Over the decades, Scottish musicians have made many classic, cult or under-appreciated albums that have stood the test of time. Today, we look back at Gun's 1992 album, Gallus.

 

IT was the spring of 1990, and the Glasgow rock quintet, Gun, were about to have a huge moment.

The previous summer they had released an accomplished debut album, Taking on the World, to enthusiastic reviews. One rock magazine is said to have said that it would place a bet on the band "achieving worldwide stadium status at short notice.”

The album spent 10 weeks on the UK charts, peaking at number 44. Five of its songs were released as singles, with two of them - Better Days, and Shame on You, both climbing to 33 in the charts (the band, who had struggled for several years to land a record deal before signing with A&M, had to pinch themselves when they first heard Better Days on Radio 1). The band had gigged extensively in Britain and across Europe. They had opened for Simple Minds at Wembley and had played a brief US tour in January.

Now, in April, they were back in the States, playing clubs in various cities and doing the promotional rounds.

Brian Hogg, in his authoritative History of Scottish Rock and Pop, says that Gun emerged from Glasgow’s metal circuit, part of an “exclusive sub-culture” that also included such bands as The Crows, Pallas, Thee Almighty, Heavy Pettin’, Lyin’ Rampant and Glasgow. However, one American newspaper, in Newport, Virginia, now described Gun as “virtually the only guitar-centered rock band in Glasgow, an area dominated by synthesizer dance bands”.

"Nobody really wanted or expected us to do well," the band’s then singer, Mark Rankin, told the Newport paper. “We didn't have the right contacts. We didn't have the support of radio. But that's part of what we sing about. You accept your situation and go on without complaining about it. We know we still have to achieve something in America," he added. "This album might only serve as an introduction. It might take a lot longer for people to know our name.”

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In May Gun played the celebrated Hollywood venue, the Whisky A Go Go. Chuck Philips’s review in the LA Times described them as “Part U2, part INXS” and as a “clean pop package with all the right elements for the melodic metal market: a jaunty lead singer with a powerful voice, a rambunctious rhythm section and a catalogue of crafty, melodramatic tunes”. A rowdy version of Prince's Let's Go Crazy had brought the house down, he noted.

By this time, Gun had learned that they would be supporting the Rolling Stones on 26 dates of the Urban Jungle tour, which involved a smaller (but still substantial) version of the massive sets the band had deployed in the States and Japan. One of the concerts would be at Hampden stadium, on July 9.

As Gun’s guitarist, Giuliano (’Jools’) Gizzi, later told the music journalist and broadcaster Billy Sloan: “We were on the road in America when the news came through we’d got the Stones tour. And it was all down to the fact that Mick [Jagger] and Keith [Richards] loved our record. We couldn't believe it.

“We still had two dates to play at the famous Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood … one for our fans and the other, a really important show, for the media band and radio DJs. A decision was quickly made to play both on the same day and we flew overnight from Los Angeles to Rotterdam to join the Stones”.

Gun - Rankin, Gizzi, his brother Dante on bass, Stephen ‘Baby’ Stafford on guitar and Scott Shields on drums - got on famously with the Stones. Dante remembered asking Jagger why he'd chosen them. His reply: “You remind me of us when we first started out”.

Ranking told the Evening Times: "We were a bit wary of them at first. But they have all been brilliant to us. They have taken a real interest in what we are doing, and watch our set in their dressing room nearly every night via a special video link.

"In fact, Keith Richards has mentioned to me a couple of times that he has noticed when we change the songs around. So they must be keeping an eye on us. They are forever inviting us into their dressing room for a few drinks and a game of pool. You couldn't meet a more down-to-earth bunch of guys.''

When it came to the Glaswegians writing and recording a follow-up album to Taking on the World, however, it wasn't entirely straightforward. 

The band had after all played some 200 gigs between 1989 and 1991 - an exhausting schedule in many ways. Stafford had left and had been replaced on guitar by Alex Dickson, though the new boy fitted in seamlessly, having learnt every Gun track down to the smallest detail. And, in a February 1992 interview with the Evening Times, Rankin conceded that the euphoria that came from supporting the Stones had also played a part. “We did find it hard to come off that high and get back to the nitty-gritty of writing a new album,’' he said.

The new album, Gallus, with an image of the world champion boxer Benny Lynch on the cover, was full of great songs, from the opening track, Steal Your Fire, onwards. In Rankin’s view that song was the album’s most commercially viable offering, while Gallus itself had a heavier rock feel to it than its predecessor.

“In many ways we were starting from scratch again”, he added. “There was no deliberate attempt to radically change - the songs just suited that bigger sound.”

As for the album title itself: it wasn't a sign of arrogance, he added, but rather a re-affirmation of where the band came from and what they wrote songs about. “Far too many groups from the UK sing about America, Cadillacs and other nonsense”, is how he put it. “That's not for us”.

Gallus reached number 14 on the charts; of its singles, Steal Your Fire, did best, getting to number 24. 

It remains, after all these years, a really good rock album: tight, melodic, with attention-gripping riffs and choruses and fluid guitar solos. The stand-out tracks include the opening three cuts - Steal Your Fire, Money to Burn, and Long Road, and the closer, Watching the World Go By.

There were notable gigs in support of the album, too - a riotous one at the Barrowland in December 1992 being a case in point. They supported Def Leppard on UK dates, and played to around 250,000 people at an unusual gig in Spain. “It was the biggest show we'd ever played and it was in Valencia”, Dante told the Sunday Mail in 2019. “It was held on a huge stretch of the motorway to mark the start of summer”.

Gun’s next album was Swagger, which was released in 1994 and went Top Five in the UK. It included a reworking of Cameo’s funk classic, Word Up. Gun’s version went to number eight and won them the Best Cover Version at the MTV awards in Berlin. The band mingled with Madonna, George Michael, U2 and others at the awards ceremony. “From there it snowballed”, Jools told Classic Rock writer Dave Ling in 2022. “All the venues sold out. It just goes to show how one song can change everything. If I’d written it, I’d be talking to you now from Miami or something.” Gun’s version was later used in the Pamela Anderson movie, Barb Wire. 

There was one further Gun album - 0141 632 6326, released in 1997 - but for various reasons the band fell apart.

Dante Gizzi later re-emerged as frontman in El Presidente, who were once tipped by the NME, Vogue and Harper's & Queen as the next big thing; Jools wasn't in the band but co-wrote the songs with his brother.

Gun reformed in 2008. Mark Rankin was replaced by Toby Jepson who, in turn, made way for Dante. New albums followed: Break the Silence, Frantic, Favourite Pleasures (which gave them their highest chart position since Swagger, in 1994) and The Calton Songs (2022) which featured semi-acoustic versions of some of their finest moments, from Better Days and Steal Your Fire to Taking on the World and Watching the World Go By.

The latest album, Hombres, has been another chart hit, reaching number 10 in the UK. They are back on the road again, and playing the Barrowland venue on December 14.  Two Gun songs are featured on the soundtrack of Damaged, a crime thriller set in Scotland, which stars Samuel L Jackson and Vincent Cassel and can be seen on Prime Video.

Gun and the Gizzi brothers have never taken their success for granted. As Jools told the Sunday Mail a few years ago: “When I first started out, never in a million years did I imagine how far we'd get and to be still doing it this very day. We scrimped and scraped, were totally broke. We couldn't afford to go into town at weekends for a drink. It was so difficult.

“The great thing about signing to a major label was, as well as a recording advance we also got a publishing advance and we could then pay ourselves a wage every month. That helped us get by with everyday living. We never took a big wage, just enough to live but to see that first monthly wage in your bank account was a great feeling and for doing something you'd give the world to do”.

  • Gun play MacArts, Galashiels, on Nov 24; Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, on Dec 12; Barrowland, Glasgow, Dec 14.
  • Next week: Sparkle in the Rain, by Simple Minds