Are people re-assessing Gillan's voice?

Deep Purple and family
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Since, well, 1984, possibly even 1983, we’ve been told Gillan’s voice was shot. Often by Blackmore fans or those who couldn’t accept that most 40-somethings don’t sing like 20-somethings

Yes - we’ve heard him struggle from time to time, but as long as they chose the right set, he got through it.

But now, more reviewers are actually stating how great he sounds for an 80-year old. Have we, as a society, allowed him to age? Or have people realised that as more acts play into their 60s and 70s, Gillan is doing quite well?

I’d say he sounds a lot better than Ian Anderson, Ozzy, Coverdale etc. Axle Rose, Jon Bon Jovi, and to a lesser extent, Joe Elliott now all suffer. And even singers who looked after their voices more like Bruce Dickinson or Rob Halford are limiting what they sing.

So - as reality catches up with expectation, are people realising how fragile voices are and Gillan hasn’t done too bad as long as we don’t expect CiT?

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Ian`s voice is still there…if you want to hear a real shot voice than listen to the late Bobby Weir, now sadly deceased..

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you’re absolutely right, after the early wear and tear of BigIan’s voice in the 80s, as the MK VII years went by he found a truly amazing management of his voice.

Sure, if he had taken more care in the past, maybe Child in Time would have stayed in the set longer, and maybe some recent gasps on hard Lovin’ man or into the Fire could have been avoided, but the boy knocks out practically all his singing peers:

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Gillan lost youthful vigor, elasticity and range, but he gained other things in exchange. It was a package deal.

No matter how Ian would have handled himself in the last half century and more, no 81-year-old today on Earth could sing CiT as he did in 1969-73. My morning wood was better back then too.

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leaving aside the fact that we couldn’t care less about your erections

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It would have been nice to have less strenuous versions of Child in Time in 1993 and maybe up until 2000, right?

the famous “chest C” from Nessun Dorma with Pavarotti, missed by BigIan on worldwide television, will forever remain bittersweet for me. At the time, I saw it on television with my dear mother (who was a fan of BigIan, but when she was ill in her last years, she couldn’t stand the sad songs of Purple and the Purple family’s soloists because they touched her too emotionally)
and I fervently wished he would hit that high note alongside Big Luciano, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

I just needed to hear that note, I wanted to hear that note, and instead I heard the confirmation of the limit (which I already knew) that my idol had reached, I spent years making peace with this thing.

anyway, after that I rushed to the newsstand to buy the CD of Pavarotti & friends as soon as it was available with the magazine “TV smile & songs”, one of the most nationally-popular newspapers in the entire universe.
I think I listened to the CD only once at the beginning and then I refused.

I recently saw the video on YouTube and I have to admit that Gillan tried to mask that note in his own way (probably during the rehearsals with BigLuciano they had already agreed on how to do it), while on the CD that chest C Gillan’s voice had been edited (but I will have to listen to it again to be sure)

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LOL, but my vigor, elasticity and, yes, range has suffered too!

I have that newsstand CD as well, an Italian partner from my law firm got it for me at the time! Was it a Berlusconi Media magazine?

Ian has said that he wanted Pavarotti to have the glory of the moment, that is why he didn’t attempt the note. Likely an excuse, but to console you, Flavio:

https://youtu.be/FMDM0byqPO8

Needless to say the Manowar vocalist is a great Ian Gillan fan and auditioned with the band inter alia with a cover of CiT. But then DP and Heavy Metal are not related at all. Just like the egg bears no responsibility for the omelette. BTW, there is a lot more DP in the sound of Iron Maiden and Queensrÿche than there is Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin, people like to conveniently forget that.

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it was one of the many companies of the illustrious prescribed!

Manowar, what a band of absolute “tamarri”!

I’ve always hated them, but I have to say that when I was young, when I wanted a carefree, “chav” boost, I’d put a cassette with their most famous songs in the car and roll down the windows!

Eric Adams has a similar vocal style to Dickinson and this allowed him to still sing well until his 62 years old.

The last time he performed Nessun Dorma was in 2012:
https://youtu.be/ircG7aKAgo8?si=wYB9Rt3gXoWXnlUy

in both performances on “Vincerò” he takes the note on the Ò, but cunningly cuts the sharp on the barely hinted E.
singing intelligence.

I think that if I were given a Manowar ticket as a gift, I would gladly go and see them and spend a few hours having fun.

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I saw Msnowar a few years ago. Adams was having fun and sung very well. Joey was being a dick. He was not impressed with me for not returning his funny hand gesture. I couldn’t - if I put my beer down, it started walking away from me due to the vibration :rofl:

I saw Ross the Boss with Rhino a couple of years later. That was probably a better show. I think Marc Lopes was on vocals.

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Si!!! Ja, wirklich!! :sweat_smile:

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Ross the Boss born in the Bronx 72 years ago passed away this year due to ALS.
I just read this news now while I was looking to see if Manowar were still active…
Manowar have not had a smooth life:
Scott Columbus commits suicide, Karl Logan removed from band due to child pornography conviction and Ross a terrible disease.

the last album dates back to 2014, the last tour should be in 2025, but I saw on TicketOne two dates in Italy in 2027.

sorry for the digression

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A tricky one Doug. I wouldn’t say 1983 that Ian Gillan was ‘shot’, however after the turn of the century I do avoid certain songs, he has lost that smoother mid to high for me, too strained etc and too nasally at times. He was never like that back in the day for me. Regarding that list, it is a hard one there with some of those comparisons. A few of those vocalists have had health issues affect their singing. Ian Anderson from the drawn out 1984 Tull touring . I was at the Sydney gig that was pulled after 20 minutes because of his throat, two days before Deep Purple and here I was joking about Ian’s vocal for months before and hoping it would hold out , because we had DP at the start of their world touring we were feeling quite secure about that. Why Ian Anderson didn’t pull the remaining dates six weeks before Australia is beyond all reason. He may have saved his permanent vocal issue if he did, hindsight again.. David Coverdale had his sinus issues in the 80’s didn’t he? Although Cove’s didn’t help proceedings with the ridiculous over the top falsetto rubbish, probably the same with Jon Bon Jovi too. A health issue increased from over singing or an underlying issue that affects their singing?

I wouldn’t list Ozzy amongst those singers. Not technically a great singer but got the job done melodically and therefore he sort of got away with it over time. The ‘metal’ vocalist, well uncle Rob has been sort of cheating for decades now with the aid of technology and Bruce has been pushing the boat out for just as long, somehow they get away with it. Halford is more a narrating slash talking singer these days and has been for a long time. Bruce at least was still pushing the natural singing more. Axle I am not sure of as I don’t listen to G&R at all. Anyway what about Roger Daltrey? He has lowered his vocal over the years and is still out there. Jon Anderson is still fine, although that voice is his natural voice so to speak, maybe he is lucky there in that aspect. Anyway, an interesting topic and I have always had plenty of compassion for lead singers, especially in the excess realm of rock 'n roll music. So we must give them some slack indeed. Although some of them are a tad annoying trying to push on when sounding like Donald Duck, so to speak. Cheers.

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Ozzy had an outstanding melodic sense in crafting vocal melodies, that he couldn’t hit all the notes accurately in a live setting is another matter and nothing that a well set-up autotune could not smooth over.

Having seen Halford only a week or so ago, he is still a great singer, but no longer the Stimmwunder he was in the 80s. He already admitted using pitch correction live more than a decade ago, just a touch, if you don’t overdo it, no one will notice in a live setting. I think we’d all be surprised if other singers were as honest as him. I would not bet on IG not using a litte pitch correction live and I frankly wouldn’t mind if he did. I’ve played in bands where the lead vocalist used a little pitch correction live, it’s affordable by now and tuned in lightly it won’t sound like Cher either:

https://youtu.be/nZXRV4MezEw (To the defense of the old girl: It doesn’t sound that way because she couldn’t hit the notes in the studio, but because she liked the robot voice effect when the engineer fooled around with pitch correction to demonstrate something to her.)

Jon Bon Jovi, once a very fine singer, indeed shredded his vocal cords via overexposure. He’s frank about it in the more recent Bon Jovi documentary and also about the fact that there is no remedy for it.

The Eagles recently released a live recording from 1977,

https://youtu.be/MxQXKO194XM

all nicely cleaned up (I know the undoctored version, it has been available as a boot for ages), and every single historic vocal track plus all the backing vocals have been sent through pitch correction for the release. Don Henley doesn’t leave things to chance. Randy Meisner was a great singer, but even he didn’t hit the notes like this in a live concert in 1977.

Queen’s 1975 live recording has modern day pitch correction on Freddie’s voice and the backing vox too. It has long made inroads with “honest rock music” - but old rock fans are delusional about its alleged non-existence in the music they hear.

And I only recently learned from the remix that Robin Trower’s legendary live album had all the vocals re-recorded in the studio at the time. The remix has now reinstated the original vocals which weren’t bad at all, but they were apparently concerned about the drums bleeding into the vocal mic. These days, that bleed can be removed electronically.

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Oops - I may have not made my point well. I’m on about the view of the general public and the music press. Reviews now state how good Gillan is for his age. It used to be how much he struggles. My theory is that more singers have lost their voices more, and people are realising what a truly knackered voice is.

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Previous critiques of IG‘s vocal performance concentrated on his loss of range and how he has to force himself more to pitch what was once easy for him, but they never elaborated on how much more his voice has grown in stature and expression. I always thought it a little one-sided.

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Why should people expect them to get old if they press a button and they are 25 again?

But damn, it was about time people recognized skilled artists can also age.

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I always wonder who can possibly not like his voice!

Even today, being 81 yo, he sings wonderfully.

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You ole … Iofcoursemeanttosay … mature eternal fangirl! :face_blowing_a_kiss:

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“I always wonder who can possibly not like his voice!”

Alas!, a sentiment shared by many fans of the King …

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Gillan only let me down once: when he was talking on *Infinite*… On the latest album, it almost feels like going back to the legendary 80s and 90s, but now, here, the whole band really steps it up a gear. All the songs flow beautifully, and Gillan is fired up.

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I just knew you were awaiting my comment about our Ian, and of course I wouldn’t let you down!

But I won’t call Ian the king, more the Emperor :wink:

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I wish Ian would get even a little bit of formal vocal training - he does strain to hit notes that are still in his range, and not warming up isn’t doing him any favors at 81. The one thing I dislike about his current voice is how nasal his upper register has gotten over time - at times it can sound thin and even harsh to my ears.

A bit of proper vocal coaching and warming up could easily address these issues - might even expand his range a bit.

I feel there’s no need for him to not warm up or not take a few lessons with a good coach - singing does not have to be as strained as it often is with him.

A little proper care could go a long way here.