Gillan - The Gillan Tapes, Vol. 2 (2023)

"A must for all serious Gillan fans" writes Steve Pearson in his liner notes, the unwritten coda being that it's difficult to imagine anyone else taking an interest in this compilation. About a dozen (the exact number is uncertain since the liner notes are vague about the sources of some items) of these 20 tracks are alternate/unreleased mixes of material from the late 1970s and early '80s. The final seven songs, which are in lower fidelity, are an assortment of demos and live cuts from the same era (again the exact source is not given for each and every track). It's vaguely histrionic metal/hard rock, emblematic of the time at which metal had largely passed from the media eye, but had become entrenched as a crowd-pleasing music for a huge cult following.

Review by Richie Unterberger