Album review: THUNDER – The Thrill Of It All, Giving The Game Away, Shooting At The Sun (Reissues)

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BMG [Release date 20.10.23]

As our retrospective feature in ‘The GRTR! Grotto’ series attests Thunder have firmly entrenched themselves with fans in the millennium, in spite of a couple of stop-starts.

It’s fair to say that since earliest times Thunder have stuck to a successful template and they’ve never really followed trends. They just about rode out the tail end of grunge and with a resurgence of interest in classic rock in the late 1990s they were certainly on message.

The Thrill Of It All (1996) was their fourth studio album. Luke Morley shouldered most of the songwriting, although drummer Harry James contributed to four tracks.

On balance there are as many ballads as the riffy stuff and some might prefer the more upbeat opener ‘Pilot Of My Dreams’ and ‘Welcome To The Party’.

Whilst fans may be drawn to the earlier (2004) remaster with bonus disc, there are four worthy bonuses included from shows in 2000 (Japan), 2005 (Nottingham) and 2012 (Manchester Academy). ***1/2

Giving The Game Away (1999) was Thunder’s first album to feature bassist Chris Childs. The acoustic approach of its predecessor was continued. There’s a great opener ‘Just Another Suicide (You Wanna Know) invoking prime time Tom Petty but in the main it favours ballads.

Listeners will recognise classic songwriting influences such as The Fab Four and even Ian Hunter. The curveball has to be a really good version of ‘Play That Funky Music’.

Four live bonuses duplicate album tracks in 2007 and 2008 (Nottingham) and Manchester (2012). ***

Thunder’s first studio album of the new regime (after they reformed in 2002) – Shooting At The Sun – was released at the very start of GRTR!’s era in March 2003 and opens with the grinding ‘Loser’. Overall it’s more upbeat perhaps reflecting renewed energy. There’s definitely a sense of Luke Morley continuing to channel his inner Mop Top on a piece like ‘The Man Inside’. Some of the songs on these reissues wouldn’t sound out of place on a Travelling Wilburys album.

And you can trace the trajectory to other material, such as the R&B flavour of ‘Out Of My Head’ which connects with ‘Go With The Flow’ on Morley’s solo album ‘El Gringo Retro’).The five bonuses are live versions from London (2002 and 2006), Nottingham (2008 and 2011). ****

Hopefully these reissues, in facsimilie digi-paks, will plug a few gaps in collections and, on the back of our lengthy feature, inspire readers to investigate this band further. For vinyl lovers, the coloured discs may also appeal. What they do reveal, though, is Danny Bowes’ great vocals and – moreover – their best was yet to come.

Review by David Randall

Feature (“The GRTR! Grotto of Greatness”, October 2023)

Competition (Win a set of reissues! Ends 22.10.23)

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)