Thunder Seven

REVIEW: Triumph – Thunder Seven (1985)

I was doing some online reading the other day, on Wikipedia as we often do.  I was curious about the book Moby Dick so I clicked the article and did a quick dive.  One thing in the article intrigued me immediately.  Someone wanted to determine when the first review of Moby Dick appeared in print, and their length criteria for “review” was “three lines or more”.

That got me thinking.

A lot of you want me to do reviews again, which I have been staunchly resistant to.  I’m tired of the extensive work that my type of review required.  However, would you be interested in a new kind of review that is only three sentences long?  Is that something you’d be interested in?

The key here is making the sentences count.  Let’s give it a try below.  I was recently given this album by good pal Tim Durling.

TRIUMPH – Thunder Seven (1985 MCA)

Far heavier than I expected, given Martin Popoff’s scathing 1/10 star review in Riff Kills Man.  Thunder Seven is fine mix of riffy rock, progressive experimentation, Bluesy licks, thundering songs, and even one choral exploration.  Highlights are “Time Goes By”, “Follow Your Heart”, “Spellbound”, “Killing Time”, and the beautiful acoustic instrumental “Midsummer’s Daydream”.

4/5 stars

Thoughts?

REVIEW: Triumph – “Spellbound” (1984 special promo 12″)

TRIUMPH – “Spellbound” (1984 MCA 12″ radio promo disc)

1984’s Thunder Seven was a big one in Canada, with “Spellbound” and “Follow Your Heart” both hitting the top 100 singles chart.  Triumph singles rarely offered up much in the way of non-album material, but the odd curiosity could be found.  This Triumph single for “Spellbound” was acquired by a friend, from Jerry’s Records in Pittsburgh back in 2013.

On the A-side, the standard 5:12 single version of “Spellbound” without edits.  You can really hear why this was a hit in 1984.  Triumph had learned to marry keyboard and guitar riffs for a bigger radio-ready sound.  With Gil Moore on lead vocals, “Spellbound” had huge chorus.  The track was also made into a cool video.

The B-side was specially designed for radio airplay.  Each track on Thunder Seven is given a brief special intro by the three band members.  You could look at this as an interview disc.  It’s nine minutes in length and not without value.  By listening we learn that “Spellbound”, for example, changed much from conception to release.  It was once titled “White Lies” before it was rewritten.  “Time Canon” was made up of 18 parts over 66 tracks.  Amazing stuff.  Their Canadian accents are adorable.

An excellent purchase for Triumph fans who have it all and need a little more.

4/5 stars