Ian Gillan Battle Rages On". Gillan was unhappy with working on the album, as it had already been partially completed with Joe Lynn Turner, and he was only required to write replacement lyrics and vocal melodies, which, unsurprisingly, drew criticism from Blackmore. Blackmore left Deep Purple after the European tour promoting the album in 1993. Gillan and Blackmore subsequently repaired their relationship with each other. Gillan was especially enthusiastic about carrying on after Blackmore's departure, and after a brief stint with Joe Satriani, Deep Purple recruited Dixie Dregs/Kansas guitarist Steve Morse. He was keen to make changes to the live set immediately,
Neo (British band) part of Ultravox. North sacked Paul Simon, and included session players in his project: ex-ZZebra members, Steve Byrd on guitar and John McCoy on bass, and Bryson Graham on drums. They recorded an album in Ian Gillan's studio, and after Gillan heard them, he hired Byrd and McCoy away from North. Gillan and the ex-Neo musicians formed Gillan. Only Graham stayed with North. North renewed Neo again with Steve Wilkin (ex-Wired and Masterwitch) on guitar, Nick South on bass and Graham on drums, but shortly afterwards South and Graham were replaced by Mik Sweeney and Derek Quinton, respectively. Dan Black