THUNDER - ‘All the Right Noises’

At the risk of sounding like Yoda, with quality, experience and confidence comes the ability to take risks. Released back in November of last year the Brexit-influenced first single ‘Last One Out Turn Off the Lights’ teased us with much to look forward to. Starting off with a ‘Whole Lotta Love’ type of groove it quickly progressed into something altogether richer and different bringing in female background singers and horns and rocking out in a cool, heavy way which I could only describe as if Tom Jones had fronted Zeppelin. Releasing a showstopper of this nature could have been a risky move if the rest of the album didn’t match it for quality. As such, expectations were high for this new release and the question to be asked was could Thunder deliver? 

But there shouldn’t have been any doubt as to if ‘All the Right Noises’ and Thunder would deliver. I first saw Thunder playing to a few hundred fans at the Venue in Edinburgh in 1990 on the ‘Backstreet Symphony’ tour and last saw them 28 years later in June 2018 playing to almost 100,000 fans at Download. Playing the tea-time main day slot ahead of Black Stone Cherry and headliners Guns’n’Roses, Download took Thunder once again to their hearts and who played a fantastic set, relishing the chance to play to such an audience, to grab them and hold them in the palm of their hand and not let go – in simple terms, a first class exercise in showmanship. 

With 11 songs and clocking in at just under 50 minutes, ‘All the Right Noises’ picks up where their last album of new material (‘Rip it Up’) left off, delivers even more and there is much quality within. From the ‘Kashmir’-leaning ‘Don’t Forget to Live Before You Die’, the lower pace ‘The Smoking Gun’ and the quality ballad ‘I’ll be the One’ to the swaggering, strutting, glorious and uplifting ‘You’re Gonna Be My Girl’ which has the ability to go toe-to-toe with ‘Dirty Love’ and put it in the shade … in a word – outstanding – and Thunder at their very, very best. Almost outshining this is the affirmative ‘Young Man’ which turns The Who’s “I hope I die before I get old” line on it’s head and reflects back, as many of us of a similar age do, that we were thankfully allowed to make mistakes without the unforgiving nature of social media and the modern world to capture our youthful indiscretions … or in the spoken words of the song itself “I wouldn’t go back and I know it’s true, I wouldn’t go back if you paid me to”. And closing the album is the simply classic ‘She’s A Millionairess’ which takes us on a journey through Southern-leaning rock from Creedence Clearwater Revival to the Black Crowes and all points in between and, in the process, shows how this should have been done, Thunder-style.  

While much attention continues to focus on the undoubted vocal quality of Danny Bowes and the song-writing skills of Luke Morley, Thunder have always been and continue to be much more than a two-piece. As long-term fans will be aware Thunder are a very tight musical unit and after a series of break-ups and reformations still feature four of their original five members, including Ben Matthews on guitar and keyboards and ‘Harry’ James on drums, and with the newest recruit, Chris Childs (on bass) having played with them since 1996. As such, the type of experience which is only gained through playing together over such a period of time, albeit off and on and including some lengthy breaks, comes through very strongly throughout. In short, the musicianship from all is of a very high standard. 

In case anyone is in any doubt, Danny still has one of the best voices in rock, Luke can still craft a cracking song to match anyone and, as a band, Thunder can easily out-play and out-perform most rock bands of their (or any) age with the minimum of ease. And while other singers of Danny’s age may bring in female backing singers to hide their reducing vocal range, the use of backing singers here is altogether different, used to complement their sound and brings a touch of soul to Thunder’s classic British rock.  

Following their latest reformation and first studio album in 7 years (2015’s ‘Wonder Days’) Thunder have experienced a resurgence in form and popularity. Prior to this they were on record as believing fans would only be interested in hearing the older material and there would be little demand for new material. However, heartened by the response to their supporting Journey and Whitesnake, they took the plunge with that album and for me they haven’t looked back. As much as I enjoy revisiting the still classic ‘Backstreet Symphony’ and ‘Laughing on Judgment Day’, I’ve found myself listening more to both ‘Wonder Days’ and ‘Rip it Up’. In doing this they’ve bucked the trend and differ from some of their peers from the early 90’s whose attempts at new material have not worked. 80’s and early 90’s rock was a very different time and place. As much as we and they love songs from that era, many musicians wouldn’t be as comfortable now, in their 50’s, writing the type of songs that they did in the 20’s. We’ve all moved on, but Thunder have managed this transition better than many and are producing new material now which reflects where we all are, but is as good as at any time in their long career. 

In short, ‘All the Right Noises’ oozes class, confidence, style and very, very big tunes. For their 13th studio album it also sounds remarkably fresh, timeless and just plain good … make that very, very good. And for those who’re lucky to have tickets for Thunder’s postponed UK arena tour In May 2022, on the basis of this album you’re in for one hell of a treat. 

‘All the Right Noises’ will be released on 12 March 2021 on BMG.