RAY GILLEN |
| Not enough could
ever possibly be said about the incredible talent that was Ray Gillen.
To have his life snuffed out literally in his prime was, well it was
a waste. The capacity that the man had was immeasurable. Ian Gillan, Robert Plant, Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Ray Gillen should forever be considered amoung these voices that carved legends out of hard rock and heavy metal. This memorial collection of songs from Gillen's final recording sessions is a taste of what the man could and would have continued doing had time not run away from him. Setting aside the obvious emotion involved in reviewing this disc, I have to qualify the differences between this disc and the excellent SUN RED SUN release which also carries songs from the final Gillen sessions. First off, the Sun Red Sun record featured a different vocalist on most tracks leaving Gillen's voice on only five of the eleven tracks, this record is all Ray Gillen. This release features a five minute+ segment of studio chatter of Ray's that can not be found anywhere else. Though there are twelve cuts on this release eight are various versions of three songs. For instance, there are four different versions of "Outrageous" on this tribute disc. I suspect that this release contains every note that was recorded in these sessions and that is what makes this particular package such a collectors item. This uniqueness is further buyed by the fact that this is intended to be a limited release and that the first 1000 orders will receive a full color poster along with the CD. The question that has most often been put to me is "If I already have the SUN RED SUN disc do I really need to get this one as well?" My answer is, It depends. If you are looking for music solely because of Ray Gillen's involvement, this is something that you must have. If you are only interested in the songs and not the singer, SUN RED SUN is all you need. With all of the above you may think that you were done, not so. There are to be several more releases featuring various lineups of SUN RED SUN both on video and CD, the "lost" 3rd BADLANDS album and re-issues of the first two BADLANDS records including bonus tracks. This is a good time for Ray Gillen's music and with every listen a little bit of Ray is resurected. * Ray Gillen died of AIDS December 1, 1993, coincidentally, the date now recognized as World AIDS Day. A portion of the proceeds from this CD will be donated to AIDS research in Ray Gillen's name.* Released by SRS Records Review by David Lee |