Search - GUN :: Gallus

Good Stuff That Slipped Through the Cracks

J. Merritt | 02/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Maybe they shouldn't have had such a straight-ahead sound at a time when most hard rock acts were copping grunge or doing glam. Maybe they lacked a singular feature to separate them from the crowd. Who knows? Whatever the reasons, Scotland's Gun provided some fun music between 1987 and 1997, flirted with success via a couple minor UK hits, and even toured with the Stones in 1990, but by 1999 they were gone. What they left behind was a small, underappreciated body of work, of which this album may be the high point.



Released in 1992, "Gallus" (Scottish slang that loosely translates as `daring') was Gun's second album and featured their most accomplished production. It also contains a healthy dose of their best songs, including the charging single "Steal Your Fire," the rousing "Money to Burn," the crunchy blues of "Long Road," and the lilting balladry of "Watching the World Go By." Think 90's attitude with a 70's classic rock pedigree and you're on the right track. Subsequent albums were worthy but obvious in their strain for a breakthrough (covering Cameo's "Word Up" on 1994's "Swagger," employing Andrew Farris of INXS to produce their untitled final album in 1997). "Gallus" was probably the purest Gun; fully in stride and undiluted. If you take your rock `n' roll straight, try a shot."