Gun – Favourite Pleasures Track-by-Track with Dante Gizzi

Favourite Pleasures didn’t just confirm Gun’s comeback — it gave the reunion era its defining statement.

Heavy, hook-packed and full of conviction, it was the record that proved this version of the band could stand on its own merits.

We sat down with frontman Dante Gizzi so he could walk you through all ten songs and explain where they came from — the memories, the frustrations, the accidents, and the moments of inspiration that shaped one of Gun’s strongest records.

What follows is Favourite Pleasures track by track, in Dante’s own words.

She Knows

If Favourite Pleasures opens with such force, it’s because She Knows is rooted in something real.

Dante traces the song back to an evening in North Carolina, when a cancelled show, a broken PA, and a chance encounter in a bar took a sharp turn into something far uglier. What began as the kind of romantic road-story musicians collect by the dozen instead became a moment of disbelief — and later, a lyric.

“This happened during a US tour in 1995. We were sounchecking before a gig in North Carolina when the PA system exploded. They cancelled the show at the last minute, and the rep was so apologetic, she let us stay in the bar and enjor free drinks all night.

The announcement went out and we could see the fans’ disappointment, so I suggested they just come in and hang out with us.”

– Dante Gizzi

The disappointment of the cancelled gig appeared all but forgotten.

“They all seemed to be enjoying having a drink with us, so I figured we’d saved the night. Of course, me being 21 years old and absolutely full of myself, it didn’t take long before I locked my eyes onto a beautiful American girl. We ended up chatting for hours about hobbies, where we grew up, and so on, and I couldn’t believe my luck — I thought I’d found the one!”

– Dante Gizzi

However, notihng could’ve prepared Dante for what happened next.

“Someone went to the jukebox and put on When Doves Cry by Prince. I’m a huge fan so I asked her if she’d like to have a wee dance, and she said, “I don’t dance to n***** music.”

Gobsmacked isn’t even the right word for it — I was appalled.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment, and then I got up and said, “Okay, see you later!” and shuffled off in disbelief. It was made even worse by the casual way she said, it, like it was just normal daily behaviour. Later in the evening she did try to apologise, by telling me that it wasn’t her fault it’s just the way she was raised, but I couldn’t look at her anymore. I didn’t know whether to hate her or pity her, in time I think it’s become the latter.”

– Dante Gizzi

It’s a jarring way to open the album, but also a revealing one: beneath the huge riff and the swagger, She Knows is really a song about ugliness hiding in plain sight.

"I'm colour blind, but you're caught in two."

SHE KNOWS

Here’s Where I Am

Where the opening track lashes outward, Here’s Where I Am turns inward.

Dante describes it as one of the most personal songs on the album — less a dramatic statement than an attempt to work through emotions he’d struggled to express in real life. In that sense, the song feels less like performance and more like release.

“This track is very personal. I found myself feeling closed off and struggling to express how I felt in my relationship, you know?

So this song became therapeutic because it gave an outlet to feelings I’d kept inside for so long.

I could expand on the messy breakup and say things that would’ve hurt others, but I didn’t think that was the right way to go because my song only tells my version of events. She was unhappy too, you know? Sometimes things don’t work out, and that’s okay. I know in my heart we can still be friends.”

– Dante Gizzi

That restraint is what gives Here’s Where I Am its weight. It lyrics land hard and heavy because they’re seeped in the mess of a real-world break-up.

"The dirty secret that you tried to hide,
A love affair with mister third time lucky."

HERE'S WHERE I AM

Favourite Pleasures

It may be one of the most dynamic tracks on the record, but the title track proved a challenge from start to finish.

The band had completed the backing track within the first couple of days, but Dante struggled to write a vocal melody to match it — and the longer it went, the more paralising it became.

“For me this is the most dynamic song on the album. We already had this amazing backing track, but I took what felt like an eternity to come up with the melody for the verse.

I spent so many hours trying out different ideas, feeling drained, and eventually disheartened.”

– Dante Gizzi

Finally, a breakthrough arrived.

“After a much-needed sleep on the studio sofa (laughs), I woke up feeling re-energised and just grabbed the mic and went for it. I sang the line “What’s your favourite pleasure?” and it came out in an uncontrolled, angsty way. I kinda liked it. The song didn’t have any lyrics yet so I sang that particular line over and over again, just mapping out the melody that seemed to come from nowhere. Then I listened back and knew that was it.”

– Dante Gizzi

"You're my dark desire,
Set my soul on fire."

FAVOURITE PLEASURES

Take Me Down

If Favourite Pleasures was born from exhaustion, Take Me Down came from instinct.

Dante says the song began from scratch in the studio with Dave McCracken, the writer behind one of his and Giuliano’s favourite tracks, F.E.A.R. by Ian Brown. The appeal of that kind of session is obvious: no blueprint, no safety net, just following the song wherever it wants to go.

“We wrote this with Dave McCracken. We had just set up at our new studio and started working on this tune from scratch, going on total instinct as soon as we picked up the guitars. It’s quite challenging to write a song with no pre-planned ideas and just see where it goes. It as great fun.”

– Dante Gizzi

The session became even more productive when Dante picked up his phone.

“We eventually got a good sketch and Jools had this killer riff — all we needed was a lyric. Around the same time, we had received a private message to the Gun Facebook page.

Someone had asked if we could sign his t-shirt before he went to prison (laughs), and I wanted to know why he was going to prison, so I just asked. He said that he arrived home from work, checked on his kids sleeping, and then walked into his bedroom to find his wife cheating with the neighbour. He went wild with the pair of them, totally losing control, and then called the police on himself.

That, for me, was the catalyst for these lyrics. I’m not condoning his choices, of course, but I definitely understood that what haunted him most is what he was leaving behind as he was carted off to jail — his kids. Sure enough, he managed to get to a show and we pulled him backstage and signed the t-shirt.”

– Dante Gizzi

That story gives Take Me Down a darker weight than most of the album’s rockers. Beneath the huge riff and the swagger, it’s really a song about consequences — and the lives that get wrecked in the heat of one irreversible moment.

"I'm shaking with anger,
I can't believe the things that I've done."

TAKE ME DOWN

Silent Lovers

Silent Lovers is noticeably different from the rest of the record.

Dante traces its origins back the death of David Bowie. When revisiting his catalogue, he was reminded of the legendary performer’s skill for shifting between genres while making sure the material still retained that famous Bowie stamp.

That kind of elasticity is rare — and it’s something that Gun have long aspired to do in their own way.

“This was one of the first songs written for Favourite Pleasures. The idea came from the passing of David Bowie. When someone of that stature dies you can’t help but go back and re-listen to all of their music, you know? I was blown away by how easily he could alter his songwriting style without losing his unmistakable sound. That’s very hard to pull off, and something we’ve always wanted to achieve with Gun.

– Dante Gizzi

The sessions proved to be a stumbling block.

“We initially found it hard to get into the same vibe we had on the demo. As most artists will know, you call this “demo-itis”, where you just can’t seem to improve the song in a proper studio environment.

Most of the time it’s because the demo was are sponaneous and energetic, with little mistakes here and there. Thankfully we were able to get there in the end. I wouldn’t say it’s the best song on the album, but it’s probably my personal favourite, because we had fun listening to all of Bowie’s records and trying to pay homage in our own way.”

– Dante Gizzi

"Start punching the air I'm breathing."

SILENT LOVERS

Black Heart

Black Heart sees Gun return to their trademark early-’90s rock format.

Dante describes it as one of those songs that bottles the spirit of Gun, and the story behind the recording only reinforces that. Rather than relying on studio shortcuts, the band wanted the drums to sound huge in a natural, physical way — which led to an icy warehouse and a freezing Paul McManus…

“Again, this one was quite difficult to nail in the studio. I think this song totally captures the spirit of Gun, because it’s hard rocking and we had a lot of fun with it — well, not so much Paul McManus!

Jools and I wanted this song to have lots of ambient reverb, but we didn’t want to rely on plugins. We’d been given access to an empty warehouse right behind the studio, so we decided we should go in there and do this for real.”

– Dante Gizzi

However, unmanned warehouses get a lot colder than you might think.

“It was the middle of winter and the temperature in there was minus five degrees. Proper finger-freezing weather (laughs). I had to keep running back into the studio with a wee dram to keep warm. Paul was hating his life — at one point he was playing the drums with massive oven mitt gloves on!”

– Dante Gizzi

You can hear all of this effort in the finished track — Black Heart doesn’t just sound big, it sounds live.

It’s the product of a band chasing after a real feeling as opposed to using computerised convenience, which is probably why it comes across as one of the most authentically Gun moments on the whole album.

"I've given you everything that I've ever had."

BLACK HEART

Without You In My Life

Dante explains that this song is an ode to his eldest daughter, Olivia.

The lyrics are rooted in a feeling many parents recognise too late; the shock of realising how quickly time has passed. What begins as a reflection of fatherhood builds into something far broader — a song about ageing, memories, and the heartache of watching somebody you love grow beyond the stage where they need you in quite the same way.

“This is another song that came very early on. It’s about my eldest daughter Olivia. Time has flown by from the minute she was born to now, 17 years on. Friends with grown-up kids used to tell me, “”Try to enjoy every day, because it’s gone before you know it!”, and they were spot on.”

– Dante Gizzi

He recalls the moment he played the song to its most important listener.

“I was working on an early mix of it at home, late at night, when Olivia walked in. She was desperate to have a listen, so I gave her the headphones, pressed play, and watched her face turn from excitement to emotional. She couldn’t hold back the tears. I was a bit shocked by that, because I’d been expecting a happy reaction. For a moment I thought she might not be liking it, you know? When it finished, she said “Thanks Dad!” and gave me the warmest cuddle ever, which set me off as well.”

– Dante Gizzi

"From the moment I saw your face I felt my life pass through your eyes."

WITHOUT YOU IN MY LIFE

Tragic Heroes

Favourite Pleasures’ eighth track arrived by way of instinct and accident.

Dante says it emerged during the aforementioned collaboration with Dave McCracken — but unlike the impromptu Take Me Down session, this track only came to life after they admitted they were stuck.

Time was short, ideas had seemingly dried up, and the only sensible move was to stop forcing things.

“Dave said he was coming back to Glasgow for a weekend, so we set up another couple fo days in the studio, like we had for Take Me Down. This time around, though, the music didn’t flow as naturally. The time limit for completing the record was a big factor — you either end up churning out something average just to make the deadline, or you start feeling the pressure to come up with something great before the clock runs out.”

– Dante Gizzi

McCracken then worked through the night on an ambitious idea.

“We decided to have an early night and see if it helped freshen our minds for day two, and Dave asked us if we had anything on the computer that he could take a look at. There’s plenty of unused snippets and outtakes on there, so we let him play around with all of that.

Dave called us first thing the next day, bursting with excitement to show us what he had done. Somehow he had managed to take bits of different unused songs and push them together, like a jigsaw.

It really shouldn’t have worked, but the more we listened, the more it made sense — and then Jools dropped this gigantic riff on top of it, and by the end of that day it was Tragic Heroes.”

– Dante Gizzi

That song’s patchwork nature makes for one of Favourite Pleasures’ most interesting pieces of work. Gizzi’s towering U2-style guitar riff acts as the glue that holds all of McCracken’s moving pieces together, and it serves as a reminder that, sometimes, the best ideas take an unnatural route.

"Don't trust a man who says he'll make you rich,
Before you know it you'll have nothing to show for it."

TRAGIC HEROES

Go To Hell

The fuzzy Go To Hell has a long history.

The track dates all the way back to mid-1992, making it one of the oldest ideas the band have ever returned to. Dante explains they returned to this guitar riff on several albums, but could never figure out a way to make it work until now.

“This is a funny one. It’s probably the oldest idea we’ve ever gone back to, because it dates back to around ’92. Every time we’ve started to record a new album, we’ve listened back to this and felt like we needed to do something with it, but nothing ever really transpired.”

– Dante Gizzi

This time would be different, though.

“We thought long and hard about how we were going to incorporate it. We riff is strong, the hooks in the verses felt hypnotic and quirky, but the track itself was a bit all over the place, because it had been taken from an old eight-track recording.”

– Dante Gizzi

Finding the audio settings of the original demo proved to be the turning point.

“I was able to locate the original loop we used back in ’92, and that helped us get the guitar and vocals to keep the same edge as the demo version. We spent lots of time trying to get that right, the I’m happy to hear the song finally come to fruition after all these years.”

– Dante Gizzi

That long gestation gives Go To Hell an extra layer of satisfaction.

It began life way back when Gun were fronted by Mark Rankin and about to support Def Leppard on their 1992 Adrenalize tour. Finally, all these years later — after a world-beating record, a massive misstep, a break-up, a ten year hiatus, a change of frontman and a successful comeback — it makes its way into the real world.

"You're checking in on the palm of your hand,
It's paper thin like the sound of that band."

GO TO HELL

The Boy Who Fooled The World

The album closer reaches even further back in time, recounting Dante’s childhood memories.

He says the song was originally a bigger, more full-bodied track, inspired in part by the widescreen repetition of Rise by Public Image Ltd. But as the layers built up, the melody started to disappear beneath the weight of the arrangement — so the band stripped it back and found the heart of the song sitting quietly underneath.

“This one started as a full-on band idea, with big ambient drums and a repetitive guitar riff running right through it. We used Rise by Public Image Ltd as a point of reference, but as we tried to layer it we got a little lost, especially within the melody, which was becoming obscured by the big sound.

We stripped it right back in the studio with Simon on piano and I began singing the verse. Something clicked and it felt much purer, with lyrics becoming sincere and heartfelt.”

– Dante Gizzi

Dante’s childhood routine makes up the core of the song.

“Lyrically I wanted to write about how I got into music in the first place. I used to finish school on a Friday afternoon and follow this routine — sitting down to watch Cheers, finding a blank cassette, then turning on the radio to listen to Tommy Vance’s Friday Rock Show and Tom Russell’s Rock Show after midnight.

– Dante Gizzi

Many of our readers will have enjoyed the exact same routine, and Gizzi revelled in the role of “new music aficionado” within his small social circle.

“I’d know within the first ten seconds whether a song was worth recording, just from the intro alone. Some of the songs I remember taping were Run To You, The Boys Of Summer, Why Can’t This Be Love, and We Built This City.

I did this religiously every Friday night, then showed the songs to my friends over the weekend.

They’d ask how I’d managed to get hold of them, and I never said. I felt like if I showed them the songs, then I was the one introducing them to that music. I liked that. It became personal — like I’d written them myself. It’s nice to think that this was one of my first real introductions to music.”

– Dante Gizzi

At around the halfway mark, the song morphs into something altogether more serious.

Dante alters the lyrics from “He’s the boy who fooled the world” to “I’m now the man who fooled the world”. This subtle change is a beautiful moment that shifts the whole narrative, making the song’s lasting impact one of conquering self-doubt, believing in your dreams, and achieving the most unlikely of goals.

“Everyone laughed at Jools and I when we said we wanted to be rock stars. Some days even we struggle to believe it. We are living the dream, and this song hopefully puts that into perspective.”

– Dante Gizzi

That memory gives Favourite Pleasures a lovely sense of closure.

For an album full of riffs, scale, and swagger, it ends on something more intimate: the reminder that before all the touring and studio time, there was just a kid with a cassette recorder, with his fingers pressed keenly on play and record.

"There is something about a song that gets in your head,
You could hear it just once and then it's hard to forget."

THE BOY WHO FOOLED THE WORLD

The Final Word

This track-by-track discussion reveals Favourite Pleasures to be much more than just a strong comeback album.

Through Dante Gizzi’s reflections, you can hear how the record took shape from real-life experiences, odd accidents, private wounds, half-forgotten ideas, and the kind of instinctive studio moments that can’t be manufactured. Some of its tracks came from anger, some from grief, some from memory, and some simply from the thrill of seeing what would happen if the band trusted the moment.

That’s why Favourite Pleasures still feels so alive. Beneath the towering riffs and huge choruses, it’s a record full of human stories — and hearing Dante explain each one only deepens the sense that this was the album where Gun’s second act truly found its voice.