Back in 1989 when Glasgow
rock band GUN released their debut album I was 24 years old and spending the
majority of my time listening to Guns N Roses. At the time, I recall
hearing the fantastic lead single ‘Better Days’ and thinking it was very Def
Leppard sounding and it was some time later I found out GUN were indeed
Scottish.
Lead single and opening
track ‘Better Days’ is a belter of a track with catchy rock/pop guitar that was
highly popular at the time and very much evident in chart music. With singer
Mark Rankin singing about dreams and hopes the lyrics throughout the song act
perhaps as a statement of intent suggesting this is a band that is prepared to
fight to get to where they want to go! Ultimately the listener is left in no
doubt of GUN’s street toughness as Rankin delivers the chorus “hold your head
high… cause you know I’d die for better days”. ‘The Feeling Within’ and ‘Inside
Out’ follow with hints of Simple Minds and influences of American ‘hair-rock’
highlighted. ‘Money (Everybody Loves Her)’ starts off with a tasty guitar intro
accompanied by a drum-beat that sets the tone for the hypnotic echo-like chorus
of “deep down everybody loves her” that fans will love to sing along to.
Title track ‘Taking On The
World’ is more of a slow burner and with Rankin singing “I swear they will
never break me…taking on the world” the story of a band rising up from the
street (and taking on the world) is once again evident. Indeed, listening to
the album now I can’t help but think some of these tracks would have sounded
great in a Rocky type movie. ‘Shame On You’ for me is a real stonker of a track
with the guitar and bass sounding terrific and complementing Rankin’s gritty
vocal perfectly in what is one of my favourite album tracks. ‘Something to
Believe In’ and ‘Girls in Love’ are also high-points before the album is
closed-off with ‘I Will Be Waiting” where a young Sharleen Spiteri (of Texas
fame) does a great job enhancing the track with her mesmerising backing vocal.
With 10 tracks including
five singles and clocking in at just under 45 minutes, it is hard to find any
real low points and GUN and their producer (Kenny McDonald) did a fantastic job
in delivering Taking On The World an
album many rock fans feel is one of the best debut rock albums by a Scottish
group. Timing is everything and GUN perhaps arrived on the rock scene a little
late to reach the heights their material arguably deserved.
Bazza Mills