Ian Gillan & Tony Iommi: WhoCares of Guitar International gave the album a positive review, saying "The wondrous contributions by Ronnie James Dio, Glenn Hughes, and by members of Metallica, Repo Depo, Iron Maiden, HIM, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath should make nearly every hard rock and heavy metal fan weak at the knees!". CD 1 CD 2 Ian Gillan & Tony Iommi: WhoCares WhoCares, full title Ian Gillan & Tony Iommi: WhoCares is a music project by Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan and Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and a charity release by the supergroup WhoCares they had formed with the help of other musicians,
Ian Gillan and Barnacle were quickly replaced by Bernie Tormé and by former Episode Six bandmate Mick Underwood, after Gillan saw Torme playing with his punk trio. This band had a more high-powered hard rock sound, and the release of "Mr. Universe" in October 1979 saw Ian Gillan back in the UK charts, although the independent record company the album came out on – Acrobat Records – folded soon after the album was released, prompting a contract with Richard Branson's Virgin Records. In Christmas 1979, Gillan was visited by Blackmore, who offered him the position of lead vocalist in Rainbow. Gillan declined