IAN GILLAN Releases Party-Style Career Retrospective

Launch Radio Networks reports: Ian Gillan steps away from DEEP PURPLE this week with the release of his solo album called "Gillan's Inn". It started out as a 40th anniversary retrospective, since Gillan signed his first recording contract in 1965. He started compiling tracks from different albums, but they didn't sound good together because of the differences in recording over the years. So Gillan told Launch the project went in a different direction. "We had this idea — 'Let's do remakes,'" he said. "I made a few phone calls, and got a great response from my mates, so I thought, 'That's it. We'll have Gillan's Inn. It's an imaginary pub. You go in, there's the bar on the left, (and) the drinks are all free; there's the stage, with every piece of equipment you could dream of; and taped to the floor is the setlist, so just get up and join in for three or four songs, every one of you, and we'll just have a party.' And that's pretty much how it turned out."

"Gillan's Inn" features guest appearances from BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi, DEF LEPPARD frontman Joe Elliott, guitarist Joe Satriani, and singer Ronnie James Dio, as well as current and former members of DEEP PURPLE.

"Gillan's Inn" is a DualDisc that has music on one side and video on the other, including footage from the recording sessions and rare performance video.

DEEP PURPLE embarks on a month-long tour of Western and Southern locations on the Pacific Rim starting April 22. If there's an opening in the band's summer schedule, Gillan hopes to do some shows in support of the album.