Classic Rock Bottom

This week's selection was pretty simple since it's a request.

I could bore you with my Terraplane/Thunder story, but it's already been told. I guess I can say that this album is Thunder's debut and that it came out in 1990 and that there's two different album covers. It's also known as "Back Street Symphony" and "Backstreet Symphony".

Oh, Andy Taylor (Duran Duran) plays twelve-string geetar on "Until My Dying Day".

I guess I might as well include a brief history of the band, courtesy allmusic.com:

"Vocalist Danny Bowes and lead guitarist Luke Morley first played together when they were 15-year-old classmates in London. The two later formed the band Terraplane, which released two albums but broke up in 1988. Bowes, Morley, and drummer Gary "Harry" James then formed Thunder, recruiting bassist Mark "Snake" Luckhurst and rhythm guitarist Ben Matthews. The group's first two singles both hit the U.K. Top 40 and earned Thunder a support slot for Aerosmith and a gig at the 1990 Monsters of Rock festival. Backstreet Symphony, released just a year and a half after the group's live debut, reached the U.K.'s Top 20 and was certified gold. The follow-up, Laughing on Judgement Day, appeared in 1992, followed three years later by Behind Closed Doors. 1996 saw the release of their fourth full-length album, the radio-ready Thrill of It All. A series of live recordings and compilations peppered the next five to seven years, followed by the arrival of 2003's Shooting at the Sun. 2005 saw the release of Magnificent Seventh!, followed by Robert Johnson's Tombstone in 2006, all three of which were put out on the Frontiers label. The following year saw the band embark on their first European tour in 12 years, and in 2008 they issued their ninth studio long-player Bang!. Citing "outside interests," Thunder disbanded in 2009, and the members embarked on various other projects. They reunited for a one-off live performance in 2011, and spent the ensuing years keeping the project alive via the occasional live show. In 2014 the band announced the impending arrival of a new studio album. The resulting Wonder Days arrived in February of the following year."

This would not be complete without the review, also courtesy allmusic.com:

"First released on Capitol in 1990 and reissued on Geffen the following year, Backstreet Symphony is a decent hard rock offering that should have done better. Enjoyable songs ranging from rockers like "Dirty Love," "An Englishman on Holiday" and "She's So Fine" to the power ballad "Love Walked In" showed that while Thunder wasn't the most original or groundbreaking band in the world, it wasn't lacking when it came to spirit and enthusiasm. Another high point of this CD is an inspired cover of the Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'," which Thunder changes from blue-eyed soul/rock to straight-up hard rock. Rooted in the '70s, Thunder's bluesy, unpretentious sound is best described as a mixture of Bad Company and Deep Purple. Unfortunately, Backstreet Symphony didn't do much commercially on either its first or second release."

For those wondering, the album cover above is the Capitol release while the album cover below is the Geffen release:

Backstreet  Symphony

1. She's So Fine
2. Dirty Love
3. Don't Wait For Me
4. Higher Ground
5. Until My Dying Day
6. Back Street Symphony
7. Love Walked In
8. An Englishman On Holiday
9. Girl's Going Out Of Her Head
10. Gimme Some Lovin'
11. Distant Thunder

Availability: Quite a few different versions available, lowest price starts around $6. 

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Killer opening track. You know the Rodgers/Fogerty sound of the singer is really very very good, but I also hear a bit if Dio on those extended notes. That's a triple threat like I've never heard before. Wonder why these guys don't get more pub? Everything seems to work, at least for me....

Dirty Love has a very familiar riff, cant quite place it though. Like the tune, very upbeat and melodic. Nothing like a Hammond to lend street cred to a blues tune. This one sounds very much like an early John Waite/Babys tune. Thats a good thing! Production is awesome as well...

Higher Ground is a bit of a let down for me, little cliche and predictable. But I do like the acoustic/slide geetar on the next track. Its bit like the Brian Howe lead version of Bad Company at first with some Jimmy Page moments towards the end.

Backstreet Symphony and Love Walked In were just OK, the geetar work is quite nice but his vocal style seems to be a bit off on these, but for some reason these didn't strike me very well...


An Englishman on Holiday has another familiar sound that I cant quite place, but it does get the album back on track quite nicely. The tri-fecta at the end closes out a very nice listening experience. Girls Going Out of Her Head is upbeat and bit heavy than the other tracks, I liked this one alot. And the cover of Gimme Some Lovin was done really well also, I liked the way they played the geetar and hammond together in thre main riff, while the song styed true to the original this was a cool twist. Distant Thunder, had a nice driving beat and was a decent closer but the not best track here.

Had a small lull in the middle but a fine listen none-the-less. Not sure if Im in purchaseville on this or the new one RJ posted, but both provided quality rock music to my ears! Nice work Jon!

Well, I really like Thunder's new album.  But I was quite interested in hearing this, so I'm glad you posted it.  Here are some thoughts:

I'll say that the vocalist is pretty good.  I would never say he has the greatest voice in the world, but when he reminds me of Paul Rodgers is when he's at his best.  And there is some definite influence from Bad Company here.

It's a typical 90's album in that it is long.

The guitar playing is fantastic with some nice riffs.

I love the lyric in Dirty Love "Like a cheap suit you were all over me".  Reminds me of  my favorite Gene Simmons 80's tune Secretly Cruel.  And this song definitely has an 80's feel.

The best songs here are Don't Wait For Me (cool ballad), Higher Ground (makes me think of Bryan Adams), Love Walked In, Gimme Some Lovin' (a cover well done) and Distant Thunder (best song overall).

An Englishman On Holiday and Girls Going Out Of Her Head are the only duds here.

So thanks again for posting.  This was an enjoyable listening experience.

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