Thunder (band)
| Thunder | |
|---|---|
 Thunder at a concert in Wolverhampton, circa December 2006 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Hard rock , heavy metal |
| founding | 1989, 2002, 2011 |
| resolution | 1999, 2009 |
| Website | http://www.thunderonline.com/ |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Danny Bowes |
Vocals, guitar, keyboard |
Ben Matthews |
guitar |
Luke Morley |
bass |
Chris Childs (1996, since 1998) |
Drums |
Harry James |
| former members | |
| Mark "Snake" Luckhurst (1989–1992) | |
bass |
Mikael Höglund (1992–1996) |
Thunder is a hard rock - band , which in 1989 in London was formed from the remnants of the hard rock band Terraplane.
history
The founding members were Danny Bowes, Ben Matthews, Luke Morley, Mark "The Snake" Luckhurst and Harry James.
With the help of Andy Taylor ( Duran Duran ), EMI released the debut album Backstreet Symphony and the single Dirty Love in 1990 . The album in particular, which barely missed the top 20 on the British album charts, sold surprisingly well. In the same year they played in supporting act for Aerosmith and opened the Monsters of Rock Festival in Castle Donington . In 1990/1991 the singles Backstreet Symphony , Gimme Some Lovin ' , She's So Fine and Love Walked In were released .
In 1992, Laughing on Judgment Day was released , produced by Taylor and Morley, which received good reviews and climbed to number 2 on the British album charts. Thunder toured this year with Iron Maiden in South America and with extremes in Europe . Low Life in High Places and Everybody Wants Her appeared as singles . At the end of the year Luckhurst got out, who was replaced by Mikael Höglund.
In 1993 there were concerts with Def Leppard and Ugly Kid Joe . The singles A Better Man and the EP Like a Satellite were released .
Their album Behind Closed Doors (produced by Mike Fraser ) was released in 1995. In the same year they played with Bon Jovi and Van Halen, among others . At the end of the year the live album Live Circuit and the sampler Their Finest Hour (and a Bit) were released , then Thunder said goodbye to EMI . Höglund left the band in mid-1996. As a replacement came Chris Childs, who initially did not last long with Thunder.
In 1996 the little noticed LP The Thrill of It All was released , on which Thunder could only be heard as a quartet. At the end of 1997 the double album Live was recorded in London , which appeared in stores in 1998 and received critical acclaim. Childs had surprisingly returned shortly before.
He was also heard in 1999 on the commercially unsuccessful album Giving the Game Away . Thunder toured this year as opening act for Status Quo and in December to say goodbye through England . Shortly afterwards the band split up.
In 2002 Thunder reunited because of an invitation to perform at a Monsters of Rock festival. In the line-up of Bowes, Matthews, Morley, Childs and James, they recorded the album Shooting at the Sun , which was released in 2003.
In the following years there was a significant upswing for Thunder, in the slipstream of which the album The Magnificent Seventh followed on February 21, 2005. The follow-up album Robert Johnson's Tombstone was on the shelves from October 30, 2006. After yet another studio album, Bang! , which appeared on November 3, 2008, Thunder again announced their split in 2009.
Their official last concert took place on July 11th, 2009 at Hammersmith Apollo, London. Shortly afterwards they appeared at two festivals that had probably been booked for a long time.
Despite the renewed separation, the band continued to perform, such as B. in August 2013 at the Wacken Open Air (W: O: A) in Schleswig-Holstein.
In September 2014, the band announced a new studio album on their Facebook page. On November 25, 2014, she released a live recording of the title track from the new album, Wonder Days , which was released on February 16, 2015 via earMusic. The album peaked at # 9 on the UK album charts.
In November 2016, Thunder presented their autobiography Giving The Game Away, written by bestselling author Joel McIver, at the Louder Than Words Festival in Manchester. The event sold out within hours and included talks between the band members and McIver as well as an acoustic performance by the band.
On February 10th, 2017, Thunder's eleventh studio long player, "Rip It Up", will be released, which contains eleven songs, as well as a 4-track ep entitled "Broken Mirror" as a bonus.
In March 2017 Thunder were on tour in Australia and Great Britain, in April they played u. a. five shows in Germany. In the fall, Thunder returned to Germany for a tour with Alice Cooper . The following year the live album Stage was released, which was recorded on March 24, 2017 during the Rip It Up tour in Cardiff . In January 2019, the band released an album with reinterpretations of their own songs, which was titled Please Remain Seated . For Record Store Day 2019, an EP entitled Please Remain Seated: The Others was released, which contained seven tracks that were not included on the album released in January. This EP was only available as a record.
Trivia
Until the split with EMI there was an official fan club of the band, the so-called 'Thunder Channel!' In addition to the usual gimmicks, the members had access to the backstage area after every concert (except at festivals) and could meet the band. Today, these backstage meetings will be raffled on the band's website before the respective concerts.
Thunder have always been committed to helping the homeless in their home country. For example, they collected sweatshirts, jeans, etc. from their fans at various concerts in England before the gig in order to support the homeless. In 1993 Thunder also took part in the Putting our house in order campaign , an action by various English artists to support the homeless. These artists recorded various versions of the Rolling Stones classic Gimme Shelter , including Thunder. This version first appeared on a single campaign, later published the song Thunder then as B-side of the single Like a Satellite and on the best-of compilation Their Finest Hour ... . The corresponding video can be found on the official video release of Putting our house in order as well as on the Thunder DVD Flawed to Perfection .
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1990 | Back Street Symphony | - | - | - |
UK21st  (16 weeks)UK |
US114 (10 weeks) US |
|
| 1992 | Laughing on Judgment Day |
DE80 (5 weeks) DE |
- |
CH33 (1 week) CH |
UK2 (10 weeks)UK |
- | |
| 1995 | Behind closed doors |
DE56 (8 weeks) DE |
- |
CH44 (3 weeks) CH |
UK5 (8 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Best Of - Their Finest Hour (And a Bit) | - | - | - |
UK22nd  (3 weeks)UK |
- |
Best of album
|
|
| 1997 | The Thrill of It All | - | - | - |
UK14 (3 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1998 | live | - | - | - |
UK35 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
Live album
|
| 1999 | Giving the game away | - | - | - |
UK49 (1 week) UK |
- | |
| 2003 | Shooting at the Sun | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2005 | The Magnificent Seventh | - | - | - |
UK70 (1 week) UK |
- | |
| 2006 | Robert Johnson's Tombstone | - | - | - |
UK56 (1 week) UK |
- | |
| 2008 | Bang | - | - | - |
UK62 (1 week) UK |
- | |
| 2009 | The very best of | - | - | - |
UK80 (1 week)UK |
- |
Best of album
|
| 2013 | Live at Donington - 1990 & 1992 | - | - | - |
UK73 (1 week) UK |
- |
Live album
|
| 2015 | Wonder Days |
DE47 (2 weeks) DE |
- |
CH52 (1 week) CH |
UK9 (4 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 2017 | Rip It Up |
DE24 (2 weeks) DE |
AT43 (1 week) AT |
CH27 (2 weeks) CH |
UK3 (3 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 2018 | Stage |
DE54 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH92 (1 week) CH |
- | - | |
| 2019 | Please Remain Seated |
DE44 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH50 (1 week) CH |
UK8 (1 week) UK |
- | |
More albums
Live albums
- 1995 - Live Circuit ( EMI )
- 2000 - Open the Window, Close the Door - Live in Japan ( JVC , Japan)
- 2000 - They Think It's All Over ... It Is Now (Papillion Records)
- 2001 - They Think It's All Acoustic ... It Is Now (Papillion Records)
- 2002 - Symphony and Stage (Snapper Records) - live compilation
- 2004 - The Best of Thunder Live (Armory Recordings) - live compilation
- 2005 - Thunder Live at Rock City Live from Nottingham UK on December 22nd, 2004
- 2006 - The Xmas Show - Live 2005
- 2007 - Rock City 6 - The Smell of Snow Live from Nottingham UK on December 20th 2006
- 2007 - The Xmas Show - Live 2006 Live from Nottingham UK on December 20th 2006
- 2008 - The Xmas Show - Live 2007 Live from Nottingham UK on December 19th 2007
- 2009 - 20 Years and Out - live recordings of the last three concerts
- 2009 - The Xmas Show - Live 2008 Live from Nottingham UK on December 17th 2008
- 2011 - Rough & Ready - 2 live concerts from 2005 STC Recordings
- 2012 - Rock City 12 - The Baubles Are Back in Town Live from Nottingham UK on May 20-21. December 2011
- 2012 - The Xmas Show - Live 2011 Live from Nottingham UK on 20-21. December 2011
- 2013 - The Xmas Show - Live 2012 Live from Manchester UK on 21-22 December 2012
- 2013 - Xmas 2012 - The Mancunian Candidate Live from Manchester UK on 21.-22. December 2012
- 2014 - Xmas 2013 - Back to the Black Country Live from Wolverhampton UK on 20.-21. December 2013
- 2014 - The Xmas Show - Live 2013 Live from Wolverhampton UK on 20-21 December 2013
- 2018 - Stage - Live in Cardiff, March 24th 2017
Compilations
- 1998 - The Best of Thunder (EMI, Japan)
- 1999 - The Rare, the Raw, and the Rest (EMI)
- 2000 - Gimme Some ... (EMI)
- 2001 - Rock Champions (EMI)
- 2003 - Ballads (EMI)
- 2007 - Gimme Some ... Thunder (EMI)
- 2009 - The EP Sessions (2007-2008) (STC Recordings)
- 2019 - The Greatest Hits (BMG)
Singles (chart successes)
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1990 | Dirty Love Back Street Symphony |
- | - | - |
UK32 (4 weeks) UK |
US55 (13 weeks) US |
|
| Back Street Symphony Back Street Symphony |
- | - | - |
UK25 (4 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| Gimme Some Lovin ' Back Street Symphony |
- | - | - |
UK36 (3 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| She's So Fine Back Street Symphony |
- | - | - |
UK34 (3 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1991 | Love Walked In Back Street Symphony |
- | - | - |
UK21 (4 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1992 | Low Life in High Places Laughing on Judgment Day |
- | - | - |
UK22 (5 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Everybody Wants Her Laughing on Judgment Day |
- | - | - |
UK36 (4 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1993 | A Better Man Laughing on Judgment Day |
- | - | - |
UK18 (4 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Like a Satellite Laughing on Judgment Day |
- | - | - |
UK28 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1994 | Stand Up Behind Closed Doors |
- | - | - |
UK23 (4 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1995 | River of Pain Behind Closed Doors |
- | - | - |
UK31 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Castles in the Sand Behind Closed Doors |
- | - | - |
UK30 (3 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| In a Broken Dream Best Of - Their Finest Hour (And a Bit) |
- | - | - |
UK26 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1997 | Don't Wait Up The Thrill of It All |
- | - | - |
UK27 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Love Worth Dying For The Thrill of It All |
- | - | - |
UK60 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1998 | The Only One Live |
- | - | - |
UK31 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Play That Funky Music Giving the Game Away |
- | - | - |
UK39 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1999 | You Wanna Know (Just Another Suicide) Giving the Game Away |
- | - | - |
UK49 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 2003 | Loose shooting at the sun |
- | - | - |
UK48 (1 week) UK |
- | |
| 2004 | I Love You More Than Rock n Roll The Magnificent Seventh |
- | - | - |
UK27 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 2006 | The Devil Made Me Do It Robert Johnson's Tombstone |
- | - | - |
UK40 (1 week) UK |
- | |
literature
- Joel McIver: Thunder - Giving the Game Away . Omnibus Press, 2016, ISBN 978-1-78558-137-3 .