The original Highway Star
'Highway Star' charts the journey of one of rock's most enduring and all too often overlooked front men in Ian Gillan. The first disc of this DVD comprises of a two and a half hour long documentary that begins with his early days as a choirboy and finishes up with his present day activities. Inbetween is a catalogue of glorious success coupled with the lows of bankruptcy and in fighting. Throughout, the story is added to by the musings of his peers and not just those of a musical persuasion (like Jo Satriani and Dio), there are some unexpected appearances from the likes of George Best and Pavarotti!
You might expect the most interesting part of a documentary on Ian Gillan to be that surrounding his time with Deep Purple in the 1970s but whilst there are plenty of insights into that time (including overly long reasoning behind his well publicised fall out with Ritchie Blackmore), this section is let down by the total absence of any archive footage. What you get instead are clips of the modern day Deep Purple performing whatever songs are being discussed in the documentary. This really is disappointing and although the stories from that time are interesting enough, it just doesn't have the same impact without any authentic visuals from the period.
The most interesting part of the documentary comes after Gillan's departure from Deep Purple in 1973. His solo work is chronicled in some detail and is accompanied by some interesting footage but it's when Tony Iommi appears and the two reminisce about Gillan's tenure as Black Sabbath front man that is the most entertaining. There are plenty of amusing anecdotes from both including them recounting the story of the now infamous Stonehenge set. Thankfully there is footage of his return to Deep Purple in 1983 including some rehearsal tapes and although it does begin to drag a little once you get past the two hour mark, the addition of archive footage makes a huge difference.
In addition to the documentary there is a mountain of extras, of most interest is an hour and a half of footage following Deep Purple on their recent European tour. There are full versions of all the songs used in the documentary along with plenty of back stage footage. The impression you're left with is that of an honest man not afraid to admit his mistakes and to accept criticism. There are plenty of endearing moments, not least in the 'At home with the Gillans', where his wife and daughter give their own insights.
With something like six hours of footage overall this is certainly value for money but anyone hoping for some rare Deep Purple footage from their glory days will be disappointed, for Gillan fans though this has to be an essential purchase.