Thunder
Shooting at the Sun

After two years of temporary disbandment and consequently three seasons of absence from the record market, the Albion Thunder flaunted with this their sixth album dated 2002 an undeniable state of form and vitality. "Shooting at the Sun" is one of their best works, full of that flavorful and robust seventies rock blues, devoid of lengthiness and virtuoso exhibitionism, and instead focused on creating real songs, melodically complete and instrumentally balanced, sparkling and compelling.

The album begins without distinction with the rocky "Loser": the unison riff of the two guitars and the bass does its duty, but the notes touched by the singing are stereotypical, even recycled from previous occasions. Already much better is the second track "Everybody's Laughing", which instills the always effective albeit bland funky component, understood as the guitar work since drummer Harry James proceeds relentlessly to pound like crazy, cramming this song too into that excellent limbo of danceable hard and extremely catchy (at least for those who, like me, are crazy about these sound alchemies).

"If I Can't Feel Love" is the first ballad: the full-throttle style on the acoustic guitar, favored by the band's guitarist and composer Luke Morley when writing and arranging with this instrument, shines once again and creates Led Zeppelin school dynamics, with the four colleagues suddenly intervening with force, burying Morley's clanking Guild, and then withdrawing to let it re-emerge from the electric storm. The result is highly dynamic and tasteful.

"The Pimp and the Whore" follows immediately with a great text, ironically bitter about certain amoral climbs to success, garnished with various ambition and prostitution (habits notoriously in vogue even among us). "We need each other like a pimp and his brothel..." magnificently brays the exceptional singer Danny Bowes, over a cluster of beautifully repeated piano chords.

The next "A Lover, Not a Friend" instantly creates a dramatic atmosphere thanks to a simple minor arpeggio, capable of conveying tension and pathos accompanying the best lyrics dedicated to the typical reflections that assail those enduring a sentimental abandonment. The quality of the songwriting certainly does not drop in the next episode "Shake the Tree", again with Zeppelin-esque aroma with the virile texture of the acoustic guitar subjected to the relentless bombardment of the hyper-electric riff during the long central bridge.

"Somebody Get Me a Spin Doctor" is a party song like many others of the group, cheerful and direct, honest and well done, gritty and hot. Surprising, instead, as it is quite outside the typical sound of the band, is the next "The Man Inside", with the electric guitars for once renouncing the bare and direct attack and being adorned with flanger, leslie, and various effects. The honeyed solo would have pleased George Harrison and... well, Thunder going pop, for once (or almost, since a voice so bluesy like that of the good Bowes renders any melody, even the most ingratiating, virile and collected).

The break of lightening lasts little and the beloved cadenced and incendiary rock blues returns immediately with "Out of My Head", marked by James's cowbell beating the quarters. Then the melody of the final track "Blowin' Away" is wonderful, capable of immediately conveying a sense of refuge, so American and relaxed, almost like Californian country rock... if it weren't for the fact that after two minutes a powerful and dusty riff comes in, with Bowes immediately jumping an octave higher and starting to roar like a beast! I would say... but it is only an interlude, the track resumes swinging its beautiful melody, climbing again into familiar hard rock territories only for the exit solo, providing an excellent epilogue to the album if one overlooks those couple of live bonus tracks, placed there to (unnecessarily, in my opinion) extend the playlist.

Ugly, frankly, this widespread habit of adding live tracks to CDs of studio-recorded material. It's true they provide interesting examples of a band's stage performance and make better use of a disc's memory capacity, but at the expense of the album's compactness.

See you next time with the Thunder, a great Albion quintet of rock blues with balls.