Gillan/Dean (UK) - Rocks On! (1984)

Artist: Gillan/Dean Release: Rocks On! Year: 1984 Genre: Hard Rock Country: UK

Pauline Gillan - Vocals (PAULINE GILLAN BAND, PAULINE GILLAN'S NORTHERN DANCER) Paul Dean - Vocals & Bass (JERUSALEM, PUSSY) Ian Hall - Guitar (KARRIER) Colin Towns - Keyboards (GILLAN, MCCOY, SPLIT KNEE LOONS) Paul Hale - Keyboards John "Gus" Gustafson - Bass & Vocals (ABLUTION, IAN GILLAN, QUATERMASS, IAN GILLAN BAND, HARD STUFF, DAEMON, THE BIG THREE) Tony White - Bass Kim Brodie - Drums Clive Deamer - Drums

Pauline Gillan, the younger sister of DEEP PURPLE & GILLAN frontman Ian Gillan, formed the GILLAN/DEAN project with former JERUSALEM and PUSSY singer/bassist Paul Dean in 1983. Signing to Thunderbolt Records, the duo recorded the "Rocks On!" album in a variety of studios including Ian Gillan's own Kingsway Studios, Bath and London, with additional sessions taking place in Mallorca. Recording musicians included KARRIER guitarist Ian 'Wes' Hall, bassist Tony White, keyboard player Paul Hale, drummers Clive Deamer and Kim Brodie plus GILLAN musicians John "Gus" Gustafson and Colin Towns. A live band intended to support the album with gigging featured Dean, Gillan, bassist Robbie Vincent and ex-AVENUE drummer Keeth Naylor. An odd album, "Rocks On!" whilst well played and sung, seems to suffer from a bit of an identity crisis, with many of the more straight forward Hard Rock songs buried beneath an '80's production sheen more suited to New Wave. The variety of musicians employed also doesn't help the fledgling act, as they struggle to nail down their sound. There are also an over abundance of cover versions, which sometimes work well, ("Sunshine Of Your Love", has a clever arrangement featuring some very very nifty slide guitar), and other times fall flat, ("Light My Fire" is a gloomy synth-heavy dirge). There's also a cheeky romp through Purple's "Black Night", which whilst fun, hardly helped Pauline's chances of stepping out from beneath her older brother's long shadow. The reviewers of the time seemed similarly mystified by the LP, and this combined with Thunderbolt Records poor distribution and promotion to scupper the fledgling act who folded soon after the record's release. The albums Paul recorded in the early '70's with Jerusalem & Pussy, (both produced by Ian Gillan), have been remastered and re-released by Rockadrome Records.

01. Riders In The Night 02. Sunshine Of Your Love 03. Love Sting 04. Black Night 05. On The Road Again 06. Light My Fire 07. Rocks On! 08. The Hole 09. Running Wild 10. If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody 11. Rush Of Love 12. Angel Lover