After being spilt up for 2 years England's
Thunder is back - and what a comeback album I might add.
Especially the 2 first
Thunder albums were truly amazing and "Shooting at the Sun" ranks among their finest work. The album is simply that good.
The album track by track:
Loser is a strong opener, which clarifies that
Thunder is back. A groovy riff drives the song, which makes it a little dark only to be broken by a great melodic sing-along chorus. This song has all the ingredients that characterize a classic
Thunder song - equal a fantastic Hard Rock song.
Everybody's Laughing is more in the vein of the later
Thunder material. The song has a happy up-tempo beat to it.
The semi-acoustic ballad
If I Can't Feel Love has some breathtaking lyrics sung very emotional by Danny Bowes. The solo from Luke Morley fits the emotion of the song perfectly.
If I Can't Feel Love is a beautiful song that ranks among the best
Thunder ballads.
Shooting At the Sun is irresistible straight Rock 'n' Roll. The song changes pace from the mellow verse onto great melodic rock during the chorus. This is another fantastic song, where you cannot avoid stomping your feet.
A piano plays the melody line on the intro to
The Pimp and The Whore. The bridge to the chorus is so well written that you are hooked immediately. The song keeps getting better after each listen. Ben Matthews and Luke Morley duels on the solo. Morley plays a solo part, where Matthews plays the main riff. That is repeated twice whereupon Morley blasts out a great solo.
Only song that I haven't embraced totally is the blues-rocker
Shake the Tree. It's still justified being on the record, but it doesn't quite capture me the same way as the other 10 hit songs.
Somebody Get Me A Spin Doctor has a storming chorus. A powerful rocker, which could be a possible live favorite.
The Man Inside grows on you and is slowly becoming one of my favorites. The half-ballad has some emotional George Harrison like guitar.
This chord driven song
Out of My Head has a similar chord progression as
Higher Ground. However,
Out Of My Head is not that strong, but still another song that keeps progressing each time you hear it. Again the chorus is one of those "clap your hands, stomp your feet" ones.
Blown Away starts acoustic for the first 2 minutes after which the song goes electric in typical
Thunder style. The sound of Luke Morley's guitar brings memories of the "Laughing on Judgement Day" album.
Blown Away is a great finish to the album, since it changes between a mellow verse and a hard rocking chorus. Referring to the title, this album has blown me away.
To be honest this CD is very special to me. I got it on the day of the breakup with my girlfriend, so it took me a few days to give it a spin. To my surprise there was a song, which exactly described my feelings and the state I was in. Forever the song
A Lover, Not a Friend will have a special place in my heart.
Anna, if you read this - the chorus describes my feelings very accurate:
You will never know, what a mess you left me in
Wish you could feel it for a day
Cause you abandoned me
With pain and misery
I know I lost a lover, not a friend
Truthful lyrics, which I can totally relate to. Overall the song has a special emotion with an acoustic guitar playing through the verse and an electric guitar, which explodes on the chorus. Furthermore there are 2 fantastic guitar solos with so much emotion that you can almost feel the guitar crying.
I could have written the lyrics myself. I love and can relate to verse lines like:
I don't once recall ever feeling quite so bad
Shattered all those dreams of the future that we had
I hate my stupidity
As much as what you done to me
And to move on, there is the final payback line:
And just for old time's sake
I hope your heart will break
I probably listened to this song around 70 times and I personally want to thank Luke Morley for putting words to my emotions.
I watched
Thunder on stage in 1995 and it was truly a blast. I'm in desperate need of some good times - so come to Denmark and play some shows. With their strong back catalogue and this amazing new album they have the remedies to deliver concert of the year.
Overall this is a fantastic comeback album with all the classic
Thunder elements. The album has everything: acoustic songs, emotional ballads, party rockers, brilliant guitar solos, great choruses and most of all just great songs.
Danny Bowes' vocals are soulful and he sounds really good on the whole album. He puts lots of emotion to his singing. He spills his heart out on the lyrics, which often deal with a broken heart and lost love.
The solos from Luke Morley are amazing because they match the mood of the song. Luke is an old school blues-rock guitarist. For him it's not important to play X notes per second. He puts importance on emotion and incorporates the solo with the song as a unit.
"Shooting at the Sun" is a vintage
Thunder album, which defiantly ranks among the best albums this year with brilliant standout tracks:
Loser,
If I Can't feel Love,
Shooting at the Sun,
The Pimp and The Whore and
A Lover, Not a Friend. Written by
Michael Thursday, August 21, 2003
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