''Gun-Shy'' is the second release by

The Screaming Blue Messiahs The Screaming Blue Messiahs were a rock band, formed in 1983 in London by guitarist and singer Bill Carter, bass player and backing singer Chris Thompson and drummer Kenny Harris. The group emerged in the wake of the pub rock and punk scenes th ...

and their first full-length recording. The album, which was jointly produced by

Apollo 440 Apollo 440 (also known as Apollo Four Forty or @440) are a British electronic music group formed in Liverpool in 1990. The group has written, recorded, and produced five studio albums, collaborated with and produced other artists, remixed as ...

Howard Gray Howard Gray (born 15 July 1962) is an English musician, sound engineer, programmer, composer, re-mixer and producer who has worked with Public Image Ltd, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Kirsty MacColl, the Armoury Show, the Pale Fountains, J ...

,AllMusic: credits: Gun-Shy
/ref> was notable for being one of the last recordings by

Vic Maile Vic Maile (1943 – 11 July 1989) was a British record producer. After starting his career as sound engineer with Pye mobile studios for the Animals on their song "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", Maile worked with some of the biggest names in th ...

, well known for his work with

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

. ''Gun-Shy'' was also one of two albums by The Screaming Blue Messiahs that brought them to the attention of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and that led to him promoting the band: "Well! The band this week – I've only just discovered them, so they're my pet project – is The Screaming Blue Messiahs. They're the best band I've heard out of England in a long time" and "There’s an English band I like very much. Nobody seems to have heard of them. They’re called The Screaming Blue Messiahs and I’m pushing them like mad."

Reception

The release of ''Gun-Shy'' in early 1986 was met by a generally positive reception by select music press:

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

Magazine said,"''Gun-Shy'' is a damn fine record, consisting of a quasi-neo-rockabilly power trio... the Screaming Blue Messiahs squeeze a lot of great music out of guitar, bass, drums and vocal."; The

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

stated, " ey have a gut instinct for the roots of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and R 'n' B and from that sure base they can confidently blast their way through Bill Carter's extraordinarily powerful selection of songs." The

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

wrote that, " the strength of this album, I'd say the Messiahs are going to be very, very big indeed." To promote the album, the band embarked on another extensive tour of Germany, Finland, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA — including a series of concerts supporting

The Cramps The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2006. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. T ...

and another series supporting Echo and the Bunnymen.

Singles

"Smash the Market Place" and "Wild Blue Yonder" were released as singles in 1986. "Wild Blue Yonder" resurfaced in 2006 as the closing music of season 03/episode 04 of FX's '' Rescue Me''.

Track listing

Personnel

The band

*Bill Carter - Lead vocals and lead guitar *Chris Thompson - Bass guitar and backing vocal *Kenny Harris - Drums

Studio

*Creative Director – Hale Milgrim *Design – Carol Bobolts *Engineer (Additional) – Ernie Wilkens *Management – John Dummer *Mastered by

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other m ...

*Mixed by

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

(tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 9, 11, 12) *Photography by Mel Yates *Producer –

(tracks: 1, 6 to 8, 12),

(tracks: 2 to 5, 9 to 11) *Written by Bill Carter (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 9, 11, 12)

References

{{Authority control 1986 albums The Screaming Blue Messiahs albums Elektra Records albums Albums produced by Vic Maile