After featuring yesterday the EP by American melodic hard rockers GUN SHY, one of you asked for the band 1994’s CD “After Dark”, and indie release but pretty well recorded with the help of by Michael Kelly Smith of Britny Fox fame.
Back in 1994 the CD only was distributed in the Pennsylvania / New Jersey area, so After Dark never really saw the light of day globally. Thanks to Perris Records, Gun Shy’s 8-track ”After Dark” album has been resurrected, and also includes 4 live tracks, a demo version of “Society” (one of the original 8-tracks), a couple of unreleased, and a cover version of Black Sabbath’s “N.I.B.”.
The album starts out with “Helluva Time” and “Mr. Lonely,” which quickly introduce an early Skid Row / Night Ranger approach to both the band’s music and vocals, although with noticeably more bass emphasis, and of course, not the same quality. Both songs are midtempo and very good Hard Rock tunes, showing some real potential and solid songwriting by the Gun Shy boys.
The 3rd track, “Cry In The Night,” shifts gears and attempts to be a ballad, but next “Something Wicked This Way Comes” (a bit cumbersome title, for sure, but Gun Shy pull it off when it’s performed), starts out with a “Hells Bells”-ish intro, and them morphs into something you’d likely expect to hear from the band Lynch Mob … quite good again, and the album’s rocking euphoria is thankfully revived.
Beginning a trend of stylistic shifts, the 5th track, “Hold On To Yesterday,” is pure Hair Metal … this song appears to have been designed to be a hit, and if the current year were 1987, it certainly would have been! Here, Gun Shy show the ability to set a comfortable pace and deliver an extremely catchy chorus.
“Don’t Go Away” is an all out ballad that certainly has the ‘power ballad’ sticker, but Gun Shy has a bit more of a tougher edge than your average Hair Metal band, so this song, though good, seems a bit out of place on this many-faced album.
Up 7th is “Hard Life,” which is another good song that returns the band to their bass-driven opening approach. Last (of the original 8 tracks) is “Society,” which may be the best overall song on the CD. “Society” has a moody and mysterious atmosphere about it, further exacerbated by some really well placed keyboards. Gun Shy certainly experimented with a handful of styles within the original ”After Dark” album, but the one that appears best suited to meld into their overall style is indeed “Society.”
As added bonuses, “Something Wicked,” “Don’t Go Away,” “Cry In The Night,” and “Helluva Time” live versions have been included. Although there’s some decent drum and bass power provided live, the recording quality is skittish at best, and overall these live tracks really don’t succeed in showing us Gun Shy in a new and innovative light. Generally, unless you were a follower of the band back in the mid-90s, you’re probably not going to get much out of these live bonus tracks.
After these live tracks, however, “Society” in demo form, the 2 additional tracks, “Wonderland” and “Christeen,” and a cover of “N.I.B.” have also been carved into this CD. The “moodiness” of the original “Society” version is not as apparent in the demo version, but wouldn’t you know … it’s still a cool song!
“Wonderland” is another change up in style, and acoustically driven songs mixed with electrics. As with most of the other styles exemplified by Gun Shy, this one works too. “Christeen” is also noticeably different again, because Tommy Krash takes over at the microphone, making the style here much more Sleazy Raunch ‘n’ Roll than anything prior.
So overall, what you have here is a pretty solid original album in ”After Dark” that simply had the flaw of being a bit too short. Perris Records, via snatching up the rights to the original master tape, went ahead and added some bulk to the CD … and succeeded with respect to adding the other studio tracks, though probably went a bit too far when deciding to include the live tracks.
All in all, however, Gun Shy definitely displayed the ability to write good music under a variety of stylistic banners. This CD, at times, leaves you wondering what the band could have done had it committed to any one of the styles they dabble in, but their debut in an almost “sampler” format is an enjoyable (if not varied) listen nonetheless.
Gun Shy reformed 2024 and are working on a new album.
Tracklist
1 Helluva Time
2 Mr. Lonely
3 Cry In The Night
4 Something Wicked This Way Comes
5 Hold On To Yesterday
6 Don´t Go Away
7 Hard Life
8 Society
9 Something Wicked (Live)
10 Don´t Go Away (Live)
11 Cry In THe Night (Live)
12 Helluvia Time (Live)
13 Society (Demo)
14 N.I.B.
15 Wonderland
16 Christeen
Gun Shy - After Dark 2004 Perris Records + 8 bonus, MP3+FLAC
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