''Taking On the World'' is the debut album from Scottish rock band
Gun
A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...
, released on 5 July 1989.
The album peaked at number 44 in the UK charts, and produced two UK Top 40 singles, "Better Days" and "Shame on You". Three other singles were released, "Money (Everybody Loves Her)", "Inside Out" and the title track "Taking On the World". All three made the UK Top 100.
The album received positive reviews upon release, including a five-star review from ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'' magazine, and sold over 60,000 copies. In September 2010 the album was included in ''
Classic Rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...
'' magazine's list of the 150 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time.
To celebrate the album's 25th anniversary, it was reissued in October 2014 as a three-disc Deluxe Edition comprising the original album, B-sides, rarities, covers and BBC Sessions recordings.
[
In 2019, Gun celebrated the 30th anniversary of the album by embarking on "The Big 3-0 Tour", where they played the album in its entirety.]
Track listing
Personnel
Adapted credits from the media notes of the 2014 reissue of ''Taking On the World''.Baby Stafford
Baby Stafford (born Stephen Stafford) is a musician and founder member of the band 'Baby Stafford'. He originally played in the Scottish rock band Gun in the late 1980s. Gun went on to support The Rolling Stones on tour.
Biography
On leaving ...
– Guitar
* Dante Gizzi – Bass
* Scott Shields – Drums
;Additional musicians
* Sharleen Spiteri
Sharleen Eugene Spiteri (born 7 November 1967) is a Scottish singer and guitarist, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Texas. She has a contralto vocal range. In 2013, Texas's worldwide album sales were counted at 40 million records. ...
– Backing vocals (tracks 2, 10)
* Scott Fraser – Bass (tracks 7, 9)
* Alan Thornton – Backing vocals
* David Aitken – Guitar
* Jim McDermott – Drums
Charts
Certifications
References
1989 debut albums
Gun (band) albums
A&M Records albums
{{1980s-hard-rock-album-stub