Thunder
Laughing On Judgement Day

THE REVIEW

Are you interested in a band that plays pure '70s English rock blues (Led Zeppelin, Bad Company...), with zero originality but excellent songwriting, great passion and "drive", a voice that rocks and sounds as powerful and dynamic as possible in the digital era? I am very much so. When there's heart, intelligence, cohesion, and grit, the fact that they rely 100% on musical forms synthesized and already developed by others becomes secondary. A song is a good song, and it isn't necessarily so because it smells new. Thunder arrived late by twenty years, no doubt about it, but they make great songs that hit hard and with class, and I love them for this. They're still active, on their seventh album if I'm not mistaken. In Great Britain, where they burst onto the scene in 1990 (first album "Back Street Symphony" sold very well), only to be sacrificed like many others on the altar of rap and grunge, they still have a good following. Here in Italy, unfortunately, hardly anyone noticed them.

The album above, with this horrible cover, is their second, released in 1992. The strengths of Thunder are primarily Danny Bowes' singing, filled with the blues, extremely gritty, powerful, heartfelt, a worthy heir to young Rod Stewart and Paul Rodgers... and then there's the guy behind the drums, whose name is Gary James, known to friends as Harry. You wouldn't bet on him at first sight: he's bald, a bit of a jokester, who loves to open concerts singing "New York New York" to a pre-recorded track, dressed like a fool with a cane and a carnation in his buttonhole. A second after the end of the piece, the roadies strip off his costume, leaving him in shorts and a t-shirt. He walks the five meters to his drums... and explodes with a starting "acciaccatura" at the concert that shakes the stage more than John Bonham! Believe me, there's no Carmine Appice Cozy Powell Denny Carmassi to match; if you miss Bonzo and want a very plausible living substitute, the drummer of Thunder is the right man: same style, bass and snare cannonades and off he goes, with excellent technique and taste to boot. Thunder's music is generated by the classic singer/guitarist synergy; they are the ones who compose the pieces and direct the group. The axeman in question is named Luke Morley and knows his stuff. He's a bit anonymous in style but puts the right notes in the right places with a healthy "feeling" and composes catchy riffs and beautiful melodies. There's a second musician who plays guitar in the group (a quintet) but alternates with keyboards, making the sound fuller and more varied. His name is Ben Matthews. Live and in photos, the two guitarists are easily distinguishable as Morley is left-handed. The lineup is, of course, completed by the bassist, the only figure frequently changing throughout the group's career. Three or four have alternated to date, and in this album, a certain Mark Luckhurst known as "Snake" plays. Thunderous start of "Laughing..." with the first track "Does It Feel Like Love" where an acoustic arpeggio is immediately pierced by Bowes' tense voice and then swallowed by the rhythmic explosion: great music, but the masterpiece is track number three "Low Life In High Places" dynamic in its acoustic development with a dynamite electric interlude. Matthews works well on the Hammond in "Empty City" and Bowes touches the heart reciting beautiful concepts on "A Better Man".... but the entire album maintains a constant level of songwriting, without particular peaks but also no fillers.

If you're rockers and not obsessed with the latest at all costs, this is stuff that's right for you.