Customer Reviews

Accidentally on Purpose

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The whole career of Ian Gillan is very different and diverse, as throughout the years with Episode Six, Deep Purple, Sabbath and solo albums he managed (somehow) to embrace very different styles. Yet one thing constant in his work is quality. Whether he sings jazz rock or his signature hard and heavy, his music is always great and unpredictable.

While Deep Purple was in the middle of "House of Blue Light" concert tours, settling their ongoing internal battles and routine studio recordings, Gilland and Glover decided to take a little time off and head back to the studio. The material they had in mind was a huge step aside... As it was nothing that could ever fit the shoes of musical style of Deep Purple. The child that was born accidentaly on purpose showed another leap in their collaborative musical talent. The album that featured a very different side of Ian Gillan and Roger Glover.

Better? Worse? Different. If you expect to hear heavy riffs and Gillan's signature screaming, don't buy this album. Go get "Toolbox" or some of Purple's early albums. If however you are more open-minded to a very professionaly done, artistic and diverse music, you're probably in the right place. "Accidentally on purpose" features rhythm'n'blues, rock'n'roll, funk and jazz rock and of course reveals the soft side of Gillan's voice.

"Clouds and rain", "She took my breath away" are very nice and soft, "Lonely Avenue" is back into 50's-60's... "Can't believe you wanna leave" and "Via Miami" are Elvis-style rock and roll. "Evil eye" and "Telephone box" are more jazzy... Oh, of course, there is a country song: "I thought no"... Well, even with this album they couldn't stay far from hard rock. Probably the only heavy and intense track on the album is "I can't dance to that".

This is a really fun record with a lot of very good material on it. Its obvious that Ian and Roger had a great time making this record.

The sound is much richer than you might expect from what is essentially a homemade recording. Just don't expect it to sound anything like Deep Purple or even like a typical Gillan solo album. This is a much looser off-the-cuff affair covering several different musical styles.

Glover's vocal spotlight on "She Took My Breath Away" is nothing special, but "Clouds and Rain", "Evil Eye", and "Telephone Box" rank with the best of Gillan's solo work. Definitely worthwhile for fans of Ian Gillan.

I love everything Gillan does. Just thought I'd mention that my wife... doesn't. But she *loves* this album. It's a great album for parties if you want to put on something that everyone will think is okay, quite a few people will really like, and which will surprise anyone who isn't familiar with it. The metal-heads will be surprised it is Gillan. The people who listen to Coldplay will be surprised it's "the guy from Deep Purple" and the folks into opera and musicals will be surprised it's "the guy from Jesus Christ Superstar".

I have an original vinyl copy of this album and have loved it from the start. I love to see professionals like Gillan & Glover break the chains of their own making to do something different. Clearly they loved working on this & I love to listen to it. It's time for me to add the upgraded CD to my collection! I nearly never give anything a rating of five, but this is the one for me.

I just went through an Ian Gillan listening fest, and ended it with "Accidentally on Purpose." I bought this when it came out, and didn't think too much of it then. Upon listening to it now, after several hours of Gillan's solo work and "Born Again," his great album with Black Sabbath from 1983, I have to say that I was completely underwhelmed. "Accidentally on Purpose" has that "worst of the eighties" keyboard sound that has not aged well over the last nineteen years. If you want an excellent Ian Gillan vocal performance and have all the Deep Purple he was on, I suggest you purchase Glory Road an exceptional record or the afore mentioned Born Again It received two stars because it is still Gillan doing the vocals, but song-wise, music-wise, it isn't worth one star.

I've had this album since 1988 and recently purchased this new "expanded" edition. I have over 3000 cds and this is definately in my top 10. If you're a Deep Purple fan you may or may not enjoy this album - it's more adult contemporary than hard rock. But if your tastes are a bit more varied this is a great album and one of the most over-looked albums of the 80s.

Inspired by the recording studio on the island of Monserat, the songs on this album show a great variety and the talent of Ian gillan and Roger Glover. It's a great "summer" album and a lot of fun. Highly recommended!!

I bought this album in 1988 when it was first released and thought it might be the "sleeper" hit of the year. The music is stylistically diverse, but mostly fun and upbeat. It still sounds fresh and original 10+ years later.

One good song, one bad song; one good song, one horrible song... THat's how this CD goes forever. "CLouds and Rain" and the reggae orientated "She Took My Breath Away" are the best songs. The rest is, to be modest, strange... Ian Gillan put the blame for the failure of this recording (in his autobiography) on the label. It's not. He also said that this is the album he listen mostly of all the records he has ever made!!! I think he wrote that just like a merketing ploy, for readers and fans go and buy the album!!! (it worked with me!!!!!!)

This has some two or three songs worthwhile. THe rest is to forget.

The reason why Ian Gillan and Roger Glover choose to record an album on their own was probably due to the character of the songs, i.e. they didn't fit Deep Purple. This album is a bit uneven but it's pleasantly diverse. The opening "Clouds and rain" is the highlight and a very strong song. "She took my breath away" is a quiet and laid back number where Gillan's voice is in focus, and also one of the finer moments on the album. But if you're looking for real hard rocking tracks you better look elsewhere, even if Gillan & Glover have thrown in some decent but rather average rockers. Some of the songs are a bit odd and very hard to categorize in a certain genre. Even if bits and pieces are very good and the mentioned "Clods and rain" is great, I can't give this effort any higher rating than 2 stars - but that doesn't mean it's worthless.