Gun – The Calton Songs
Gun – The Calton Songs
Cherry Red Records
Release Date: 14/10/22
Running Time: 01:00:14
Review by Simon Black
8/10
It’s been a long while since I’ve heard anything from Glasgow’s Gun. They were a big part of the soundtrack to my early 1990’s, as their “Swagger” and “Gallus” albums were monster UK hits at the time, crossing the aisles spectacularly with the Metal crowd as well as the Rock one, cementing them into that decade for many people, with certifiable UK chart success to go with that. I remember seeing them on a support slot with The Rolling Stones and bizarrely, Iron Maiden around that time, fitted in with both musical sectors with ease and were seemingly unstoppable – particularly with the global reach that their hugely successful cover of ‘Word Up’ brought with it.
Then … nothing, as they fizzled out mid-decade…
…Until 2008, when with original singer Mark Rankin now out of the equation, former Little Angels frontman Toby Jepson stepped up to the mike for a while, until Dante Gizzi passed on bass duties and took over finally vocally, and the band have been recording new albums and material ever since. This is an interesting experience to listen to, as Dante has such a similar, slightly rasping tone to Rankin, so much so that I didn’t actually realise that vocal duties had been passed on intially…
This collection of songs is a little different from what people like me for whom the band’s sound had crystalised three decades in the past might expect. For a start, thirteen of the fourteen songs on here are re-recordings on previously released material, with a heavy focus on the first three records but with a semi-acoustic rather than conventional Hard Rock overdriven guitar sound. There is a new song opening things up though, with current single ‘Backstreet Brother’ as the only Hard Rock electric song on the disk. But it does so soulfully and emotively, setting the tone for the whole album, which is a rose tinted and affectionate love note to the Calton area of Glasgow which is so central to the band’s history.
It started as a lockdown mess about, but grew wings and gives the listener a chance to hear a completely different take on material that we’re used to sounding much harder and heavier. It’s massively helped by a rich, fat production that allows the listener to appreciate layers to the likes of ‘Better Days’ or ‘Money’ that might otherwise pass you by. That said, the addition of a horn section on ‘Word Up’ was somewhat disorientating, but no worse than what Korn did to it in 2004.
I was expecting a Hard Rock album and didn’t get that. But this stopgap release (the band are already working on a new studio album) showed a richer and deeper side to this band that I did not expect, with soulful and emotive delivery. Oh, and I’m completely sold on Dante’s vocals…
‘Backstreet Brothers’ Official Video:
TRACKLISTING:
01. Backstreet Brothers
02. Better Days
03. Coming Home
04. Steal Your Fire
05. Word Up
06. Frantic
07. Taking On The World
08. Crazy You
09. Money
10. Shame On You
11. Don’t Say It’s Over
12. Inside Out
13. Higher Ground
14. Watching The World Go By
LINE-UP:
Dante Gizzi – Lead Vocals
Giuliano “Jools” Gizzi – Guitar
Paul McManus – Drums
Andy Carr – Bas
Tommy Gentry – Guitar
LINKS:
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