Like they always say...."Never Say Never". After officially calling it a day 2 years ago and releasing a send off live 2 CD set for the fans, England's Thunder had reached the end of the line. After over ten years in existence and coming to grips with a changing musical climate, they felt it was time to go. Several years later and after a change of heart and some serious soul searching, the band is back with a vengeance, releasing an album that ranks up there with Backstreet Symphony (1990) and Laughing On Judgment Day (1992) as being some of the band's best work. Thunder never really enjoyed the success that they had in Europe in North America and it's too bad as many people have missed out on a great ballsy hard rocking band. The first new release came in the form of an E.P entitled Back For The Crack to test the waters and to see if the interest was still there. They then released a CD single for Loser early in 2003 and then set out to record their first album of new material in almost 4 years.

From the very first track, Loser, with it's heavy groove, raunchy guitars and a classic Bad Company sound, this album caught my ear right away. This whole album sounds like something that's been long lost from the late 70's or early 80's and has just now been recently discovered. The catchy boogie style rhythms continue with tracks like Everybody's Laughing, a great party song about....a party!!! I love the feel of this track with it's witty lyrics that grab your attention and some great bluesy lead guitar. Shooting At The Sun continues with that same bluesy, boogie style as does Somebody Get Me A Spin Doctor and The Pimp And The Whore. Singer Danny Bowes has a perfect "classic rock" voice and sounds like a cross between Paul Rodgers (Bad Company, Robert Palmer, Dan McCafferty (Nazareth) and with a little of the Brian Johnson (AC/DC) rasp. The Nazareth style to this band can be heard on the track If I Can't Feel Love, a heart wrenching ballad that reminds me of Love Hurts. The band also gets a little more serious with A Lover, Not A Friend that deals with failure of relationships, mixing a blend of acoustic guitar and heavier sections. A couple of tracks really have a classic Led Zeppelin style especially Shake The Tree with it's big fat riffs and more dramatic style and Blown Away which starts as a lighter acoustic track then abruptly changes into a slow heavy and hard rocking number. The Man Inside with it's melody and great chorus really has the feel of While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles especially with the very 70's style to the lead guitar. Out Of My head again has a great heavy groove and with the catchiness, is a very radio-friendly song.

There's almost a bit of a Southern Rock feel to this band as well with many tracks and every song is solid with lots of variety. Many of the tracks on this album would seem right at home on any rock oriented radio station. There's a catchiness to every track either with the guitar riffs or the lyrics and this album is a special album that I'm sure many will connect with on some level. These guys haven't created anything new here, they've just given a forty-something metal head like me a bit of a nostalgic look back to the late 70's or 80's with a very healthy dose of some kick-ass bluesy hard rock and roll. If you've never heard Thunder before and enjoy Bad Company, Led Zeppelin and the classic rock influenced Badlands, check this album out. It doesn't always rock hard, but it more than makes up for that with clever, catchy tunes that encompass a wide range of styles of hard rock music. This would be a great summer album to blast out of your car. Too bad it isn't summer anymore..........no worry, I think I'll still want to blast this one out loud next summer!!