Shotgun Messiah
The Shotgun Messiah album lineup. Clockwise from top left: Zinny J. Zan, Tim Sköld, Harry Cody and Stixx Galore.
The Shotgun Messiah album lineup. Clockwise from top left: Zinny J. Zan, Tim Sköld, Harry Cody and Stixx Galore.
Background information
Also known asKingpin (1985–1989)
OriginSkövde, Sweden
Hollywood, California, US
Genres
Years active1985–1993
LabelsCombat/Relativity
Past membersTim Skold
Harry Cody
Bobby Lycon
Zinny J. Zan
Stixx Galore

Shotgun Messiah was a Swedish glam metal band from Skövde. The band was formed in 1985 by guitarist Harry Cody and bassist Tim Sköld, with singer Zinny J. Zan and drummer Stixx Galore taking part in their most commercially successful lineup. The band released three studio albums, Shotgun Messiah, Second Coming and Violent New Breed, with Cody and Sköld being the only constant members of the band. Shotgun Messiah disbanded in 1993.

History

First era: 1985–1991

Shotgun Messiah was originally formed under the name Kingpin in 1985 in Skövde by bassist Thim "Tim Tim" Sköld and guitarist Harry "Harry Cody" Kemppainen, with drummer Pekka "Stixx Galore" Ollinen and singer Jukka "J.K. Knox" Kemppainen completing the first lineup.[3] The band recorded the album Welcome to Bop City released by CMM Records in 1988, which yielded a number 1 single in the Swedish charts titled "Shout It Out."[4] In the US, the song rose to the top 100 of the Billboard Album Chart.[5] During the recording of Welcome To Bop City, Knox was replaced by Easy Action singer Bo "Zinny J. Zan" Stagman.[6]

Following the release of the album, the band moved to Hollywood and secured a record deal with Relativity Records. They soon discovered that a San Francisco band had a copyright on the name Kingpin, and subsequently changed their name to Shotgun Messiah.[7] The band remixed Welcome To Bop City and released it in September 1989 as Shotgun Messiah.[7] The Washington Post called their music "cocky, loud and rough", and the album would go on to sell almost 500,000 copies.[8][9] Shotgun Messiah embarked on their first North American solo tour to support the album.

Second era: 1991–1993

Frontman Zan departed the band in 1990 and bassist Sköld took over vocal duties. Shotgun Messiah drafted an American bassist, Bobby Lycon, to fill Sköld's former position. In 1991, the band's follow up album Second Coming was released, including their most recognizable hit "Heartbreak Blvd".[10][5] Stylistically, the band's music evolved into a hybrid of metal, rap, pop, and classical.[11] In 1992, Shotgun Messiah released I Want More, an EP featuring covers of songs by the Ramones, The Stooges, and the New York Dolls.[12]

Third era: 1993

By 1993, Cody and Sköld were the only remaining members of Shotgun Messiah. In the studio, they created what would be the last Shotgun Messiah album, Violent New Breed.[13] The album was significantly different from the previous efforts as it focused heavily on an industrial metal and punk style.[14] The duo embarked on the Violent New Breed tour to support the album. After the tour, Shotgun Messiah disbanded when their label, Relativity, began to focus on rap music.[15]

Post-Shotgun Messiah

After Shotgun Messiah disbanded, Sköld released a solo album entitled Skold. He then joined bands KMFDM and MDFMK, collaborating with the former on the album, Skold vs. KMFDM. From 2002 to 2008, Sköld was a producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist for Marilyn Manson, which included recording two albums and touring with the band.[16] He later formed the supergroup Doctor Midnight and the Mercy Cult in 2009 and released the album I Declare: Treason in 2011 with the band.[17] Sköld later went on to release five additional solo albums: Anomie in 2011, The Undoing in 2016, Never is Now in 2019, Dies Irae in 2021, Dead God in 2022 and Seven Heads in 2023.[16][18]

Cody joined the short-lived project Coma with Saigon Kick singer Matt Kramer in 1994.[19] In 1996, Cody teamed up with Rhino Bucket singer Georg Dolivo to form Das Cabal. The band recorded "What Do You Want" for the Boogie Boy movie soundtrack in 1998.[20] Cody collaborated with Tom Waits, and performed guitar and banjo on the latter's 2004 album Real Gone and the Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards boxset compilation released in 2006.[21][22] In 2005, Cody composed the score for the film Wassup Rockers.[23]

Singer Zan and drummer Stixx reunited in 2012 as Shotgun to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Welcome to Bop City. They later released a live album under the Shotgun moniker with a lineup that also included guitarist Rob Marcello, bassist Chris Laney and keyboardist Jonas Beijer.[24]

In 2019, Shotgun Messiah's original lineup was close to reuniting for festival shows, but talks eventually fell through.[9] In 2022, Zan claimed that the reunion never took place due to Sköld's management wanting the singer's role to be limited to guest appearances.[9]

Lineups

Shotgun Messiah

Second Coming

  • Tim Sköld – lead vocals
  • Harry Cody – guitars, backing vocals
  • Bobby Lycon – bass, backing vocals
  • Stixx Galore – drums, backing vocals

Violent New Breed

  • Tim Sköld – lead vocals, programming, bass
  • Harry Cody – guitars, backing vocals, programming
  • Bill Bruce – rhythm guitar (live)
  • Pat Guyton – bass (live)
  • Bjarne "B. J." Johansson – drums (live)

Discography

Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
US
[25]
Shotgun Messiah
  • Released: 12 September 1989
  • Label: Relativity Records
  • Formats: CD, CD, LP
 99
  • US: 490,000
Second Coming
  • Released: 22 October 1991
  • Label: Relativity Records
  • Formats: CD, CD, LP
 199
I Want More (EP)
  • Released: 17 November 1992
  • Label: Relativity Records
  • Formats: CD, CS
 —
Violent New Breed
  • Released: 28 September 1993
  • Label: Relativity Records
  • Formats: CD, CS
 —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

Year Single
1989 "Shout It Out"
"Don't Care About Nothin'"
1991 "Heartbreak Blvd."
1992 "Living Without You"
1993 "Violent New Breed"

References

  1. 1 2 "Shotgun Messiah Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  2. ↑ "Shotgun Messiah - Violent New Breed Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ "Metal Into the '90s". Musician. December 1989.
  4. ↑ "Harry Cody Shotgun Messiah Exploring His Potential". Guitar. June 1990. p. 90.
  5. 1 2 Larsen, Dave (25 June 1992). "DESPITE HITS, FORTUNE FAILS SHOTGUN MESSIAH". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  6. ↑ Colin Larkin, ed. (1995). The Guinness Who's Who of Heavy Metal (Second ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 323/4. ISBN 0-85112-656-1.
  7. 1 2 "New Faces Shotgun Messiah". Rolling Stone. 8 February 1990.
  8. ↑ "MORE MEAT ON THE BASS". The Washington Post. 7 January 1990.
  9. 1 2 3 Olivier (22 January 2022). "Zinny Zan recalls how close Shotgun Messiah's original line-up came to reuniting about 2.5 years ago". Sleaze Roxx. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "Shotgun Messiah Second Coming". Transworld Skateboarding. March 1992.
  11. ↑ "Well, shoot! Shotgun fans know all the words!". Chicago Sun-Times. 27 March 1992.
  12. ↑ McPadden, Mike (23 September 2015). "The Hair Metal 100: Ranking the '80s Greatest Glam Bands, Part 3". vh1.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "Shotgun Messiah Violent New Breed". ALLMUSIC.
  14. ↑ "SHOTGUN MESSIAH Violent New Breed". Alternative. February 1994.
  15. ↑ Crigler, Peter (December 2015). "From Indie To Metal To Rap Their Fast Times". furious.com. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  16. 1 2 Dyroff1, Denny (17 November 2016). "On Stage: Tim Sköld brings the post industrial". Unionville Times. Retrieved 18 December 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ Carman, Keith (7 June 2011). "Doctor Midnight & the Mercy Cult I Declare: Treason". exclaim!. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  18. ↑ Moyer, Matthew (16 July 2019). "Marilyn Manson and KMFDM collaborator Skold to play in Orlando this weekend". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  19. ↑ Schulman, Sandra (10 June 1994). "COMA TO BRING GUT-WRENCHING". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  20. ↑ "Boogie Boy (1998) Soundtracks". imdb.com. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  21. ↑ Dansby, Andrew (29 April 2004). "Waits "Gone" in Mississippi". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  22. ↑ "Tom Waits Orphans (Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards)". ALLMUSIC. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  23. ↑ "Wassup Rockers (2005)". imdb.com. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  24. ↑ "SHOTGUN 26 JULI 2013". Sweden Rock. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  25. ↑ "Shotgun Messiah Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  26. 1 2 3 "Sludge Scan for September 8, 1999 | Metal Sludge". 12 September 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
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