During the years in between his three runs as Deep Purple's frontman, Ian Gillan is known for releasing numerous albums under his own name, featuring very different styles of music. The majority consist of the works of 3 acts - the Ian Gillan Band, Gillan, and Ian Gillan. The Ian Gillan Band was a musically ambitious but commercially underachieving funk/rock/jazz fusion project, Gillan a more straightforward (but still unusual) hard rock band. Albums released as Ian Gillan solo works generally are a mixed bag and have little continuity with one another, in terms of personnel and musical style. "Naked Thunder" has a pop-rock sound, while "Dreamcatcher" eschews rock altogether for acoustic guitars, and "One Eye to Morocco" is a mix of softer classic rock and roots sounds. 1991's "Toolbox" is the only Ian Gillan solo album that can really be called a hard rock record (with heavy metal moments, although Gillan dislikes being labeled a heavy metal artist). Songs like "Don't Hold Me Back", and "Bed of Nails" recall the catchy hard rock of the Gillan years, and tracks like "Dancing Nylon Shirt" and "Toolbox" sound more like Van Halen, while "Pictures of Hell" and "Gassed Up" evoke Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. The album features heavy riffs, catchy and well written songs, and great interplay between Ian's screaming and guitarist Steve Morris' leads. I would not hesitate to call it one of the last great albums in the unadulterated 80s hard rock style. For me, this album has a vitality and focus that is lacking from most latter-day Deep Purple works. Gillan is singing better on this album than he did on any of those! Maybe cause he didn't have Blackmore around driving him to drink...