which is devoid of the rest of the band members! The album of course also offers the perennial headache of different versions of the same album as well, of which I won’t go into here and to make matters even more confusing there are also different versions of the previous Gillan album as well, probably making around five or six different versions of the two albums or should that actually be one album! Also with the album coming right at the end of the decade, it was kind of nice to see Ian Gillan going full circle as an artist.

Ian Gillan- Vocals
Bernie Torme- Guitar
John McCoy- Bass
Colin Towns- Keyboards
Mick Underwood- Drums

Production- Paul ‘Chas’ Watkins

Album
Second Sight- With its almost Tubular Bells atmospheric start, the song then takes on a familiar Rainbow type stance along with some good work by Colin Towns on keyboards, who also has sole writing credits here and the track then leads into….. Secret of the Dance- We’re now into familiar territory here and that means Deep Purple territory. The song has some a real up-tempo gusto about it and sets the tone for much of the album to come. She Tears Me Down- One of the songs solely written by Colin Towns and it’s a strong song from beginning to end, and unsurprisingly Colin Towns is the dominant musician on this song. Roller- One of the heaviest tracks on the album and one of those important tracks that keeps the tempo of the album just right. Mr.Universe- The title track is without doubt one of the strongest tracks on the album and has Ian Gillan vocally at his best, there is also some top notch guitar work by Bernie Torme as well and stellat work by Colin Towns on keyboards. Vengeance- A heavy melodic track and despite being regarded as one of the stronger tracks on the album, but I’d say it was fairly average from beginning to end. Puget Sound- The only group composition on the album surprisingly and it starts off with an “Anyone’s Daughter” kind of vibe from the the Fireball album. Dead of Night-Ian Gillan covers failry known ground here, as he tells a tale in his all too familiar and plodding style. Message in a Bottle- An energetic album track that kicked off the second side of the debut album, but here it featires as the penultimate track on this album. Fighting Man- The third song solely accredited to Colin Towns and it’s carried across from the debut album. Again it’s no surprise to see that the piano features highly in the song and at more than 7 minutes it was obvious that this was pencilled in to be an accomplished track in every way and closes the Mr.Universe album, the song is a true treasure in every respect!

Verdict
Despite some detractors and quality control moaners on certain reviews, Mr.Universe is without doubt probably the strongest effort Gillan put out as a band, along with the later Future Shock album which came out in 1981. Mr.Universe is a well balanced album and the hard rock credentials of the songs are spot on and well distributed across the album. Gillan cleverly use the same opening double act from their debut set to start this album as well, in the atmospheric “Second Sight” and the rocking “Secret of the Dance” which comes hot on its heels. The band then save the three other tracks from the debut album to finish this album off “Dead of Night” “Message in a Bottle” and the epic “Fighting Man” which is highlighted by Ian Gillan’s famous screaming finale to the song! The crop of new songs on the album are a strong bunch overall, despite containing a couple of weaker efforts here and there. The stronger songs start with the well-crafted Colin Towns track “She Tears Me Down” one of the best on the album, as is the energetic “Roller” as well, but the pick of the bunch is surely the title track “Mr.Universe” with its addictive vibe and its guitar jamming mash-up middle section! Other tracks though are not so great like “Vengeance” which despite being both melodic and heavy, really fails to ignite where it matters and ends up sounding quite standard. “Puget Sound” doesn’t fare that much better either and is largely a disappointing band composition. At the end of the day, it could be argued that Mr.Universe is just half an album really, as half of it had already featured on the debut. But another way of looking at it, is that it really does combine the best that the Gillan band had in their locker around this time all on one album, making it similar to what the Sweet had done with their Desolation Boulevard album several years earlier. Of the songs initially omitted from the Mr.Universe album, it was probably a shame to not see the excellent “Abbey of Thelema” being featured, but I guess that would’ve been one song too many carried over from trhe debut. As has already been previously mentioned on the Gillan review, Ian Gillan out of the three vocalists that fronted the three biggest hard rock/heavy metal British bands of the 1970s, would see him as being the least appreciated out of a trio that consisted of Robert Plant and Ozzy Osbourne working outside their better known main bands, and for that reason alone Ian Gillan’s solo work is probably the most rewarding of the three as well.

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