Photo by John McMurtrie
A special two-disc set of rarities has been built around last year’s two-song charity project by Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan. The WhoCares set will be released on August 28, 2012 in North America through Eagle Rock.
2011’s “Out of Mind”/”Holy Water” single represented Iommi and Gillan’s first recorded work together since Black Sabbath’s 1983 album Born Again. Proceeds went to rebuilding a music school in Armenia. The metal legends were joined by Jon Lord, a former bandmate of Gillan’s in Deep Purple who has since passed; along with Metallica’s Jason Newsted, Iron Maiden’s Nicko McBrain and HIM’s Linde Lindstrom.
Among the notable rarities on this new two-disc set: Gillan is joined by fellow Deep Purple stalwart Roger Glover on “Can’t Believe You Wanna Leave Me,” featuring Dr. John. Gillan, Glover and Ian Paice — the only member of Deep Purple to appear in all of its many permutations — appear with Iommi on “Trashed.” Ronnie James Dio, whom Gillan replaced in Black Sabbath, also performs “Smoke On The Water” with Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Also included are an unreleased Deep Purple studio jam called “Dick Pimple,” “Zero the Hero” from the Born Again sessions, two previously unheard songs from Iommi and Glenn Hughes, and a never-before-released cut from Gillan’s band Repo Depo, formed before Deep Purple reunited.
The complete track listing for both discs is below.
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Here’s a look back at our recent thoughts on Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Click through the titles for complete reviews …
DEEP PURPLE – TOTAL ABANDON: AUSTRALIA ’99 (2012): An intriguingly presented retrospective set, as the newly added Steve Morse brilliantly reexamines a group of signature Deep Purple tunes. Before the show is over, Total Abandon recalls not so much the Ritchie Blackmore years as it does the band’s fiery Tommy Bolin period. There’s a similar level of front-line guitar craft, and a similar level of energy. Deep Purple sounded like it was having fun again. And, to my ears, the group never really looked back so intently again. By the time they issued Bananas, some five years later, original keyboardist Jon Lord was gone — and Deep Purple had metamorphosed. The addition of Morse, like an ozone-producing jolt of lightning, had transformed what once seemed like a ghost band trying to reclaim its glory days into a freshly rejuvenated force to be reckoned with.
WHOCARES, FEATURING TONY IOMMI AND IAN GILLAN – OUT OF MY MIND (2011): For all the mediocre music he shelled out under the Black Sabbath name following the departure of Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi is making amends later in life. His reunion of the Dio-era Sabbath lineup under the name Heaven and Hell a few years ago produced the best Black Sabbath record (and it was Sabbath, no matter what the cover said) since the same lineup reunited in 1992 for Dehumanizer. With WhoCares, he’s back together with Ian Gillan, who fronted Sabbath briefly after Dio left, for a great charity record to benefit the rebuilding of a music school in Armenia that was destroyed by a massive earthquake in 1988.
BLACK SABBATH – SABOTAGE (1975): The end of Sabotage also begins the fade out of the Ozzy era of the band. Though the two records that followed both have their moments, it wasn’t until 1980 and the entrance of Dio that the band put out another truly amazing record with a sound so altered that, at times, it would be hard to identify the music as Sabbath. There’s also a very powerful argument to be made for that record as the band’s best, but I’ll save that one for another time. Sabotage isn’t likely to overtake the groundbreaking debut record or the hit-filled Paranoid as Sabbath’s best work in most people’s minds, and I understand that. But the next time you’re looking for a Sabbath fix, dig a little deeper and give it a listen, especially if you haven’t heard it in a while. It might just be a much better record than you remember.
DEEP PURPLE – SHADES OF DEEP PURPLE (1968; 2011 REISSUE): Coming together in 1967, Deep Purple were like a lot of bands of the day, as their mission was to push the sonic envelope as far as possible and create something new and exciting. Based out of Hertford, England, the group achieved their goal straight away. Dramatic and bombastic, Deep Purple played a tumultuous blend of heavy metal and progressive rock before such labels arrived into being, tagging them pioneers of the genres.
WhoCares CD1:
1. WhoCares “Out Of My Mind”
Featuring Jon Lord, Linde Lindström (HIM), Jason Newsted (Metallica), Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden)
2. Black Sabbath “Zero The Hero”
3. Ian Gillan feat. Iommi, Ian Paice and Roger Glover “Trashed”
4. M. Rakintzis feat. Ian Gillan “Get Away”
5. Tony Iommi feat G.Hughes “Slip Away”
6. Gillan “Don’t Hold Me Back”
7. Ian Gillan “She Thinks It’s A Crime”
8. Repo Depo feat. Ian Gillan “Easy Come, Easy Go”
9. Deep Purple feat.Ronnie James Dio “Smoke On The Water” (live with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
WhoCares CD2:
1. WhoCares “Holy Water”
Featuring Jon Lord, Linde Lindström (HIM), Jason Newsted (Metallica), Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden)
2. Black Sabbath “Anno Mundi”
3. Tony Iommi feat. G. Hughes “Let it Down Easy”
4. Ian Gillan “Hole in My Vest”
5. Gillan & Glover feat. Dr.John “Can’t Believe You Wanna Leave me”
6. Ian Gillan & The Javelins “Can I Get A Witness”
7. Garth Rockett & The Moonshiners aka IG “No Laughing in Heaven”
8. Ian Gillan “When A Blind Man Cries” (Live at Absolute Radio, previously unreleased)
9. Deep Purple “Dick Pimple”
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