GUN – Break The Silence

For all of you who don’t know anything about this band from Glasgow, Scotland, Gun were extremely close to a major breakthrough back in 1989 when their debut album Taking On The World spawned no less than five big hit singels in the title track, “Better Days”, “Money”, “Shame On You” and “Inside Out”. The follow up Gallus (1992) kept their flow with hits like “Steal Your Fire” (later covered by Steve Harris’ daughter Lauren) and “Higher Ground” and when they released Swagger in 1994 and had a huge hit with the cover of Cameo’s “Word Up” many thought they would reach mega stardom.

Still, very big in Britain and parts of Europe, nothing really happened in the rest of the world and the band made the mistake in releasing the electronic and dance friendly debacle 0141 632 6326 in 1997 and changed their name to G.U.N.  The album bombed, of course and the band split up shortly afterwards. However, back in 2008, original members and brother Dante and Giuliano “Joolz” Gizzi reformed the band with first drummer Scott Thornton and ex – Little Angels singer Toby Jepson, who replaced Mark Rankin on that spot. The band made some festival gigs until Jepson left the band as he was both fronting Fastway and had a Little Angels reunion in the works. It was decided that bass player Dante would take over the lead vocals spot, bringing in Derek Brown for bass duties. New line up also includes ex – Mama’s Boys drummer Pat McManus. After that a new album was unavoidable.

So we write 2012 and that album is here. It’s aptly called Break The Silence and for all of you who are holding your breath for a new Taking On the World or Gallus – Breathe out. It’s nothing like it. Which doesn’t make the album bad by any means. Quite the opposite. And still, there is a thread in the music where you can spot the original sound of Gun. But this time, the band has gone into a more poppy and party mood. Let’s just say that their tiny influences of U2 and Simple Minds have been replaced by Guns N Roses and Def Leppard dito. Not that they sound like any of those, though. Much of that has to do with the fact that Dante Gizzi sometimes sounds like a better version of Axl Rose.

“Butcher Man” is a spot on, swinging opener, the brilliant “Lost And Found” and “Last Train” is 70’s pop/rock in the vein of Bowie or Stones, “Caught In The Middle” is a thrill, mixing old style Gun with more modern stuff like My Chemical Romance, the title track is a fantastic pop song that knocked me for six and “Running Out Of Time” is a great, slow pop rocker with a chorus to die for. And although this album doesn’t contain any bad tracks at all, there are a few that can’t really be considered as great. “How Many Roads” is a ballad that never really lifts and “Innocent Thieves” is an ok rock song where Dante sounds a bit too much like Axl Rose for comfort.

As a come back, this album is great. And even though their sound partly new, I have a hard time believing it wouldn’t suit old fans of the band. Quality wise the songs on here are so damn good it should be approved to any rock fan with a sense of melody. As a Gun record, I will rate this as their best album second to their debut without any hesitation. The band has broken the silence, now it’s finally time for the rest of the world to wake up and embrace this lot.

Jon Wilmenius ( 8/10)

Tracklist:
01. Butcher Man
02. 14 Stations
03. Lost & Found
04. Caught In The Middle
05. Break The Silence
06. How Many Roads
07. No Substitute
08. Bad Things
09. Innocent Thieves
10. Running Out Of Time
11. Last Train