In summary:

The debut album from Gun is a very solid effort. It does a fantastic job of stripping away all of the unnecessary excess which filled the rock scene at the time, and provides the listener with a collection of great straight-ahead rock songs.

Taking On The World receives 8/11.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★★

Taking On The World is the debut LP from Scottish rockers Gun.

It features the single Better Days, which reached #33 in the UK Singles Chart, and earned them a support slot on The Rolling Stones’ 1990 world tour.

Arriving at a moment in time where the rock scene was dominated by hair metal and the emergence of thrash, Gun’s brand of riff-based straightforward rock didn’t really fit in with the dominant bands of the era, but it worked nonetheless.

Taking On The World is jam-packed with anthems from start to finish, each one telling tales of their tough upbringing on the streets of Glasgow, and there’s a raw energy about Gun which sucks the listener in via the infectious groove which sits beneath most of the material.

That groove comes courtesy of brothers Giuliano Gizzi (lead guitar) and Dante Gizzi (bass). Such is the effectiveness of the thumping tunes on display here, it beggar’s belief that Dante was just 16-years old.

Standout tracks include the title track, hit single Better Days, and the kick-ass Inside Out, which captures the band at their most chart-ready. Everywhere you look there are loud drums and guitar hooks aplenty (The Feeling Within, Money, Shame On You), and the net result is a debut album which stands head and shoulders above what most of their more established contemporaries were putting out that same year.

It’s to their credit that the Glaswegian rockers have managed to carve out a unique space in the rock world by stripping away all of the unnecessary excess and focusing on great songs.

Simply put; if you’ve ever wished U2 or INXS were more rock and less roll, Gun are your band.

In summary:

The debut album from Gun is a very solid effort. It does a fantastic job of stripping away all of the unnecessary excess which filled the rock scene at the time, and provides the listener with a collection of great straight-ahead rock songs.

Taking On The World receives 8/11.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★★