Year : 2020 (Lion's Pride Music Special Edition)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock
Country : Argentina
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 163 mb
Bio:
Gunner was formed by the end of 2002 as Gunner Sixx. Rodrigo Bugallo (Lead Guitar) and Mariano Angiolillio (former drummer), who were school mates, decided to form a band with noticeable influences of 80's hard rock. To achieve it, they had asked Emmanuel Blandini (Rhythm Guitar), who was another friend of them from secondary school, and Colo (ex bass player), who was a friend of Marian's brother, to join the band.In the beginning, Gunner was mainly a band of covers. Songs of Motley Crue, Poison, Bon Jovi, Europe, Skid Row were performed at every rehearsal. Although during those months they tested several singers, none of them suited fine; and that was why Roxx decided to be the lead vocalist, in addition to being the main guitarist of the band.• In early 2003: with the band well-established and rehearsing regularly, they received a phone call from Marcelo Viera (guitarist of Argentine Motley Crue tribute band, called Louder), who told them he had set up a music festival, which was going to take place at Asbury Park (Buenos Aires) on the 10th May and invited them to perform as support band of the show. There was a lot of publicity, including posters all over the streets and TV advertisements.The set-list of the show was: Cry Tough and No More Lookin' Back by Poison; Starry Eyes by Motley Crue; One Wild Night and Breakout by Bon Jovi, 3 own songs: Rockin' In The City, Sometimes and Crazy Nites; and they closed the show with the Poison cover: Look What The Cat Dragged In. This was the official live presentation of the band.Time went by and in June, Marcelo called them again, this time to play with his band at La Rocka (Buenos Aires) on the 19th of July. Everything was right, but 10 days before the show, Colo had to leave the band due to personal problems. Gunner was now without a bassist and the show was really close. It's then when Hernán astrogiacomo appeared.• 2009: The band started recording their first album 'Desire' at Synchro Records, produced by Esteban Gatti. During the first months of the year Roxx talked to differents record companies until he gets the first contract with Retrospect Records. In the beggining 2009 Rubén Estrada to play the bass, recorded the album and played live shows all over the country.• 2010: Rubén left the group. Gunner was invited to play in a new edition of the 'Glamnation' festival at The Roxy Live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The band finished recording "Desire"Then, Germán offers Pablo Ansaldi, an old friend of the band, to take place as the Bass player just for a few shows, but the chemistry was so good that Pablo ended up being officially part of Gunner as the new Bass player. From there on, the band started a series of shows around the country, starting to present 'Desire'.• 2011: For the first few months their album 'Desire' was edited in the USA with the company Retrospect Records, confirming the first tour in that country because of the good reception of the public. After some negotiations it was decided to cancel a series of shows and festivals in the USA due to legal problems with Nikki Sixx, the band is forced to change their name from Gunner Sixx, to GUNNER and they began promoting 'Desire'.• 2012: They officially presented “Desire”with a serie of shows around the country and the three singles were released “Holdin’ On“, “Rockin In The City” and “Someone to love” as promotional videos, and they started being broadcasted on TV and on radio programmes as well.Marcos Prevalil entered the band as the new keyboard player, and the band now consists of five musicians, and stably conformed as that, they started composing their new material.• 2013: They started recording “Keep Fighting”. The new álbum consists of 13 new songs, keeping the essence, the rhythms, the melodies, the strength, and maintaining everything they started with “Desire” , but betting on something bigger, and with a better sound.They worked on some different studios recording, mixing and mastering the album, with different technicians, and sound engineers. Whereas they keep playing live shows, traveling, and working on what it is gonna be the oficial presentation of the “Fighting Tour 2014”.
Album:
Eighties Californian-style glam metal influenced rockers GUNNER released their 4th album “Back 4 More” via Lion’s Pride Music, their first music after almost five years, and the new set of songs were even better than their previous works, catchy tunes with all the feel-good vibe from the Sunset Strip’s golden era.However GUNNER’s music, overall, is more along the line with the mid-80s, pre-Hollywood takeover days. Think EARLY Dokken, EARLY Ratt, even hints of Y&T and Keel in places. Lion would be a good comparison band, and early Icon as well. “American metal 83-84” stuff… not quite metal, but definitely punchier than hair metal.Take a look at the album’s cover art, its title – and all the song titles – you can’t go wrong with these guys: since the opening title track with a roaring V8 engine starting or the kick ass “Searching For Victims”, to the AORish / radio ready “Dangerous Eyes” and the midtempo power ballad “Liar”, if you miss that classic Eighties spirit, GUNNER’s “Back 4 More” is here to rock your world with catchy riffs, melodic keys and layered choruses.But Lion’s Pride Music also released a very Limited Edition of the CD: this ”Back 4 More [Special Edition +3 Bonus Tracks]”, including extra tracks for a colletible item.The majority of the songs remind me of the harder-edged material some bands would record to have placed on those classic 80s action flick movie soundtracks. You know, killer guitar solos and hard-charging tempos and rhythms, usually wrapped around some inspiring chorus or something, but typically not radio single material.That is pretty much every song here… and while some of them are excellent songs, a few wind up in the “fun but not really memorable” category.On the excellent side, we have tracks like “Searching For Victims”, a big, brilliant 80s movie anthem if I ever heard one! The guitars scream with a big, fret-running solo from the sensational Bugallo tearing a trench through the song, the drums are big and aggressive, the backing vocals are in great form, and the lead vocals from Fer are edgy and delivered with conviction. Heck, even the song title has attitude!“Faster Than Lightning” is another great, great action flick track. Thundering drums, a massive and LONG guitar solo from the uber-talented Rodrigo Bugallo, big, gang “whoa-oh-oh” backing vocals, and a really solid lead vocal from Fer.“Sunset Kiss” is another fabulous 80s flashback through and through, complete with the edgy radio-rock guitars and unmistakable keyboards that hearken back to the summer nights of my teenage years! And, as is really a trend on this record, Bugallo absolutely dominates with another smoking solo that absolutely nails the style and sound of the era. This guy has MAJOR skills folks. His soloing abilities alone are worth hunting this record down.And even when things slow down a bit, such as on the more midtempo romper “Liar”, the band has plenty of heft in the right places, and the bass work really jumps out at the listener. “Street Kid” takes us back to that action flick feel, with a really gritty guitar setting the tone right from the start, and I can see the song’s titular down-on-his-luck character jumping rope or working a speed bag as he puts in his time to get his title shot. You can come up with your own scenario; Bugallo and his pals will provide the soundtrack for it, with another excellent solo, gang-shouted chorus vocals, and a solid rhythm section driving the song along perfectly.“Stay Strong” sees the band firing on cylinders musically, and the perfectly-titled (for an 80s action flick) track is definitely a top 3 or 4 song on the entire album. “Cold Nights” is another slower track, definitely carrying a plodding tempo, but the bass again gets to rumble and Bugallo is afforded the opportunity to showcase a different style of playing here than on the flash and fire solos of the uptempo material.The bonuses are good: ”Fast Boogie” is a gang-style rocker like a garage version of Steeler circa 1984, “Wild 16” takes you back to Ratt’s first EP, while “Ronin” is full metal, recalling Jeff Scott soto fronted Rising Force, or his earlier band Panther. A different type of song for Gunner, and a cool one.There is literally nothing about this record that comes off as modern, from the performances to the writing style to the production. And if that is what you are after, you are going to love this record. But, if you are looking for retro-based music that incorporates the latest production tricks and styles, you will likely be a bit disappointed, even as you listen slack-jawed to the skill of these guys (particularly Bugallo).For me, it is really hard to not love what these guys are doing and the passion they obviously have for what they are doing. There are a couple of minor missteps, and nothing here screams “hit single”, either in 1985 or in present day 2026, but Gunner delivers exactly what I think they were after, which is well-executed, fun, bombastic mid-80s edgy glam metal that never drifts into the hairy side of the Hollywood hairspray scene.
Line-Up:
Fernando Santabaya (Fer) - Vocals
Rodrigo Bugallo (Roxx) - Guitars
Samuel Carabajal (Sam) - Bass
Gustavo Jaime (Gus) - Drums
Marcos Prevalil (Mark) - Keyboards
Tracklist:
01. Back for More (04:07)
02. Faster Than Lightning (04:15)
03. Sunset Kiss (04:16)
04. Begging Love (04:39)
05. Searching for Victims (04:30)
06. Liar (05:04)
07. Dangerous Eyes (05:36)
08. Cold Nights (05:04)
09. Delilah (05:03)
10. Thrilling Dream (04:30)
11. Street Kid (03:49)
12. Stay Strong (04:48)
13. Fast Boogie (Bonus Track)
14. Wild 16 (Bonus Track)
15. Ronin (Bonus Track)
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