Mr. Universe (album)

Mr. Universe is the second studio album by the British hard rock band Gillan, and the first with the classic line-up with Ian Gillan, Colin Towns, John McCoy, Bernie Tormé and Mick Underwood. Released in October 1979. The album reached No. 11 in the UK Albums Chart,[3] and sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

Mr. Universe
Studio album by
Gillan
ReleasedOctober 1979
RecordedApril 1979 – June 1979
StudioKingsway Recorders, London, UK
GenreHard rock, heavy metal
Length44:09
LabelAcrobat (UK)
Eastworld (Japan)
Interfusion (Australia)
ProducerPaul "Chas" Watkins, Ian Gillan, Colin Towns, John McCoy
Gillan chronology
Gillan
(1978)		 Mr. Universe
(1979)		 Glory Road
(1980)
Singles from Mr. Universe
  1. "Vengeance" / "Smoke on the Water"
    Released: 1979
Alternative cover
Cover of the Japanese release
Audio sample
"Secret of the Dance"
This sample from the album clearly demonstrates the band's dramatic departure from the jazz-rock fusion sound of the Ian Gillan Band
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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal10/10[2]

Track listing

All songs written by Ian Gillan and Colin Towns except where noted.

Side one
  1. "Second Sight" (Towns) – 2:33
  2. "Secret of the Dance" – 2:54
  3. "She Tears Me Down" (Towns) – 5:07
  4. "Roller" – 4:43
  5. "Mr. Universe" – 6:14
Side two
  1. "Vengeance" – 3:34
  2. "Puget Sound" (Gillan, Towns, John McCoy, Bernie Tormé, Mick Underwood) – 4:23
  3. "Dead of Night" – 4:04
  4. "Message in a Bottle" – 3:09
  5. "Fighting Man" (Towns) – 7:28*

* Recorded at an earlier session (July/August 1978) with a different line-up and can be found on the original Japanese version of the album Gillan. Musicians for this track were Ian Gillan, Colin Towns, John McCoy, Steve Byrd (guitar) and Liam Genockey (drums).

Alternate version

A variant of the album was also released in 1979 in Japan (Eastworld), Australia (Interfusion) and New Zealand (Parlophone) only. The release contained several alternate tracks to avoid reusing songs already released in those countries on the album Gillan. The track listing was as follows:

Side 1
  1. "Vengeance" – 3:34
  2. "Mr. Universe" – 6:14
  3. "She Tears Me Down" – 5:08
  4. "Your Sister's on My List" – 4:09***
Side 2
  1. "Street Theatre" (Towns) – 2:42*
  2. "Roller" – 4:37
  3. "Puget Sound" – 4:26
  4. "Move with the Times" (Gillan, Towns, McCoy) – 5:00*
  5. "Sleeping on the Job" – 3:34**

Total running time 39:24

* These appear on the 1993 RPM release Gillan – The Japanese Album, see Gillan
** This version has not yet been released on CD
***Used as a B-side to the UK "Trouble" single and appears on the first release of Future Shock on CD as a bonus track

1989 Re-release bonus tracks

In 1989 the album was re-released on CD by Virgin Records, produced by Ian Gillan and Paul "Chas" Watkins, and mixed by John McCoy and Watkins. It followed the original UK track listing and included six bonus tracks:

  1. "On the Rocks" (live) – 6:38**
  2. "Bite the Bullet" (live) – 5:38**
  3. "Mr. Universe" (live) – 7:20***
  4. "Vengeance" (live) – 4:42***
  5. "Smoke on the Water" (live) (Ritchie Blackmore, Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice) – 10:10***
  6. "Lucille" (live) (Richard Wayne Penniman, Albert Collins) – 2:32****

Total running time 80:02

** Recorded at the Reading Festival, 29 August 1981

*** Recorded at the Reading Festival, 22 August 1980

**** Recorded at Nottingham Rock City, 4 March 1981, previously unreleased, in 2009 was included on Live: Triple Trouble album

Tracks 11 - 15 appear as live bonus tracks on the 2007 Edsel Demon Music Group re-issue of Double Trouble

2007 Re-release bonus track

In 2007, the album was re-released in remastered format with new sleevenotes by Ian Gillan by Demon Music Group and one bonus track:

  1. "Smoke on the Water" (live at Kingsway Recorders) – 8:25

Total running time 52:34

Personnel
Gillan
Production
  • Paul "Chas" Watkins – producer, engineer
  • George Peckham – mastering

Charts
Year Chart Peak
position
1979 UK Albums Chart[3] 11

References
  1. Henderson, Alex. "Gillan - Mr. Universe review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  2. Popoff, Martin (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-1894959025.
  3. "Gillan Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
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