GILLIAN – Future Shock [Demon Music Group reissue +8 bonus] (2025), MP3+FLAC

British label Demon Music Group released some time ago the very good GILLAN ‘The Album Collection’ box set, but now they present the band’s most successful LP, 1981’s “Future Shock” (peaked at No. 2 on the UK album chart) in an Expanded Edition, featuring 8 bonus tracks including the rare EP ‘No Laughing In Heaven’ from the same year.

Led by then former and again now current Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan, ”Future Shock”, was their fourth LP.. Much more hard rock than the jazzy Ian Gillan Band of the late 70s, Gillan had a number of hit singles, hit tours, and produced some fine fine rock that mixed blues and blistering metal. And sadly, too often overlooked.
”Future Shock” featured longtime keyboardist Colin Towns, bassist John McCoy, guitarist Bernie Torme and former Episode Six / Sammy bandmate Mick Underwood on drums.

The original LP kicks off with the title track. Good pace, great tune, lots of fire, set the tone well. The band each of five ways were on top of their game here – the right singer, and the right band to push him in the right direction. Although the band were really not NWoBHM, they were album ride (if not lead) the genre’s then success.
‘The Lucitania Express’ tells a true story of catching a train from Madrid to Lisbon while on tour, literally throwing their equipment and themselves onto an already departing train. And the hit single ‘No Laughing In Heaven’ written about a conversation overheard in a bar.
‘If I Sing Softly’ sees a different aspect to Gillan’s vocals, while ‘Don’t Want The Truth’ and ‘For Your Dreams’ are some of the band’s best material and Ian’s phrasing bang on form too.

The bonuses include non LP single ‘Trouble’ (the Elvis cover) and it’s delightful B-side ‘Your Sister’s On My List’. ‘The Maelstrom’, a single B-side, was also the title of a book Ian was reading at the time. The band were given 24 hours to come up with a song so the key and tempo were agreed over a pint in the pub next to the studio, and Ian largely ad-libbing the vocal track.
‘No Laughing In Heaven’ had been issued as a 4 track EP so the extra 3 tracks are here, including a wonderful cover of ‘Lucille’.

The album still sounds great after all the decades behind. The futuristic artwork is regarded as one of the worst covers in rock history, but the music inside rocks.
This classic hard rock is as good as it gets, but even if you already own it, reissues like this are a joy to behold.
Highly Recommended

 

01 – Future Shock
02 – Night Ride Out Of Phoenix
03 – (The Ballad Of) The Lucitania Express
04 – No Laughing In Heaven
05 – Sacre Bleu
06 – New Orleans
07 – Bite The Bullet
08 – If I Sing Softly
09 – Don’t Want The Truth
10 – For Your Dreams
BONUS TRACKS:
11 – Trouble
12 – Your Sister’s On My List
13 – Mutually Assured Destruction
14 – The Maelstrom
15 – Take A Hold Of Yourself
16 – One For The Road
17 – Lucille
18 – Bad News

Ian Gillan – vocals
Bernie Torme – guitars
Colin Towns – keyboards
John McCoy – bass
Mick Underwood – drums

MP3 FLAC