We Play For Pleasure - Thunder Express

Advantages: The best of British rock
Disadvantages: Maybe a little cliched

...Symphony”. That this album is not owned by everyone in the country is a crime of such great magnitude that it should carry a sentence of lifelong imprisonment. Sadly, to my knowledge, no-one has ever been charged. If you ever play this album next to their 1999 release “Giving the Game Away”, a couple of things become immediately apparent. The first is that, in their ten year career, Thunder matured greatly, both as musicians and writers. The second is that, back in 1990, they were clearly in it for the kicks. All they wanted was to have fun. And it shows. Oh, does it ever? Reading the sleeve of this album only strengthens that belief. The cover has ‘Arry hamming it up as a conductor, complete with white gloves and baton, with an alley as his concert hall, and his orchestra consisting of a drunk, and a lady of the night! The list... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: That happy feel good feeling you get when listening
Disadvantages: If you hate good music, I dunno. How can there be disadvantages to this?

...Thunder, Lightning, Strike; the debut album by The Go! Team, is a exceptionally pleasing hybrid of funk, indie and dance that just makes you want to dance. Defining this brand of music is hard, the best approximation I can come up with is that it's strongly the New York sound in the late 1970s, very Sesame Street meets Fame. It's no surprise the previous Ciao reviewer made that comparison as well. It's certainly not dance as we know it now, or not quite indie, but it has its roots in funk. Almost all the tracks on the album are musically perfect, a variation on a theme of drums and samples, coupled with keyboard, piano and/or vocals. Track Listing: 1. Panther Dash 2. Ladyflash 3. Feel good By Numbers 4. The Power Is On 5. Get It Together 6. Junior Kickstart 7. Air Raid Gtr 8. Bottle Rocket 9. Friendship Update 10... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Some songs as good as anything Thunder have ever done
Disadvantages: Not available really cheaply, yet.

...political songs, relating as it does to sending people off to war. Although it’s not a bad song, at nearly seven minutes it is the longest that Thunder have ever done and it does go on a little bit. “My Darkest Hour” returns to the soft rock ballad that Thunder do so well and has a very stripped down feel, just being a vocal, an acoustic guitar and some strings. I keep expecting the song to break out into a soft rock stadium ballad in the style of their 1990 track “Until My Dying Day”, but it stays the same all the way through which does make it a bit dull after a while and this isn’t one you could play too often. Over their last couple of albums, Thunder have shown their distaste with the way reality TV is creating “celebrities” out of nothing. “Andy Warhol Said” worries that Warhol’s “Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes” quote has... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful