Rare The Raw And The Rest, The - Thunder

Advantages: A great album and great value to boot
Disadvantages: Why have "the rest" when "the rare" and "the raw" are so good?

...put out a collection of rare material. It’s not a greatest hits, as there aren’t often any hits on there. Although some of the material may have already appeared in other countries, or hidden away on the B-Sides of singles, the album-focussed UK public will probably not own them. Both Anthrax (“Attack of the Killer B’s”) and Def Leppard (“Retroactive”) used this idea in 1994. Giving new insights into the bands concerned and, in Def Leppard’s case, ...
...hoping there will be more rare and raw to follow. It's quite a heavy track by Thunder's standards; definitely more towards the more rock end of the pop-rock spectrum, with a heavy blues feel to it and Danny stretching his vocals to the limit. The backing vocals sound a little better this time around, too! Things get a lot rawer and a lot rarer with the next track, a cover of the Faces classic "Stay With Me". Featuring Andy Taylor, formerly of Duran ... Read review

Advantages: Nice and Varied
Disadvantages: Danger of Overkill

...with at CD full of rare and previously unreleased tracks. Well, 6 out of the 16 are unreleased, and most of the others are only available as obscure B-sides or the like. Is this overkill, a rip-off, or a treat for the die-hard fans? Let's consider the facts… The first two tracks are actually old Terraplane (the band which metamorphosed into Thunder) demos, and to my mind are probably just about the two best. "Girl's Going Out of Her Head" and "Another ...
...have felt out of place on their debut album "Backstreet Symphony", which remains their best. A bit of a mystery next, as "Baby I'll be Gone" is described as a B-side despite appearing on "Laughing on Judgement day" in 1992. I don't think my copy of that album contains any "bonus" tracks, so why this should be included I don't know. It is a fine bluesy little number right enough, but hardly deserves to be the only straight lifting of an album track ... Read review

Advantages: You can see how the band evolved into Thunder
Disadvantages: Moe pop and AOR influenced than Thunder are

...around the edges, but it's really little more than 1980s Stock Aitken Waterman pop style music with guitars added, although perhaps a little less bouncy than their usual style. The title track follows and "Black and White" is far more of a rock based tune, although the opening drum beat wouldn't have been too out of place on some of Duran Duran's material. It moves into more rock-pop territory later on, with a few Queen and prog-rock undertones to the bridge and chorus. There's a "na-na-na-na" opening vocal to "I'm the One" that has all the hallmarks of Thunder, having been on several of their songs, perhaps most notably "Dirty Love". The song segues into a blues based rock-pop song that wouldn't have been out of place on Thunder's "Backstreet Symphony", and sounds a lot like some of the material on their "The Rare, the Raw and the Rest... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: A side of Terrorvision never seen before
Disadvantages: You have to be a fan already to appreciate how good this is

...heard EMI were putting out a "B Sides and Rarities" album, I was concerned. Albums like this can be a success, in the right hands, as proved by Thunder's "The Rare, the Raw and the Rest", (also, strangely, an EMI release) although that did have input from the band. But my hopes for something decent were not helped by a comment from Terrorvision's Mark Yates on a message board when the release of the album was mentioned to him. Essentially, the band had no idea in advance that it was being released. In typically dismissive fashion, EMI hadn't bothered to mention it to them. Fortunately, the track listing gave me hope that it might be OK, at least for the hardcore fan of the band. As that is exactly what I am, I had to have a copy, but it was aimed at my CD player with far more trepidation than a Terrorvision release would normally demand... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful