Shotgun Solution: 1983 7"

Shotgun Solution: 1983 7"


Tags: · 10s · Europe · hardcore · italy · punk · reissues · spo-default · spo-disabled
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Finally out a great co-production between your fave italian labels Rave Up and Valium/Hellnation Records! Shotgun Solution released only one amazing EP in 1983 on High Rise, the label founded by the godfather of italian rock giornalism, Federico Guglielmi.

Based in Roma, the band opened for Dead Kennedys in their show in Roma in 1982. Fucking hardcore metal assault that recalls D.O.A, Suicidal Tendencies, D.R.I.
This repro is a sort of ALTERNATIVE VERSION of the their original EP. In fact, it contains one killer unreleased studio track, Neutron Bomb and a 12 pages booklet full of photos and infos of the band.


Our take: While Shotgun Solution's Shotgun EP is an undeniably great record, I have mixed feelings about this reissue. It adds a lot of really cool extras, but it in the process it blunts some of the impact of the original. Most offensively, they've taken the original cover (which was rough but certainly had a kind of period charm) and replaced it with a total "photoshop disaster"-style cover. They have added a lot of extra visual material in the insert (my favorite is the original bill / invoice from the pressing plant for Shotgun) and there are what look to be extremely extensive liner notes (though, unfortunately for me, they're all in Italian so I can't read them). They've also added two extra tracks--a melodic, oi!-ish instrumental and a pretty solid UK82-esque track called "Neutron Bomb." They're definitely worth hearing, but including them on a 7" with the original tracks involves some compromises. First of all, while I (sadly) don't have an original to compare it to, I suspect that cramming this much music on a 7" means that it doesn't have the fidelity that it might have had otherwise. Second, they've shuffled around the track listing in order to accommodate the extra tracks. This pretty drastically changes the character of the release. The four tracks that appeared on the original vinyl were by far the fastest and most vicious, and not only does the inclusion of the two more mid-tempo bonus tracks water that down a bit, but the blazing "Shotgun" is no longer the opening track, so instead of starting with a total bruiser, it starts with that fine but not that exciting mid-paced instrumental. I mean, I'll still be keeping a copy--these songs are too great to let an opportunity to own them on a physical format pass me buy--but I think I probably would have preferred a more true-to-the-original reissue.