21 GUNS – Salute [Rock Candy Remastered & Reloaded] HQ

Stellar guitarist Scott Gorham (ex-Thin Lizzy) started in the mid-Eighties his own band project with the aim to the current melodic hard rock sound from that time. During his recording contribution to the Phenomena Project, Gorham met bass/keyboard player Leif Johansen and drummer Mike Sturgis (ex Far Corporation, Asia) and they joined: 21 GUNS born.
Signed by major label RCA, 21 Guns’ debut CD “Salute” arrived in 1992, delivering a fantastic slice of polished Melodic Rock / AOR with a fantastic sound production, a true Gem for the genre.
Long time out of print, Rock Candy Records reissued the album with their usual, excellent remastering job.

For the singer slot, Sturgis called the wonderful Tommy La Verdi who had previously fronted cult AORsters A440, and partering with multiple Grammy Award-winning producer and mixing engineer Chris Lord Alge (Damn Yankees, Firehouse, Steve Perry), 21 Guns recorded “Salute” in L.A.

“Salute” packs 12 pure-gold songs, no fillers, just killers.
Just listen to the kickin’ opener “Knee Deep”, the huge “These Eyes” or the melodic jewel “Marching In Time”. If you like high class ballads you have the grandiose AOR of “Tell Me”, and then “Just A Wish” is just AOR perfection. We love this tune, it’s simply irresistible.
If you need more uptempo hard rockers, Gorham gets loose on “Battered And Bruised”, “Little Sister” and “Walking” for good measure. Oh, and I can’t forget another pearl: the awesome midtempo diamond “Jungleland”.

The original CD of “Salute” already sounds great, however it doesn’t hurts the usually 24-bit remastering from original source tapes by Rock Candy Records, which is wonderful.
This is an absolute classic. Period.
ESSENTIAL

01 – Knee Deep
02 – These Eyes
03 – Walking
04 – Marching In Time
05 – The Rain
06 – Little Sister
07 – Pays Off Big
08 – Just A Wish
09 – Battered And Bruised
10 – Jungleland
11 – Tell Me
12 – No Way Out

Tommy La Verdi – lead & background vocals
Scott Gorham – guitar and background vocals
Leif Johansen – bass, keyboards and background vocals
Mike Sturgis – drums and percussion
Additional Musicians:
Kim Bullard – piano (8)

BUY IT
www.amazon.co.uk/Salute-21-Guns/dp/B00CL0XIWO