EarMusic (Release Date 16.01.26)

As Danny Bowes continues his long but encouraging recovery, in the absence of any new Thunder music or touring we have to content ourselves with reissues. Originally released in 1998, the Ronseal-titled ‘Live’ was their first live album but has now been expanded and received a remastering, as well as a vinyl and digital release for the first time.

They were at their peak- not commercially, as the mid-nineties were a hard time for bands of their ilk, but certainly musically. They had four strong albums under their belt and after a short period of rotating bass players had just enlisted Chris Childs to complete the quintet that has remained the band line up to this day.

In November 1997 they played four shows with varied setlists, a pair in Wolverhampton and a pair at Shepherds Bush Empire, one of which I fondly remember attending. The best bits were pulled together to create a massive 22 tracks over two CDs.

Though their studio albums were well produced, it was as a live band that Thunder really excelled, with a mixture of those strong riffs from songwriter Luke Morley and Ben Matthews, Danny’s soulful and always on point vocals, and cheeky chappie humour both from Danny and drummer Harry James.

One of the good things about this album is how well it captures that essence, with the moments where they encourage audience participation (in the days when their fans were still young enough to jump about) and the between song banter kept in, not to mention a raucous ‘here we go’ chant at the conclusion of the satirical ‘An Englishman on Holiday’.

The songs are also varied, several of them (‘Low Life in High Places’, ‘Until My Dying Day’) building from quiet acoustic openings to epic riffing, always melodic yet beefy and even at times surprisingly heavy (‘Empty City’). It was good to hear a generous selection from the ‘Behind Closed Doors’ and the then current ‘Thrill Of It All’ album. The one thing that has not dated well and is very much of its time was opening with the homage to Tony Blair that is ‘Welcome to the Party’.

One cracker after another ends with a trio of their best loved songs in the epic balladry of ‘Love Walked In’, live favourite ‘River Of Pain’ and the traditional participatory closer and bounce around to ‘Dirty Love’.

But wait, there’s more, as the catchphrase has it. There is now a further disc, which includes the live songs that did not make it to the original album- which I remember ending up on the maxi CD of ‘The Only One’, a new single they released to tie in with the album, together with some other live favourites and alternate versions.

I recall the album slipping under the radar a little at the time, perhaps because within a couple of years they called it a day- thankfully not permanently. This extensive reissue is the perfect moment for the album to reclaim its place as one of those rare classic live double albums that capture a band at their peak and is the perfect nostalgia trip for those of us who were there, or a primer for others who want to catch up.

Review by Andy Nathan

 

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ROBBEN FORD Make My Own Weather (Mascot)

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09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
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