Genre: Hard Rock
Rate: 320 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 01:17:55
Size: 178,23 MB
Review by El Kabong
The cover art is....well, horrendous. Nobody quite knew how to classify it (then or now). You could barely find it on the shelves, and then only as an import. As far as radio and the US music press was concerned, it simply didn't exist. Pretty much the only thing FUTURE SHOCK had going for it was that it's a frickin' masterpiece, and, along with SCARABUS, represents Ian Gillan's crowning glory as a solo act. Although the two albums are different in personnel and approach - SCARABUS is looser and jazzier, while SHOCK is heavy rock with an almost-punk energy and immediacy - both showcase just how good, how creatively fertile, the songwriting partnership of Gillan and Colin Towns was.
Nowadays when the Gillan band is referenced, usually "Bernie Torme" is the other name that gets mentioned, but good as Torme is on this recording, it's the songs that make this record stand out. Yes, Ian's in great voice, Torme wails like a banshee, and McCoy and Underwood provide ample bottom, but that ineffable thread of elegant oddness weaved through the band's sound at this time....that was all Colin Towns. While his keyboards aren't as central to this set as they were on SCARABUS, it's his touches, compositional and otherwise, that add that something extra to the Gillan stew.
Towns has unfairly become a forgotten man since, most likely stemming from the ignoble end of the band two years later, and the consequent grudges and hard feelings that continue to be nursed to this day. Pity. But nothing that should prevent you from grabbing this cd, which is not only knee-deep in classic tracks you didn't even know existed (that rock hard, with depth and sardonic wit), but tricked out with first-rate bonus material as well. FUTURE SHOCK should have been treated like an event on its first release, instead of an afterthought; the good news is it's still worthy of your attention.
Tracklist:
01 - Future Shock 03:08
02 - Night Ride Out Of Phoenix 05:07
03 - (The Ballad Of) The Lucitania Express 03:12
04 - No Laughing In Heaven 04:59
05 - Sacre Bleu 03:05
06 - New Orleans 02:38
07 - Bite The Bullet 04:52
08 - If I Sing Softly 06:13
09 - Don't Want The Truth 05:42
10 - For Your Dreams 05:04
11 - One For The Road 03:00
12 - Bad News 03:04
13 - Take A Hold Of Yourself 04:40
14 - M-A-D (Mutually Assured Destruction) 03:10
15 - The Maelstrom (Longer Than The A Side) 05:08
16 - Trouble 02:38
17 - Your Sisters On My List 04:05
18 - Handles On Her Hips 02:09
19 - Higher And Higher 03:42
20 - I Might As Well Go Home (Mystic) 02:19
Ian Gillan here:
Get it!
Part1 Part2
Enjoy the music!
You nailed this one - whoever okayed the cover should have been shot at dawn, but musically this just wiped me out. I always use the word 'quirky' to describe Gillan's hard rock stuff, and Towns' keyboards can only be described as eccentric, but they gave the band a really unique sound (much like Manzarek with the Doors). Good for you for spreading the word!
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