TRIUMPH

TRIUMPH
THUNDER SEVEN (1984)
REMASTER
320 KBPS

In my opinion, "Thunder Seven" was Triumph's last classic studio album. It capped a three album run with the band easily at the peak of their success. Three years prior showed the band firing on all cylinders with "Allied Forces" (1981); and a strong follow-up in '83 with "Never Surrender". "Thunder Seven" was followed by "The Sport Of Kings" (1986) and "Surveillance" (1987) - both simply under par albums in the eyes of fans and critics alike (not to mention the band not writing all their own material). "Thunder Seven" gave us two singles ("Spellbound" and "Follow Your Heart") - both surprisingly sung by drummer Gil Moore. The real gems are the deep album cuts that never made it to the FM radio waves - "Rock Out, Roll On" is a solid Rik Emmett rocker; "Time Goes By" hits you in the same vein as Allied Force's "Fight The Good Fight"; "Cool Down" sounds like it could have been written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant; "Time Canon" is a minute-and-a-half vocal (only) piece leading into the beautiful "Killing Time"; and two instrumentals - "Midsummer's Daydream" (receiving numerous guitar composition awards) and the stunning and uncharacteristic bluesy album closer "Little Boy Blues". For me, Triumph is/was always a guitar band first. Drums, bass and vocals were always great, but Rik Emmett's guitar was the show-piece here. Triumph seemed to be labeled Canada's 2nd best power trio (behind Rush), but I always thought they deserved more credit. Staying power with fans - "Thunder Seven" was certified gold in 2003, almost 20 years after its release.

1. Spellbound
2. Rock out, Rock On
3. Cool Down
4. Follow Your Heart
5. Time Goes By
6. Midsummer's Daydream [Instrumental]
7. Time Canon
8. Killing Time
9. Stranger in a Strange Land
10. Little Boy Blues [Instrumental]