C2S12CD7 Picked by Bearclarej thanks Clare.
Gun arrived on the music scene at the same time (1989) as Texas and another band called Slide, all hailed from Glasgow, had a similar look jeans, biker jackets and boots, and to start rocked a look as if they had just walked in off the street rather than spent hours in make-up and getting their stage clothes right, this was a refreshing change in the 1980’s and struck a chord with the public. If Texas sat to the left of this trio on the pop throne, Gun were to the right sitting in the rock throne, and Slide sat in the middle with a foot in both camps. We know that Texas went on to great fame and fortune and Gun started on the same road and fell away some years later, but sadly Slide never gained the commercial success of the other two and if I’m honest their debut was the one I liked most!
Gun debut Taking On The World spawned a number of hit singles, Better Days, Money (Everybody Loves Her), and Talking On The World and led to a support slot opening for the Rolling Stones on a huge European stadium tour. So the anticipation around their next release was high, unfortunately it took 3 years to arrive and I suspect the momentum generated around their debut had dissipated by then. Gallus, I believe the term is Glaswegian for ‘something that is good’ failed to deliver as it didn’t really move on from their debut. It was a blueprint of the debut but without the killer tunes, and would stall Gun’s career until a cover of Cameo’s Word Up would get them back on track, but that’s another album review.....
Gallus has some good tunes, Steal You Fire, is Gun at their best tight pop rock with attitude, and Welcome To The Real World is good, but it lacks the consistency of their debut, the songs are alright but lack the killer hooks we were expecting.
Always a great band live, mixing energy with off kilter covers, Pretty Vacant (Sex Pistols) Let’s Go Crazy (Prince) and Word Up (Cameo) to name but three, but frustration with lack of commercial success meant that the band broke up after releasing another 2 albums. Recently reformed without original singer Mark Rankin (who has a successful career in the music industry as an A&R man) they still seem to be a decent live band but for me I prefer to remember them as what they were, a good rock bad with pop sensibility and a welcome relief from all the ‘hair metal’ that was about at the time.
Just a footnote to say the image on the front is in fact as the vest says Benny Lynch, who was Scotland's first boxing World Champion and was undefeated throughout his career
Mark 6/10
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