Ozzy Osbourne may be the first heavy metal singer, but it was Ian Gillan who singlehandedly laid down the groundwork for all metal singers to follow. Everyone from Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson, to King Diamond and Jon Oliva, kneels reverently in his shadow. His eardrum shattering shrieks and leather lunged delivery is as potent today as it was some 50 odd years ago. In today’s Top 10, we honor this metal mercenary and his supersonic singing abilities. “You got to hear me sing!”
10. Gillan – “Mr. Universe”
The former members of Deep Purple were plenty busy in 1979. Jon Lord and Ian Paice joined Mk III Purple singer David Coverdale in Whitesnake, essentially continuing the funky hard rock sound established on Burn and Stormbringer. Equipped with new singer Graham Bonnet, Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover were set on world domination with the new and improved radio friendly Rainbow. All the while, Ian Gillan started his own namesake band to compete with the burgeoning NWOBHM. Gillan knew the fans longed to hear something recalling Deep Purple in Rock or Machine Head. He delivered in spades. “Mr. Universe” displays the gutsy mid range delivery Gillan is known for, as well as some nasty, throat shredding screams towards the end. The latter would be a sign of things to come in the early 80s.
9. Deep Purple – “Bloodsucker”
Could you imagine listening to this when it came out in 1970? Gillan’s “Ohhhhhh no no no!” must’ve been the death of thousands of stereos worldwide. In those days, audio equipment just wasn’t built to accompany the brute force of Deep Purple. As excellent as Gillan’s performance on “Bloodsucker” is, the rest of the band’s performance can’t go without mention. Every member is kicked into overdrive, playing their respective instruments as intensely as physically possible. THIS is what heavy metal is all about.
8. Black Sabbath – “Hot Line”
Black Sabbath’s Born Again is constantly slagged and for the dumbest reasons imaginable. Some complain about its unorthodox “tinny” mix. Others complain about the album cover (which rules). Then there’s those who whine about it sounding “too much” like Deep Purple and “not enough” like Black Sabbath. I never understood this argument. Despite Ian Gillan handling vocal duties, there’s only one song that would musically sound in place on a Purple album and it’s this one. “Hot Line” is truly the best of both worlds. Gillan’s voice floats splendidly between a bluesy, soulful croon and a scorching hot 80s metal wail. Few singers are as dynamic as this man.
7. Deep Purple – “Speed King”
This list would simply be incomplete without “Speed King”. Unless you picked up 1969’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra, chances are this song was your official introduction to Mr. Gillan. From the opening, “Good golly, said little Miss Molly!”, nothing was ever the same again. Gone were the half baked psychedelic interpretations of the day’s popular hits. Deep Purple were now a full blown metal machine, pistons pumping and engines roaring, all thanks to their new acquisition in Gillan. Forget Dio replacing Ozzy. Gillan replacing Rod Evans was the most important singer switchover in metal history.
6. Deep Purple – “Highway Star”
I’ll never forget the first time I heard “Highway Star”. Not long after discovering Rush’s A Farewell to Kings (and having my life changed forever), I went to my neighborhood library on a quest for similarly styled music. I scoured through the CD section and picked two CDs to borrow that week: Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Brain Salad Surgery and Deep Purple’s Machine Head. My basis on picking them? The same way I picked out A Farewell to Kings from my mother’s record collection, of course: The covers looked cool!
I patiently waited for my family to fall asleep before I tiptoed my way down to the family room. I’d pop the CD in the DVD player and kneel attentively in front of the TV. The volume would be loud enough that I could hear it, but quiet enough that it wouldn’t wake up the rest of the house. Or so I thought. As “Highway Star” built up, I could feel the sound towering above me, about to crash like a tidal wave over my body. Then Gillan delivered that scream. My eyes grew as big as flying saucers. “Holy shit.” were the exact words I uttered to my little 9 year old self.
As the song continued, I started to hear the floors creaking. “Oh no! I woke them up!” I urgently shut off the DVD player and tried to rush my way upstairs, knowing I’d get it if I was caught up this late on a school night. Alas, before I could even make it out of the room, there was my dad standing before me. “Uhhhhhh…hi dad.” “Was that Machine Head?” “Uhhhh…yeah.” “Put it back on.” For the next 37 minutes, dad and I sat in the family room listening to Machine Head from beginning to end. He reminisced about hearing it as a little kid, when his older brothers would play it around the house. Clearly, that evening had an impact on me as I’m writing about it some 13 years later. I only hope one day to have a little boy as inquisitive about Deep Purple as I and my father before me.
5. Gillan – “Fighting Man”
For every hellblazing headbanger Gillan can drive home, he’s equally as powerful at delivering beautiful ballads that tug at one’s heartstrings. “Fighting Man” is the first of a few examples you’ll see on this list’s homestretch. I could be wrong, but I also believe “Fighting Man” contains the highest note Gillan ever recorded; A B6 to be exact. Forward to the 6 minute mark to have your ears and mind blown. The fact that he can even hit this note is an achievement in and of itself. That he could do so at such ease, well, that just must be divine intervention. More on that in a little bit.
4. Black Sabbath – “Born Again”
Black Sabbath is not a band known for their ballads. Granted, they’ve had some excellent ones throughout their career: “Lonely is the Word”, “She’s Gone”, “No Stranger to Love”. And while all of those songs are great in their own respect, none come close to “Born Again”. Gillan’s performance on this track is enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. In 6 minutes, gentle serenading, stupendous shouts, and otherworldly operatics coalesce in a pool of metallic majesty.
3. Ian Gillan – “Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)”
Ian Gillan has built quite the resume for himself over the past 50+ years. He’s been the voice of Deep Purple, Ian Gillan Band, Gillan, and Black Sabbath…oh, and Jesus. That’s right folks. Ian Gillan was hand chosen by Andrew Lloyd Webber to be the voice of the messiah himself in Jesus Christ Superstar. Every portrayal of Jesus Christ in this iconic play since has been rooted on Gillan’s original 1970 performance. The desperation in Gillan’s voice as he screams “Whyyyyyyy?” to God above is perhaps the most accurate representation of Jesus’s suffering, though don’t tell Mel Gibson that. I’m convinced this song alone is responsible for more people converting to Christianity than every televangelist combined. If there is a heaven, Gillan has earned his seat next to the very man he portrayed.
2. Deep Purple – “Child in Time”
I already know what you’re thinking. “How on earth is “Child in Time” not number 1?” The same way “Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)” captured the pain of Jesus, “Child in Time” captured the pain of an entire generation sent away to fight in a war they had zero say over. Most of these men never came back. The ones who did were disillusioned and lost: strangers in the very land they once called home. Between its historical significance and the full display of Gillan’s vocal range, it regularly and rightfully appears on “greatest songs of all time” lists. Yet in the oeuvre of Ian Gillan, there’s one song that stands head and shoulders above them all, even “Child in Time”.
- Black Sabbath – “Disturbing the Priest”
Ladies and gentlemen, behold: The greatest vocal performance in metal history. That’s right. I said it and I’m standing by it. “Disturbing the Priest” boasts all of Gillan’s tools of the trade. His signature hard hitting mid range collides with an upper register that’s enough to shake the heavens and the earth, and hell too. Furthermore, the final minute is, hands down, the most wicked, infernal, and downright evil thing ever recorded. Sorry kid, but your favorite black metal band doesn’t stand a chance next to Gillan’s bloodcurdling shrieks and maniacal laughter.
Ian Gillan can do it all. On any given day, he can channel God or Satan, just by opening his mouth. If that type of power isn’t downright terrifying, I don’t know what is.