Ian Gillan (19,076 views)

[Steve]

Ian Gillan (19 August 1945)
Associated Acts: Deep Purple, Ian Gillan Band, Gillan, Black Sabbath
Vocal Range: C2 - D6 (4 Octaves and 2 Semitones)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vocal Summary}

Significant High Notes:

D6 ("Roller" live Reading 1979)
C♯6 ("Smoke On The Water" live Reading 1979)
C6 ("Demon's Eye" live Berlin 1971)
B5 ("Country Lights", "Fighting Man", "Message In A Bottle", "Money Lender" live London 1977, "Over The Hill", "Rat Bat Blue", "Speed King" live Stockholm 1970, "Strange Kind Of Woman" Several live performances, "What's the Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying")
B♭5 ("Back In The Game", "Black Sabbath" live Chicago 1983, "Demon's Eye", "Fireball", "Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say)", "Highway Star", "Money Lender", "Smoke On The Water" live Reading 1979, "Sleeping On The Job", "The Spanish Archer", "Strange Kind of Woman" From 'Made in Japan')
A5 ("Abbey Of Thelema", "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby?" live at the Ritz 1989, "Back In The Game", "Born Again", "Child In Time" Studio/several live performances, "Clear Air Turbulence", "Digital Bitch", "Disturbing The Priest", "Fool's Mate", "Freedom", "Hang Me Out to Dry", "Hot Line", "I Can't Dance To That", "Love Gun", "Mandrake Root" live Stockholm 1970, "Mercury High", "Money Lender", "My Baby Loves Me", "No More Cane on the Brazos" Live Nottingham 1990, "Nothing to Lose", "Pictures of Hell", "Poor Boy Hero", "Speed King", "Talking to You", "Toolbox", "Trashed", "Woman From Tokyo")
G♯5 ("Bed of Nails", "Candy Horizon", "Dancing Nylon Shirt (Part 1)", "Dirty Dog", "Don't Hold Me Back", "Gut Reaction" Live Nottingham 1990, "Nasty Piece of Work", "One Man's Meat", "Poor Boy Hero", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Secret Of The Dance", "Space Truckin'", "What's The Matter", "Zero The Hero" live '83)
G5 ("Black Sabbath" live Chicago 1983, "Bloodsucker" (+ "Bludsucker"), "Born Again", "Breaking Chains", "A Castle Full of Rascals", "Change My Ways", "Clear Air Turbulence" live Budokan 1978, "Dancing Nylon Shirt (Part 1)", "Digital Bitch", "Everything I Need", "Fighting Man", "Gassed Up", "Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say)", "Hallelujah", "Hang Me Out to Dry", "Hard Lovin' Man", "Highway Star", "Hole In My Vest", "Hot Line", "House Of Pain", "Hush" live 1969, "Jack Ruby", "Lay It Down", "Lucille" live Copenhagen 1972, "Mad Dog", "The Maelstrom", "Mandrake Root" live Stockholm 1970, "Nasty Piece of Work", "Nightmare", "Pictures of Hell", "Ramshackle Man", "Secret Of The Dance", "Smoke On The Water" Several live performances, "Smokestack Lightning", "Strange Kind Of Woman" From 'Made in Japan', "The Temple", "Toolbox", "A Twist in the Tale", "Vengeance", "Woman From Tokyo", "Your Sister's On My List")
F♯5 ("Bed of Nails", "Dancing Nylon Shirt (Part 2)", "Dirty Dog", "Don't Hold Me Back", "Don't Want The Truth", "Down The Road", "Eternity", "Fireball", "Fool's Mate", "Get Away", "Helter Skelter", "Into The Fire", "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye", "The Last Supper", "Lick It Up", "Living For the City", "Men Of War", "Mitzi Dupree", "Mr. Universe", "No No No", "Not Responsible", "Over The Hill", "Place In Line", "Roller", "Trashed", "Vavoom: Ted The Mechanic")
F5 ("Before Time Began", "A Castle Full of Rascals", "Chet", "Country Lights", "Dislocated", "Disturbing The Priest", "Girls Like That", "Helter Skelter", "Hot Line", "I Can't Dance To That", "Lazy", "Lucille", "The Maelstrom", "No Laughing In Heaven", "Silver Tongue", "Sleeping On The Job", "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming", "The Spanish Archer", "Sun Goes Down", "Take A Hold Of Yourself", "Watching the Sky", "Wrong Man", "Vincent Price", "You Make Me Feel So Good")
E5 ("Bad News", "Bludsucker", "Born Again", "Born To Kill", "Breaking Chains", "Child In Time", "Everything I Need", "Freedom", "Get Me Outta Here", "Hadely Bop Pop", "Hard Lovin' Man", "Highway Star", "Jenny Take a Ride!", "Let It Slide", "Lucille", "Mean Streak", "Men Of War", "Mr. Universe", "Mutually Assured Destruction", "New Orleans", "No Laughing In Heaven", "Not Responsible", "Purple Sky", "Rat Bat Blue", "Restless", "Scarabus", "Seventh Heaven", "Smokestack Lightning", "Space Truckin'", "The Temple", "Time For Bedlam", "Trouble", "Ultimate Groove", "What's The Matter")
E♭5 ("(The Ballad Of) The Lucitania Express", "Candy Horizon", "Don't Want The Truth", "Nervous", "Via Miami")
D5 ("Digital Bitch", "Eternity", "Everything's Alright", "Flight Of The Rat", "Hadely Bop Pop", "Hallelujah", "Helter Skelter", "Hole In My Vest", "Hungry Daze", "I'll Rip Your Spine Out", "Lay It Down", "Living For the City", "Mad Dog", "Mandrake Root" live Stockholm 1970, "Money Talks", "Money Lender", "New Orleans", "Nightmare", "No Need to Shout", "Perfect Strangers", "Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem", "Smoke on The Water", "Speed King", "Time For Bedlam", "The Unwritten Law", "Via Miami", "Wrong Man")
C♯5 ("Are You Sure?", "Dislocated", "Don't Hold Me Back", "Down The Road", "Five Moons", "Let the Good Times Roll", "Loving on Borrowed Time", "The Maelstrom", "Never Before", "Strange Kind Of Woman")
C5 ("The Battle Rages On", "Bite The Bullet", "Blue Monday", "Can I Get a Witness", "Chet", "Child In Time", "Demon Driver", "Don't Want The Truth", "Driving Me Mad", "Evil Eye", "For Your Dreams", "House Of Pain", "I Can't Dance To That", "If I Sing Softly", "Jailhouse Rock" live Hiroshima 1977, "Lay It Down", "Life Goes On", "Living a Lie", "Living For the City", "Mad Dog", "Mitzi Dupree", "Money Talks", "Night Ride Out Of Phoenix", "No Good Luck", "No Laughing In Heaven", "No No No", "Nothing to Lose", "One For The Road", "One Man's Meat", "Over The Hill", "The Purple People Eater", "Sleeping On The Job", "Space Truckin'", "Strangeways", "Sweet Lolita", "Take A Hold Of Yourself", "Talk About Love", "Telephone Box", "The Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu", "Too Much Monkey Business", "Toolbox", "Trashed", "Under The Gun", "The Unwritten Law", "What's the Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying", "What's The Matter", "You Make Me Feel So Good", "You're So Right")
B4 ("Any Fule Kno That", "Are You Sure?", "Bad Attitude", "Bed of Nails", "Black & White", "Bloodsucker", "Bluesy Blue Sea", "Breaking Chains", "Dancing Nylon Shirt (Part 1)", "Dead or Alive", "Dirty Dog", "Don't Make Me Happy", "Don't Want The Truth", "Down The Road", "Easy Come, Easy Go", "Eternity", "Everything I Need", "Everything's Alright", "Fiji", "Fireball", "Five Moons", "Flight Of The Rat", "Gassed Up", "I Got Your Number", "Into The Fire", "It Would Be Nice", "Knocking At Your Back Door", "Living Wreck", "Long Gone", "Mean Streak", "Men Of War", "Message In A Bottle", "Money", "Move With The Times", "Mr. Universe", "Nasty Piece of Work", "Nervous", "New Orleans", "Not Responsible", "Nothing But the Best", "Paint It Black" Several live performances, "Pictures of Home", "Picture of Innocence", "Place In Line", "Poison Ivy", "Ramshackle Man", "Razzle Dazzle", "Restless", "Roller", "Slow Train", "Smokestack Lightning", "Smooth Dancer", "Soon Forgotten", "Strange Kind Of Woman", "Talking to You", "Time And Again", "Trouble", "A Twist in the Tale", "Under The Gun", "Vavoom: Ted The Mechanic", "Wasted Sunsets", "Whatsername", "Zero the Hero")
B♭4 ("Bad News", "Bananas", "The Battle Rages On", "Born To Kill", "Call Of The Wild", "A Castle Full of Rascals", "Caught In a Trap", "Chet", "Dancing in My Sleep", "Dancing Nylon Shirt (Part 2)", "Demon Driver", "Demon's Eye", "Digital Bitch", "Don't Stop", "Driving Me Mad", "Future Shock", "A Gypsy's Kiss", "Hadely Bop Pop", "Hallelujah", "Hard Lovin' Woman", "Hell To Pay", "Helter Skelter", "Hot Line", "House Of Pain", "Hungry Daze", "Keep It Warm", "Life Goes On", "Living a Lie", "Long and Lonely Ride", "Love Gun", "Mitzi Dupree", "Moonshine", "MTV", "Night Ride Out Of Phoenix", "Nightmare", "No Easy Way", "Nothing But the Best", "On The Rocks", "One For The Road", "Pre-Release", "The Purple People Eater", "Roller", "Running, White Face, City Boy", "Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem", "Slags To Bitches", "Smoke On The Water", "Solitaire", "Somebody Stole My Guitar", "Spanish Guitar", "Things I Never Said", "Throw My Bones", "Trial Before Pilate", "Vengeance", "Woman From Tokyo", "Your Sister's On My List")
A4 ("69", "Abbey Of Thelema", "Above and Beyond", "All in My Mind", "Almost Human", "Angel Manchenio", "Any Fule Kno That", "Anya", "Apathy", "Anyway You Want Me", "Après Vous", "Back In The Game", "Bad Attitude", "(The Ballad Of) The Lucitania Express", "Bananas", "The Battle Rages On", "Before Time Began", "Birds of Prey", "Black & White", "Black Night", "Born Again", "Breaking Chains", "Can I Get a Witness", "Cascades: I'm Not Your Lover", "Caught in the Act", "Cayman Island", "Chandra's Coriander", "Change My Ways", "Country Lights", "Dancing in My Sleep", "Dead or Alive", "Dirty Dog", "Dislocated", "Disturbing The Priest", "Don't Hold Your Breath", "Don't Let Go", "Easy Come, Easy Go", "Everything I Need", "Evil Eye", "Fighting Man", "Fireball", "Five Moons", "Fool's Mate", "Gassed Up", "Get Away", "Get Me Outta Here", "Gunga Din", "Gut Reaction", "A Gypsy's Kiss", "Hang Me Out to Dry", "Hard Lovin' Man", "Hard on You", "Haunted", "Hell To Pay", "Hey Cisco", "Higher & Higher", "Highway Star", "Hip Boots", "Hole In My Vest", "Hungry Daze", "I Can't Dance To That", "I Thought No", "I'm Your Man", "If You Believe Me", "Jack Ruby", "Jailhouse Rock" live Hiroshima 1977, "Knocking At Your Back Door", "Let the Good Times Roll", "Lick It Up", "Living for the City", "Living Wreck", "Lonely Avenue", "Long and Lonely Ride", "Long Gone", "Loosen My Strings", "Loving on Borrowed Time", "Lucille", "Mad Dog", "The Maelstrom", "Maybe I'm a Leo", "Mercury High", "Money Lender", "Money Talks", "Mutually Assured Destruction", "My Baby Loves Me", "Never Before", "No Good Luck", "No Laughing In Heaven", "No More Cane on the Brazos", "No No No", "No One Came", "Nobody's Home", "No Need to Shout", "Not Responsible", "Nothing to Lose", "Purple Sky", "Not Weird Enough", "One Man's Meat", "Our Lady", "Out of Hand", "Perfect Strangers", "The Purpendicular Waltz", "Rapture of the Deep", "Rat Bat Blue", "Razzle Dazzle", "Restless", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Sacre Bleu", "Scarabus", "Secret Of The Dance", "Seventh Heaven", "She Tears Me Down", "Silver Tongue", "A Simple Song", "Smooth Dancer", "Solitaire", "Somethin' Else", "South Africa", "Space Truckin'", "The Spanish Archer", "Strangeways", "Sun Goes Down", "Sunbeam", "Super Trouper", "Sweet Lolita", "Take A Hold Of Yourself", "Talk About Love", "Talking to You", "Time And Again", "Time to Kill", "Too Much Monkey Business", "Toolbox", "Trashed", "A Twist in the Tale", "Ultimate Groove", "Unchain My Brain", "The Unwritten Law", "Via Miami", "Wrong Man", "Wasted Sunsets", "What's the Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying", "Whatsername", "Woman From Tokyo", "You Sold My Love for a Song", "You're so Right", "Zero The Hero")
G♯4 ("7 and 7 Is", "Bite The Bullet", "Body Line", "Candy Horizon", "Change My Ways", "Clouds of Rain", "Dead Of Night", "Down The Road", "Future Shock", "It Would Be Nice", "Junkyard Blues", "Let It Slide", "Out of My Mind", "Poison Ivy", "She Think It's a Crime", "Sleeping On The Job", "Time And Again", "Twin Exhausted", "Watching the River Flow", "You Make Me Feel So Good")
G4 ("Abbey Of Thelema", "All I Got Is You", "Anyway You Want Me", "Anyone's Daughter", "Après Vous", "The Arrest", "Back to Back", "The Battle of New Orleans", "Better Days", "Bloodsucker", "Bringing Joanna Back", "Chandra's Coriander", "Clear Air Turbulence", "Country Mile", "Dancing in My Sleep", "Dancing Nylon Shirt (Part 2)", "Demon's Eye", "Don't Stop", "Drop the Weapon", "First Sign of Madness", "Flight Of The Rat", "Freedom", "Get Me Outta Here", "Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say)", "Hip Boots", "Hush" Several live performances, "I'm Your Man", "Into The Fire", "It'll Be Me", "Jenny Take a Ride!", "Johnny's Band", "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye", "The Last Supper", "Lay It Down", "Lazy", "The Long Way Down", "Lucifer", "Man Alive", "Mary Long", "Maybe I'm a Leo", "Never Before", "No More Cane on the Brazos", "No Need to Shout", "No One Came", "One Night In Vegas", "Out of Hand", "Over The Hill", "Painted Horse", "Paradise Bar", "The Power of the Moon", "The Purple People Eater", "Put Yourself In My Place", "Roadhouse Blues", "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu", "Second Movement: Andante Part 1", "Secret Of The Dance", "Slags To Bitches", "Slow Train", "Smoke On The Water", "Speed King", "Sugar Plum", "Super Trouper", "Telephone Box", "Throw My Bones", "Too Much Monkey Business", "Ultimate Groove", "Uncommon Man", "Vengeance", "Vincent Price", "We're All the Same in the Dark", "When A Blind Man Cries", "White Room")


Significant Low Notes:

D3 ("Above and Beyond", "The Arrest", "The Aviator", "Back In The Game", "Blue Monday", "The Bull Of Birantis", "Clearly Quite Absurd", "Country Mile", "Disturbing The Priest", "Don't Let Go", "Don't Make Me Happy", "Drop the Weapon", "Everything's Alright - Reprise", "Evil Eye", "Fingers to the Bone", "Get Me Outta Here", "Hey Cisco", "Hole In My Vest", "Holy Water", "Hosanna", "The Long Way Down", "Loosen My Strings", "The Maelstrom", "Mary Long", "Never a Word", "No More Cane on the Brazos", "Not Weird Enough", "One Man's Meat", "Rapture of the Deep", "Rave On", "Razzle Dazzle", "Shapes of Things", "A Simple Song", "The Sky Is Falling Down", "Slow Train", "Step by Step", "Texas State Of Mind", "Watching the Sky", "Whatsername", "White Room")
C♯3 ("Body Line", "Evil Louie", "Fiji", "Let the Good Times Roll", "The Mule", "Nothing at All", "The Purpendicular Waltz", "That's Why God Is Singing the Blues", "Vincent Price", "You Sold My Love for a Song")
C3 ("All in My Mind", "Anyway You Want Me", "The Battle of New Orleans", "Born Again", "Born To Kill", "Chandra's Coriander", "Evil Eye", "Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say)", "Girl Goes to Show", "Hosanna", "It'll Be Me", "Never a Word", "Nothing to Lose", "One Eye To Morocco", "One For The Road", "Paradise Bar", "Perfect Strangers", "Roadhouse Blues", "Rosa's Cantina", "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming", "Telephone Box", "Weirdistan", "White Room")
B2 ("All I Got Is You", "All the Time in the World", "Before Time Began", "Caught in the Act", "It Would Be Nice", "It's Only Make Believe", "The Long Way Down", "The Maelstrom", "Man Alive", "Money Lender" live Horishima 1977, "Money Talks", "Oh Well", "One Night In Vegas", "Place In Line", "Poison Ivy", "She Took My Breath Away", "Soon Forgotten", "The Surprising", "The Temple", "That's Why God Is Singing the Blues", "Time For Bedlam", "Trouble", "Ultimate Groove", "Watching the River Flow", "You Better Move On")
B♭2 ("Abbey Of Thelema", "Blue Monday", "Deal With It", "Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say)", "Girl Goes to Show", "The Last Supper", "The Long Way Down", "Mary Long", "Poor Jerusalem", "Put Yourself In My Place", "Solitaire")
A2 ("All the Time in the World", "The Battle of New Orleans", "Before Time Began", "Blood From a Stone", "Can I Get a Witness", "Change My Ways", "Dislocated", "Don't Stop", "Lonely Avenue", "Lucifer", "No Good Luck", "No More Cane on the Brazos", "Out of Hand", "Place In Line", "The Power of the Moon", "Roadhouse Blues", "She Was", "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming", "Soon Forgotten", "Texas State Of Mind", "Too Much Monkey Business", "Trouble", "Uncommon Man", "Walk On", "Weirdistan")
G♯2 ("Always the Traveller", "Girl Goes to Show", "The Purple People Eater", "Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem", "That's Why God Is Singing the Blues")
G2 ("The Battle of New Orleans", "Better Days", "Chet", "Dancing in My Sleep", "I'm Your Man", "It'll Be Me" Now What?! version, "Money Lender", "Out of Hand", "Rosa's Cantina", "Time For Bedlam")
F♯2 ("Lonely Avenue", "Money Talks", "Sacre Bleu", "She Took My Breath Away", "Sleepy Warm", "Walk On")
F2 ("Blood From a Stone", "Deal With It", "I'm Your Man")
E2 ("Man Alive", "Nasty Piece of Work", "Oh Well", "She Took My Breath Away", "Texas State Of Mind", "Ultimate Groove")
E♭2 ("Chet")

D2 ("Better Days", "Blood From a Stone", "Dislocated", "Nasty Piece of Work", "No More Cane on the Brazos")

C2 ("The Battle of New Orleans")

SPOILER: Click to show

{Notewatched Material/Album Ranges}With Deep Purple:
Deep Purple in Rock (1970) E3 - A5
Fireball (1971) C♯3 - A5 - B♭5
Machine Head (1972) E3 - G♯5 - B♭5
Who Do We Think We Are (1973) A2 - B5
Perfect Strangers (1984) C3 - ? - F♯5
The House of Blue Light (1987) ? - B♭5
The Battle Rages On (1993) D2 - B♭2 - G♯5
Purpendicular (1996) G2 - G5
Abandon (1998) A2 - C♯3 - G5
Bananas (2003) F♯2 - F5
Rapture of the Deep (2005) F♯2 - A2 - F♯5
Now What?! (2013) D2 - F5
Infinite (2017) G2 - E5
Whoosh! (2020) - E2-B2-A4-D5
Turning to Crime (2021) - C2-G2-E5

With Ian Gillan Band:
Child in Time (1976) E3 - A5
Clear Air Turbulence (1977) G2 - E♭3 - B5
Scarabus (1977) E3 - A5 - B5

With Gillan:
Gillan (1978) F2 - G2 - B5
Mr Universe (1979) ? - B5
Glory Road (1980) B♭2 - B♭5
Future Shock (1981) F♯2 - ? - F♯5
Double Trouble (1981) C3 - F♯5
Magic (1982) ? - G♯5

With Black Sabbath:
Born Again (1983) C3 - A5

With Gillan and Glover:
Accidentally On Purpose (1988) D2 - E2 - A5

With WhoCares:
Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi: WhoCares (2012)*

With the Javelins:
Sole Agency and Representation (1994)** A2 - G♯5

Solo:
Naked Thunder (1990) D2 - A5
Toolbox (1991) E3 - A5
Dreamcatcher (1997) F♯2 - G♯2 - A4
One Eye to Morocco (2009) D2 - G5

Other:
Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) G♯2- B5

Album ranges include notes from bonus tracks released alongside the album in question.

If a low note in the album ranges has been marked with a '?', this means Gillan did not sing any notes below F3 on this album.

*note that no album range has been listed here as the material on this album was recorded at various times and so does not represent the singer's range at any one stage of their career.
**-note that this album was later re-released as 'Raving With Ian Gillan and the Javelins' in 2000).

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}A2 "Nothing to Lose" [2]
C♯2 "Bloodsucker" live in Karlshamn 1996 [3a]

.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
(a.) Laugh trail disconnected from the song itself.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Range video by Platypus }

........................................................
*Underlines indicate notes obscured in the mix.
*Green indicates particularly harsh and/or distorted notes.
*Italics indicates non-melodic notes.
*Boldface indicates notes that are considered particularly good examples of this singer's capabilities.

All research in this thread was done by Platypus , except for the most recent two Deep Purple albums by Hennessy Macklemore III .
Additional formatting by falsetokaiba .

Old thread by @wabba420, with thread contributors including Sandblasted , OldSchoolHeavyMetal and Hennessy Macklemore III

[Rodney Blazershorts]

Very strange that "Hallelujah" and it's bold-ass G5 got overlooked (:))

[Seb]

Legitimately expected the high note from Gethesame to be bolded. I mean, he is the OG and the best one to have done it in my opinion

[falsetokaiba]

Oof, I'll add that to the thread now. I'll be the first to admit my knowledge of Gillan as a singer is very limited- I didn't add anything to this thread, only formatted what was already there. (As an additional question, is the backing vocal D5 at the end of 'Hallelujah' also Gillan?)
As for the Gethsemane note, it is a great note, but it doesn't stay on any one pitch that long, and given Gillan has other really good notes in that area I figured it was safer bolding them.

[Rodney Blazershorts]

I had that thought about Gethsemane as well, but couldn't tell you confidently whether it should be bolded as a G5 or a Bb5.
Speaking of bolds, I would also nominate the F#5 (and maybe E5?) from Men of War and the G5 in Highway Star.

[Zedd Squared]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGx_P19l7bQ&t=5m59s
Solid songspoken E2 from Before Time Began here that I don't see in the OP.

[glo]

He goes up to E5 and F♯5 in “Mr. Universe” not long after that bolded B4.

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

Don't forget the B♭2 (I think?) from "Mary Long". It's pretty squashed, but there are also better renditions of it in live versions.

[Sandblasted]

Lol I bugged Platypus to check the "Cherkazoo and Other Stories" compilation (which collects some rare and obscure solo recordings he did in between Purple and IGB) awhile ago and it still doesn't look like anybody's got around to it, may have to do it myself at some point...

Notably there's an early demo of "You Make Feel So Good" on there that's a half step higher than the IGB version that has quite a tremendous F#5 that renders the bold on the F5 from the latter version a tad redundant imo.

[Seb]

Deep Purple's got a new record out. Ian tops out at G4 on this one (I mean he's old so ehhh). Some of the background vocals might be him, but I'm not sure.

[mjuk2013]

Jesus christ that F#5 is MONSTROUS!

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

Decided to go ahead and notewatch both Deep Purple's newest album, Turning to Crime, and their one from last year, Whoosh!, since no one's updating this OP anymore. Here's what I got:

Whoosh!

• "Throw My Bones" - G4s, B♭4s
  
• "Drop the Weapon" - G4s, D3s
  
• "We're All the Same in the Dark" - G4
  
• "Nothing at All" - C♯3
  
• "No Need to Shout" - A4s, G4s, D5
  
• "Step by Step" - D3s
  
• "What the What" - nothing significant
  
• "The Long Way Down" - G4s, D3s, B2
  
• "The Power of the Moon" - G4s, A2s
  
• "Remission Possible" - instrumental
  
• "Man Alive" - B2s, E2s, G4s, possible E♭2?
  
• "And the Address" - instrumental
  
• "Dancing in My Sleep" - A4s, G4s, G2s, B♭4
  

Turning to Crime:

• "7 and 7 Is" - G♯4s
  
• "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" - G4s, C5
  
• "Oh Well" - B2, E2
  
• "Jenny Take a Ride!" - G4s, E5
  
• "Watching the River Flow" - B2, G♯4
  
• "Let the Good Times Roll" - A4s, C♯3, C♯5
  
• "Dixie Chicken" - possible A2s?
  
• "Shapes of Things" - D3
  
• "The Battle of New Orleans" - A2s, C3s, C2s!!!, G4s, G2
  
• "Lucifer" - G4s, A2s
  
• "White Room" - D3s, G4s, C3s
  
• "Caught in the Act" - A4s, B2s
  

Overall I'm not terribly impressed by either album, though both of them had their occasional strong points. My criticisms of both are somewhat similar, though they apply differently since one is an original album and the other is all covers.

Whoosh! is pretty lame for the first half of the album, and a couple tracks like "What the What" just reek of uninspired dad rock that's far past its best by date. Then there are others like "Nothing at All" that have some nice performances by Steve Morse and Don Airey, but as a whole just feel disappointingly mellowed out when you think back on how this is a group that used to be considered one of the loudest and most relentless rock 'n' roll bands of their time back in their hayday. However, the album picks up nicely towards the end with some standout tracks like "The Power of the Moon" and "Man Alive", and I also dig the rerecorded version of "And the Address" with Morse and Airey paying tribute to their predecessors Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord. I think "Remission Possible" could've also made for a pretty cool full-length instrumental if they had bothered to extend it, but alas it's only a minute and a half.

Meanwhile for Turning to Crime I can't really criticize their songwriting for the more boring parts of that album, seeing how they didn't write any of the songs on it, but I can say that I was pretty disappointed by how dull a lot of the song choices were for a covers album. We know that Deep Purple can do some great covers when they want to, but several of the ones on this album were super unexciting songs that I don't think suited the band's sound at all, such as "Dixie Chicken" and "The Battle of New Orleans" (though the latter at least has a good baritone vocal performance by Gillan). However, there were a couple of surprisingly good renditions of certain songs on there - namely "Oh Well", which had some killer instrumental parts, and "White Room", which was just a super solid cover of that song that adapted it to their sound really well. Wish more of the album could've been tracks like that, but c'est la vie.

I know it's also not fair/realistic to have super high expectations for Gillan at this point given his age and the state of his voice, but man - listening to these newer albums made me extra aware of just how much power/tone/expression he's lost from his voice over the years. I know he's probably doing his best, but it really is a shame how much he's vocally declined at this point.

[Aardvark]

No falsetto on this thread?

[innuendo]

I think that Child In Time A5s should be blue. They sound quite connected, but the way he hit those notes it's different from other black notes that he has.
Another point is that they sound very similar to Roger Taylor blue notes.

[Rodney Blazershorts]

I don’t think they sound different at all from his other wails, even the other A5s. It’s certainly not a “soft falsetto” sound.

[innuendo]

Feb 2, 2022 15:20:32 GMT Rodney Blazershorts said:

I don’t think they sound different at all from his other wails, even the other A5s. It’s certainly not a “soft falsetto” sound.

Of course it's not a soft falsetto, but I always had the impression that those High notes are more head voice (falsetto) than full voice tbh.

[clem]

Feb 2, 2022 15:38:04 GMT innuendo said:

Feb 2, 2022 15:20:32 GMT Rodney Blazershorts said:

I don’t think they sound different at all from his other wails, even the other A5s. It’s certainly not a “soft falsetto” sound.

Of course it's not a soft falsetto, but I always had the impression that those High notes are more head voice (falsetto) than full voice tbh.

What is and isn't full voice has been debated for a long time in the online singing community, and there's never been all that much of a consensus as to where to draw the line. It was the go-to jargon of internet vocal coaches in the early-mid 2010s, just like "strain vs support" became the big selling point for vocal courses in the latter half of the decade.

The colour code usually comes down to how the tone sounds in comparison to their other highs. Those notes sound similar enough to his usual wailing tone to keep them black to me.

[innuendo]

All fair points yours. Nothing to add to that.

[Batfleck]

C♯5s in this outtake of "Cry Free" from the In Rock sessions.

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

Platypus how much of Gillan's material with Episode Six was checked for this thread?

[Bink]

Potential threadpic change? (it's just the original one is down for me)

[Macca]

Me To

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

Dec 1, 2021 20:00:01 GMT Hennessy Macklemore III said:

• "The Battle of New Orleans" - A2s, C3s, C2s!!!, G4s, G2

Hmmm so I just noticed that Steve Morse and Roger Glover are both credited for backing vocals on this song as well...   I highly doubt the C2s are Steve, since he really doesn't have much of a low voice, but I have no idea what Roger's voice sounds like, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility that they could be him...