Gun – Taking On The World (1989) Review

From AC/DC to Deacon Blue, the rain-drenched streets of Glasgow have birthed more than their fair share of rock ’n’ roll heavyweights.

Now they can add another name to that list:

Gun.

Taking On The World is an assured debut record that sidesteps the clichéd excesses of late-’80s hard rock in favour of grounded, blue-collar songwriting built around muscular riffs and striking melodies. There’s also an unmistakable streak of American influence running through the centre — a sound seemingly engineered with one eye firmly on breaking out beyond Scottish borders.

Taking On The World

In hindsight, it would’ve been easy for Gun to follow the late-’80s hard rock template.

MTV’s obsession with hair metal was at its peak, and record companies were handing out lucrative deals to any photogenic rockers who looked capable of delivering a radio-friendly hook.

But beneath the surface, things were already beginning to fray.

The scene’s biggest stars had begun buckling under the weight of drugs, alcohol, and endless touring. Meanwhile, the arrival of Guns N’ Roses had reintroduced a sense of realism and danger that made many of their rivals look theatrical and dated almost overnight.

Gun offered a distinctly British response to this shift, shunning flamboyance in favour of hook-laden hard rock.

They were able to fuse AC/DC’s direct guitar work with the rhythmic swagger of INXS, all underpinned with flashes of Springsteen-inspired working-man lyricism. This combination forged a sound unlike any of their peers, and put them in an interesting middle ground — too riff-driven to be pop, too accessible to be hard rock.

Somebody’s Lost, Somebody’s Found

Taking On The World lives and dies by its riffs.

From the chugging drive of Shame On You to the blues-tinged hooks of Money (Everybody Loves Her), the album is built on a foundation of girthy guitar work.

But it’s Giuliano Gizzi’s restraint that truly sets him apart.

Where contemporaries like Slash or Mick Mars often seize entire sections to showcase their virtuosity, Gizzi rarely feels the need to dominate. Instead, he locks in with the rhythm section, prioritising momentum over flash and helping to construct the kind of towering, tightly wound groove that powers these songs forward.

Standout singles Better Days and Inside Out further underlined the band’s chart potential, pairing sharp storytelling lyrics with infectious energy before exploding into choruses that feel tailor-made for mainstream rock radio.

"It's easy saying nothing, it's easy just to watch things fall."

Better Days

Production And Ambition

For all of Taking On The World’s American ambition, it has Glasgow stamped all over it.

The black-and-white cover art was shot around the old industrial landscape of the Clyde, with shipyard cranes appearing on the rear artwork. Giuliano Gizzi has since described the image as “deliberately reflective of where we came from.”

You can hear that same identity within the songs.

Producer Kenny MacDonald deserves a lot of credit for helping the band retain this gritty texture, ensuring that they don’t acquire any of the synthetic sheen that has since dated so many other records from the same period of time.

The drums feel like drums.

The guitars have an unprocessed crunch.

Mark Rankin sounds like he’s singing each chorus live.

This fine attention to detail makes the band’s age all the more remarkable — at the time of recording, three members of Gun were still in their teens, including bassist Dante Gizzi who was just 17 — yet somehow they crafted a collection of songs with a level of confidence that belies their years.

Right Band, Wrong Time

In 1989, it appeared that Gun had landed just at the right time.

However, within two years the landscape would tilt dramatically.

The polish and theatricality of 1980s rock/metal would be swept aside by a new wave of stripped-back anger, as grunge began to reshape the sound and image of mainstream rock.

Only those who were able to rapidly reshape their sound, such as Bon Jovi, or those who were already raw enough to weather the shift without compromise, like Guns N’ Roses, would survive the mass culling.

Thankfully, Gun belonged in the latter category, but their timing certainly didn’t help; their debut LP dropped just as the industry was preparing to pivot, making this feel less like a Scottish takeover and more like a band kicking open the door to a building that was about to be demolished.

"Sentimental strangers, there's rhythm in her dancing feet."

Shame On You

Gun – Taking On The World

In a decade crowded with excess and theatrics, Gun arrived with something sturdier.

Taking On The World doesn’t reinvent hard rock, and there are occasional moments where the quality dips, but it already contains most of the things that would eventually come to define them.

Big riffs.

Bigger choruses.

A willingness to pull influences from outside the usual hard-rock bubble.

And, most importantly, an understanding that none of it matters if the song underneath isn’t good enough.

Mark Rankin had it right from the start.