Vocalist Ian Gillan, together with Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne and a few others, is considered one of the legendary voices that shaped hard rock. Despite his commitment to Deep Purple, the singer has built an impressive solo career. “Contractual Obligation” is a collection of performances during a recent tour through Eastern Europe, which contains three shows.
Still fresh from the success of the studio album “NOW What?!”, and just a few months before the release of the latest and equally successful album “inFinite”, Ian Gillan accepted the offer to tour for a month in Eastern Europe with a full rock show, accompanied every night by a different local orchestra.
Gillan decided to recruit the Don Airey Band, which features the guitar talent of Simon McBride.
All shows were truly unique, with Airey and McBride delivering perfect performances night after night. Deep Purple material (including rarities like “Razzle Dazzle” or “Anya”) went hand in hand with Gillan solo songs and surprises for those into the deepest catalogue.
The title is a humorous reference to Ian Gillan’s notorious reticence to pay any attention to his own or Deep Purple live releases (as he explains in the album liner notes). This live album and video might well be one of the nicest chapters in Gillan’s solo production ever and a reminder about how great his solo music and concerts have been over the years.
Curiosity: The last Deep Purple album was named “Infinity” (which later turned into: “inFinite”) during the afternoon preceding the Warsaw show that ended up being immortalized for its CD release.
TRACK LIST
1. Hang Me Out To Dry
2. Pictures Of Home
3. No Lotion For That
4. Strange Kind Of Woman
5. Razzle Dazzle
6. A Day Late ‘N’ A Dollar Short
7. Lazy
8. Rapture Of The Deep
9. When A Blind Man Cries
10. You’re Gonna Ruin Me Baby (with Grace Gillan)
11. Ain’t No More Cane On The Brazos
12. Difficult To Cure (Beethoven’s Ninth)
13. Anya
14. Perfect Strangers
15. Hell To Pay
16. Demon’s Eye
17. Smoke On The Water
18. Hush
19. Black Night
