Year : 1994 (Perris Records Edition 2004)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 152 mb
Bio:
Gun Shy rose to fame in the early 1990s with their debut release "After Dark", which was Produced by Gun Shy and Michael Kelly Smith (Britny Fox / Cinderella). "After Dark" was picked up by Perris Records and distributed worldwide. One of Gun Shy's guitarists, Tommy Krash, went on to join Britny Fox for a short time after Kelly Smith's departure and is now working with Ripper Owens (Judas Priest), Bobby Koelble (Death) and Vinny Appice (DIO / Black Sabbath) in Leviathan Project. Vin Colella (Vinny Cole) went on to sign with Artie Kornfeld (original Woodstock 69 Co-Creator) and released 2 EPs, ("Revolution Street Sessions" & and a self titled EP), produced by Vin, Shelly Yakus (John Lennon, Stevie Nicks, U2, Tom Petty), Artie and Wayne Davis (Breaking Benjamin & Paramore). Vin has also become a writer and a director and has been directing music videos for other artists when he's not working on his own new music. Most recently, "After Dark" was brought back to life again and picked up by the publishing company, Expressive Artists, to be placed in catalogs for TV and film. The minds behind EA have been responsible for such albums as "Whitesnake", Ozzy's "No More Tears", Eminem's "8 Mile" (to name just a few) and shows like HBO's "Euphoria", "Breaking Bad" and FX's "What We Do in the Shadows" and are now placing GUN SHY. We're honored and excited to be back and working on new projects and material. Stay tuned for more.
Album:
Tracks 1-8 Were Previously Released In 1994 On "After Dark" By Dream Disc Distribution.Gun Shy comes from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA), and released their debut album in the mid-90’s via only a local distributor, so After Dark never really saw the light of day globally. As part of Perris Records’ relationship with guitarist/songwriter/sometimes vocalist Tommy Krash (Sinn, American Sugar Bitch), 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” gems, and a cover version of Black Sabbath’s “N.I.B.” Doing the math, that’s 16 total tracks comprising in excess of 66 minutes.The album starts out with “Helluva Time” and “Mr. Lonely,” which quickly introduce a Skid Row/Night Ranger approach to both the band’s music and vocals, although with noticeably more bass emphasis. Both songs are mid-tempo and very good Hard Rock/Light Metal 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 doesn’t quite get there … in the end, this song gets stale quickly, and unfortunately causes you to lose a bit of the euphoria created by the 2 openers. The 4th track, however, “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 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 1989, 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/had its place in the “couples skate” repertoire of Roller Rinks throughout the world, 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 production 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-90’s, 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 complete change up in style, coming through with a complex drumbeat and a Jazzy, almost New Age, edge. As with most of the other styles exemplified by Gun Shy, this one works too, and is a very innovative song, though not conforming to a Heavy Rock format. “Christeen” is also noticeably different again, because Tommy Krash takes over at the microphone, making the style here much more Raunch ‘n’ Roll than anything prior. This is clearly Krash’s forte, and this track simply cooks!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.
Line Up:
Vinny Cole - Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals
Dan Lerro - Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
Tommy Krash - Lead & Rhythm Guitar
Frank Richards - Bass, Backing Vocals
Alan Hoke - Drums, Backing Vocals
Production:
Recorded At – Signal Sound Studios
Recorded At – Dome Sound Studios
Recorded At – The Sound Lab Recording Studio
Recorded At – Original Glam Shop
Producer – Michael Kelly Smith
Tracklist:
01. Helluva Time
02. Mr. Lonely
03. Cry In The Night
04. Something Wicked This Way Comes
05. Hold On To Yesterday
06. Don´t Go Away
07. Hard Life
08. Society
09. Something Wicked (Live) (Bonus Track)
10. Don´t Go Away (Live) (Bonus Track)
11. Cry In THe Night (Live) (Bonus Track)
12. Helluvia Time (Live) (Bonus Track)
13. Society (Demo) (Bonus Track)
14. N.I.B. (Cover: Black Sabbath) (Bonus Track)
15. Wonderland (Bonus Track)
16. Christeen (Bonus Track)
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