GUNHILL (John Lawton) – Nightheat / One Over The Eight [Expanded & Remastered] (2016)

GUNHILL is the missing link in the history of one-time Uriah Heep / Zar frontman John Lawton, his ’90s band dimly known to rock audiences. Now, to shed some light on the subject, this remastered 2-CD combo brings together the band’s two very good recordings “Nightheat” and “One Over The Eight” plus bonus tracks.

Rock journeyman John Lawton fronted GunHill in the Nineties, not a good decade for what was an essentially melodic hard rock configuration. In his own words GunHill was “a fun band, no pressure, we created the music we wanted, went out and played when we wanted to play, and people liked it”.
This 2-CD remastered reissue brings together the fan club only “One Over The Eight” (1995) and the second album “Nightheat” (1997).

Sonically 1995′s “One Over The Eight” suffers a little from the fact that originally it was a fan club only release on cassette and probably never intended for wider distribution. This lends it an air of economy and spontaneity – as in not over-produced – allowing the musicianship, and not least Lawton’s vocals, space to breathe.
The tracks reflect the band’s live show at the time with a healthy mix of originals, re-workings and covers including Whitesnake’s classic ‘Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues’ in a breathtaking version and the bluesy ballad ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ plenty of great atmospheres.
Also is quite surprising hear a version of one of Rainbow’s more commercial tunes, ‘Stone Cold’, really, really well done by GunHill

‘Can’t Get Enough’ is a powerful self-composition and – beefed up with some LA studio trickery – would have sat easily with any classic melodic hard rock / hair metal of the early ’90s, whilst ‘Angel’ is also a convincing midtempo melodic rocker.
The studio bonus track ‘River Of Dreams’ is more redolent of a later Lawton solo album and therefore not particularly complementary to this set, but a darn fine song showcasing his gifted pipes.

From 1997′s “Nightheat”, ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ (not the Journey song, it’s a GunHill original) is a charming AORish tune that seems composed / recorded 10 years before, as it has all the ’80s charm we love.
The music on this record is again a mixture of originals and covers but there is little trace of Lawton’s earlier heavy blues rock of Lucifer’s Friend (except for two re-worked pieces) and Uriah Heep yields two bonus tracks in ‘Sympathy’ and ‘Come Back To Me’ from the Lawton / Hensley era of that band.
Amongst the covers ‘Ready For Love’ and ‘Clearwater Highway’ (bookending two eras of Bad Company) and ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’, are all great vehicles for Lawton’s vocals.

John Lawton’s musical past has received more attention in recent years, even with the great vocalist recently having played at the massive Sweden Rock Festival.
For fans of Whitesnake, late ’80s Bad Company, and all that kind of classic bands with the polished style from the late ’80s (despite this is a Nineties band) “Nightheat” / One Over The Eight” are a greatly, welcomed remastered release that shines a light on a little known but important corner of the John Lawton story.
Highly Recommended

You’ve seen it first here, at 0dayrox

DISC 1: Nightheat remastered
01 – Don’t Stop Believing
02 – Ready for Love
03 – Wall of Silence
04 – Nobody Loves You the Way I Do
05 – Far from Home
06 – Eleanor Rigby
07 – Don’t Look Back
08 – Waiting for the Heartache
09 – When a Man Loves a Woman
10 – Any Day Now
11 – Clearwater Highway
BONUS TRACKS:
12 – Sympathy
13 – Come Back to Me

DISC 2: One Over The Eight remastered
01 – Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues
02 – Eleanor Rigby
03 – Ain’t No Sunshine
04 – Can’t Get Enough
05 – Better By You, Better Than Me
06 – Stone Cold
07 – Every Little Bit Hurts
08 – Angel
09 – Harlem Shuffle
10 – Soldier Of Love
BONUS TRACK:
11 – River Of Dreams

John Lawton – lead vocals
Riki Robyns – guitars, keyboards
Mike Raxworthy – keyboards, vocals
Neil Kavanagh – bass, vocals
Lloyd Coates – drums

BUY IT !
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