CHILD IN TIME

"Child in Time" is the debut full-length studio album by UK hard rock/jazz rock/fusion act Ian Gillan Band. The album was released through Polydor/Oyster in July 1976. As the bandname suggests Ian Gillan Band is led by former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. Ian Gillan left Deep Purple and ultimately the music industry in 1973 to pursue a business career, but he wasn´t very successful at that and in 1975 he decided to put together a band and make a comeback. He put together a band of seasoned musicians. Among others his former Deep Purple colleague Roger Glover (synthesizer, kalimba and vocals), former Quatermass bassist/vocalist John Gustafson and former Elf drummer Mark Nauseef. The band was originally called Shand Grenade but the band soon decided for a name change to Ian Gillan Band. I guess they felt that Ian Gillan´s name could attract some attention to the new band and they were probably right.

The music on the album is bluesy hard rock with soul elements and occasional jazz- rock/fusion rythms. They would explore the latter element much further on their next release but on "Child in Time" it´s only hinted at. The songs are well performed and the album is well produced but there´s not much bite in the songs. This is certainly not in the vein of the more raw and hard rocking early seventies Deep Purple releases. "Child in Time" is generally a much more polished and tame affair. Even the cover of the Deep Purple classic "Child in Time" comes off a bit too nice. But as I said this is a professional piece of work and an overall decent album, which has it´s moments. It just doesn´t make my blood boil and therefore I´d say a 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is fair.