Formed in 1989, Thunder achieved some airplay and video rotation on MTV with their 1990 single “Dirty Love”, but after that they, like most other hard rock bands of the time, were overrun by grunge. They continued on releasing albums and touring in their home country of Britain releasing many top 40 singles along the way. They tried a brief retirement in 1999 only to come back in 2002 and go on to release three more fantastic albums before disbanding again in 2009. As luck would have it third times a charm, and after teaming up to play a one-off show at the High Voltage Festival in 2011, the machine started up again leading to this year’s release of all new material, Wonder Days.
So what do Thunder have to offer on Wonder Days? Frankly, a lot. They are at their best with straight ahead rockers like the “Black Water” and “The Thing I Want”, but also offer a grand acoustic ballad in “The Rain”, or a love ballad in “Broken”. What really makes this album special is how main songwriter/guitarist Luke Morley tells a story with his lyrics and how singer Danny Bowes delivers them with feeling and emotion. Prime examples of this, as well as standout tracks on the album, are “Wonder Days”, “When the Music Played”, and the full on swagger of the bluesy “Serpentine”.
Overall this is a solid record, and a must buy for the summer (Please use the Amazon link below to directly help the Decibel Geek weekly podcast show/website). This is music meant to be played at loud volume with the windows down!
If every song was worth one point I would give it 8 1/2 out of 11. Enjoy!!
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