Album review: THUNDER – Wonder Days
earMUSIC [Release date 16.02.15]
This is studio album number ten from Thunder and it is an album many thought they would never see. With the band going into hiatus for a few years, apart from the odd live show here and there, the hopes of new studio material were fading. With the live shows though came a real Thunder resurgence and it became inevitable that the band would return to the studio.
What the band have produced is yet another highly polished collection of blues laden rock songs which will have the Thunder faithful smiling from ear to ear. The album opens with the title track ‘Wonder Days’ which is gaining a lot of airplay on rock radio stations and rightly so. A strong track built on a great riff from Luke Morley and featuring a soaring vocal from Danny Bowes on the chorus.
‘The Thing I Want’ follows in a similarly rocking vein before ‘The Rain’ slows things down and adds touches of mandolin to the mix which works well with Bowes’ soulful vocal delivery. The tracks on the album are well paced and take the listener from fast paced rock to heartfelt, late night, bar-room blues in the space of a track or two.
Other tracks of note are ‘The Prophet’ which has a middle-eastern influence to the riff, ‘Chasing Shadows’ which features a heavy, dirty riff and great guitar work from Morley and Ben Matthews and the piano driven ‘Broken’ again with Bowes’ vocal taking centre stage to great effect.
The album rounds off with a bit of a boogie in the shape of ‘Serpentine’ and the full on rock ‘n roll of ‘I Love The Weekend’, a live anthem in the making if I’m not mistaken.
Thunder haven’t set out to reinvent the wheel with this album, this is Thunder back at their rocking best, no more, no less. After six years though it is great to hear the band producing some excellent music again and I feel that fans both new and old will be more than happy with the results. ****
Review by Dave Wilson
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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024
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