Artist: Thunder
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2008
Running time: 54:14
Rating: 4/5
What would you even expect from the legendary London quintet who, back in the nineties, racked up no small amount of success? “Bang!” picks up where its predecessor “Robert Johnson’s Tombstone” (2006) left off, only this time with more raunchy rock attitude and more adrenaline pumped into the riffs. The new album’s motifs once again make it plain that they grew straight out of guitarist Luke Morley’s own backyard.
Danny Bowes remains an incredibly impressive singer, and the new album is no exception. No slip-ups here. His warm, velvety voice puts an unmistakable stamp on Thunder’s music! Some people just don’t know how to get old, or rather, they know how to “age properly”, in the sense that their voice only ripens with the years.
Despite its title, On the Radio is no lament for the shiniest AOR days of the eighties, but a bold, direct bang of an album opener with the minimalism of an “AC/DC” rock n’ roll reflex, the kind that makes the record leap to life in an instant! As is their standard habit, the guys mix a bluesy character into that directness on one side, and on the other add the melodic punch of carefully chosen musical tricks. That dual character of the album’s 12 compact rock firestarters complements itself nicely again across the whole record. In some songs the band even manages to pour in equal doses of both (Stormwater, Candy Man, Honey). Love Sucks is perhaps the best example of a song on the new album that, from head to toe, successfully brings all of Thunder’s typical trademarks together in one body. With a heaping dose of British sarcasm in the lyrics, of course. Of course, across the tracklist you also notice that this dual character tips one way or the other from song to song, toward bluesy or toward hard rock vibes. So Carol Ann reminds you of a “lost” “Robert Johnson’s Tombstone” track, while the love of blues is openly worn by the successfully “southern plus banjo” flavored Turn Left To California . The boys are seasoned old cats who know how to ease off the gas pedal ever so smoothly and conjure up a yearning, half-ballad mood in the acoustic folk-tinged Retribution (the trick is repeated a bit less successfully later with Watching Over You), made for listening on gloomy, rainy days. Better without a “razor blade” in your hand, of course. So once again the band skillfully keeps the mood rolling in dynamic, colorful waves across the album. Sonically a classic melodic ballad with a requiem vibe, One Bullet is the album’s third “dirge”, where Bowes’ sophisticated vocals, wrapped in a sensual embrace of acoustics, burn at full power once more. And for shouting “Fuck You!” in the opener On the Radio, they most likely slapped a “Parental Advisory” sticker on the album cover! Don’t make me laugh! When will they start doing that at, say, gun shops? Leave rock n’ roll erotica alone, you quasi-moralistic, God-fearing bootlickers!
With the new album Thunder once again ride triumphantly down the golden middle, one that can unite fans of seventies classic blues rock a la Free on one side with classic heavy rock a la UFO on the other. On top of that comes just the right touch of melody and that typically British melancholy mood. That combination makes the band recognizably different from the horde of roughly same-aged British melodic hard rock bands, condemned to sit forever in opposition, stuck in the long-outlived glamour of AOR. I’m not saying Thunder are any more glamorous, they just stand out a little more, simply because there are fewer bands like them on the British Isles. Miracle Man or Have Mercy can also reel in fans of that American glam rock vibe.
The production keeps the necessary live “feel”, and the songs are (as mentioned) built in a typically “Thunder-esque” way, which also means they only get their true character once they come alive on stage. Thunder are, after all, a superb live band that you absolutely must not miss if they happen to tour anywhere near you! The songwriting and the sound of the album radiate a healthy chemistry within the band. Not only that. The regular output of studio albums, every one of them heartfelt and convincing, even though Thunder don’t actually say anything hugely new creatively with them, proves that the crew works together brilliantly. In line with expectations, then. Very good, high-quality, typical Thunder hard rock, with sharply defined riffs, a tight rock ride, Bowes’ vocals shining front and center, and the usual touch of cheekiness and erotica. Expected, but still vivid and, from the first moment, subcutaneously invasive, which is how Thunder’s music keeps all its point.
Lineup
Danny Bowes – vocals
Luke Morley – guitar, backing vocals
Ben Matthews – guitar, keyboards
Chris Childs – bass guitar
Harry James – drums, percussion & Percussion
Production
Luke Morley
Tracklist
1. On The Radio
2. Stormwater
3. Carol Ann
4. Retribution
5. Candy Man
6. Have Mercy
7. Watching Over You
8. Miracle Man
9. Turn Left At California
10. Love Sucks
11. One Bullet
12. Honey
